h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

* enters ZSQ's home, bringing along a cask of beer *

So here we are, let the Scouts' initiation rite begin!

Hi Bossel!

You're very welcome. Offers and and .

At present, it makes a welcome change from cossetting a small boy, who's a bit off colour. I'd hoped to be a bit more active in my first couple of days, but I'm sure it will improve.

Do I have to wear a silly hat or anything of that kind?

Oh no, nothing of that sort of thing

You just have to kneel down while I'll just knock you softly with this binocular here on both your shoulders and that's about it. After that, the beer cask will be playing the main role (for as long as there's something left in it, of course).

Afterwards, the binocular is yours and you may use it for spotting Guide-worthy entries

I'm definitely up for that!

I'll also provide and a real fire (there's one warming my back at the moment). But no Vogon poetry!

On a more serious note, what happens if something I think is ready isn't in other people's opinion? I do want to do well for the Guide. And will it be obvious if something I want to chose has already been chosen?

Ahh, the mulled wine suits me fine, and a little campfire from the rear side is quite what I can use right now. It's real November weather outside!


Well, so kneel down, researcher ZSF.



here you are



* pours some beer down ZSF's neck *

Oh, did I tell you about that part of the rite? Sorry

You may now rise, SCOUT ZSF!


Over to the serious note...
Basically, it's *your* instinct which makes you hit that 'recommend' button. But if there are serious questions left from the thread then it may be wise to post something along the lines of 'hey, I was about to recommend it, but I wanted this issue (....) to be solved beforehand '

You can find out whether an entry has been picked by
a) going to /guide/mp294 (the postings from 'h2g2 messages' which make up all the thread moves)
b) going to http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/ScoutRecommendations
(lurkers, this page is visible to Scouts only!) which contains the entries which have been picked but not yet processed by the Italics.


Ok, ready for the cask?

You bet!

No, you didn't tell me about the libation down the neck bit. and - sticky.

And the fire's a real one - in a grate, just behind and to my right, all red and glowing. I do love a real fire.

Reply to serious reply - .

And also celebrations as I heard today that my entry on the Quaker Peace Testament has been recommended, so .

Go easy, though, don't want .

Share and enjoy!

Oh how bad of me to not mention the libation part

But even worse, I just realised the mistake in the headline of this thread .

Ok, so let's begin with the recommendation and move over to the afterwards, and end up with a ?

Hi Bossel!

It was lovely to meet you in person at the gathering yesterday. It seemed too short a time before it was over and time to say 'goodbyes'.

I had tremendous fun. I did find out BTW that it was possible to get on stage and have a photo. I had a bit of difficulty finding my way back to the tube station (serves me right - I should have looked at the map before leaving the pub) and while I was standing at a corner wondering which way to go, I met two people from the meet, who were going to the same place. They had got on stage! Apparently there is a theatre museum with a stage, so it was possible. I think they also used a flower bed.

I didn't make it home without further incident. I got the overland train from Farringdon to London Bridge (which was late) then checked the time and platform of my train home. I met someone from work and got into conversation. The train arrived and I got on it with her and her husband. It was the wrong train! It left at the time my train should have left, it was going to the same final destination, but via a different route. The friend took me to an intermediate station, which was closed, and finally took me home in her car. Wasn't I lucky!

I'm looking forward to seeing the photos and how well we did in the photo scavenge. In hindsight, it would have been better to have sat together in the pub to plan our strategy first ... but the way we did it was fun all the same.

I'm looking forward to seeing you again at the next meet.

Oh, almost forgot - !

Hi ZSF!

I had a long working day and some trouble with my ISP. I'm afraid I missed much of the after-the-event threads and I see a loooong backlog developing there.

Indeed, it was much fun. Remember how I wasn't all too eager to take part in the scavenger hunt, and rather thought of staying in the pub? Well, I'm glad you convinced me! Perhaps with some more lateral thinking (like the flower bed) and, as you say, setting up a strategy first, we could have marked *all* the tasks as 'done'. And in terms of team spirit I'm sure we were first. But no matter how we scored, it was a success! Putting faces and real people to researcher U-numbers does make a difference

Ugh, wrong train? I guess that had you sobering up in a second. I wouldn't want to think of being lost somewhere far from home, with no train connections left to take. Indeed, you're a lucky one to have those friends!


The first photos have been placed on the web I've checked all the four series of which I know (see the links on Frankie Roberto's space (U125489). In general there never has been a photo of myself which I really liked, but the 'nahnah' smiley could be something different

Looking forward to the next meeting too


Bossel

Hi Bossel!

Yes, I saw the nah-nah photo a couple of days ago. It has a certain style, I think!

I ought to have checked the route to the tube before setting off. I think I had the 'energy' of not knowing where I was. I am indeed fortunate to have met my work colleague. She's not even someone I know very well. I've not had chance to yet, but I'll get her some .

Was this your first internet meet as well? I had a great time and you're right - we had a really good team spirit. I was really impressed with vp's juggling. Five balls!

You may have noticed that I left before getting my round in, so it's my shout first at the next meet.

I had a quick peek at this site at work (it was work related, actually!) and my work computer is *so* much quicker than my home one.

I'll go and have a look at the other photos and I'm really looking forward to seeing the photo scavenge results.

One thing we didn't do was to find out who all the scouts there were. I mentioned it to Peta early on, and she said it would be good to have a show of hands, but it didn't happen. Next time!

Perhaps this one will win me a h2g2 t-shirt? I participated in almost anything that could gain me one, but to no avail

Actually this was my 3rd h2g2 meet (with the South German one and the Summer 2001 London meet as fore-runners) and every single one of these would have been enough to stir addiction. I'm still pressing my thumbs to be able to join the Scandinavian meet in March. This will require some 2000km (two-way) of German Autobahns to be negotiated but who cares? Flying over from the UK ought to be quicker, I guess. How about that?

A Scouts' roundup - I should have thought of that too. Lucinda (ex-Scout) was there, then Croz and Whiskey. Hmmm... think I'll have to check the participants' list.
But now I'll have a sneak preview on this week's Post edition, perhaps there's something more about the meet.

That's an awful long way and sounds *very* tiring to me! Do you have anyone you could share the driving with? Otherwise, environmentally unfriendly as it is, flying sounds much more practical.

I met Croz and saw, but didn't speak to Lucinda. I didn't know Whisky was there. I would have liked to have said 'hello' to him. He was helpful to me early on.

Something I've been meaning to ask you - how did you get interested in h2g2 in the first place? How long have you been a scout? (Sorry if it sounds like '20 questions'.

One of my entries made the front page today! I'll have to pop over to GT Bacchus to say what a good job he's made of it.

Let me know if you get your h2g2 t-shirt.

I could try and take the western way to the North, to pick up TC. Otherwise, I'm quite used to driving long hours on an Autobahn. If only the destination is coming closer, that is. I've got my doubts here, since it is going to be the Easter Weekend. Flying... aircraft operators insist on calculating an average of 8 litres per km per passenger which is quite the same for a car (of course, only if the aircraft is fully populated). Anyway, I'll go and check if there actually *is* a connection from Munich to somewhere close to the place.

How I got interested... I've been a fan of the books from the very day when I started reading the first one. It's still *the* thing to read when I'm off on vacancy And then I came across that little announcement in my computer magazine which said that there was a web site that was devoted to creating the Guide in real life. No questions asked, I logged in on the same day and stayed

Ooops. Pressed that *Post* button too fast.

[quick check of the clock on the wall] ... to be continued!

I can't really remember when I got interested. I think it was the radio plays, then the books, then the TV series, which I really liked, apart from the naff second head they gave Zaphod Beeblebrox.

When I was married, we used to go on holidays in a foursome and used to quote h2g2 at each other for all we were worth. I loved the sense of humour and the voices.

Would you believe, I even have an LP! With a rubber duck on the cover!

As I remember telling you, I didn't even consciously choose my nickname - it came to me while I was doing something else.

I'm thinking of going along to one or both of the unofficial meets - Alton Towers or the other one - where is it? That really cool biosphere thing - Genesis project? - oh, brain like a sieve today. It depends on the dates really. Have tent, will travel.

Driving long distances - well there is a guide entry on it you know .

Bad news first.

RL is keeping me quite busy, and I just read the backlog about the scavenger hunt... So, once again no t-shirt

Realising that the flash didn't perform too well, it makes me wonder whether the jury actually *saw* what was on the photos (or cared to ask for an interpretation) If I remember correctly, we didn't miss a lot of tasks.
Anyway, great fun it was though


Long ago, I've seen a few minutes of the TV series: dubbed into German and they didn't bring along the humour. I didn't get the idea and hopped to another channel. Ah, well, it wasn't the first piece of the series, so there wasn't any chance of getting the idea anyway. Normally, German TV features repetitions every two years or so, but I've never seen HHGTTG again. Perhaps the quality was too bad even for German TV standards.

Driving long distances... I'll have to search that entry !

That rubber duckie LP, is it something about the Guide? And what's a Sufi please?

I wondered whether they understood which tasks our photos related to. The flash didn't seem to work over much more than a few feet, though. I don't think we missed many either, but it *was* fun. I was disappointed with the quality of some of them, but a few were quite good - the one at Mansion House, for instance (Deackie's one and only one as photographer).

The Rubber Duckie LP is about the guide. It covers the 'Restaurant at the End of the Universe'. It has Roy Hudd (a good British comedian, much better than the fellow on the TV series) in it.

I've been really busy in RL at work and I've been using h2g2 as an escape. I worked on and submitted two entries to PR, but they seem to be sinking fast. Maybe it's because it's half term here. I thought they were quite reasonable. There seems to be a lot of stuff being submitted at the moment, though. Maybe that's it.

Given what you do in RL, I wondered if there were concerns in Germany about mobile phones and adverse effects on health?

I'll post later about Sufis - it's a spiritual path. I've got a bit of brain fade at the moment.

I've just been to a conference in London and went past all those places we went together at the meet, so I thought of you and remembered I hadn't told you about Sufis as I said I would. Sorry!

Like you, RL has been intervening and I've got my picks at the moment. Made three, had one rejected and Dastardly picked one I was waiting for an outstanding issue to clear. It hasn't cleared yet, so it may become available again.

Sufis - the Whirling Dervishes are Sufis. It's a branch of Islam, although in the order I belong to, you don't have to be Islamic. My order believes in honouring each of the religious traditions equally without favouritism. I do (or try to do) breathing practices each morning, aimed at purification and clarity of thinking. Sufis also 'atune' to the energy of great spiritual figures, such as the Buddha, Christ, etc. Sufi dancing (see my entry on Peace Dancing <./>A662942</.&gt also attunes the dancers to different energies and can be very uplifting. There are also meditation practices, which I should do more often as they are very beneficial and help with focus and clarity.

You said you were also preoccupied with RL. I hope it was good things, not bad.

On another subject, there's been quite a lot of mention in the press recently about mobile phone masts and illness linked to them, both in people who build them and clusters of illness in the surrounding areas. Is that a matter of concern also in Germany (I think your Green Party is much more powerful than ours)?