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

Hi Ellen! Thanks for checking out the reggabwoW? page; that's where I came from .... Hee hee, and thanks for the compliment over there!

So then, who's your favorite Beatle? Or rather not say it?


the Shee

My favorite Beatle is Paul , but John runs a very close second. Both had such beautiful voices, no one else today comes close. There's a great book called The Day John Met Paul by Jim O'Donnell, which is "an hour-by-hour account of how the Beatles began."

Have you ever seen The Rutles? It's a fantastically funny parody of the Beatles. JE

Oh yes!... And at Beatlefest last year (actually, this summer) they had Neil Innes come by too; they ended up playing a whole bunch of Rutles songs there with the band... "All You Need is Cash" and the like . Neil Innes of Monty Python fame too, of course (I like Monty Python.) I try to make it up to Beatlefest every year; it's so much fun!

Today's music... I don't know what it is about it, but I don't really like it.... I'm liking 50s music more and more lately too, so Run Devil Run and the Rock'n'Roll album are the best of both worlds !


the Shee

Yes, I like Monty Python too. Holy Grail cracks me up. I'm a fan of Terry Gilliam's films too - Time Bandits, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, etc.

I was just informed that Terry Gilliam's birthday is the 22nd November... That's really near mine, pretty cool! Do you know the Monty Python Parrot skit? That one always cracks me up.

So we're all Scorpios then! My birthday is Nov. 19. The Parrot Skit - a classic. "This is a DECEASED parrot!" "No, it's just sleeping." Other Python I like - the Dept. of Funny Walks, and the one where Michael Palin pays to have an argument. Hahahahaha! Have you seen any of the Palin travel documentaries? I loved Pole to Pole. Quite an adventure there. JE

I didn't know about the travel documentaries.... Are they likely to be found in a movie store?

I have a CD with a lot of the skits on it--including, of course, the SPANISH INQUISITION! (Bet you weren't expecting that .) Holy Grail is great... I ran it once with the subtitles on, so I could understand what the French man was saying with his accent... My guess to what he said was just as good!

Pole to Pole was at our Blockbuster for a while at least. It's a set of 4 or 5 tapes if I recall correctly. If you call around I bet you could find it. It's not laugh a minute like Python of course, but it is charming in it's own way. The armchair traveler in me is attracted to it. Speaking of armchair travel, have you ever seen Accidental Tourist, or read the book? I love the book and movie both.

Holy Grail has so many funny bits. The coconuts. The knight with his limbs cut off. (Doesn't sound funny but it is.) The castle full of naughty maidens. And of course, the killer bunny rabbit. I heard they had a hard time filming Grail, so it's amazing it turned out so well. Maybe one day I will add it to my DVD collection.

I tried to find some old Alec Guiness movies at Blockbuster tonight, and out of 4 titles, they didn't have a single one. Very frustrating.

I stopped by your page and saw that you like ASL. I took some classes in ASL a couple years ago. I really enjoyed it a lot. I liked the way you could show something spatially, like a room or a traffic accident, and you would know right where everything was, with much more economy than spoken English. (I hope that makes sense.)

I also saw that you don't like Yoko's voice. I don't like it either. She's a nice lady, but man, she cannot sing.

Where do you hail from Shee? A lot of people on h2g2 seem to be from England, which makes sense given the BBC bit, though I've met some from Germany, South Africa, and right here in Tennessee.

You're right, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Bye now, Ellen

Why, that's a letter!

I'm also in the USA... There are a *lot* of people here (h2g2); it is really nice. Everyone seems to be represented..... I have a bit of a problem with the no-language-other-than-English rule, but I understand why they have to have it... It would be nice to have people able to talk in their native languages, but sometimes it can't be helped....

You know the BBC forbade a song back in the 50s (I think) for using the word "spitball"? Heh heh... Them and their ***ing of words.... Hey, whatever floats their boat! (I like that phrase, hee hee.)

I have some deaf friends... I learned Signed English to use with them (including mouth-movements, but those are harder now to match up--I've noticed that as the years have gone by, I've gotten more and more ASL-like in my phrasings, so trying to put the English on top is harder....). Sign language is fun! I am trying to find an actual class to learn ASL in, but no one teaches that--everyone teaches signed english around here, and I know that already! ASL is beautiful, but all I know of *Deaf* ASL is what I've learned by myself from videos and books.... (Same with Russian; of course, sans video! )

Hey, thinking back on the Macca thing... How do you feel about Heather Mills? I think she's a basically good person, but she's getting a lot of rap because (of course) it is *Paul McCartney*, and he's so special and all.... It's hard to tell... I am wondering a lot about how he left Linda rather quickly... Well, I suppose it isn't *that* quickly, but still... Hmmm....

Eeeeeehhhhhhh... let's see.... Oh yes, about the Accidental Tourist--I've never even heard of that before! I guess it is something I have to look into...


the Shee

I actually find the BBC moderation to be quite refreshing. I've spent a lot of time in AOL chatrooms and they can get crude beyond belief. I try to report some of the worst offenders, but it's a losing battle really. The occasional curse word for emphasis doesn't bother me, but some of this trash talk is really offensive. People do it just to get attention. H2g2 just has a kinder, gentler tone to it. Maybe it has something to do with Douglas Adam's legacy. He seemed like such a nice person.

There's a great set of ASL videos by Bernard Bragg called The Man Behind the Mask. It's based on his book, Lessons in Laughter. The book is good too, but it really can't compare to seeing him signing. The tapes are entirely in ASL with a voiceover. You might be able to find them at a library for the deaf; you can get stuff through the mail you know.

I'm pleased that Paul has found love in his life again. He and Heather seem a good match. He was so devastated for a while after Linda's death, and no wonder, the only time they were ever even apart was when he was arrested in Japan. The Brooks Museum here in Memphis had a wonderful exhibit of Linda's photography, by the way. She was really talented.

I'm getting ready to watch Into the Arms of Strangers - the Story of the Kindertransport. I'll probably write a journal entry on it if it's any good. JE

Oh, I'm so sorry for not getting back to you earlier! I'm doing so much stuff, and then this conversation got caught in the backlog and AHHH!

I haven't spent any time at all in chatrooms, or that sort of thing... So the moderation bothers me. But just a little. I think it is certainly better than the alternative!

I own "A Phrasebook of ASL"--I really like it, and it only cost like $3 or something really cheap; it was on the clearance rack at Borders! That is an amazing book, especially for what they were charging for it.... Beautiful stuff.

Kindertransport--I read a lot about the War things in past years, but I'm trying to stay away from that now. I've never actually watched anything on TV or movies or anything like the, beyond Life Is Beautiful (great movie!--the captioning is better than the voiceover though; it was originally Italian). I'm trying to stay a bit more positive and upbeat now; what the government is doing with their "anti-terrorism" bills is frankly scaring me, so.... It is turning into a bit of 1984, which *really* freaks me out. I am trying to stay happy within my limits though, so . Stay bright and positive! Yippee! (I don't know why, but I feel exuberant right now--perhaps the fault of the Yippee? )

Anywayz.... (I'm glad Paul's happy )
~Shee

I loved Life Is Beautiful. I agree very much that the captioned version is better than the dubbed one. They just couldn't recreate the same enthusiasm in the voices. The part that always gets me in that movie is when the wife insists on boarding the train with her husband and son. Not a dry eye in the house! Kindertransport was good, but I couldn't think of much to say about, so no journal entry. There's a world war 2 drama on tomorrow night called The Uprising. Looks good.

Micio says hello. She's my kitty cat.

Speaking of 1984, I don't like how certain directors are going back and changing their movies to release on VHS or DVD. George Lucas put Jabba the Hut into the original Star Wars, and I can't stand Jabba. And I heard that Steven Spielberg digitally removed all the guns from ET, as well as the frog scene for some reason. Another thing in Star Wars, they changed it so that Greedo shot first in the cantina scene, which doesn't even make any sense - he would have killed Han. How could he miss at such short range? Well, I think movie directors should leave their films alone, and not change them up like that. Just one of my pet peeves. Hmm, I think I may do a journal entry about this.

Yippee! Ellen

Ooh, you have a cat?! I like s... Except when they try to bite me but gladly that doesn't happen too often. I have a , but no cat. The rabbit's cute... he scared one of my friends once, after watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail . He's a nice bunny, but rather fat.

It's been a long time since I've seen ET... I saw it a long time ago, when it came out, but I wanted to see it again rather recently--only to find the VHS tape was all messed up! The tape was broken, so I couldn't see the movie. Which means no ET for Shee...

(I don't like Jabba either. He's ugly. Not ugly like physically (although that too), but the character bothers me.)

1984 1984... that was a good book . I already said that, but I figured I'd reiterate it . Did you watch Star Trek? The originals with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy? I like those.... Spock is a good character; I like him especially That's sort of my outlook, really; it exemplifies it..... At least, on most things. . You know, I could really use a "shrug" smiley... I seem to be doing a lot of ing in conversations lately!

Now I'm going to ask one more question of you (): do you play chess? Checkers? I wonder how many people actually do.... You don't find that many just sitting around playing, but there seem to be a lot who know how... That's sort of interesting, that someone would have an ability and not use it. (Look! There I go again! ) There's a lot of that; it's weird. Ah, you probably would have said something after you were poking around my page then, wouldn't you?... So I can guess my answer is no.

Ack, now I'm thirsty... Too much typing? Tee hee...
~Shee

I used to love Star Trek when I was a kid. I wish I could see some of them again. You can rent some episodes on DVD, but our store doesn't carry many. I remember reading recently that "wasn't it a coincidence that everyone in the galaxy spoke English?" LOL Did you see the comedy Galaxy Quest? It spoofed the old Star Trek really well. I believe there's a review of Galaxy Quest on h2g2. My favorite Star Trek was "Mirror, Mirror" about an alternate reality, where everyone on the Enterprise was really vicious, and Spock had a beard. I was into Star Trek until Star Wars came along, and then I was a huge Star Wars fan.

I'm excited about the Harry Potter movie coming out. Have I said that already? I haven't read the book, but the previews look good, and Alan Rickman is in it. My brother told me it's getting rave reviews in London.

Yes, I play chess, although I haven't played in a while. I don't know very much chess strategy, just the basics, so I play rather wildly. I have a little computerized chess board I can play games against. I set it on the easy level and just have fun with it. I remember we had a terrible ice storm several years ago in Memphis, the power was out for more than a week, and I played a lot of chess then, because there was nothing to do, and the little player ran on batteries. I way playing by firelight. That was some storm by the way. I remember that falling trees and limbs crushed a lot of cars.

JEJ

P.S. Hey you've only been here four weeks! I thought you were a veteran. How did you master GuideML so quickly? And how did you get involved with Reggabwow?

Ah, "Mirror, Mirror"... I like that one too... And the ones with the Tribbles! Trouble with Tribbles, all right.... But they looked so cute!

We actually had a motorised one; I can't remember what happened to it. If you stroked it, it would purr (make its little Tribble-noise )... Grey-ish white with blue eyes.... Very nice little thing--I think that is part of why I like the Tribbles so much.

Wasn't there an old Star Trek, where they met a Deaf planet? Where "everybody here spoke sign language"? I don't know; I've only ever heard about it in books. That would be something I'd like to see.... I have a trivia question about Star Trek, but I don't think I'm going to say anything about it because then I can use it if I ever get the H2IQ next quiz question.... But nothing wrong with you!

I can't wait for the Harry Potter movie--it is supposed to be pretty good, even though I don't have contact with English Harry-Potter-freaks anymore... November 16, here we come! It is going to be awful, trying to get in to see it, at the begining. More of the British Invasion!

I am rather new here, I guess... I was a right lurker a few months ago--I found h2g2 right after DNA's death : it was linked on the bottom of the obituary page at netscape.com. So that was what-- 5-ish months ago? I'm not quite sure. I spent hours just searching h2g2, got started on the Paperchase, did a couple more things without actually having an account. But then I got one! Am sorta new, though...

(GuideML wasn't that hard for me to pick up--I take to things like that easily. Taught myself a bit of HTML as well, but I've never used it, so I can't remember very much at all.)

With reggabwoW? I just replied to the original reggabwoW? journal entry by sea, and then I mentioned that I would help... Put my email on my Upage for like 5-10 minutes for sea to pick it up, and she sent me the login for the WLC. Do you want to join? Just ask, and I or someone else can send you the info... (Did you see the WLC interview with Frankie Roberto on the Post? Very cool! )


Shee

Oh yes, and the reason I asked about chess--have you seen the h2g2 Chess Club? Trying to recruit, so...

I had a rabbit when I was a kid, but it wasn't very friendly. It didn't like to be touched at all. Micio, my kitty, is just the opposite. She's so friendly that sometimes I think she thinks she's a dog. She climbs on my arm or on my chest, especially when I'm watching TV, and purrs, and gets me to scratch behind her ears and under her chin. She just loves it.

I've never seen or heard of a "deaf" Star Trek episode before. Well, I do remember one where a woman was mute, but she wasn't deaf, and she didn't use signs.

I don't mind waiting in lines to see movies. It's kind of exciting. I'll never forget the time I saw Raiders the first time, at a sold out preview show. Everyone cheered thoughout the movie.

I also found out about h2g2 through Douglas Adams' obituary, but only a month ago. I love his books.

I think I'll pass on working on the reggabwoW project. Same thing with the chess, I'll leave that to you.

I saw Monsters Inc. today with my oldest sister. It was a lot of fun. We hehawed. It was animated by the same people that made Toy Story. Amazing what they can do these days.

You don't have to be on the reggabwoW? project to be in the Collective. And I enjoy chess, even when Awix is killing me at it ...

I've heard from a lot of people that they've really liked Monsters Inc., and of course I'm going to see Raiders once it comes out on DVD.... The last thing I saw in the theatre was Phantom Menance, so it's been a while! I don't know why; I don't seem to frequent the theatre as often as most people.... Hmm...

What I really want to see in the theatre is Final Fantasy--it is entirely computer generated, but it is *really good*... They must have spent hundreds of hours rendering it.... I don't know much about the plot, but the graphics are supposed to be superb!

I've read a lot of Ray Bradbury before--the Martian Chronicles I've started a few times and never finished, though I think that's the only book of his that I haven't finished once I began it. Dandelion Wine, Fahrenheit 451, other stuff too, that I don't own... I really like sci-fi, so he and Asimov are some of my favorite authors.

for Ellen--
~the Shee

I read the Frankie Roberto Interview in the Post. Hey, you're famous now. Very cool.

Final Fantasy looked like it might be a little overwhelming in the movie theatres, but it should be great on DVD. Sometimes I need to be able to distance myself a little bit from a movie, pause it and go for a snack, stuff like that. It is amazing what they can do with animation these days.

I was lucky enough to inherit about a dozen collections of Ray Bradbury short stories from my siblings. I come from a big family, I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers, and I'm the baby. Bradbury has a brand new novel out called From the Dust Returned. I wonder if I can find it at the library.

Are you looking foward to Thanksgiving? My brother Bobby and his wife Kip are hosting it at their new house for the first time. Should be a lot of fun. With so many relatives, our gatherings get a little wild.

My birthday is coming up soon too. Even more fun!

I don't think I've told you about Catch Me If You Can. It's a really cool book I read recently. It's the true story of con man Frank Abagnale, who successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a pediatrician, a lawyer, and a professor. He flew all over the world and wrote millions of dollars worth of bad checks. He was on the FBI's most wanted list before he was 21. Anyway, they're going to make a film out of it with Steven Spielberg directing and Leonardo Dicaprio starring. Tom Hanks may play the FBI guy. I'm very pleased, cause it's a cool story, and I love Leo. (You've probably noticed by now, if you looked at my page. LOL)

Bye for now. Ellen

Hey, I'm feeling very subdued tonight. I'm worried about a friend of mine who has been depressed for several weeks. She's trying to get into a program to help, and I'm hoping that she gets in and everything works ok. I wish she lived here in Memphis so I could be more supportive. She's coming for a visit soon, though, so I look foward to that. JE