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

*waves again*

I'd noticed you'd been away, and come back again. I haven't been on much for ages, and I've been enjoying having some early nights too (although early is still relative I guess ). I did stay on 'til 4am yesterday, just like the good ole days , but I've been getting to bed before midnight quite a bit lately

*sigh* - look at all those smileys! I hope I haven't forgotten how to talk proper here.

Did you have a good time away? You were in the US right?

Ah, smileys! I just posted something pretty heavy elsewhere with no smiley support at all, so I'm not going to worry about it

I had a wonderful time away - thinking back, I didn't actually *do* very much in terms of getting out and about (trips to the mall - compulsory in the US - trips to the beach) because most of the time was taken up with my niece (who was really bossing me around like a lackey by the time I left) and my new nephew (who liked sleeping on me a great deal). My sister and her husband only moved to this place, in Maryland, a year or so ago, so I hadn't been there before. Very flat. I mean, very nice, deer, corn etc., but really very flat. In Britain, I get that way whenever I go to East Anglia. It's pleasant enough, green, damp, but also very flat. So there isn't all that much to say. But, yes, top trip!

I noticed you hadn't been around too much. Now, be honest - if the absence of the 'Most Postings in 24 Hours' lists is depriving you of a reason to dwell and post like a demon, we can start a proper campaign if you like

2.30 AM - what was I just saying about not hanging around here late at night?

hey, I see you are online. Shouldn't you be in bed by now?

While I am a bit nostalgic for the Most Posting list, and would probably be sorely tempted were it to reappear, I must admit I have a new obsession and have ended up with a few late nights again this week : A3072746 gives you a clue.

And h2 seems to be insinuating its way back into my daily life again I am being good and avoiding any overly stressful conversations though.

Aaaah - the HH Adventure Game - all becomes clear!

I started it, got to the Vogon ship (by some miracle), but RL demands are keeping me a bit busy at the mo, so I'll have to hold off for a bit (or I could be in big trouble at work).

The original Infocom game was something I always wanted to play as a nipper, but my tiny computer was far too wee for it.

So, where are you up to?

Don't tell anyone but I'm still on the Heart of Gold. I've been there for a few years now, although not constantly you understand . Maybe I need to take Lou Reed with me. Or a couple of badgers?

You still busy in RL? I haven't seen you round so much, but then I've been a bit sporadic myself.

*Finally flops, exhausted, into hootoo* Busy in RL? Er, just a bit. I thought I was never getting back here

'Last Posted Five Days Ago' That can't be me - I must have got the wrong PS.

Even if they're not actively gambolling round your feet, your badger escort is never far away - yes, even on the Heart of Gold (very loyal, badgers). I did start playing it, but that's something else I think I'm going to have to put on hold till ... er ... hmmm. Christmas maybe? Well, hopefully it'll stay on the BBC site for a good long while.

Thank the lord it's Friday - I feel like I've hardly slept this week!

Hope all is well with you and you're being as little sporadic as possible

>>'Last Posted Five Days Ago'<< I saw that last night and was about to send out a search party. Maybe you need to have a talk with work - all this time away from h2 can't be good

The badgers must have been with me because I made it off the Heart of Gold yesterday, only to end up repeatedly dying at the claws of the bugblatter beast of Traal

Most exciting h2 moment this week - I got a part playing Fran from BB in a thread. Unfortunately as soon as I joined we changed the topic

I've been depressing myself this week thinking about global environmental crises (I saw some shocking statistics). I see az has started a thread on global warming so I might go expunge some of my gloom there.

kea.

Heyheyhey! We're not on hootoo at the same time, are we?

Having someone change topic as soon as you get to be Fran is a very ... well, 'Fran' thing to happen, I think You can be Fran here all you like if you feel you weren't given the chance to get into it properly(tell me to open the wine, I'll say no and then shout at Manny to do it: that should start us off nicely).

You mean there's Bugblatter Beasts too? I suspect I've only nibbled at the surface so far.

Was it the news from Hawaii that triggered this week's environmental concerns? Not good, is it. There seem to be so many more immediate fears around at present (though not necessarily more real, according to today's Guardian and an upcoming BBC documentary: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1327786,00.html)
...that environmental problems get pushed to the back of the anxiety queue all the time.

I feel a conspiracy theory coming on!

We just about had a real time conversation, then my mac crashed (or actually ing IE crashed it for me).

I'm don't know what has happened in Hawaii . I was reading about how we only have enough topsoil on the planet to grow another 20 years worth of food (or something like that). Then last night there was a news item about the global frog research they have just completed - there are something like 6,000 frog species and 2,500 of them are facing extinction. Scientists believe that amphibians reflect environmental problems first and think this is a really bad sign and want us to do something about it.

I couldn't find anything in a websearch which is probably just as well. I have quite a few more scarey statistics but I should probably stop there or I'll turn into Marvin and start bringing you down too.

I think you are right about the terrorism thing. Although I suspect that most people are more distracted by shopping and how they look and reality tv

Personally I think worrying about terrorism is like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic, although I guess that is pretty easy to say from this little island in the South Pacific.


Your encouragement to play Fran did cheer me up though

*flops down in chair and wonders where the is*

MANNY!!!

Manny: Yes Bernard?



Manny: I have to do everything round here *pop* don't know why I bother *splooshsplooshsploosh* not your servant

The Hawaii thing was the discovery that the greenhouse gas predictions of recent years may have been a little on the optimistic side. Hope CNN will do:

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/10/11/britain.climate/

(I find it slightly sinister that CNN's report on greenhouse gas monitoring actually in the U.S. itself can only pick up on items in two British newspapers. In the US of SUV, all is still and calm, apparently. Oh and chokey and grey, obviously).

Yes, I did see the thing on frogs (front page of the Guardian had a fantastic picture of an enormous green frog, so it was quite hard to miss). Most fragile of environments, I suppose. Already fairly Marvinned .

I'm really looking forward to this documentary now. It's the sort of thing I thought the BBC would be too nervous of in the present political climate, but good on them. Trouble is, the kind of hysteria that has become pretty commonplace now is almost impossible to reverse.

>>pretty easy to say from this little island in the South Pacific<<

Are we discounting the French and the Rainbow Warrior then? Oh, silly me, I forgot, when western governments do it, it's not terrorism, is it, it's 'protecting legitimate interests'. Must be more careful how I phrase these things in future

MANNY!!!

Manny: Yes Bernard?

Some sandwiches would be nice.

Manny: Really! Humph! *Goes to kitchen to make sandwiches*

FRAN: Mannny... Maaannnny...get me a cup of with my sandwich. Go on Manny...

MANNY: (from kitchen) Yes, yes..grumblegrumble *puts kettle on and continues making sandwiches*

FRAN: Bernard, what are these badgers doing in here?



I'd been thinking about the Rainbow Warrior recently. Because my definition of terrorism of late (last few years) has been actions that are intended to cause terror, and I had rather naively seen the French action as being to sink the ship as opposed to disabling people/organisations with fear. Of course their action was doing both but at the time for NZers in general there was no residual fear (I imagine there was for Greenpeace workers), just lots of outrage and anger, and shock. It's strange looking back to that time when NZ was so cocooned from international violence. I mean, we still are physically, but we are much more exposed mentally and emotionally now.

Some kind of self protective mechanism must have kicked in because I've stopped thinking about the environment for a few days. I've suddenly found myself in a large living room at a party which I think may be in Islington. Phil and Arthur Dent are here, but they are hard to talk to and I can't seem to find a way to leave

How goes things with you?

Blimey: really must try and get on more often. I mean, work is all very well, but it musn't distract me from my hootoo. How's things with me? Busier than a sackful of badgers, where the badgers have been allowed to bring games with them.

Well, that 'fear' documentary - which is called 'The Power of Nightmares', in fact - was very ... er, frightening. The Islamic Fundamentalist stuff I already knew a bit about, as did I about what the Committee for the Present Danger (Rumsfeld, Chaney, Wolfowitz, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all) got up to in the 70s and early 80s. But the analogies this was suggesting between the two were deeply scary. And there was some fascinating stuff about the way in which these Washington Hawks basically invented terror networks, linked to the USSR, to back up their own entirely fictitious world-view (I think I know what's coming next week). It's the only documentary I've ever seen where I ended up feeling sorry (well, a bit sorry) for the CIA, who were continually being told to go back, reexamine the evidence and return with some 'other' conclusions - and they actually did their best to refuse, on occasion.

And how did the CIA *know* that the USSR wasn't sponsoring a world-wide terror network, Rumsfeld et al. wanted to know? Because all the rumours about such a network had been carefully planted in the European press by ... the CIA! Ta da! Brilliant consiracy-theory shenannigans, made slightly less joyful by the fact that it's all apparently true.

Party in Islington, eh? Would the phone number be any help? Have you tried talking to Trillian and telling her you're from another planet etc., etc.?

Where's Manny with the ? If he's playing those badgers his Hawkwind CDs again, he's sacked and there's an end to it.

Yeah I think you are really going to have to watch this work thing


Your last post gave me much thought. I went and read the Guardian article properly too. I've been in a conspiracy theory thread and ragging on the Americans there - just stretching some muscles but am getting bored because I am not learning that much. However one person did say the world hates America because of foreign policy in the 60s and blamed it on the CIA. It's refreshing* to hear a broader perspective here than scapegoating the CIA. These people (powermongers) just seem more and more insane to me, and so disconnected form what is real and true and important

*kind of

I'm too tired to make much sense right now. I've been out socialising and probably over done it Luckily I am too tired to be depressed by the world situation.

Which reminds me, when I was at the party in Islington it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise who I was . SInce then I've been all sorts of places but not really getting anywhere. I can see this may need my serious attention this week.

Socialising, eh? Glad to hear it! (and not in the least bit jealous, no, not me) 'Too Tired to be Depressed by the World Situation' - sounds like a new nickname type tag thing to me!

Was I caught out *not* slamming the CIA? I'll have to watch out for that. They do serve as demons so often, that that programme did make me think about it more carefully - it's not dissimilar to the Iraq Information stuff here recently: the intelligence services produce something cautious and qualified and the government then transforms it into something wholly unequivocal and unambiguous.

(BBC site - better be careful here )

As for 'true' - apparently, the guru behind the neo-con revival in the seventies (a man named Straus, I think) held, as a serious political philosophy, that if it got people to behave and concentrate on being good americans, then making up entirely fictitious world crises was perfectly legitimate (the ends justifying the means). One minute they're thinking up world-wide terror networks, trying to persuade Reagan that it's all true despite the complete lack of evidence for it and, shortly after, Nicaragua, El Salvador (etcetera, etbloodycetera). Sinister and sad.

Not realising who you are - parties in Islington can be like that. Hope you get somewhere soon (and that the socialising doesn't keep you from the game too much).

Where have all the badgers gone? I was warned they drop out of sight in the Autumn, but it's still a bit disconcerting. I'm not sure if they hibernate or not - maybe I'd better find out.

"Where have all the badgers gone?" Now *that* sounds like a new tagline to me (although is sounds familiar, so maybe it's been used before).

I hope they play the documentary here (the terror one, not the badger one). I don't watch much tv on the war etc at the moment, but I'd probably watch this one.

There was something on the radio today about a survey of what democrats and republicans thought they were getting from the news. eg the republicans thought that WMDs have been found in Iraq whereas the democrats thought they hadn't been found. There were quite a few examples like which made me think about how polarised the whole left/right things is but that there are definitely things about the right that are downright weird I mean it's not just ideology when you believe something that isn't true. Or is it?

I've had someone here today cleaning up the section and made several forays out to help. Consequently I am knackered and looking forward to retiring to bed with Coro and a beer

I haven't made it back to the party in Islington yet, although now that I think about it I could drag the laptop into the bedroom while I'm watching Coro, for the adbreaks.

We have a new Irish drama starting tonight called Any Time Now ('new' being a distinctly relative term at TVNZ). I don't know if you watch much TV drama...

Actually, the hootoo badger saturation seems to have calmed down a bit recently, so I'm loth to stir it all up again. Well ... maybe.

They had the second part of the doco on last night: if anything, even more scary. This one was covering the end of the Soviet Union (which the neo-conservatives in Washington thought was entirely down to them) and the subsequent search for a new figure of ultimate evil. Which turned out to be ... Bill Clinton! I mean, this was really quite shocking: every single one of the early scandals of Clinton's presidency - Whitewater, Vince Foster's death, all the sex scandals (with the single exception of Monica Lewinsky) - completely made up, not a single scrap of evidence, cobbled together by this right-wing smear group in Arkansas, with the specific aim of branding Clinton a demented sociopath. Frightening. You probably will get it, unless a flurry of lawsuits hits the BBC (I'm still really impressed they're doing it).

>>I mean it's not just ideology when you believe something that isn't true. Or is it?<< I don't know that US citizens finding their own ideological leanings more reliable than their media is all that surprising. But I agree - it's just breathtaking sometimes: "Oh, they must have moved those WMD to Libya just before our troops got there" etc. Though I never quite know how big a part the media themselves play in actively seeking out extreme views when they're conducting polls like that ('Sorry, you're much too sane. Next!').

Beer and Coro - heaven! Not sure about the laptop as well, though - when I try to do that, I always end up missing part two Is NZ Coro up to the same place as UK Coro? I don't want to comment on recent plot developments if not.

Watch TV drama? Well, not in the past few weeks, but I've got a bit waiting for me on video, if I ever get the chance (a two-part reality-drama called 'Sex Traffic' which got rave reviews and has loads of fab Eastern European actors in it and which is - as you can probably guess from the title - hugely depressing also). Usually - lots and lots! I've not heard of 'Any Time Now' ... or I don't think I have. My absolute favourite recently was 'State of Play', which was just fantastic, really gripping stuff.

See? If you were trying to read this in an ad-break, you'd have just missed the bit where Sunita tells Shelley ...

The conservatives probably couldn't believe their luck when they discovered Monica Lewinsky.

I'm not sure now why I am so surprised at the ignorance of the republicans, because I remembered today how I used to feel this way about lots of NZers too (back in the grim days when we had a new right government).

I didn't manage a beer last night but did get to watch telly all night. Then I was on h2 'til 2 in the morning I figure I'm allowed one or two blowout nights per week

Coro - we're MONTHS behind (about 9 I think, they just had Christmas a few weeks ago). Tracey is going to have her baby next week, and Karen and Steve are meant to be getting married. You're welcome to talk about Coro as long as you can remember that far back and don't discuss anything more recent

State of Play was superb! The best television I have seen in years. I taped it all to see again in the Summer (apparently we are all out having barbeques and playing sport in the Summer because they put the most absolute cr*p on then).

We also had Spooks which was ok, and that one about the SAS which I though was good although quite violent. It reminded me of The Professionals particularly the humour. I normally have a low tolerance for violence now, so it must have had a decent plot or script or something.

I'm not sure if I'll be up to watching Sex Traffic (if we get it). You can let me know if it is hard out depressing or if it has some redeeming bits.

At the moment we have Cutting It, which is so silly that it's engrossing (and quite funny). I'm still trying to figure out if there is some kind of Manchester self parody going on - it's hard to tell from over here.

Friday night is really bad on TV so I'll have to resort to a vid. I'm taking a reprieve from the too many Serious conversations I have gotten myself into in the last few days Can't seem to help myself

oh dear, now it's 1am again...

I'm especially enjoying the nontable thread though

Hey - that really was a bit of a gap. Ooops! I'm trying to remember if I've been on at all this week. I think I may have tried to post something mid-week, but then got so depressed I just gave up (I was, like everyone else, 'waiting for Ohio' at that point).

(The pull-out bit of the paper was brilliant yesterday and it almost cheered me up for a while - an entirely black page, with, right in the middle, in tiny white letters, 'Oh, God'. As articulate a summary as anyone could manage at the time, I suppose).

I can remember that far back in Coro, but I'll keep the comments to a minimum so as not to spoil anything: all I'll say is that you're in a *vintage* patch of Coro gold! Don't miss a minute!

I'd forgotten all about 'Sex Traffic' till I read your last but one: I hope the tapes are still there. Will I get time to watch it before the next groundbreaking drama comes along?

Nontable thread? Is this something to do with vacuuming in the hours of darkness, by any chance?

'Cutting It' as Manchester parody - I suspect that's right. Never really got into that one; or 'Spooks' for that matter, which was, as you say, 'ok' (but heavily hyped here so a bit disappointing in some ways). So glad you like 'State of Play' though - does it have its own fansite, I wonder? Should we start one? I'm chomping at the bit for it to come out on DVD. I quite liked 'Waking the Dead' too, which I started watching recently: not un-violent, it has to be said, but some quite interesting storylines (poor person's 'Prime Suspect', but still pretty good).

Tonight's highlight is 'West Wing'. Not sure I can bear to watch it though. Why doesn't Martin Sheen run for president?