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

Wow - what a NaNo JoPo month that was!

I hope you're OK - I'm a bit worried about you but hopefully this tea \/\3 will help...

My job is going a little bit better, as I have enjoyed the assistance of an assistant to put my s in envelopes, so that's given me time to tackle the Dreadnoughtus, so it should have gone into aestivation by the end of this week Which will then give me time to look at the next creature, that started small but is growing fast...

All the best

I assume I'm fine - getting back to normal, I think. Did I say that when I had my minor op, the didn't come round to see me after, and the didn't know how things went and said I'd get a letter telling me whether or not the op had gone as planned. The letter I had invited me to an appointment on the 23rd December, but this was promptly cancelled so I have now got to wait until the 20th January before I find out whether or not the surgeon did what he said he'd do and how it went (as it is internal, it's not as if I can look and see).

Life's getting back to normal now - back at work, back running, sorting out Christmas and I've been having a clear out of all the entries hanging around.

Good to hear that the Dreadnoughtus is moving on - will you miss it?

<BB<

That's good that you're ok - I was worried you'd be put into hibernation in the loft with your books and I was all set to get on my high horse for the rescue but then I saw the photo of you as a knight in shining armour, so that was reassuring.

That is a long time to wait for the results, so hopefully that's a good sign... Good that you're back running, too How was your placing? About the same as usual if everyone else was bogged down in the mud too, or were you just settling back into your routine?

I won't miss the dreadnoughtus, I have to say and hopefully next year it will be something more like a brontosaurus or suchlike, as the procedure for dealing with the task is now more established so I won't duplicate other people's work by mistake...

I need to look at my half finished Entries soon, too...

I also noticed the SeaCity exhibition page has been updated, but not in a very helpful way... What do you make of it?

Good news - I don't think I need rescuing. A pay rise, yep, need one of them, rescuing, probably not

Runningwise, the last couple of weeks I've come 35th and 38th, so although the time is down, everyone else's is too. There are slightly fewer runners too, which means I'm still 6th in the points table. I did too much comfort eating when I was off, though, and put on a bit of weight so that's not helping me. Though I'm not as fit as I was before the op I think I'll be able to get back to normal soon enough - provided I can find enough will power to stay away from biscuits...
I'm doing the 5k Winchester Santa Run on Sunday - running around Winchester dressed as Father Christmas for charity. Should be fun.

Good to know there's been progress on the dreadnoughtus - I hope you won't miss it too much. Do you get a good Christmas break?

The SeaCity exhibition still seems something I might be interested in, but this time of year money's a little tight so it's hard to know whether or not to go. Still haven't decided. Maybe early next year when Christmas is out the way.

I'm still concentrating on Christmas at home so hadn't planned on writing anything, but then Create has gone and had a Space theme. I'm very tempted to write something for that, but 'Space' has even more articles on than even the Isle of Wight! My first thought was an article on 'The First Men In the Moon' the 1964 Harryhausen film - but after writing about 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' and film adaptations, I'd like to write a 3-part series on it, one on the novel by HG Wells, one on the Harryhausen adaptation and one on the 2010 BBC adaptation - but as I don't actually have the 2010 version, I can't write that yet. (It's on my Christmas list, though).
Next I thought I could write about 'Space' in James Bond films - but that would involve research and re-watching all Bond films with space themes, and I've not got the time right now.
Then I thought I could write about space-themed Beatles songs in an article entitled 'Across the Universe', but other than 'Across the Universe', obscure McCartney instrumental 'Loup the First Indian in the Moon' and the 'Venus and Mars' album, possibly desperately incorporating 'Here Comes the Sun' 'Sun King' 'I'll Follow the Sun', there's not a lot to say. He did broadcast the song 'English Tea' to the International Space Station, though.
There is a fun film called 'The American Astronaut' - however this is a small independent film which I don't know anything about the making of. I do have another, Christmassy idea...

<BB<

That's excellent news that your positioning is still high in the running table - I see your volunteer points help with the overall score, too

Good luck with the run - rather you than me...

I've not decided about the SeaCity exhibition, either... I'm expecting to entertain a Southampton guest up north early in the new year, but if the timings are OK, a birthday treat trip to the museum before 11 January would be rather good, I think

That's an excellent plan for the triple Entry on the Men in the Moon - all very interesting to see the differences between the book and the films

Queen's space song ('39) has been well covered in the Guide, so that's excellent. I don't know whether I have anything particular to add to Space Entries myself, so I need to concentrate on my other topics... I look forward to seeing your Christmassy idea

Aha! I searched for Ursula Le Guin in the university library some weeks ago, and couldn't find Left Hand of Darkness, so I borrowed it from my local library and they took it off me last week, but I just did another uni library search for LHoD now, and it is there! Phew - I can sort that Entry out now (very strange that the books didn't appear before... but I am enjoying reading Poetics of Science Fiction that I picked up instead )

The first 3 times you volunteer points count, up to a maximum of 300 points. If you run and volunteer, if you'd normally get 50 points, you get 50 running points and 50 volunteering points. The last time I volunteered was the day after my op (I wasn't allowed to run that day). The Run should be fun, although it'll be the first time I've run a hilly 5k on roads.

I like the idea of comparing books to films. I did originally plan to write a 'Lost World' Project on the books and the films and television adaptations, but couldn't find the 1960 version on DVD and only the pilot of the 1999+ television series was affordable, so I don't have the full series. Though the 1925 and 2001 versions are excellent, the 1992 is quite good, the 2005 version inexplicably doesn't feature any dinosaurs and I don't think that Conan Doyle had lesbian love scenes in mind when he wrote about 'giving an hour of joy to the boy who's half a man or a man who's half a boy'. (Somewhere in the universe, someone will be sitting down to watch a film they think will be all about porn, only to wonder why it only contains dinosaurs instead, just to balance things out).
Even worse than the 2005 version is the 1998 one, which is just truly, truly terrible (fortunately the DVD only cost me 25p). I really didn't want to write a whole article about it, so I haven't.

I look forward to reading about 'Left Hand of Darkness'. I'd offer to lend you my copy, but that would involve finding it. I know that the cover is blue...
Once upon a time all the books in the loft were organised, and the boxes all were numbered and I have a list that says 'Book A - Box 1' so I would know which box each book would be in. Alas over time, the original boxes have all collapsed with the bottoms falling out, or having heavy boxes stacked on top of them. When a box splits and the books go everywhere, I've had to rebox the books. Many go in the tops of other boxes of books which are not quite full (splitting the books up) as well as in any new cardboard boxes I've been able to find. The end result is that though I still have a list which says Book A is in Box 1, Box 1 is long gone and the books that were once in it are all over the place.

<BB<

That should be fun, to run along the road, but not so fun with the hills...

"the 2005 version inexplicably doesn't feature any dinosaurs and I don't think that Conan Doyle had lesbian love scenes in mind when he wrote about 'giving an hour of joy to the boy who's half a man or a man who's half a boy'. (Somewhere in the universe, someone will be sitting down to watch a film they think will be all about porn, only to wonder why it only contains dinosaurs instead, just to balance things out). "



Sorry to hear that your excellent classification system is no longer accurate... I dread to think what happened to my similar classification system (I wrote the list of items on the boxes themselves, so I can't remember what is in boxes in my parents' loft, but if I can get to see the boxes, I'll know!)

I picked up Left Hand today (in a lilac cover) plus some extra books that I found when I was in the library

I'm hoping the weather won't be too cold on Sunday. I'll be catching the 8:10am train to arrive in Winchester on time, and there isn't anywhere to keep anything so I'll have to travel light. So only shorts and t-shirt, as I don't want to wear more as I'll be putting an extra layer on when actually running. Hopefully I won't be

I'm glad you've got lots of enjoyable books to read from the library. I've got a book reserved at the library at the moment about my non-space related article I'm writing, but I think whoever has it has lost it as it has been out of the library quite a while...

So, do you have any Christmas traditions, decorations, festivities planned for the weekend?

<BB<

Ah You could carry a santa sack with your coat etc in but that might affect your time... Good luck with all that

I need to start thinking about the weekend, but I'm struggling to do so, as another Dreadnoughtus has just been located, hiding behind the pot plant in the corner of the office... I've sent a request for help with it, but there's still a lot for me to tackle...

As it's December now, I could put my tiny tree up this weekend, but I'm even more bah humbug this year than usual so I'll maybe even leave it until 20 December...

I am looking forward to having time to work on h2g2 this weekend, though

The weekend is almost here - the Dreadnoughtus will have to wait.

If I was the soft drinks manufacturer that made Irn Bru, I think I'd make Humbugs. Just as if I were Richard Branson, I'd get into the Olive Oil business...

We put our tree up last week, and I'm still working my way through Christmas... Today's the school's Christmas Fair, tomorrow is my son's BB Nativity, on Sunday after the we're off to the garden centre to meet Father Christmas and meet the reindeer, then next Friday is my son's school Nativity, the Wednesday after is my daughter's and I've got a work Christmas meal and other stuff coming up too. (Tonight, though, is ironing)

Enjoy the spare time for h2g2ing!

<BB<

I hope you had a good week. As you have seen, I had an excellent weekend h2g2ing last weekend Still haven't finished my Ursula Le Guin Entry, but I have been reading

It's our work do this weekend, and I'm getting a haircut too so hopefully that will all go well.

What's a BB nativity? I hope all went well with that, and the meeting of as well as the

It's been a good week - very busy weekend last weekend, with , meeting Father Christmas at the garden centre (I queued for over an hour and a half while the kids ran round the garden centre and met the reindeer). I've sent something about the into and I think it'll be in the Christmas edition. I've just spotted that it's mentioned on the Hampshire Chronicle website and a photo has me in - I'll have to try and get a Hampshire Chronicle on the way home. I've never been in it before.

The BB Nativity was either:

a.) A re-enactment of my birth, or
b.) A Nativity Play performed by the Boys' Brigade

I'll leave you to guess which one's more likely.

Talking of nativities, it was my daughter's today - she was an . Very cute. My son's next week.

I've decided against my original 'Space' idea - to tie it into Christmas I'd planned to write about 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' - until I re-watched that film the other day and was put off. So I'm going to write about 'The American Astronaut' instead - a very zany film. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to borrow a book on another subject I'm writing about soon - the Uni library has one that looks very interesting in its catalogue, but it lists it as 'very overdue' which makes me wonder whether by that they mean 'probably gone for good'...

Good luck with the haircut - I don't have haircuts this time of year as it's too cold, instead I'll wait until Spring. But then my hair is usually either messy and short(ish) or messy and long.

<BB<

"If I was the soft drinks manufacturer that made Irn Bru, I think I'd make Humbugs. Just as if I were Richard Branson, I'd get into the Olive Oil business..."

Slightly delayed reaction, as I only found out yesterday that Barr make Irn Bru, so it took me 2 weeks to work out the joke but

"The BB Nativity was either:

a.) A re-enactment of my birth, or
b.) A Nativity Play performed by the Boys' Brigade"

Yes, I first thought of a.), but b.) is more likely as our birthdays aren't until January

"my hair is usually either messy and short(ish) or messy and long"

As is mine... I got a bad cut last time - just before the London Meet so I had to have a go myself at home to make myself presentable - so it was extra messy by this week. I had success with the new hairdresser, though, as I was able to ask for what I wanted rather than them telling me what I could have, so I'm happy

I look forward to reading the report - congratulations on getting into the paper (I was a small blond disabled child so I got in the papers pretty much every time I went to a local event - my parents collected the clippings but they are rather cringeworthy to look at these days, as I was photographed as a token instead of the people who actually ran the events...)

That is suspicious about the book... I look forward to reading about the zany film rather than the offputting film, and I shall press on with my Entry as well

As a scruffy kid who liked staying in the background I didn't make it into the paper very often, still don't, so it came as a bit of a surprise, even if you can only see my eyes and eyebrows.

Good to know you're pleased with your haircut. Did you get up to much else over the weekend?

I had the Faculty Christmas dinner yesterday afternoon and are having a smaller team one this lunchtime. Tomorrow is my son's nativity however my daughter has been a bit ill the last couple of days and he had a slight temperature today, so we’re hoping he's not coming down with it too.

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I hope you enjoyed your lunch today. It was our work do on Saturday, so I was pleased to look smart-ish for that. I enjoyed it - good to chat and network with people I don't see very much. It was a long table, and I was on the end, so I mainly interacted with just the three people nearest me, which wasn't too overwhelming, although the restaurant as a whole was rather noisy... It wasn't the best meal, as the turkey was a bit dry, but there was plenty of gravy so it was OK. On Sunday I did some Christmas cards, so that was good.

Sorry to hear your children are under the weather. I hope they're better soon, and your son is ok for the nativity.

Reminds me of the time when I was the narrator of the nativity, and I wasn't well in the morning, but my teachers were definitely of the "Show Must Go On" mentality... I much preferred the year I played the Angel Gabriel so didn't have as much to say and didn't have a cold!

Are you extra busy getting things sorted out before the break? I've got s marching around again, but luckily my colleague is helping me put them in their envelopes, so it takes half the time between us

I'm glad you had a good time at your work Christmas do - our night out one was cancelled, so we just had the formal meal yesterday - that was quite good, but the restaurant was odd-shaped and I was sat close to people I didn't know and I didn't know what to say to them, especially as they were generally talking among themselves anyway. Today was with people I actually know, so much more relaxing, and in the local pub (The Spitfire). Shockingly I don't like gravy and prefer salad cream on a roast dinner.

Sadly my son's been sent home today, which means he's missed out on the nativity dress rehearsal and so won't have his picture in the local paper. We'll see how he is tomorrow, though.

Things are quietening down here now as hardly anyone is around, but it'll be manic in January!

<BB<

Sorry to hear your son wasn't well yesterday too - I hope he's ok today, but I'm guessing he probably isn't, as it takes time to recover from bugs.

While I think about it, would 2, 3 or 10 January suit you for visiting SeaCity? I need to try to get a trip organised

That is difficult in the restaurant - kind of like the Manchester Meet this year, where the bar staff put most people on a high table with bar stools, so I was limited to one low table and didn't have much to say, although I enjoyed merely being in the presence of the great 2legs and TRiG.

I recall you mentioning your fondness for salad cream on a roast - shocking indeed that you don't like gravy

Glad you're enjoying a quiet time in preparation for the busy time next term. It doesn't feel like there's an end in sight for my mountain of stuff yet, but I might be surprised next year - it looks like dreadnoughtuses are hiding behind the potted plants, but they might just be small dinosaurs with large tails

Alas both children are under the weather today - my daughter was sick and though my son went to school to do his Nativity Play, he was sent home straight after. He had wanted to do it, though - after all, it just wouldn't be a Nativity unless you had the starring role of Second Elf. You'll be pleased to know they had all the old traditional Christmas songs and carols, 'Jingle Bells', 'Away in a Manger', 'Little Donkey' and, erm, 'Let it Go' and 'Popcorn' (instrumental). Do you know 'Popcorn'?

Questions requiring me to be organised about next month! I've not finished organised seeing my grandmother on Saturday yet. I *think* the 10th is more likely at the moment as I might be seeing friends on the Island the weekend before, but nothing is confirmed yet. The 10th should suit, I think - I've not got a 2015 calendar yet.

I still have to meet 2legs in real life - how does the experience compare with the anticipation?

At the moment we've been asked to phone up all the students who didn't come back after the summer and ask them why they didn't return - not a particularly enjoyable job as if I'd wanted to be a call centre person, I'd work in a call centre. Fortunately I'll be doing some archiving in a bit.

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Sorry to hear your children are both not well. I'm impressed your son did the show before going home though Sounds a fascinating mixture of music - I know Popcorn yes

It was good to see 2legs - very like anticipated, as he showed off how he could pick up a hot plate without flinching and I admired how soft his hands looked, so it was even more surprising that his hands are that tough!

Ah, so you have a dreadnoughtus, too- that wasn't my favourite task contacting students who hadn't reappeared either... I did well with it in the end, but I much prefer dealing with the files too...