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

I haven't seen Ted, but I must mention that, too thanks

Yes, Queen didn't do quite as much for the Highlander soundtrack as for Flash, but what they did do was brilliant - classic Queen

The Sin Bin is an odd thing - I stumbled in there a while ago myself and had a look round. Reading some of the threads, I think the Flea Market was already in existence, but some gems ended up in the Bin rather than the Market for some strange reason perhaps just because the thread header wasn't in the right format...). Having the conversations attached to the Entries is better, as I didn't see the ps2 discussion, for example, and that will be helpful

Keep up the good work

'Ted' was one of the few films I've seen in the cinema lately - and there's quite a few 'Flash Gordon' references, including Sam Jones in the same costume. Thinking about it, I might have the novelisation of the film somewhere...

Meanwhile, I'll carry on looking through the Peer Review Sin Bin, hoping to uncover some buried treasures of articles.

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That is good work going through the Sin Bin - I see there were quite a number of articles that were abandoned there, even though they would have been worthy of the Flea Market if the header had been in the right format

I snaffled a good one - well written, and just needed a little bit of an update

I really enjoyed going through the Sin Bin - it was a bit like hunting for buried treasure, seeing what there is to see. I wonder if there are any other forgotten parts of h2g2 like that I could go through?

But yes, I spotted you've found one to rescue - I'm overjoyed, it means that my work's been worthwhile.

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Thank you - yes, there are some good Entries that it was a shame to see abandoned just because of the header format, so it's great that they have found their way into the FleaMarket

I see you're doing good work there yourself Definitely worthwhile.

Well, I started work on the Alan Dean Foster one - but most of the books of his I own are in one or more boxes up in the loft (in one of the many, many boxes of books up in the loft). So it might be a while before I finish that article off, as I have to find the books and have a quick read through of some of them. I recently watched the 'Alien' films (both original and special editions) for the first time in years and was surprised at some points in what happened, as I was sure that the Aliens had more abilities than were shown on screen - but I think I might have been remembering what happened in the novelisations rather than what happened in the films at some points, so I want to re-read the Aliens books to check, and look more into the controversy regarding his writing Alien3 and subsequent refusal to write the novelisation for Alien Resurrection. You never know, I might even find my copy of the Flash Gordon novelisation too.

I seem to be starting a lot of articles at the moment, but not actually finishing them.

Did you have a good Easter?

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I did have a good Easter, thanks. Quite quiet, but I enjoyed the good weather and went for a stroll in a local park that needs an Entry in the Guide some time... It was my dad's birthday, too, so he celebrated with an enjoyable small dinner party.

Did you get up to much? I hope your children didn't get too many chocolate Easter Eggs (my numerous relatives all used to buy me one, so it would take me until August to finish eating them...).

I'm impressed by all your film Entries in the Guide - Flash Gordon was quite a challenge for me, although I did enjoy exploring the DVD's extra features. I'm doing another film Entry now, and it's a bit easier now I have more idea of how to go about writing it, but it's still challenging...

Funny how memory of things changes - today my mum and I went to a museum (which could also be added to the Guide) and looked for a bronze sculpture by a particular artist that we always like to look out for. We couldn't find it at first, and then I saw it, made of clay not bronze, although there are plenty of bronze sculptures in the museum, hence we got mixed up... Fascinating

Good luck with your new Entries - you have some great ideas You've got 9 in Peer Review, too, so you're doing alright

I had a good Easter – a busy one, as I had 2 weeks off work and went up to Yorkshire to stay with the inlaws. My brother-in-law and his fiancée have just had a baby, so we were up there to meet her. She's called Scarlett (and I had to resist calling her Captain Scarlett, which I managed to). While we were up in Leeds we took the kids to lots of places, including Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall Abbey A87607533, Temple Newsam, Scarborough (where we spent most of the time in the North Bay area, riding the North Bay Railway and staying in Peasholm Park where they filmed the CBeebies summer song), York Model Railway Show, the National Railway Museum, Cheshire's Brookside Miniature Railway and we completely failed to visit the new cinema in Leeds (there's an article about cinemas in Leeds in the Flea Market, and I've been to them all except the new one. They even showed 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' while I was there, but I'd arranged with my father-in-law to visit the York Model Railway Show that day, so didn't get to see it)

The kids didn't have too many chocolate Easter Eggs – about 2 each. We did an Easter Egg Hunt with small plastic eggs which they enjoyed. I'd given up chocolate, biscuits, crisps and fizzy drinks for Lent, and enjoyed experiencing those again (but I'm a bit miffed about Coca Cola – they've shrunk their 2litre bottle to 1.75 litres without reducing the price, so I've been drinking Irn Bru instead).

I've had a quick look at your new film article. It's a film I've not seen for quite a while and would want to rewatch before I comment further, but I've noticed you mentioned the Pink Panther films once or twice.

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That was a busy time, but sounds good indeed Glad your children weren't overloaded with eggs Difficult when you have a relatively short time to fit activities in, and there always seems to be something that clashes with something else You enjoyed the Model Railway Show, though, I presume?

I hope you had good weather for it - my parents and I went to Yorkshire to see the sights of the Brontes a few years ago and had a great time, but it was ridiculously wet, which wasn't fun... We stopped off at the Leeds Armoury on the way home, which was a good day out too

Sounds like you had a challenging Lent, giving up all that... I'm not a great fan of fizzy drinks myself, so I hadn't noticed, but that is a cunning ploy of Coca Cola...

That's interesting that you've seen Victor Victoria before - I only saw it this year, and I'm very glad I did. (I saw the DVD of the Broadway play a few years ago, but that wasn't very very good, as acting on stage is quite different to film acting, so the flavour of the DVD didn't impress me at the time - definitely not as good as the film itself). I look forward to your comments in due course

Yes – I enjoyed the Model Railway Show. Although it was by far the biggest one I've been to, it was also the busiest and they had barriers everywhere so you couldn't get as close to the models as at the ones I've been to in Eastleigh, even when you can get to the front of the press of bodies around each model. But they were child-friendly and let my son get to the front most of the time (we carried a step for him to stand on).

We've been to the Royal Armouries quite a few times – they used to have a photo on the wall in the warfare there that my granddad took, but sadly it was vandalised quite a few years ago and it hasn't been replaced. But it's very child-friendly and I've often thought about writing an article about it. They've got a dinosaur exhibit next to it later this year which I hope to take the kids to in the summer.

Victor Victoria isn't a film I've seen often, only once I think. It was one on late one night, and as it was by Blake Edwards I watched it. He always seems to have a musical number and some slapstick in his films – who could ask for more? I may have recorded it off the telly, if so it would be on a video in a box in the loft. Next time I'm up there I'll have a look.

Got any plans for the Bank Holiday weekend? Another Bank Holiday so close to the last one! I hope it stops raining...

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Glad your son was able to see something, but that is a bit of a shame that the exhibits weren't as easy to see as at a smaller show. *makes a note* I'm not keen on busy shows myself as I'm relatively short in my wheelchair, but at least things like the Chelsea flower shows tend to have tall exhibits that can be seen from further away - model railways need close viewing...

"He always seems to have a musical number and some slapstick in his films – who could ask for more?"

Indeed

I have no particular plans for the Bank Holiday weekend - as I lost my job this year, it doesn't have the same impact at the moment I'm definitely planning a few more Entries, though

I think of the ones I have visited, the York show was probably the least wheelchair friendly, as it was based on 5 levels and very, very crowded with too many barriers obstructing views from close up. After the show we went to the National Railway Museum – much easier to see everything.

I'm planning on doing the Isle of Wight Randonee on Star Wars Day – 100km bike ride around the Island, so I'm hoping it'll stay dry. I don't have any plans for the Bank Holiday itself, though. Might see where we can take the kids for free that has something going on.

I've just had an e-mail mentioning a facebook request - I'd better warn you, I only go on that place once a month or so, so if you ever want to contact me, don't bother with that website.

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Ah, that does sound rather unpleasant I do like museums, as they are generally not crowded even on a busy day (although British Museum special exhibitions are the exception...)

That sounds like a very pleasant randonnee - I hope you do get good weather for it (it's sunny here today, but I don't know what the forecast is). Are there any May Day festivals near you? There usually are near me, so I shall look out for that Usually enjoyable

No worries about FB - I just find it a bit funny when I can see some of the posts, but can't like them or anything.

It's raining here at the moment – so I only looked at the top end of town and the library for Alan Dean Foster books, only to have no luck so far. Oh well...

I'll have a look to see if there are any May Day events nearby...

Ooh, a dinosaur is coming to the shopping centre on Saturday – that might be fun.

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Did you know I've had the 'Flash' song in my head for the last few days now - but it's come in handy as I've used a quote. Have you spotted where?

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Yes, I spotted where - a good choice for an Entry on Eclipses

I went to a secondhand bookshop today just for a browse, but they didn't have anything of interest to me (no Star Trek or suchlike) so I saved my money this time (last time I was there, I wasn't looking for anything in particular, so I bought a rather nice vintage book on Elizabethan Poetry ).

It was either put that quote there, or 'Dispatch war rocket Ajaz to bring back his body' on the article about Disney Princes (but I couldn't get it to fit...)

That's part of the thrill of second-hand bookshops, the randomness of what catches your eye.

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"That's part of the thrill of second-hand bookshops, the randomness of what catches your eye."

Yes indeed

Right - time for some more business

I'm your sub-editor for Children of the Stones, and the new version is here A87827197.

This is excellent reading and a superb illustration. I have a few questions, though.

"It was Hendrick who discovered the black hole, following an eye-witness account of the supernova that created it written by a priest of the stone circle."

I'm not clear about what this sentence is saying - Hendrick discovered the black hole after reading the account written by the priest, is that right?

"For the cycle is coming Full Circle" - is 'Full Circle' a specific term, or will "full circle" suffice?

"the details concerning the fictional history of Milbury perfectly match the real village of Avebury, where the series is set."

I'm not quite clear about this sentence, either - not all the details of Milbury's history are the same as Avebury's history, as we see in the next section, so "perfect match" is not quite right, but I kind of see what you're saying...

"The Stone Circle is located on top of a natural bowl formation beneath the ground. " - I can't visualise how the bowl is beneath the ground...

"The real Sanctuary was a double stone circle at the top of Overton Hill, 1½miles from Avebury at the end of the Avenue" - what's the Avenue?

Oo look – you've gone all bold and italicised.

I'm glad you've enjoyed reading this – I'm happy to answer your questions.

Yes, Hendrick discovered the black hole after reading the account written by the priest. (It is also implied that the prehistoric priest may well have been Hendrick in a previous incarnation of the cycle)

Is 'Full Circle' a specific term, or will "full circle" suffice?
The climactic series finale is titled 'Full Circle'. As that is the point that the series leads up to, I used capitals, but if you think 'full circle' is better, we can use lower case.

"the details concerning the fictional history of Milbury perfectly match the real village of Avebury, where the series is set."
We could just change 'perfectly' to 'closely match'

"The Stone Circle is located on top of a natural bowl formation beneath the ground. " - I can't visualise how the bowl is beneath the ground...
It is a hidden bowl, buried beneath the soil. We could change this to
'The Stone Circle is located above a natural, but hidden, bowl-shaped formation. Buried deep beneath the ground, it lies secret and undetected, waiting to act as a cosmic antenna dish, pointing to the heavens. '

"The real Sanctuary was a double stone circle at the top of Overton Hill, 1½miles from Avebury at the end of the Avenue" - what's the Avenue?
Yes – we do need to mention what the Avenue is.
The Avenue is a wide, processional path that stretches over a mile between the stone circle at Avebury itself and the nearby Sanctuary. The path is flanked by approximately 50 pairs of tall stones.
Thanks for your hard work!

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