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

Ah, I heard how 'Bohemian Rhapsody' won the 'Best Film – Drama' and 'Best Actor' Golden Globes and was thinking of you.

I didn't get as far as fixing the inner tube on Saturday - my bike journey home on Friday took me about 3 hours (I've walked it in 2) because when I braked, the front wheel suddenly exploded. Which quite made me jump and I had a ringing in my ears for a few minutes. Braking had worn through the wheel rim, you see, so that was what the problem was all along, until I applied the brakes one time too many and then Pop! I stopped much more suddenly and uncomfortably than I had expected. Fortunately it happened where it was quiet, but I did have to get a new inner tube, tyre and wheel…

The rest of the weekend went well, complete with parkrun with my son and a Christmas visit from my Dad on Sunday.

h2g2 wise I've got a dreadful feeling I've got to write an entry about 'Terminator Genisys' now as another 'Terminator' film is out later this year. Also I'm trying to decide what to do about the Aardman entry, and whether I should split it into 2000-2014 and a separate entry for 2015-19…

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Wow - that is impressive for the film to win two Golden Globes even though the critic reception was very mixed. Sounds like it was well deserved for Rami Malek, though, that he put a lot of effort into the role

Double wow about the bike wheel I can imagine that made you jump... Glad it happened in a relatively safe place so it wasn't any worse than it was... That's one way to fix the puncture problem, but a bit drastic... Your new inner tube, tyre and wheel should be more robust, though - is there a way of preventing the problem with the brakes from happening again, or is it just one of those things?

Glad the rest of your weekend went well with extra Christmas - I see you and your son got a good parkrun time this week, too

Hmm, yes an Entry on Terminator Genisys would fit in well with your series, but you're gonna need some more s for the image, by the sounds of it

Interesting question about the Aardman Entry - it is neat enough as it is, being only just over 2,500 words, but making it 2000-2014 would capture 5 films, which is a good number. How many films would be in the period 2015-2019, do you have an estimate? Shaun the Sheep was the last one I saw

I must admit I was surprised too – not for Rami Malek, but that the film won 'Best Drama'. Obviously lots of Queen fans on the panel – sadly it doesn't qualify for 'Best Original Soundtrack'. So, now that it has a veneer of respectability, being an award-winning film, have you changed your mind about wanting to see it?

With the bike, it is sadly one of those things that can happen with wear and tear for bikes with cantilever or V-brakes, but I've never had it happen to me before. But my bike is getting a bit old now and the cost of repairing it will probably start being greater than the value of the bike by the end of the year. As I do go through brake pads quite quick I would probably ideally like to upgrade to a bike with disc-brakes, but unless circumstances change I doubt my budget will stretch that far. Besides which, most bikes with disc-brakes come with suspension and I don't like suspension – I like to be able to feel the road beneath me so I can react to it.

Ah yes, I might have to start stockpiling s but I'm not going to worry about the image about an entry I've not written yet that until it gets picked. You know the old saying about not counting your Terminators until they have time-travelled back from the future and tried to kill you...

Between 2015 and 2019 there are definitely two and expected to be a third Aardman film – 'Shaun the Sheep' (2015) and 'Early Man' (2018) definitely count and 'Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie' is expected to be released around October. So as long as 'Farmageddon' is released this year an Aardman 2015-2019 entry would work. I'll worry about that in November. But there's good news about 'Saludos Amigos'

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Yes, must have been just the right kinds of Queen fans on the panel indeed for the film to win 'Best Drama' - it was a strong field (although I've not seen any of the nominee films either, but I've certainly heard of 'Black Panther' and the Lady Gaga film). I don't particularly pay that much attention to awards as it seems to me that the ones that win the most Oscars and things tend not to be the films I enjoyed the most - ultimately 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is still a biopic, and I really am not keen on biopics...

That is difficult with equipment like bikes/cars/wheelchairs at the point where the costs of repairs start being more than the value of the item... Do you have any bike scheme at work that could help? We do, but that could be just because one of our senior managers happens to be a keen cyclist...

Difficult too about technology moving on - reminds me of when I had to change my Motability car last year. They said, "Good news, you can have a car with hundreds of pounds' worth of sporty extras for the same price as a basic model!" but I found I couldn't actually climb into the sporty bucket seat and they couldn't split the deal so I could choose the extras I would find useful, so I ended up with the basic model Does what I need, anyway, but the seat heater would have been useful when it was freezing this time last year... I don't know anything about bike suspension but can understand that it makes a difference for you to be able to feel the road rather than for eg potentially damaging jolts to be masked until something breaks... Good luck with it all...

"You know the old saying about not counting your Terminators until they have time-travelled back from the future and tried to kill you..."

Yes indeed...

Ah, that is interesting about the Aardman films - I didn't see 'Early Man', but 'Farmageddon sounds promising! Yes, that is good news about 'Saludos Amigos' that a Scout found the cake provided and didn't have any further comments about the Entry

Happy Birthday!
Hope you're having a great day.
I must admit I've not seen any of the films in that category other than 'Bohemian Rhapsody' – we don't go to the cinema often unless we're watching animated/family films. Although sadly 'Early Man' was one I missed last year too – it came out for the February half term, but I was working.

We have occasionally had cycle to work schemes here, sporadically one every few years – never at a particularly helpful time, though. And they still are geared to help those on higher tax brackets buy expensive bikes, with little reward if you are trying to buy a cheap bike. One good thing about a cheap, old bike is that I know it isn't going to be targeted by bike s…

I've never been in a car with heated seats, that sounds a real luxury Assuming, of course, you can switch it off in summer… What type of car is it? How much driving do you usually do? Is it a commute to work rather than long distance? Our last couple of cars have been ex-Motability cars.

Still, many returns for the rest of the day!

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Thank you! I did have a good day indeed. I went out for lunch and ate rather too much but I didn't explode and it was a very pleasant location where I spotted a couple more birdies too

That is disappointing but probably not surprising that the cycle schemes aren't helpful for your needs vs higher tax bracket needs. Good point about not getting anything too fancy - my sister lost a new bike that way a few years ago...

Yes, heated seats are a luxury indeed, that they can be turned on in cold weather, as they heat up faster than the air heater does... I have a Vauxall Corsa these days (I have had a Volkswagen Polo and a Ford Fiesta in the past, but I had Corsas before them). My main criteria are:

a) Can I get in it?
b) Can I reach all the controls to drive it?
c) Can the wheelchair fit in without a struggle?

so heated seats are by the by. It is mainly to get me to and from work (about 10 miles each way) so the mileage in a year is comparatively low. Even my first car that I used to do regular long distance journeys to Uni in as well as the 3 mile journey to and from campus would still have been a bargain for the second owner as it wasn't a huge mileage after 3 years and it was well looked after because I really appreciated it. Great to know Motability Cars go to good homes

Glad you had a good day and got to enjoy it, with birds celebrating too Are you celebrating more over the weekend?

It was another typical day for me - I was asked to do everything and unable to finish anything…

Our first Motability car was a Ford Fiesta, which had a heated rear window. Not quite the same as having a heated seat, though, unless you sit on the rear window – which wouldn't be practical. Unless you're Grace Kelly.

Anyway, must dash home – the ironing awaits!

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I'm not sure what I'll be doing this weekend yet, but with a bit of luck I'll see some more birds for my list I did my weekend celebrating last weekend, as it was my mum's birthday last week, so that was also a good lunch out - salmon with tomato soup sauce was an unusual combination but I found it surprisingly tasty!

Sorry yesterday was frustrating for you not to be able to finish anything (I know that feeling) - I hope you made some progress, anyway, and I hope today is going better for you I was lucky this week that things I thought would take ages were surprisingly easy, which doesn't often happen. I've been struggling to synchronise diaries this morning, but I think I've just about managed it now, so I'm having lunch and will check my work this afternoon. I'm hopeful of finishing outstanding bits and pieces today, ready for next week when lunchtime is likely to be an illusion again... It will be because of exciting work, though, so that's not bad at all

I like how your uni is in the top 10 for water! Mine is just outside the top 10, which surprises me as I didn't think we had that much. We can smell the drains when the wind is in the right direction, though, so maybe that counts! http://wonkhe.com/blogs/lakes-and-castles-niche-new-year-rankings

"unless you sit on the rear window – which wouldn't be practical. Unless you're Grace Kelly."

No, not very practical indeed!

Do you have plans for your birthday? I hope you have a good weekend this weekend, too

I must admit I usually have bread with soup rather than

This morning a task came in when I was asked to four simple things but instead it turned into doing 35 things 4 times, so a total of 140 tasks.

Tomorrow is the parkrun Christmas party, complete with Silent Disco. The kids in the past have really the Silent Disco . Did you know that Silent Discos have been banned in Edinburgh for being too noisy?http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/old-town/edinburgh-council-could-ban-silent-discos-due-to-noise-complaints-1-4834496 Mind you, I wouldn't want to participate in an outdoor silent disco..

I don't have any plans for my birthday yet – other than take the children to school and pick them up again. A trip to the cinema would be nice but they've not announced cinema times yet, so it may well depend on what they're showing that we can see between drop off and pick up. Most adult films are shown inconveniently in the evenings…

Hope you have a great weekend too!

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Yes, bread is more usual with soup indeed!

That is when tasks are not well described to get you to agree to more than you bargained for... Well done for getting through it all...

I hope you and your children enjoyed the again! An outdoor silent disco would be more like a silent festival but a 'silent disco' walking tour in a town is something else indeed...

I had a good weekend - I got a last-minute appointment for a haircut and said the magic words! It turns out that the place would weirdly only allow either scissors or clippers, not a bit of both, so the hairdresser attempted Grade 8 with scissors and went quite a bit shorter than that in places but I like it and I shouldn't need another haircut for a while!

I needed my woolly hat for birdwatching at the beach the next day but saw and photographed a good number of gulls before the wind kicked sand into my face... Luckily I decided that meant it was time to go home so I missed the torrential rain that started a few minutes after I got in... The 50mph wind was cold, but the air temperature was still 10 degrees - was it similarly warm for you this weekend? I hope the parkrun course wasn't too muddy.

parkrun was indeed in good condition – much better condition than I was – this week, only a slightly sticky rather than wet mud. In fact, my legs got home the same colour that they left, which is very unusual for January.

Thanks, we did enjoy the again, with very enthusiastic dancing and -eating. The problem with outdoor silent discos can be that lots of tipsy listeners not realising how loud they are due to wearing headphones aren't necessarily singing quietly You could definitely tell which song is the most popular.

I also did a spot of doodling too - just when you thought it was safe to glance at

Seems a very odd barbers that does either scissors or clippers but not both – have they not heard of the customer always being right? I mean, if they didn't have clippers it would make sense. Did they make up for it in another way, for instance by having a barbershop quartet?

Zoe Ball took over from Chris Evans on the old Terry Wogan Radio 2 Breakfast slot today – but alas I had to go to work and didn't get to hear it. Did I tell you I met her when she popped in to the uni for some reason a few years ago? I passed her the sandwhiches at a buffet and she said thank you .

Congratulations on the good timing and bird spotting!

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Sorry to hear the parkrun was in better condition than you, but at least that is good that you didn't get plastered with mud during the run...

" very enthusiastic dancing and -eating."

Excellent! Yes, that is a good point that just because you're wearing headphones so other people can't hear the music you're listening to, it doesn't mean that people can't hear you singing along to it... I used to enjoy my own personal silent Queen discos at the weekends but even though I whisper-sang along, I found out some time later that people could still hear me Luckily I was only disturbing my own family and not a townful of people...

"You could definitely tell which song is the most popular. "



It is a rather odd salon that I go to, but it is the best out of the ones I've been to in the last 10 years so I keep going back The previous policy of reluctance to cut more than 1inch of hair off even if my hair had grown by 2in since I last had my hair cut, to make me have to go back again sooner, was more difficult to work with than this one, so I'll take it! Very weird, though... The pricing structure is correspondingly weird, as Dave Gorman noted, but there we go... There was no barbershop quartet, but the hairdresser had had a beautiful manicure done so I enjoyed watching his hands. Between that and the fact that the cut was cheaper than last time, that made up for it

Yes, I was very glad not to get utterly drenched on Sunday as well as being very windswept... I added the two new birds to my list last night

Sorry you didn't get to hear Zoe Ball's debut - can you get iPlayer Radio on your computer, or is audio still too much for it like videos are? I only listen to the local traffic reports in the morning so I never heard Chris Evans - did you rate him, or are you pleased to be looking forward to finding out what Zoe will be like?

Aha! I have found the latest doodles Page 1 looks very promising indeed (reminds me of the time I went to sleep wearing a watch - I dreamed my hand fell off, but it was just that the watch had given me pins-and-needles because I leaned on it in my sleep!). What sort of paper are you using for the 'Running Commentary'? The cartoons look impressively crisp in the album so I look forward to reading more soon

It's been an interesting nammet time today – at choir we were filmed by the BBC for an upcoming programme on Radio Solent about choirs and their effect on combating depression. I wasn't sure why Radio Solent had several cameras with them, but apparently they are also considering broadcasting some footage of us on South Today on Thursday. Being one of only two blokes in the choir, they seemed to like pointing the camera in my direction but who knows what will happen? I dread to think what I sound like as I'm coming down with a cold and had a croaky throat.

Chris Evans was quite good on Radio 2 – not as good as Graham Norton, but still entertaining. The Radio 2 DJs I disliked were Paul O'Grady with his monotonous voice and obsession with only ever talking about dogs (I don’t have a so it wasn't relevant to me) and Simon Mayo, who would interrogate any caller for no reason, thus:

Mayo: We have a caller on today's topic, and what's your name?
Caller: Lee
Mayo: And what's your surname, Lee?
Caller: Smith
Mayo: And where are you from, Lee?
Caller: Sandown.
Mayo: And what part of Sandown is that, Lee?
Caller: Erm, opposite the Baptist Church…
Mayo: Is that a nice part of town to be from, Lee?
Caller: Yes, it is.
Mayo: And what's the weather like there today, Lee?
Caller: Quite sunny.
Mayo: And how old are you, Lee?
Caller: 38.
Mayo: So Lee Smith, who is calling from opposite the Baptist Church in the nice part of the sunny town of Sandown and is aged 38, what is your thought on today's topic?
Caller: You know, after all that I've completely forgotten what today's topic is now…

Good to hear you have found the doodles – have you read the first batch or just spotted they're there? I believe the paper I'm using for 'Running Commentary' is this: http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/whsmith-a4-sketch-pad-50-sheets/21241
It is the same size notepad as 'Bank Wars' but the pictures look much bigger as I'm using 2 x 2 rather than in a strip. No lines either cutting across people's faces. It is much harder to draw the boxes to start off with, though…

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Wow! That is an experience for you all indeed! I hope the footage is flattering on Thursday... I hope you feel OK today and haven't got too much in your throat now...

That's good that you didn't mind Chris Evans. I know what you mean about Paul O'Grady - I watched Lily Savage on TV a few times, but his most recent programmes are not relevant to me either... I can imagine that sort of conversation with Simon Mayo, too...

I hadn't read the first batch yesterday, as I just spotted them and found Page 1 very intriguing, but I read them all last night 2x2 on plain paper is much clearer as can cope with that Ah, yes tricky to draw the boxes with no guidelines so I admire the crispness - I didn't even manage to get all my boxes to be the same size even though I was following the lines! Reminds me I should draw the last couple of pages of Career Curiosities Part 1 soon as I have had some ideas about how to get the flavour I am looking for

I look forward to seeing more of your Running Commmentary soon!

My voice appears to be reluctant today

I must admit that one reason I dislike Simon Mayo was because of his 'Confessions' programme. But that's another story… I don't really get to listen to the radio much, though. I'm old fashioned enough in that I actually need to use a radio to listen to a radio and can't on my computer or phone.

The lines may well be crisp, but they're not necessarily particularly parallel… My secret is that they're the width of my ruler – it has nice pictures of castles on. I had intended 'Running Commentary' to be more self-contained so each page can be read on its own merits, rather than a continuing narrative the way that 'Bank Wars' was. Well, it has to be as almost every day in it is a Saturday morning. I don't intend it to last longer than one book / approx 100 pages anyway. But I wanted to begin with something a bit more interesting as otherwise running, running and more running can be considered a bit repetitive. A hand dropping off unexpectedly, though – that's surprising.

So, is there going to be a Career Curiosities Part II?

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I hope your voice is better today, or at least that your throat isn't sore

Ah, yes I vaguely remember the 'Confessions' programme but thankfully most of it passed me by... I don't get to listen to the radio much, either, as I only have it in the car and on my TV and I tend to favour actual TV programmes although I do enjoy Radio 4 Extra occasionally when something particular stands out (I listened to The Primary Phase on there, and Mark Watson's show, for example). I tried listening to internet radio once, as I found a good local radio station on the Isle of Man when I was on holiday there, but it sent my computer to sleep so that wasn't the best!

That's a good idea about the pages being self-contained so there are natural breaks from Saturday to Saturday I did vaguely notice, as I found Page 1 very satisfying in its own right (surprising indeed! ), but I also like how it flows so I look forward to the next page too!

I did have some ideas for Career Curiosities Part II, yes, so we shall see...

I also admire your crossword-building skills - without my old software I am finding it rather difficult but I'm getting there slowly... I'll see if I can put it somewhere for you to pick up tomorrow, but if not then it will be something for you to enjoy (hopefully) on Monday

I hope you have a great birthday weekend

I'm finally getting my voice back, so that's good news.

There was a specific reason why I don't like Simon Mayo's 'Confessions' – but it was to do with the episode in which he stated on air that it was okay for someone to ruin people's lives because 'living on the Isle of Wight is boring'. One of the people potentially affected by the actions of the confessor may well have been a family member.

For various reasons you may well be aware of I don't listen to the radio on computers or phones, so I asked for a DAB digital radio for Christmas to help me listen to Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra – and indeed BBC Radio Solent (which isn't, as some people assumed from the name, the radio station of our students! That's called 'Sonar'). Sadly the new radio's CD player doesn't work, so I fear I'll have to send it back and so I'll be without a digital radio once more.

I'm still enjoying drawing, and not having to adhere to the old rules of 'Bank Wars'. Though I must admit I am tempted to introduce the character of Ed – is it wrong to enjoy a character who is deliberately offensive? Mind you, this is intended to be more child-friendly. I did see and enjoy your new Career Curiosities pages

I've now been able to print the crossword so I'm looking forward to attempting it tonight. I saw there was a question though…

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That is good news about your voice - that bug isn't good, to cause laryngitis or whatever it is for a week, but anyway...

Oh wow, that is a reason to dislike Simon Mayo indeed... Bad enough with things like Top Gear, where they once asked if they could film on land owned by relatives of my 'in laws' but didn't mention that they would be smashing some of the family's property during filming and leaving them to clear up the mess... With an attitude like that, Simon Mayo needs to watch out for people cursing him to live in 'interesting times' A807374

That is sad about the CD player not working already If you have to send it back I hope it is soon replaced so you can get back to listening to DAB

Yes, I'm impressed by your new drawings, and how you're literally breaking out from the old rules, with eg the cartoon boxes moving around the page to tell the story Ed did make a good foil for expressive reactions, so I can understand why you enjoyed him as a character! Glad you found my new drawings I was 'in the zone' for them so they were surprisingly easy to draw, but one scene is going to include a party, which is tricky as you know (although I liked the way you dealt with that as the narrator ), so the last couple of pages are still brewing...

I hope the crossword is OK for you - some of the clues are more cryptic than as you will know the answers but you will probably need information from the grid more than the clue itself to get them...

Today's an interesting time at work – we've got no e-mail. We had a message on the Portal that said,
"'Issues with Office365 - Microsoft have reported issues with the Office365 environment, Europe wide. Services affected include Outlook email and calendaring. Therefore, staff and students will be unable to send or receive emails and view calendar entries. Please stay out of Outlook until you receive an email stating that you can now access your emails."

Surprisingly enough they changed that soon after to 'until there is an update on the portal stating that you can now access your emails.'

I answered all the crossword questions but three – the footballer, the footballer's wife and the compass direction. I could guess it is either East or West, but without the first letter I don't know. And it isn't any of the three footballers I know – Matt 'Le God' Le Tissier (working in Southampton you quickly realise that there he is considered the greatest footballer ever. Possibly because he is Southampton's only truly top-rate player ever while other cities have had several top-rate players), Gary Linneker, famed for his gentlemanly behaviour and crisp obsession, and David Beckham, who has affairs behind his Spice Girl wife's back, has haircuts and tattoos, kicks Argentinians and presumably judging from their being a film titled 'Bend it Like Beckham', likes bending things. I know logically that, with teams consisting of ten or dozen players, there must be other players as well as players who played in the past but it isn't something I've ever paid attention to. So I might give up there and scan it in for you to mark.

I'm glad you're still enjoying reading the 'Running Commentary' – I started to draw a scene this morning and had an unexpected contribution as my daughter decided she wanted to give herself some dialogue That aside, when I'm doing the drawings it is up to me how I draw it, there's no rules but those I set myself which I can keep or break at whim. But I don't like crowd scenes and particularly find it difficult to draw people running as it is all knees and elbows. I don't want it to look like everyone is always in exactly the same pose, which makes it challenging, so it is easier if there aren't more than two or three people running. Drawing a head on the left talking to a head on the right was much easier!

One I got for my birthday was a DVD of 'The Almost Complete Q'. Are you familiar with it at all?

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Oh, and I meant to say that had you heard that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has 5 Oscar Nominations, Best Picture, Actor, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Sound Editing. It's already made $800 million so after being Oscar nominated it might even break the $1,000 million (US billion but I still prefer milliard) barrier.
Which makes me wonder 'how much money has the song 'Bohemian Rhapsody' made Queen in comparison to the film?' Apparently Brian May and Roger Taylor have already gained over £25 million each…

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