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

Just a thought, but it seems to me as if the quality of Punk Rock has gone down in the past ten years or so. Punk used to be about ethics and the type of music you litened to. Now, it seems that all you need to be punk is no talent and some messed up clothes, maybe a few spikes. We used to have great bands, Black Flag, The Ramones, The Circle Jerks, Bad Brains, and TSOL, to name but a few. Now, who bears the standard of so-called 'Punk Rock'? A bunch of emos who don't know their instruments from a can of paint. I mean, is My Chemical Romance and AFI really the 'new wave' of punk? They can't play at all, and most of their songs are very weepy. Punk used to be about anger, angst, and a safe expression of these emotions. Nowadays, it's considered punk to cut yourself. When did this come about? To anyone who cuts and lives, you're not doing it right. It's down the road, not across the street. Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions on how we can fix this deplorable state our music has come to, please hit me back.

Hello, its me again. This is a very interesting opener. If you want a lot of people to see it ( not just me because I came across you by accident) you should post the same question in Ask h2g2 - If you leave it here no-one may likely stumble on it and you might think no-one cares about this subject.


I know what you mean about the cutting thing - when I was a teenager people 'slashed their wrists' and some of them died as a result. I just can't get my head around all this self harm stuff that has sprung up. Where did it come from?

You reminded me of when I lived in Bristol and was friends with this lot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Slits (and The Pop Group too)

They seem pretty cool, I'd like to hear their music. I try not to make judgements about bands until I at least hear one song. If you know of any other good bands, let me know, I'm always up for new music. With the slashing thing, I just can't stand the people who do it for 'attention'. I mean, wtf? They need to stop doing that and, I don't know, get a hobby or something. Learn how to bake cookies, for christ's sake. But, there are people who try to actually kill themselves, and they do need help. Or maybe just someone to listen.

So, Bristol huh? Whereabouts is dat?

Bristol is in England, it's an old city infamous for slavery and importing tea. Lots of history of the naval kind. It's on the South West coast. I don't live in Bristol anymore, but it was fun whilst I lived there.

I presume you are not from this side of the water then?

Nah, I'm american born and bred. I'm absolutely fascinated by British culture though. I mean, what they did to the Irish was totally messed up, but the sins of the father shouldn't be transferred to the son. Recent British culture has given us lots of great things. Iron Maiden, some o' the best tea I've ever had, (though I'm not sure I'm making it right) Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, Monty Python, that's about all I can think of at the moment. Anyway, that's a damn sight better than alot of american culture, except maybe the music and the beer.

Oh I see! So you've found a good place here then.

Here is a link to BBC radio four, which you can listen to anytime if you want a blast of english culture.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_four

The way to make tea is to make it to suit you, people often make it too strong or too weak.

Cool, cool, I'll check it out. So far as tea goes, I usually put the bags in the kettle before I boil the water.

No! Surely not! You need a nice teapot, or put the bags in some mugs and pour on boiling water. The way you make it is the way they used to make it on a building site, commonly known as 'navvy' tea. Navvy from the 18th Century word for navigators men, who built our canal system. Nowadays a 'navvy' is someone who labours for a living.

Anyway, as I said, as long as you like how it comes out, it doesn't matter how it's made.

It just kinda seems like the flavor has to be boiled into the water, not just soaked in while the water is just hot. But, I'm willing to try it the other way. Gonna have to find a teapot, though.

I guessed there would be an article on h2g2 about tea and I was right
Here it is:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A906617

When I was a Brownie, ( that's a smaller version of girl guides not a chocolate fudge cake) we had to learn how to make and serve tea, to get a badge to sew on our uniforms. It's a skill ingrained in British people. I believe American people drink iced tea, and I sometimes make this when its hot weather.

Well, the way I look at it, there's southern tea, and british tea. With southern tea you grind the leaves up into a fine mist that'll dissolve in water, then you put in as much sugar as you think necessary, dump hot tap-water into it, put some ice in a glass, and you're ready to go. This goes to show how laid back the south-eastern part of america is. We have ingrained being laid back into work, food, even speech. I mean, y'all? We ain't worried bout nuttin down here. I was wondering what the brownie thing was. Kinda like the girl scouts, or something? That's pretty cool that the entire nation knows how to make tea from childhood. Shows people what's really important. Screw hunting and football and all that other mess, our kids are gonna know how to relax with a good, hot cup of tea.

Yes, Brownies are, as you say, small 'girl scouts'. I find it hard to remember the many differences between British English and American English.

For instance you mentioned Football, and I suppose you mean American Football rather than Soccer? I'm not a football fan, but quite like cricket. Have you ever watched cricket? It is one of the few games that actually has breaks for meals - tea for instance. Tea in England is a meal as well as a drink, we have sandwiches and cakes. A cricket match can last for days, unless it rains in which case the decision about which team won is far too complex for any normal person to comprehend.

Yeah, the way we've developed the language into almost two completely different versions is pretty amazing. Then you add in regional developments, ethnic developments, and all sorts of other stuff. About the sports, well, both really. Though futbol takes more talent than football. It's pretty difficult to control a ball and not use your hands at all. I would love to get into cricket, but we don't cover it on the american news or sports. Is there and internet cast that I can look up? And they break for tea? I like to think we're laid back in the south, but damn. I've been to about one football game, and you just try stopping it for anything but halftime or the death of the entirety of both teams. They'll string you up from the goalpost.

You say futbol with a good spanish accent there senor!

I don't know how you could watch cricket over the internet without paying a subscription, but you could try searching youtube or google videos for some highlights. Or there is this great little article on h2g2,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A5168063


I am catching a flight tomorrow, so I hope you have an enjoyable weekend. I am taking a holiday, or as you say a vacation. Where I am going it will be 'vacaciones' I should be able to log into here though

I was just using that spelling to differentiate easier between the two. It's so annoying to have to say football or american football.
Thanks for the link, I'll finally get to find out about that odd little sport. Have you a good holiday, and don't let the jet lag get to you.

No, there's no jet lag thank goodness, as the journey is only 4 hours, and mostly due south from the UK. And I have to say, now I'm here, that the weather is fantastic!


How's the writing coming along? I like how you put your words together in these posts, some people write so little, or so stilted you can't hear their voice. You make your words come out right somehow.

Have you read any of johnreadbear's journals? He is a natural in my opinion, but then I'm not really in a position to know much, I didn't study literature or writing at college.

here is his link btw U13877088

The writings coming. It's like our great guru Dougie said,(to paraphrase) "It's tough to put one hundred thousand words in a cunning order, but that's what I've set myself up to do." Writing is a natural process. You have to let the story flow. I can't stand those people that get so up in themselves and call themselves 'authors'. That just sounds so arrogant to me. I just write, and enjoy it. I can only hope that others will enjoy the bullshit I put on paper as much as I enjoyed putting it there. I'll go check johnreadbear's stuff. I'm always interested in finding new writers. I don't know if you'd be interested, but I do have some stuff online. I can't get the url, but the website is urbis.com and it's under NDawgInstitutionalized. Nothings completed yet, it's just a few storylines I'm playing around with.