There’s a new biography of Douglas Adams out that I’ll have to buy later: Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams, by M.J. Simpson>

I happened to hear an interview with M.J. Simpson on this morning’s Sunday Edition on :NPR; I’m so glad I heard it. Somewhere behind me in one of the ‘move to Chicago from Seattle’ boxes that never got unpacked, I’ve got the BBC Radiophonic Workshop cassette version of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” I listened to every episode as it was broadcast on my college :NPR station, I bought all the books, I bought the fourth and fifth books in the trilogy, I kept buying subsequent books. I even watched the television show when it came out. I bought everything (although I see there’s a couple I’ve missed that I’ll have to go back and get).

But the radio series, IMHO, was the best of all, because of all the tasty soundscapes, the music, the voice talent, and the fact that I was responsible for all the visual effects when I listened.

I have the cassettes, but the only cassette player in the house died long ago… I’d have to listen to them in my car, which being a cheap little import has a tape player but no CD player. That is, I could listen to them if I could find the box with the cassettes (it’s probably in the box with all the old Highlander and ::shudder:: Space Precinct and Earth 2 videos).

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In a strange coincidence, the other day I was reminded of the old “H2G2” site for Hitchhikers fans and all other intelligent lifeforms not banging rocks together, because I realized belatedly that it’s a wiki. I thought the site had been taken down, but thankfully, here it is. The wikipedia reference page to the same site (and background information from before the BBC took over the original site is here.

And now, something else I’ve been wondering… I’d love to get the Radiophonic version of the radio shows on CD, but it appears the best recording is available from Amazon.co.uk, not Amazon.com. I’ll think about it.

When I was first listening to these shows, I had already been listening to “Sci-Fi” radio shows on :NPR for a few years. I’d never heard anything like H2G2 before, and the music was mesmerizing. Also, I realized that you had to listen to the very, very end of the show or you might miss the tag (the final joke just before the BBC audio credit).

I used to barricade myself in my little quad apartment in college (shared kitchen) and refuse to come out, answer the door, or pick up the phone until the broadcast was over. That wasn’t a real happy time in my life (I was having too much fun not going to class, basically, so my grades suffered) and the weekly broadcasts of intergalactic, improbabily drive-fueled comedy were something to look forward to during the week.

The only time my roommates dared knock on my door on “Hitchhiker’s Night” was one time in November, when they kept pounding on my door and I kept yelling “I’ll be out after this show is over.” This one girl was persistently knocking and calling “Ginny? Ginny?!?” and finally near the end of the show, desperate for some peace so I could hear the crucial last few minutes, the end credits, and the tag, I threw the door open and hollered “What?? What is so damn important? Is the kitchen on fire??”

She looked at me with her eyes bugging out (she was really a strange, strange woman) and said “John Lennon’s been shot.”

Thud!

“Oh. Well, that’s a bummer, but it really could have waited until later.”

I went back to listening to the broadcast and feeling really, really sad. As soon as it was over, I switched stations, and realized it was true – they were playing nothing but Beatles tunes that evening, and for a couple of days to come.

Anyway, back to the present day. I’m happy to see so much interest in Douglas Adams’ work, and sad that he was taken from us too soon.

It turns out Douglas Adams was a big John Lennon fan. I suppose I knew that, since he liked making fun of Paul McCartney’s commercial success.

Here’s the order of service from Adams’ funeral.

I’m “elighted to report” that a theater company in Florida will be staging H2G2 live as a radio play beginning Sunday 8th of February, and continuing for the next 3 Sundays.

Holmes House Restaurant,
2500 Estero Boulevard,
Fort Myers Beach

and tickets cost $15 or $35 if you want dinner as well; there’s no information as to whether Algolian zilbatburgers or Arcturan megacow steaks are on the menu. For more information, call (239) 463-5519.

There are also rumors of a movie said to be in pre-production, which MJ Simpson confirms on his site (with some surprising cast news)

Funny, I always pictured Zaphod Beeblebroxx as looking quite like Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, except with two heads.