I try to stay away from the news. Rarely is it popular to report good news. Is it only me or does the news of one's good fortune usually leave you feeling more jealous and resentful than joyous? Must be my cynical side coming out. I want to be happy for others but envy soon follows. When it is my turn to reap some good fortune? Why does God give us the trials more than others. Yes, we should be thankful for our trials and look at them as an opportunity than a curse. Sounds good. Raise your hand if you are the first one willing to sign up to adopt a special needs child that has a short life span. I give so much credit to those that do. You are amazing people. My point. Nobody wants to have a difficult life right. We accept the lot given and move on but there's envy of those who's lot seems easier even though it may not be. Is this only me?? There is a time for sorrow and a time for laughter.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", a good time of laughter science fiction novel filled with surprises just about around every corner. A man by the name of Arthur Dent is about to unexpectedly loses his house to make room for a bypass being told "the plans have been available in the local planning office for the last 9 month" while Dent found earlier "sitting in a cellar, in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory(bathroom) with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of Leopard'". In its irony the author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", alien Ford Prefect was just finishing his research for the planet Earth to write down it's "mostly harmless", runs into Dent telling him there's no need to fret about his house since "the world is about to end in ten minutes". The Vogons immediately appear into Earth atmosphere to announce on the PA of the plans to make room for a hyperspatial express by eliminating the planet. "All planning charts and demolition orders have boon on display in your local planning department in the Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years." This is the subtle use of the novel's humor throughout.
Dent along with Prefect barely escape the fate of the rest of Earth's inhabitant by the use of Prefect's Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic to hail a passing spaceship for a lift. The mode of travel for hitchhiker's, "Don't Leave Home Without It" and also don't forget your towel. Wait...what?? Yeah you will have to find out why for yourself. The two travelers get discovered as a stow away on the Vogon ship, get kicked out into space to die of asphyxiation at the loss of oxygen in the matter of minutes. Along comes the Heat of Gold ship stolen by the president of the Imperial Galactic Government, Zaphod Beeblebrox to the rescue. The ship powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive found the least probable event to happen in space at that time is the rescue of these two doomed victims. The result. Again they barely escape with their lives.
On board "The Heart of Gold" they encounter an Earth woman, Trillian, who actually had a conversation with Dent at a party right before Zaphod persuaded her to come with him on grounds that he was "from another planet. Along with her and Zaphod the ships occupants were a depressed robot constructed with a Genuine People Personality feature and an cheery annoying know-it-all Sirius Cybernetics Shipboard Computer which controlled every part of the ship.
Once they all become acquainted with each other again Zaphod's mission is revealed. The purpose of stealing "The Heart of Gold" is to find the most improbable planet that ever existed. Magrathea, the planet that custom made other planets for their suitors, "gold planets, platinum planets, and soft rubber planets with lots of earthquakes". Folklore stated that it fell out of existence when "became the richest planet of all time and the rest of the Galaxy was reduced to abject poverty.
Who purchased Earth? Yes, Earth too was created by the Magratheans but I will not cheese up the surprise. Whomever had Earth created was preparing the prophetic planet and its inhabitants to discover the question to the answer of the question posed to the greatest computer ever to be made designed by the second greatest computer, Deep Thought, of "the meaning of life, the universe, and everything." However, Earth was destroyed right before the time when the greatest computer was to reveal the Ultimate question to the answer, 42, to the aforementioned question.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is the first book of a trilogy so naturally I will have to continue the series or be satisfied with not knowing the Ultimate question to...you know the rest! Not a dull moment throughout this exciting adventure story that takes the reader through Adams version of life in the great known. I have quoted more than a few lines from the book to prepare who choose to undergo a brain lobotomy in English style humor. After reading a few chapters my wife commented that it's many crazy made of words reminded her of doing a MadLib. I have filled out a few with her family and they have come up with some very descriptive off the wall words. If anyone reading this blog would like to share in their best made up words I would love to hear them. Perhaps I will bust out the best ones next time we fill out a Mad Lib.
