In memory of Douglas Adams; Forgot your towel? DON'T PANIC!

Albus_Scope

Today marks a very important day for many geeks around the world, it's Towel Day!

For those not in the know, Towel day was started by fans of the late great Douglas Adams as a day to appreciate all that he's done for the world of science fiction after his death in 2001. Most people will know his best seller "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", a very silly story of the Earths destruction and one mans quest to find a cup of tea. It started as a radio series in 1978 and has gone on to become a much loved and cherished book series to many, a tv show and even made it onto the big screen in 2005! It's even been celebrated in space, on the ISS!

Why towels?
Well the easiest way to answer that would be to quote the Hitchhikers guide itself;

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you — daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost." What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is." (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Did you know; The first SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch used a Tesla Roadster as a test payload, emblazoned with the words "DON'T PANIC!", a reference to the phrase from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the glove compartment of the car was a copy of the book and a towel. That shows just how important Douglas Adams has been to people. ❤️

If you've read any of his books, which one is your favourite? Are you carrying a towel today? What's been your favourite adaptation so far? Let us know!

So long and thanks for all the fish. 😉

FallOutBoyfan99

Restuarant At The End of The Universe, but I loved HHGTTG as well.

Meg24

Since childhood one of my goto comfort listens has been the original radio series (Primary Phase, Secondary Phase) I just loved everything about it, but especially the narration/voice of the guide Peter Jones and the music & sound effects from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. I still listen to it often, and Hitchhiker quotes are part of my DNA now.

Douglas Adams, what would he have made of the last 20 years... I wish he had still been here to bless us with his wisdom!

Albus_Scope

Excellent choices both!

I actually started the audiobook the other day, narrated by Stephen Fry, he's just perfect for it!

Grinchy

love the books, haven't read them in years now sadly, but i have the tv series on dvd and the movie to which i watch every couple of years,