“She had what it took…the intelligence to understand the world and a tiny secret interior deadness which meant she didn’t care.” – Douglas Adams, ‘Mostly Harmless’
It’s no doubt been made clear in our blog posts that I’m firmly against humans colonizing other planets. I think NASA programs are pretty rad, especially all those unmanned missions zipping past the borders of our solar system and sending us fun pictures. But we belong here on Earth. Tourists don’t belong on the moon. The amount of satellites we have floating around probably shouldn’t increase.
But Hitchhiker’s Guide makes it all seem like such a fun adventure. Like, so fun, despite all the horrors. That’s one reason I love it—and, thanks to jagoffs like Elon Musk, one reason I never tell strangers at parties that I love Hitchhiker’s Guide.
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:
We’re at the end of the five books of the Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy. I’m super glad I read this. It’s a hell of a lot of fun. That said, I think I’ll be taking a break from Douglas Adams for a while. He’s wonderful, but his writing project and mine are different. Wish I could time travel and tell 17-year-old Chris this. I’ll get to The Salmon of Doubt one day. But hey! My edition includes a cool short story.
Young Zaphod Plays It Safe by Douglas Adams: a fun short story! Like I said. After a total absence from So Long and Thanks For All The Fish, we get a pretty hilarious story of a Zaphod adventure. The story involves lobsters and no amount of playing it safe. What a blast. Hey, you—you’re a real cool customer.
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams: compliment sandwich: I loved seeing Arthur as The Sandwich Maker, happily puttering away his alien days. I loved loved loved seeing Ford in full Hunter S. Thompson mode, swaggering around and yelling about the nomad artist’s life while running up expense account statements so brutal he fights robots. But it seems a little like Douglas Adams was ready to be done with the trilogy. I can’t say Trillian or Random are particularly developed, even though they’re arguably doing more important things than Arthur or Ford. At their expense, we get some New Atheist-style digs at a resident of the planet Arthur is marooned on, Old Thrashbarg, and the Bob for whom he is a prophet (get it?). We find out who the bar singer at the Domain Of The King is, which is connected to Ford losing then replacing some blue suede shoes (get it?). At the end, the Vogons come back, because if the 2024 election taught us anything, it’s that the most odious and unpleasant of us always come back. Meanwhile, perfectly pleasant people who make us happy—Fenchurch—disappear without warning or explanation. This is my fifth-favorite book of the trilogy. But I will hold on to the dual images of Hunter S. Ford Prefect and Arthur The Sandwich Maker as two aspirational figures in life.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? Reading all this Hitchhiker’s Guide has got me listening to Sithu Aye. Sithu makes what he calls “happy progressive metal,” and what attracted me to him was the beautiful cover art on his records and his penchant for making instrumental “concept albums,” or at least albums with a story. Here’s a playthrough of the title track for Set Course For Andromeda!!!
Don’t miss ‘s What’s In and What’s Out 2025
“Summoned” by Kathryn Knight Sonntag in Stone Circle Review
Enjoyed Kelsey McKinney’s take on Ethel Cain and her album Perverts in Defector. I was unfamilar with Ethel Cain, so I went and listened to a few albums. It’s pretty cool! A pull quote, because Defector is subscription-based (but worth it!): “There is a reason that most churches adopt some kind of liturgy; you cannot reinvent a wheel that must be constantly in use.”
“the world’s biggest sleepover” by Kyle Seibel in Scaffold Lit
On his way out of office, Joe Biden’s talking a big game about the tech oligarchy and how we need to be wary of it. over at points out that this is pretty rich—not unlike Eisenhower warning about the military industrial complex after building it up.
What’re you still doing here? Don’t you know that Micah and Brendan have a show?
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. I bet you can make a sandwich at least as good as Arthur Dent. You’re talented and capable.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris