In my post 'Touch the monolith' the other day, I used the line 'Bang the rocks' together. A few of my correspondents have queried the origin of this; or, knowing the attribution, have chided me for not giving it.
It is, of course, from Douglas Adams's 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Well, at least, it occurred in the original radio series; I'm not sure that it ever made it into the books that followed. On the starship 'Heart of Gold' the guys are listening to an inter-galactic radio station, on which the DJ boasts that they are broadcasting to "intelligent life-forms throughout the Universe", then adds: "And to all the rest of you out there - the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys!"
Always one of my very favourite lines from the many, many great lines in that show.
I also mentioned the book 'The Meaning of Liff' the other day. This, and its sequel, The Deeper Meaning of Liff, were co-written by Adams and his friend John Lloyd, the BBC comedy producer who had commissioned the original HHGG radio show.
It is, of course, from Douglas Adams's 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Well, at least, it occurred in the original radio series; I'm not sure that it ever made it into the books that followed. On the starship 'Heart of Gold' the guys are listening to an inter-galactic radio station, on which the DJ boasts that they are broadcasting to "intelligent life-forms throughout the Universe", then adds: "And to all the rest of you out there - the secret is to bang the rocks together, guys!"
Always one of my very favourite lines from the many, many great lines in that show.
I also mentioned the book 'The Meaning of Liff' the other day. This, and its sequel, The Deeper Meaning of Liff, were co-written by Adams and his friend John Lloyd, the BBC comedy producer who had commissioned the original HHGG radio show.
The other lines in 'Touch the monolith' were all mine, really.
(I particularly liked 'Eat the tapirs', a reference to the opening 'Dawn of Man' sequence in the film '2001' itself. The only Google return I can find for this phrase is for a detailed review/synopsis of the film.)
Well, apart from "Never give a sucker an even break", of course. This is famously associated with the bibulous, curmudgeonly comedian, W. C. Fields - although I'm sure I've somewhere seen it given an earlier attribution, I think to one of the legendary figures of the Old West. Wild Bill Hickok, perhaps?
4 comments:
Never leave home without a towel...
What, my towels aren't good enough for you? They don't have the vitamin-enriched corners, I admit.
Marvin, I'm afraid, was my role-model during the 'long dark tunnel' of my teenage years. "The first million years were the worst. The second million, they were the worst too. The third million years were REALLY terrible. After that, I just went into a sort of decline."
I really think Marvin is totally underappreciated.
Alan Rickman as Marvin was the only thing worth seeing in the latest remake of Hitchhiker's. Other than that it was total crap.
And Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast. He was good too. The rest was confused and Americanised (romance?! oh no...)
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