goofyace
10-03-2007, 01:12 AM
Ladies and Gents, it draws near. The day in which we all morn the loss of one of the best comedians to ever live, I am, of course, talking about Douglas Adams. For those who are unaware, Douglas is the author of the superb Hitchhiker's Guide series, the Dirk Gently series, and co-author of "The Meaning of Liff" and "The Deeper Meaning of Liff." Now that I have told you that you might still be pondering "what on gods green earth is towel day?" well I'll tell you. Towel day is May 25 of every year. It is both to honor the death of and carry on the life of Douglas. The day was his idea brought on by this guide entry.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker 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 mini raft 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 to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but 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 hitch hiker 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.
Douglas wished his birthday to be Towel Day every year so that his legacy could be carried on and so that people could relive the joy of the Hitchhiker's series with others long after they have read the book. Although he died in 2001, Towel Day is still alive more than ever and regardless of whether you have read the books or seen the movie or just appreciate a brilliant mind when you see one, then put your towel in the cycle and prepare for Towel Day 2007.
For more information about Towel Day see the official site, http://www.towelday.kojv.net
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker 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 mini raft 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 to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but 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 hitch hiker 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.
Douglas wished his birthday to be Towel Day every year so that his legacy could be carried on and so that people could relive the joy of the Hitchhiker's series with others long after they have read the book. Although he died in 2001, Towel Day is still alive more than ever and regardless of whether you have read the books or seen the movie or just appreciate a brilliant mind when you see one, then put your towel in the cycle and prepare for Towel Day 2007.
For more information about Towel Day see the official site, http://www.towelday.kojv.net