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How About A Cup Of The Answer To Everything?

Reiner Schulz writes "Douglas Adams admittedly was a big fan of Earl Grey tea. Here's his enlightening entry in H2G2 on the subject (pretty much straight out of The Salmon of Doubt). And those familiar w/ the Hitchhiker's Guide will remember the drink dispenser from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe which, trying to figure out how to brew the perfect cuppa, grabs all available computing resources on board a certain starship. What a coincidence then that one of the finest blends of Earl Grey on the planet in general and in the UK in particular is Harrods' Earl Grey, Blend No. ... 42 . It's a plausible theory as to the origin of the answer to everything, isn't it? Earl Grey addicts like myself will certainly agree (even though Douglas liked his w/ milk; I prefer lemon). So, what would be the question? Perhaps, how about a nice cup of tea?"

39 of 491 comments (clear)

  1. Are you sure it's tea? by PetWolverine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean that Earl Grey is selling a substance that is almost, but not quite, completely unlike tea?

    --
    I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
  2. On behalf of all coffee-drinking programmers: by cliffy2000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    What is this "tuh-eee" you speak of?

  3. My GOD by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    What a coincidence then that one of the finest blends of Earl Grey on the planet in general and in the UK in particular is Harrods' Earl Grey, Blend No. ... 42.

    This ties right in with the Great Pyramid of Cheops, Stonehenge, the value of pi, crop circles, that weird face on Mars, that strange 1x4x9 thing floating around Jupiter, and the fact that the sun and moon look the same size from the Earth! They're all connected, I tell you!

  4. Oh, DAMN... by Enoch+Root · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now we live in a Universe where the question AND the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything are both known.

    The Universe was complicated enough... What have you DONE?

    1. Re:Oh, DAMN... by slipgun · · Score: 2, Funny

      "if we should ever figure out what everything means, it will instantly be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable"

      There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

      --
      SpamNet - a spam blocker that really works
    2. Re:Oh, DAMN... by TomV · · Score: 5, Funny

      Remember that "if we should ever figure out what everything means, it will instantly be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable"

      Can we PLEASE have just one thread here that doesn't reference that damned SCO suit? ;-)

      TomV

  5. Re:42 == Tea for two by bsharitt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmm... earl grey tea. Maybe that's how an old bald guy can kick the borg's collective ass.

  6. Nah by SuperBanana · · Score: 4, Funny
    How About A Cup Of The Answer To Everything?

    Nah, I like this one better: Big Cup of Shut the #$@! up

    I can see it now, on Kuro5hin. "How to brew the perfect cup of shut the #$@! up"...

  7. Drugs are bad mmmkay? by GillBates0 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Drink it. After a few moments you will begin to think that the place you've come to isn't maybe quite so strange and crazy after all.

    This is a well known phenomenon. It usually happens to me during the first 15-20 mins of smoking pot or the like. The trick is to relax and fight off the paranoia. A beer or two helps at this stage, or smoke another joint or two.

    After a while you're so baked that not only do you not find your new state of mind strange and crazy, but actually enjoy it for the rest of your trip. I could post a recipe for a really good joint here, but maybe I'll be able to submit a story about it next Sunday, when news is slow to come by on /.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:Drugs are bad mmmkay? by shut_up_man · · Score: 3, Funny

      A rather unreliable friend of mine gave me similar advice regarding that initial hump of paranoia. He said:

      1) Drink a beer first.
      2) Toke the joint. You'll start to feel a little odd, but you won't freak out because of the beer.
      3) Have another beer.
      4) Have another toke. Two beers and two tokes will get you over the Wall of Paranoia to the Fields of Sunshine.
      5) Take your pill of ecstacy. It'll take a while to come on, but in the meantime, you can always...
      6) Have another toke. Repeat.
      7) When you are more interested in hugging everyone than having another toke, this means the e has kicked in. This is the perfect moment to...
      8) Drop your acid. Your mood will be sky-high, which will help in having a good trip.
      9) When you get that "my mind is flying but my body is just destroyed" effect, this is when you snort your speed.
      10) Don't take anything for a while. You probably won't be able to anyway, or even remember your own name.
      11) When everything starts getting grey and scratchy, start toking again. Repeat until happy unconsciousness.

      He had a variant recipe that involved cocaine and horse tranquilizers, but he never could quite remember what it was...

  8. Best way to make a cup of Earl Grey by toupsie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Take one bourbon glass, fill it with ice, add two shots of Jim Beam and top off with Coke. I learned that from a nutramatic machine...

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  9. Welcome to Slashdot by SB5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Welcome to Slashdot, where speculation makes it news... What the hell is this FOX or something?

    --
    If what you are reading sounds funny, or sarcastic, lame, or stupid
    it is because it is supposed to be. just laugh
  10. Gotta say it by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean that Earl Grey is selling a substance that is almost, but not quite, completely unlike tea?

    Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. Rather like your almost, but not quite, entirely accurate quote. ;-)

  11. 42 == Divinely chosen number? by yerricde · · Score: 3, Funny

    What made Mr. Adams think that some sort of god didn't put "42 will do" into his head at that time for at least one of the so-called "complete nonsense" reasons?

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:42 == Divinely chosen number? by martin-boundary · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess it depends on whether Adams was drinking tea at the time?

    2. Re:42 == Divinely chosen number? by Xenoproctologist · · Score: 5, Funny

      You mean of the "long island iced" variety? I mean, I know spirits have always helped me when _I'm _ trying to get in touch with The Other Side...even when that Other Side" is just on the other end of a porcelain telephone.

  12. NO by heli0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "even though Douglas liked his w/ milk; I prefer lemon"

    Tea without milk? How uncivilised.

    --
    Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way...
  13. Re:42 by Lord+Dreamshaper · · Score: 2, Funny
    All due respect to Adams, if the answer is 42, or any number other than 69, then I'm not interested in the question...course i drink my coffee black and if I must drink tea, it'd better be "long island iced"...so chalk it up to having better set of priorities...

    toodle pip and cheerio...

    --
    When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
  14. No wonder Picard drank it! by Zen+Programmer · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."
  15. Tea is the killer app by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 5, Funny

    A friend of mine was left with only a Knoppix CD for an operating system for about a week. And two things impressed her about Linux above anything else. First, the ease with which it was possible to rescue her files from a dead windows install. Second, the charm of teacooker. We can praise the power and versatility of gcc, or the eye candy of KDE forever, but I maintain that it's an operating system's native support for tea brewing applications that will win it success.

    --
    Everything will be taken away from you.
  16. Re:Chai? by BlackBolt · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's GNU/Hippie, thankyouverymuch!

  17. Re:42 == Tea for two by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    He did not kick the borg's collective ass, only the borg collective's ass.

  18. Re:42 == Tea for two by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's sort of a skill to not get a double entendre and also be able to ruin it for everyone else.

  19. Re:42? Pffttt 420! by Jeremi · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't see what is stopping you...

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  20. Re:42 by gunpowder · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh no!

    Now I'm trapped in an endless recursion!

  21. Re:On behalf of all soda-drinking programmers: by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Funny

    What is this coughy you drink? It sounds harmful to one's health.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  22. Re:Earl Gray IS the elixir of life! by sbszine · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd strongly recommend the foil-packed Dilmah (100% ceylon) variety, which is about the freshest, and most fragrant I've been able to fine in Australia.

    Have you noticed that Mr Dilmah uses every available surface of the tea packet to write about how his competitors are out to get him? Check the lid flaps, bottom of the box, check under the packet for a tiny pamphlet etc -- the man is a paranoid nutter! It's probably foil-packed with pieces of his hat!

    Nice tea, tho'.

    --

    Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling

  23. Re:Brain-food drinks of mythology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I always thought blood + booze == guiness

  24. You do realize that by you even mentioning this... by Alpha_Traveller · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...all the Earl Grey tea is now gone from my local grocery, because all the Douglas Adams cultists have read this slashdot post and are now rioting for Earl Grey # 42....

    --
    "Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important." (Lisa Hoffman)
  25. Re:err why is this here by Scarblac · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps I will someday. But I already have a stack of unread books and little time to read them.

    That's no problem. Simply put the Hitchhiker's Guide on top of the stack.

    --
    I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
  26. England() by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Infact, England is just a function of earth that is calculating the ultimate question to the ultimate answer.
    This subroutin called england() only purpose is to calculate the best blend of tea by method of brute force.

    retep.

  27. Re:Well, when *I* asked the computer... by nnnneedles · · Score: 3, Funny

    YOU ARE A HUGE NERD!

    --
    Will code a sig generator for food
  28. No, the real problem is... by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 2, Funny


    The answer and question to LtU&E is known, and that I don't like Earl Grey Tea. :(

    --
    There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  29. Re:err why is this here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    he won't be dead long - he's just spending the year dead for tax purposes

  30. Answer to the Universe? by LuYu · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything could not possibly be English tea. The English do not even know the first thing about good tea. The "black" (should be red but the English brew it too dark) tea that the English love so much is the worst variety of tea available.

    Furthermore, the Chinese merchant who sold the first measure of red tea to the Portugese, sold them the lowest grade because he knew they were incapable of appreciating it, and it appears he has been demonstrated to be right. English teas such as Earl Grey also contain other contaminants (the English would call them flavors) that ruin the flavor of the tea.

    Yet more barbaric is the fact that the English put lemon and/or milk and/or sugar in their tea. Here is a little hint: tea is to Eastern culture as wine is to Western culture. Try putting milk and sugar in your wine, and tell me how that tastes. One who needs milk or sugar or lemon cannot claim to enjoy the flavor of tea.

    If something as crass and profane as English tea is The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, it is time to move to another universe! B-)

    --
    All data is speech. All speech is Free.
  31. Re:42 == Tea for two by AyeRoxor! · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get off my bridge!

  32. Earl Grey (hate song) Is it perfume? Is it tea? by wadiwood · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not everybody likes it. This song gets some airplay on Australian ABC radio, especially Sunday mornings and you can even buy it. Personnally I like Earl Grey. I just can't stand Lady Grey.

    EARL GREY by Enda Kenny (from the album "Baker's Dozen")

    Is it perfume? Is it tea?
    Whatever it is it does nothing for me
    Should I drink it? Or dab it on?
    Can I swap it for a coffee or has all the water gone?

    It is hot, it is wet.
    It is eau de toilette
    Is it from the House of Lipton or Chanel?
    I only want a cup of tea not this stuff you've given me
    If you think I'm going to drink it go to

    Help me
    Someone call a doctor, call a nurse!
    Call an ambulance! I'm poisoned
    And I think it's getting worse
    I only wanted a cup of tea
    But I fear that my last mouthful will be the death of me


    It is hot, it is wet
    It is eau de toilette
    To my mind it is more toilette than eau
    If you want to spoil your day
    Add the oil of Earl Grey
    I'm reliably informed it's bergamot....

    What a mouthful
    Is it perfume? Is it wee?
    Whatever it's supposed to be it doesn't taste like tea
    Should I drink it or dab it on?
    Can I swap it for a coffee or has all the water gone?

    It is hot, it is wet
    It is eau de toilette
    Is it Twinings? Is it Tetley? Let me see
    Go ahead make my day
    But please don't make me drink Earl Grey
    All I want is a proper cup of tea

    --

    -- it must be true, it's on the internet.
  33. Re:42 == Tea for two by Alzheimers · · Score: 2, Funny

    The same reason a Russian Submarine Captain would. It's called better actors.

    Honestly, would you want the NCC-1701D run by THIS guy!?