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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?"
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.
Another h2g2.com entry, 42, explains that "forty-two" can be parsed "for-tea-two", tea for two, the answer to "What is a good attitude towards life?" which is purported to be the Ultimate Question.
Will I retire or break 10K?
From the Kinks 'Muswell Hilbillies' album:
It's a cure for hepatitis, it's a cure for chronic insomnia
It's a cure for tonsilitis and for water on the knee.
In a similar vein, but what might be considered "prior art", the ancient Norse people had a particular type of mead which was supposed to convey wisdom regarding everything. Made of the blood of a man created by all the Norse gods to seal a peace treaty, "Kvasir", some dwarves killed him and mixed his blood with honey, making the "Mead of Poetry".
Probably not as tasty as Earl Grey, but claimed to be even more effective--after all, what's knowing everything if you can't write about it elegantly?
More on this here.
~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
What is this "tuh-eee" you speak of?
If you aren't able to stretch the budget to the Harrods blend, 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.
Ian
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!
The coolest voice ever.
Google now has a sophisticated calculator
It really is quite good, and you can order some for yourself online at Harrods Web Site
a little bit confusing. No offence to anyone.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U42 - Douglas Adam's user page. Notice his user ID: 42.
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?
The early loss of Douglas Adams is really a loss to the whole world. He really brought something special, and the world is a darker place without him. Read his books if you haven't, they are great.
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"...
Please help metamoderate.
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
Try this query Seems google calculator (nifty new feature) knows the answer to life, the universe, and everything to!
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.
Nice theory, but Douglas Adams has already revealed the origin of "42" as the answer to life, the universe and everything.
In one of the small tales in the Salmon of Doubt collection, he states something along the lines of that he was looking out into his garden, mentally shrugged and thought, "42 will do". A number out of a hat, more or less.
The fact that this particular variety of tea, with this particular number, may well have been a favourite of the late Mr. Adams, well, that's just another example of what happens when you mess around with improbability drives.
- SMJ - (It's not just a name: it's a bad aftertaste.)
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
If Earl Grey is a "blend", then one of its components must taste even better.
What if the most desirable components of Earl Grey is actually formed from one of the components of merchandise A and one of the components of merchandise 7X?
Basic linear programming.
Is taste a linear function?
Will I retire or break 10K?
From time to time, I try to go around the stereotype and drink a cup of that hot brewed creamy java or those weird coffees, like a coffee called "Illumination" (or something) from Mexico. However, any type of coffee I've tried can't stand a chance over a good cup of tea, preferably vanilla flavoured or decaf lemon tea.
No jitters, no "I think I'll have to organize my desk or I think I'm going to die soon, if I don't organize my desk NOW, I'm going to..." feeling, but still something, which makes perfect companion for cookies and such.
God save the Tea!
(P.S. I know, that it was wrong to say "God save the Tea." It's possible, that the Queen somewhere is weeping, but still - I think that tea is probably the best thing that have come out of the British Empire, although they kind of ripped it off from Ceylon etc.)
How to brew the perfect cup of tea as specified by the Royal Society of Chemistry
link to the paper here [pdf]
who said this isn't news for nerds egh ?
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.
The coolest voice ever.
I hate to ruin all the conspiracy theories, but Mr. Adams himself revealed the source of 42 years ago in alt.fan.douglas-adams.
"Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk,
stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story."
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?
If you really like chai, don't be buying some Stash stuff in a baggie. Buy some decent black tea (Dilmah is good, as another poster notes) and add your own spices to the pot. There are loads of recipes to experiment with on the net.
"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...
If you've never read anything by Douglas Adams then may I suggest you start now ? You'll be sure to enjoy it, it's some of the finest English writing of by a man that died way too soon.
MP3 Search Engine
toodle pip and cheerio...
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
DNA himself said that 42 was a joke, nothing more.
What I find amusing is that he probably did intend it as a joke, and probably meant nothing at all by it, but that hasn't stopped people from finding all kinds of interesting things in the number.
Though, much like 5/23 (The Law of Fives) if you look hard enough you're going to find patterns.
FNORD
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
But note that there is prior art for authors of a twisted-logic bent to gravitate towards forty-two as a good arbitrary number. In particular, I refer to Lewis Carroll.
One instance doesn't count for a lot, so here's another.
One more, just to be sure.
Why is the number forty-two so over-represented? I have no idea, but I like to think of Douglas Adams as the Lewis Carroll of the 20th century.
proof, n. A demonstration that a conclusion is implied by certain premises and axioms.
It's called light-heartedness. If you had any sense of reality or a social conscience, you would realise this. Does it hurt to post a silly topic on a slow news day?
Earl Grey doesn't need lemon, because it's got bergamot. If you need to put more citrus in your Earl Grey, you should get stronger Earl Grey. If you're going to put lemon in it, get a nice Orange Pekoe instead.
This is probably bit off topic. however. the drink dispeser was not at the Restaurant At The end of the Universe. It was in the middle of space while being attacks by Vogans. And it was arthur dent he had asked the question "Why do I Like Tea?"
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.
I always thought that the whole reason for 42 was the fact that it was 101010 in binary.
As far as this particular blend of earl grey goes, I have not tried it yet. Being in america i've found Earl Grey is easy to find, where Ceylon without the bergamot oil is a pain in the tookus. I do enjoy earl grey though, iced with a touch of sugar. The best blend I can get local is actually Stash's with double bergamot oil.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
That's GNU/Hippie, thankyouverymuch!
I don't see what is stopping you...
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
Oh no!
Now I'm trapped in an endless recursion!
Earl Grey tea is just black tea flavored with Oil of Bergamot. The Bergamot is an Italian citrus fruit that is too sour to eat by itself, so it's grown for the oil instead.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
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.
To paraphrase Slartibartfast:
"These things will become clear to you," said the old man gently, "at least," he added with slight doubt in his voice, "clearer than they are at the moment."
Read the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. In fact, expose yourself to any of Douglas Adams works in any medium and you will not regret it.
What do you get if you multiply six by nine?
Answer: 42.
Better answer: God has thirteen fingers.
It was Arthur Dent who was responsible for this. Sorry to be pedantic, but some things are important :-).
Go to Marks and Spencer and buy a packet of Earl Grey tea.
starting to lose me here - Earl Grey is the insipid-as-hell tea preferred by 9 out of 10 feckless tea-poseurs.
Put a couple (or three, depending on the size of the pot) of tea bags into the pot.
tea bags??!! ok, lost me completely now
-and stuff asking the English on how to make tea, or even buying English (packaged, not grown) tea - the best tea comes from the country that invented it - China of course (good quality tea is also produced by Japan and Taiwan)
Real quality Chinese tea, mostly of the green or oolong variety, is a revelation. It will cost you a fair bit more than grotty tea-bags made with black tea dust and various synthetic flavourings but it is actually very good value for money compared to other connoisseur products such as fine wine or good whisky.
If you're interested here's a site (one of many) to clue you in.
sqr(10 * the answer to life, the universe, and everything ^ 3)
the answer to life, the universe, and everything!
(the answer to life, the universe, and everything * the mass of the earth) / 1 googol
Anyone who is a parent knows that the first thing you do when your baby is born is to book the grandparents (as baby-sitters) six weeks in advance (42 days/nights) so you can have the house to yourselves.
heh. Works for me.
There are 10 kinds of people; those who know ternary, those who don't, and those now hunting for a dictionary.
It could indeed be the origin of the number, but the point of the whole thing was this:
The answer is useless without knowing how to ask the question. The meaning of life, the universe and everything is the pursuit of the answer, not the answer itself.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
...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)
Using Excel's pseudo-random number generator to generate 1000 random numbers from 1 to 100:
1 0.5%
2 1.3%
3 1.2%
4 1.5%
5 0.9%
6 0.6%
7 0.6%
8 0.7%
9 1.3%
10 1.5%
That's only the first 10 of the 100, because Slashdot won't let me post the full list. Of the full hundred, only 13 numbers are represented exactly 1% of the 1000, 41 are less than 1%, and 46 are more. The maximum was 1.7% and the minimum was 0.3%.
If you watched the BBC video series, they seemed to make a point 101010 on the cavewall. I forget exactly what was being explained other then multi-armed beings who invented underarm deodorent before the wheel.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
42 is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. All other definitions are of course only attempts to explain this phenomenon.
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.
Stories of this sort have always been allowed on Slashdot. However most ./ers don't have the creativity or imiganition to post them so we don't see them here very often. I'm sure with continued heckling like yours the actual thoughtfull stories (instead of, here's a link, here's my kneejerk reaction) will continue to move over to k5 where we don't have as much problem with people unable to think without a link.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Before Earl Grey, before the Brits were hooked on Tea, in central and south Asian countries people drank tea all the time. The best flavors are known to come from Quetta, Pakistan where hundereds of professional tea tasters in the markets there blend tea imported from Kenya to Sri Lanka to China to India and export them. Quetta's tea is well known in other cities of Pakistan and many places around the world.
Earl Grey seems to be closest in taste to the tea commonly drunk in Pakistan, yet its not quite that good either. It has a papery taste. I was hooked to the non-brand name tea of Quetta until I came to the USA and had to contend myself with Eary Grey between the times when my visiting friends would bring me some from Quetta.
British companies have even tried to grab the Basmati rice of India and Pakistan, some company in the USA tried to patent that. Call it what you will, even the stamp of the name of a white guy doesnt make it QUITE as good in taste as the original Quetta tea or India Basmati. Grape seeds for wine and recipes for beer were stolen from Europe a long time ago but Americans still prefer to import the genuine article from Europe. Nothing beats the original.(Except maybe copies of Sega ROMS:)
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
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.
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
Does this mean that Earl Grey is selling a substance that is almost, but not quite, completely unlike tea?
"Earl Grey" aren't selling anything since EG is just a name for a certain blend of tea, like mocha java is for coffee. This particular blend of EG was sold by the UK department store Harrods'.
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.
Earl Grey is fine and dandy, but if you really want to enjoy your tea, you should make it from dried cubensis. That way you'll really have some insightful (or not) thoughts on life, the universe and everything.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
Another very good Earl Grey is Taylor's of Harrogate. It's very smooth, and the bergamot flavoring tastes natural, unlike many Earl Greys.
As for EG's to avoid, I would stay away from Bigelow (unnatural flavor), Tazo (Starbucks brand, too strong and bitter), and Stash (bergamot flavoring tastes funny).
Taylor's also makes several other fine teas such as Lapsang Souchong (tea smoked over pine needles I believe) and Scottish Breakfast (a very bright, strong tea). Buy the leaf tea and brew it with a tea strainer or french press, it's much better than using bags.
Some of you may already know that there exists an ISO standard for brewing the ideal cup of tea. It is ISO 3103 (which is also a British Standard -- BS 6008), and is available for download here.
Also, one of my pet ideas is that it people here in the U.S. prefer coffee over tea simply because of a boycott that started when the Boston tea party happened. Sadly, it looks as if there has been an anti-tea sentiment here ever since.
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
And the best, the only, the ONE TRUE WAY to brew tea is with a coffee press. The local Chinese bakery & tea shop does it this way, and it makes much better tea than anything else I've ever used.
(Bodum's website is at http://www.bodum.com, if you're interested in seeing a most heinously Microsoft-centric mess)
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.
The Question is obviously, "why am I perfectly happy drinking this muck from a Lipton's teabag?"
Although Bigelow's Constant Comment is a nice change now and then.