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Win a Part in the Hitchhiker's Guide
jweatherley writes "The BBC are offering someone the chance to win a part in the forthcoming Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie. You just have to send them a picture of somewhere on Earth that deserves to be spared from the Vogons by 25 June - oh and be British!" Python impressions don't count ;)
Oh yes... might as well start with some nice quotes from the book:
... until ... until ... until you've had
"Drink up."
He added, perfectly factually:
"The world's about to end."
-------------
"You barbarians!" he yelled. "I'll sue the council for every
penny it's got! I'll have you hung, drawn and quartered! And
whipped! And boiled
enough."
Ford was running after him very fast. Very very fast.
"And then I'll do it again!" yelled Arthur. "And when I've
finished I will take all the little bits, and I will jump on
them!"
Casual Games/Downloads
If they are giving away free Babelfish I am so there.
I knew there was a reason I haven't gone to the dentist in a few years.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
"You know, it's at times like this when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young!" "Why, what did she tell you?" "I don't know, I didn't listen."
Instead of asking places to be spared, can we ask for places to be obliterated?
I won't say which places, of course. I'll be nice. (unless you ask nicely)
Washington definitely needs to be sp-- oh, wait. Not "speared", then. Never mind.
... THAT must be how Jerome Blake got the part.
I'm usually on the other end of this and now I know how much it sucks. I can't partake because I'm American, arg...I mean bloody hell mate I'm as British as apple pi...umm bangers and mash.
vampirical
In case you want to read your favorite chapter:
c h1 .html
http://www.totse.com/en/ego/science_fiction/hit
Casual Games/Downloads
Gilliam wasn't a Brit, and he was a Python, and they adored him. But he was *in* Britain, so maybe there's luck that an emigrated Yank could score a roll... Here's hoping, at any rate.
Do Perl impressions count?
June 25 is in 3 hours in Britain. Timely.
Perhaps you have a picture of an animal in its natural habitat that blows you away
goatse comes into mind for some reason...
...that the winner is just going to have a really hot, photogenic girlfriend;)
Football involved helmets and tackling. All of my teeth are intact and healthy. Tea is best cold and sweet. Cars belong on the right side of the road. Skin should not be as pasty white as the under side of aquatic mammals.
I guess I'm out! Unless thinking George W. is royal-freaking-idiot would help my cause.
Don't forget to bring a towel!
...
You wanna get high?
I've been thinking and there isn't anywhere that I could make a case for saving
I'll just buy peanuts and learn Dentrassi.
But I'm not too sure that Earth does deserve to be spared from the Vogons.
After all, we've never shown much real initiative to get off this dustbowl. (this weeks achievement notwithstanding)
Now where did I put that electronic sub-etha signalling device?
StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
If we had some of those (or declared various places to be such), then that might change a few Vogon minds....
of a brewery. No more earth means no more beer, and thats sad.
no
Are we *sure* that isn't the title?
--- What?
I would have to say google, they could make a whole description of how google was never actually anywhere it just appeared one day on the internet.
Sausages and mashed potato, served at the coronation of James II (1685-1688).
That's amazing that simply linking to the article gets you higher moderation rather than a paste of hte link. I guess we really ARE lazy.
Hmmm.
wink:wink nudge:nudge say no more
I've been complaining for a long time, but now I'm finally leaving.
Slashdot is way too U.K.-centric. Where's my news about America (land of the free, home of the brave)? I'm sick and tired of all this "Metres this" and "Stones that" crap.
Give me American, or give me death!
><));>
You just have to send them a picture of somewhere on Earth that deserves to be spared from the Vogons by 25 June
...and the goatse pictures start rolling in...
Terrific, the 25th is only TOMORROW.
However, the British (at least Londoners) are less than three hours away from tomorrow.
How often does the average Brit go to the dentist? I think this could be a new slashdot poll (well for all geeks to answer... not just the British ones).
for maximum effect, the preceding post should be read monotone and at a steady cadence
I hate "mod parent up" posts but I'm in a self-loathing mood I guess. Mods, give the parent some love. It is the funniest post of the day...maybe even the week. No, even longer...it's the funniest post I've seen in a fortnight!
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
WTF kinda comment is "Be British". Britian is made up of quite different people, alot of us find it offensive to be roped in together and be told that we're ment to drink tea, eat cucumber sandwichs and say "Halley-ho" or whatever that crap is.
How about we start refering to everyone in the world as "Earthians" and see how soon we piss off two very different countries...
I like muppets.
At least every 6 months, and much more when getting treatment, because it was covered by the NHS. Now I live in the US and need to pay, so I haven't been yet. Quite where this stereotype has come from is a mystery to me...
So when they say "we want you to send us a photograph of the place on Earth you think deserves to survive the planet's destruction", they really mean which part of the UK.
In this thread on the article's BBC website, the Responsible Parties strongly hint that they're working on a similar contest open to all.
----
WWJD...For a Klondike Bar?
Couldn't go for the firefly extra, so I get all geared up to win this competition, but I cant enter this either! No fair
:p
Had a great idea for a photo too - an on time train! It's so rare that it's got to be worth saving
oh and be British!
yet another reason to wish i were british.
do() || do_not();
*sigh* We saved them from the hun twice last century, and (possibly) once from the bolshevik hoards. We buy Harry Potter books by the shipload, and we put up with Hugh Grant's acting. Doesn't that cut us enough slack to get a shot at being vaporised by vogons?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
A kid won a contest sponsored by Mattel and got a part in Masters Of The Universe (1987)
He had NO lines.
If you blinked fast, you'd miss him when he appeared on screen.
Will this be the fate of the HHGTTG movie part winner?...
If any place deserves to be spared this is it! Its *sniff* beautiful *sniff*
Oh, come. Just think different. ...ly.
I don't live in the UK, so I can't enter, otherwise I'd submit this picture of the Douglas Adams Memorial
I used to work for a British company and I like Bubble and Squeak. Close enough?
I'd carve "Slartibartfast" into a glacier, pretend its Norway, and take a picture of it. afterall Slartibartfast won an award for Norway...
o The White House
o Britney Spear's Mansion
o Redmond, Washington
o AOL/Disney/RIAA/$EVIL_CORPORATION headquarters
o Whatever company makes vending machines. I swear, I've lost so much to those things...
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
They even tell you about their contest when precipitous doom or the end of the entry period is too close to do any thing about it.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
....you just have to be a British resident.
Correct (almost). The BBC which comprises 2 analogue terrestrial channels, ~5 digital channels (I think) and a whole load of radio stations has absolutely no commercial advertising. The other channels, which see no cut from the license fee, do have commercial ads which is IMO quite understandable.
You don't have to be British to enter. The rules clearly state that you must be a British resident. Not at all the same thing.
The Producers do not accept any responsibility for late or lost entries due to the Internet. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt
What return receipt doesn't count anymore?
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Yep, has to be Slough I'm afraid... (plus The Office is based there).
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Something tells me... ...that the winner is just going to have a really hot, photogenic girlfriend ;)
You mean, perhaps like Mick Jagger and former "Page 3 girl" Jeri Hall?
No, like Jack Ryan and Jeri "Seven of Nine" Ryan. Now those are pictures that I want to see!
Carthago delenda est!
Give me American, or give me death!
Uh huh. Thats a pretty broad selection. Sure you wanna narrow your choices?
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
/usr/bin/python
sorry... one bad joke deserves another
I wonder how many people will send pictures of Douglas Adams.
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
It's a shame only Brits are allowed to compete - I'd take a picture of Chicago from Lake Shore Drive where Lake Shore goes over the Chicago River...it's the most beautiful urban spot in the world as far as I'm concerned.
--Stephen
Did you ever notice that *nix doesn't even cover Linux?
Is BBC America a separate entity from the BBC per your post?
Being a self confessed Beer Geek and Profesional brewer I know about beer brewing experiments in space also I have been an advocate of Zero Emisions brewing that would be usful as you can then use the spent grain to grow Mushrooms ,Tomatoes and use the treated water for Fish also you could have a Bioreator for energy .
http://www.zeri.org/systems/brew.htm
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21sep_1 .htm
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns999 9276
So what does that mean exactly (no, I didn't RTFA yet)?
I mean, technically I am a british citizen, since my fater was born there and has me on his passport ( I can keep dual citizenship since i was born in 1982, I guess they changed that at some point thereafter).
Because of that, I have a real british passport, and can use it to travel around like a british citizen.
HOWEVER, I do NOT live in the UK. Is that an actual prerequisite? Or can i just send in some pics, win, and then fly over there to claim my rightful spot in the movie?
Look out honey cause I'm usin' technology
Ain't got time to make no apologies
Right here.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Just wait a bit and we'll have some real American Slashdot style news, like interviews with uberhackers Alan Cox and Linus Torvalds, or a story on Alan Turing, or the latest news on Mandrake, SuSE, and Knoppix.
...
Err wait
I'm not sure - my post was purely based on what I know simply from living in England and watching TV. My assumption would be that since Americans don't pay a license fee BBC America has to resort to commercial funding (they aren't gonna give you guys something for nothing) whereas here in the UK we pay them a fee and therefore they don't need the extra advertising revenue to stay running.
If not then I hope i get a complimentary towel.
I guess that never happened?
A friend of mine is doing some geological work in Hawaii and he sent me these photos. Damn, there's an amazing place.
oh and be British
No, that's not true:
The competition is open to UK residents only, of 18 years or over. Overseas players are not eligible. You do not have to be a registered member of h2g2 to enter.
You have to be a resident of the UK. I'm British but not a UK resident, so I can't enter. A Frenchman (say) or an American who lived in London would be eligable. That's several million people who you've just misinformed...
Sailing over the event horizon
"You just have to send them a picture of somewhere on Earth that deserves to be spared from the Vogons"
Well they're getting a photo of my house. Screw the rest of ya'all.
"Derp de derp."
Sorry folks, nothing insightful to share about the article. But I do have an interesting bit of info about the Hitchhiker's Guide TV series. There's a scene at the restaraunt where they serve a live talking pig to Arthur and company. That pig is played by... Peter Davison? As in, the fifth regeneration of Doctor Who. I don't know how common knowledge that is, but I was stunned to see his name in the credits. You wouldn't know it was him in the pig suit.
"Derp de derp."
I haven't seen any suggestions of locations that deserve to be saved by the Vogons yet. First thing that entered my mind was surely Douglas' birthplace or grave site deserve their reverence.
Heh...funny this pops up just now, when I'd just finished a short review of the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide for my website :-)
But then, that seems about par for the course for this book..
One thing I'm actually not totally clear on is whether or not this should be in the science fiction section..
Twenties Retirement
In that case I should submit a picture of my bedroom. bastards better leave me alone if I'm sleeping...
Just wait a bit and we'll have some real American Slashdot style news, like interviews with uberhackers Alan Cox and Linus Torvalds, or a story on Alan Turing, or the latest news on Mandrake, SuSE, and Knoppix.
...
Shortly followed by tales of robots playing soccer, the latest in anime, and 5G mobile phones.
I can see a trend
I think this spot should be saved. http://www.oregonbeauties.com/tour/anthmyst/images /anthmyst14744l.jpg
**warning not for minors**
A logic python, not a snakable one (you drive with a car...)
Proof positive that reality and H2G2 have merged:
/ ra nch/crabtr.htm
In the barren wasteland of my hometown (Amarillo, Texas, USA), 1974, a bored rich man, Stanley Marsh 3, paid some artists to bury a handful of classic Caddys nose-first in the dirt, all in a line.
http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/cadillacranch
It's the sort of thing you'd expect to see only in a Douglas Adams model. It's the kind of thing a Vogon could truly appreciate. It's batshit insane. It's goofy. It's just South of I-40 on the West side of town.
Be the first to send your photo! I can't; I'm from Texas.
Lucky limey buggers.
If I were a Brit, I'd send 'em a photo of me arse!
Slashdot Eds Link Anonymous Posts With Logged Posts
They Are Vermin Feeding On Each Other's Feces.
I Hate \.
On http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F1839197?thread=4373 19 it sez:
Sadly, BBC rules state that competitions need to be directed towards license-fee payers - ie, people in the UK. However, although we can't offer competitions to our oversees members, we are close to announcing a different project along the same lines that will be open to all.
The contract between the BBC & the UK.gov TV licensing only lasts X number of years before it needs to be renewed. Its about to expire, thus the talk on it being changed/scraped.
Currently it is not planned.
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
Not just British, which I am, but a UK resident, which I'm not. Bugger.
I'd be running over to the linen section of the department store and snapping shots of towels. Lot's of towels. On clearence!
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
I wonder how many people will have to fire up their Improbability Engines to get so much as a chance in this?
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
The BBC is a little bit messy, from a business perspective. BBC America is part of BBC Worldwide, which is the commercial wing of the organization, and is geared towards making a profit. Therefore, BBC America is like any other US cable television network.
The UK stations, on the other hand, are not commercial entities. They are funded by the licensing fee, and are therefore not geared towards making profit. They have certain responsibilities not shared by BBC Worldwide (such as appealing the broadest selection of tastes, not simply the fattest wallet), too.
BBC Worldwide exists to handle the commercial potential of BBC products, which puts them at something of an arm's length from the rest of the organization, but nonetheless still under the same umbrella.
Sean Daugherty "I have walked in Eternity -- and Eternity weeps."
Which means I've got to get a flight from Perth to Exmouth, drive down to Corel Bay (which as it's winter at the moment looks below par) hire a boat - throw up like mad & take a photo of the reef then I need to find a phone point so I can e-mail my image to the BBC.
Yeah, like that's going to happen.
Given more time I could have managed a pretty spectacular (and very DNA friendly - for those who have read the Salmon of doubt) shot but in less than a day I'll have to pass. Bugger (as they say in Australia)
What are you listening to? (http://megamanic.blogetery.com/)
Is this another example of Britsh humor? Please stop.
You guys are evil.
I *am* British, but live in the states.
How could you? I have some nice places I want spared!
"That's the display department."
"With a flashlight."
"Ah, well, the lights had probably gone."
Surely that's not right? I don't recall seeing that in the book and nor can I imagine Arthur Dent saying "flashlight". Surely he'd have said "torch"?
Is it possible the publishers did a translation for the US market?
Ahh: These links (a, and b) tend to agree with me.
It's something almost entirely but not quite unlike 'T'.
but since we 'merkins
OT I know, but I've always understood that a "merkin" was a pubic wig; at least I believe that's the definition in the OED.
people, please do not post pictures of redmond.
this sig violates slashdot rules
There are very, very many places which are worse to live in than Liverpool (and I've lived in several of them - Hemel Hempstead, anyone?)
Make as many Harry Enfield "scouser" references as you like: I'm not going to reply to them because I'm too busy. I didn't really have time to write this, but I couldn't bring myself to let it pass.
I do actually come from Guildford.
You fool! You've given cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god! Do you know what that means?
Too bad the competition is only open to UK residents only. Fooey!
Since all of Europe is so pleased with our rescent foreign policy, how about a picture of the white house and big GB Mugshot! Joke 'em if they can't take a fu**!