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douglas adams
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douglas adams
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douglas adams
bad writing
The Grimly Grim Hallmark Of Awfully Bad Writing
Classic science fiction novels have many annoying writing tics that make it hard to enjoy them, but the word "grimly" has always seemed the worst. People are always speaking grimly, or staring grimly, or even smiling grimly. Of all the adverbs that attach themselves, like alien facehuggers, to science fiction prose, "grimly" is the worst — and the most unnecessary. And it's still cropping up all the time. More »
scifi sagas
7 Reasons Why Scifi Book Series Outstay Their Welcomes
Why do so many amazing novels sprawl into so-so trilogies? Let alone blah tetralogies, or dull ten-book series? Blame "Herbert's Syndrome," in which a great writer gets tempted to keep writing about a popular universe, like Frank Herbert's Dune, long after its expiration date. (The Fantasy Review coined the term "Herbert's Syndrome" back in 1984, so Brian Herbert didn't enter into it.) Here's a handy guide to the symptoms and causes of Herbert's unfortunate ailment. More »
triviagasm
Forget Warp Speed, Try One Of These Alternative FTL Ideas
In Star Wars and Star Trek, the main way to get around the galaxy is to use warp speed or flip on your hyperdrive, which is a bit like hitting the gas pedal as hard as you can so you'll get there a bit quicker. There's more science to it than that, involving subspace fields and hyperspace and all that jazz, but the end result is that you're traveling very quickly. But besides speed, what other faster than light alternatives are there? Check out our list of other ways to get there in scifi. More »
milliways
Secret History of Infocom's Never-Released "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" Game
One of the coolest text adventure games of the 1980s was Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on Douglas Adams' bestselling novel of the same name. Though the game was wildly popular, and a sequel to it was rumored repeatedly, nobody has ever known exactly what happened to that sequel. Until now. Andy Baio, the investigative journo-technologist at Waxy, has received a mysterious network drive from which he recovered all the notes, plans, emails, and information about what Infocom was going to do with the sequel that would have been called Milliways. And he's published it for all to see. More »
time travel wars
Greatest Time-Travel Duels Of All Time(lines)
Some of the greatest battles in science fiction haven't involved dogfights or shoot-outs, but time-traveling smackdowns, with two different people trying to change history out from under each other. Like Marty and Biff, trying to wipe out each other's timelines in this clip from Back To The Future 2. As soon as you have more than one time machine, you can have timeline-altering sniper fights, and whoever can erase the other person's time line first wins. Start your paradox engines, and may the slipperiest time-trickster win! More »
triviagasm
Frak Off! We've Got the Best Swear Words from Scifi
They say that swearing is the tool of the unintelligent, but swearing in an alien language? That has to make you cool, especially since it'll perplex the hell out of most people. If you want to win that hard-to-get geek street cred, we've got just the thing: A list of the best scifi cusses in the frakkin galaxy. Check it out, you floops. More »
mutants
Why does science fiction love extra breasts so much? Blame Douglas Adams, who threw in a reference to the triple-breasted whore Eccentrica Gallumbits in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sounded all sophisticated and sly coming from a Brit. But then William Shatner and Paul Verhoeven got their hands on the concept. Star Trek V, Shatner's directorial debut and swansong, features a three-breasted cat dancer (above) who wrestles Captain Kirk. In Total Recall a year later, a sex-worker flashes her accessory breast at Arnie, who miraculously doesn't grope her. How long before we have three breasts in 3-D? Find out in our gallery. (NSFW below the fold.)
More »
In SF, Third Breast Is More Common Than Third Eye
Why does science fiction love extra breasts so much? Blame Douglas Adams, who threw in a reference to the triple-breasted whore Eccentrica Gallumbits in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sounded all sophisticated and sly coming from a Brit. But then William Shatner and Paul Verhoeven got their hands on the concept. Star Trek V, Shatner's directorial debut and swansong, features a three-breasted cat dancer (above) who wrestles Captain Kirk. In Total Recall a year later, a sex-worker flashes her accessory breast at Arnie, who miraculously doesn't grope her. How long before we have three breasts in 3-D? Find out in our gallery. (NSFW below the fold.)
More »
found footage
Douglas Adams' Widescreen Imagination
When the movie came out, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had already been a radio show, a TV show, a book series and a computer game. So why make a movie? For the amazing spectacle of planet-making technology, judging from this clip. More »
A new campaign wants to rename 42nd Ave. in Portland, OR to Douglas Adams Blvd in honor of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author. The group's site claims that renaming the street will show Portland's commitment to the arts and the environment. Insert your own joke here about how this would be a "mostly harmless" change that would make us thankful for fish or whatever. [Blue Oregon]
hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
Must See: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Must-see TV shows are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale. Must see by Sherilyn Connelly.Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Date: 1981
Vitals: Moments before the Earth is destroyed, a hapless Englishmen is whisked off the planet by a friend who turns out to be an alien doing research for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Then things get nutty. More »
