Friday, May 25, 2012

Towel Day

A few random holidays today, all summed up in the title of one holiday:  "Geek Day."  What follows here in this blog entry firmly supports that we're the sort of people that can celebrate "Geek Day."  First of all, it's the 35th anniversary of the release of Star Wars.  This seems to be a big theme for May, as we've already had "May the Fourth Be With You," and of course the "Star Wars Days" celebration down at Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Seriously, though:  can you believe it has been 35 years?  Again, Madison just saw it a few weeks ago for the first time - and loved it.  In fact, she still talks about Princess Leia and her unusual hair style that looks like two bread rolls stuck to either side of her head.


Here's the other thing to celebrate today:  Towel Day!  Above is a picture of Madison and her favorite towel, one that comes with a cloth crown at the top.  You put it on your head and wrap the towel around you for warmth or to get dry.  Of course, there are other functions of the towel, and that's the whole point of Towel Day.  Allow me a moment to explain:

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker 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."


Although immensely helpful, this may be unfamiliar to you.  In which case you have not read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," or seen the movie at least.  Daddy has read all six books in the trilogy - the first three are the best.  I think the second my be my favorite, "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe."  It's delightfully quirky, and a lot of fun.  For a recent birthday, Mommy got me Eoin Colfer's "And Another Thing," which is technically part six.  Although wasn't as good as the first two, it was certainly better than four and five.  Lots of numbers here, eh?  It's amazing the number 42 hasn't popped in here yet.  Oops, there it is.

ANYWAY, Madison's towel is clearly a good one, as you can see for yourself.  And now we leave you now with some Vogon Poetry.  So long (and thanks for all the fish)!



"Oh freddled gruntbuggly
thy micturations are to me
As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee.
Groop I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes. 
And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles,
Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if I don't!"
     - Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz

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