Mastidon here with a bit of an unusual report. This is not a film review or a review at all for that matter unless you want it to be one then maybe I will change it for you. Don’t Panic! This is actually an homage to the single biggest inspirations in my life who helped turn me into the geek that I am today – Douglas Adams who at 6’5” tall making him bigger than any of my other inspirations. In case you did not know, Douglas would have been 60 today had it not for his desire to travel to a different planet and leave us almost 11 years ago depressed and looking for the perfect cup of tea. To honor Douglas’s memory, a party was thrown to celebrate how he would have spent his 60th birthday.
What was it like to hang out at Douglas’s house? Well you could expect talk about science and the universe, the environment, some comedy, and of course rock & roll. All of these things thrown together equaled the evening I just was fortunate enough to experience from the upper rafters of London’s Hammersmith Apollo Theater. But I digress, why was Douglas important? Why is it that if you ask Siri what is the answer to everything you will sometimes get told 42? Well as Stephen Fry put it, the iPad is Douglas’s vision for the Hitchhiker’s Guide become a reality. Douglas had the ability to time travel making his technology predictions rather simple as he simply had to write down what he saw then go back in time and tell us. Stephen unfortunately was not on hand in person but sent in a video greeting from New Zealand where he is shooting some small and unknown movie there. In case you missed it, Stephen revisited Douglas’s book LAST CHANCE TO SEE with a 6 part BBC series 20 years later.
This series is well worth your hard earned credits. The evening was put on by the Save the Rhino foundation which Douglas did lots of work supporting.
Also on the bill for the evening were several scientists who talked about well what would you talk about at an Adam’s event - life, the universe, and everything. They even went so far as to say cats from space will one day destroy the world. As an owner of two cats, I can assure you that this is absolutely the case and the world will almost certainly end on December 21st, 2012 – not by a Vogon construction fleet, but by a group of pissed off cats who don’t want to see me enjoy my 43rd birthday which also happens to occur on the same day. Since I have already started talking about me, I will thrill you with the details that I almost met Douglas, not once but twice. Both times improbable events kept us apart but I still own a copy of MOSTLY HARMLESS which he supposedly signed for me. In reality, I think it was my ex-girlfriend feeling guilty and she faked his signature as that is what I would have done. I know this is as exciting as Vogon poetry so just try and get through it without killing yourself. I first became aware of Douglas in 1984 with my purchase of the greatest text adventure game ever made (or at least the greatest one that you could say rude and nasty things to and it would complement you for your unique creativity.
This opened me up to this strange world of Monty Python – where I doubt you knew Douglas was the only non-Python to get a writing credit. Or maybe you knew that and if so, just go ahead and kill yourself anyway before the cats do for having such useless information in your brain. Douglas would approve. Or maybe he wouldn’t as how the hell would I know so don’t listen to my ramblings.
Another great portion of the evening was filled with skits Douglas had written over the years including a final reenactment from Cambridge University Footlights comedy troop days. The Footlights have given birth to some of the best over the years including Fry & Laurie. Terry Jones also sat down for a Q&A session where he talked about the time Douglas almost killed him and Michael Palin by driving the wrong way down the freeway while under the influence. Feel the love Douglas. What better way to remember you than tell the world you used to drink & drive?
OK, so now what? Science, check. Environment, check. Comedy, eh well maybe. What’s left? Rock & Roll with Douglas’s house band. Now if you are Douglas Adams, who is in your band? Well your buddies who hang out at your house of course. Some minor players including some up and coming guitarist who you probably don’t care about and was in some band that nobody really paid attention to, especially cats who thought their music sounded too dog friendly with their song Seamus. Douglas liked their right handed guitarist so much, he bought him a guitar and named that band’s last album for them because they were too lazy to do it for themselves. David Gilmour came on and performed WISH YOU WERE HERE – a title he stole from Douglas’s autobiography. What nerve. To end the evening, Gary Brooker sang A WHITER SHADE OF PALE with David on guitar. It still wasn’t as good as Vogon poetry but I think I enjoyed it just the same.
Please send out your virtual greetings to the late, great Douglas Adams! Happy birthday Douglas! Wish you were here!
-Mastidon out.
