5/12    Douglas Adams, 2001.
        \_ We take eighteen ounces of sizzling ground beef, and soak it in rich,
           creamery butter, then we top it off with bacon, ham, and a fried egg.
           We call it the Good Morning Burger.
        \_ Hopefully now he'll now know the Question to the Answer of Life, the
           Universe, and Everything... Rest well dude...
        \_ damnit why don't people like Rush Limbaugh, William Shatner,
           Jesse Helms, and other schmucks die instead?!?!?
              \_ Damn it why don't the schmucks in the ACLU, the Sierra Club,
                 Green Peace, NOW, the Green and Democratic parties die
                 instead?!? The world would be a *much* better place without
                 them.
           \_ If you were God, who would YOU rather have in the afterlife
              with you?  That's why....
                \_ There is no God.  There is no afterlife.
                   \_ There is a God, but there is no afterlife for most
                      people (due to the simple fact that they have nothing
                      with which to survive death).
                   \_ There is a God, but there is not "afterlife". If
                      you attain "salvation" its all over, otherwise you
                      keep coming back until you attain "salvation".
                      One attains salvation when one's karma == 0.
                      Its very difficult.
              \_ I would *love* to have good decent people, such as those
                 you mention, they believe in freedom and democracy and
                 \_ Whatever you think of the Bush family doesn't excuse the
                    entire state of Massachusetts for turning a clan of rapist
                 the american way.
                    entire country would be a better place if a Kennedy
                    specific virus was developred and released.
           \_ Uhm, I think "schmuck" is a gross understatement.
           \_ They're like a virus, cancer, or lawn weed. You can poison
              them all you want and they'll never go away, wreaking havoc
              on anything good.
                \_ Yeah, imagine that, people who believe in the U.S.
                   Constitution.  What a bunch of fucks!  I hate that, too.
                   \_ Nobody wants to hear the non-sensical ravings of a
                      loud-mouth malcontent.
To: linden@Eng
                      \_ but that's what the motd is all about.
           \_ They do.
              \_ Sometimes they need to be helped.
                 \_ Oh hey that was almost witty.
                    \_ oooh. That was a burn, man. You sure showed him.

From: adamsd@CERF.NET (Douglas Adams)
Subject: Re: UL prototype...
Cc: dan.mckinnon@canrem.com (Dan Mckinnon) content-length: 3385

> Mr. Adams, I wonder if you would care to post a comment in
>alt.folklore.urban in response to Peter's comments. He probably doesn't
>know you are "into" computers, music, graphics, world wildlife, and so
>on.
>
> Dan.mckinnon@canrem.com
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>PVDL>From: Jym Dyer <jym@remarque.berkeley.edu>
>PVDL>> Douglas Adams maintains that the similar incident (which
>PVDL>> he wrote with Arthur Dent as the protagonist) was based on
>PVDL>> something that actually happened to him!

Yes it did. It happened to me on Cambridge station in the summer of 1976. A
couple of years later I told the story on the radio, and then subsequently
began to come across all sorts of variations of the story cropping up all over
the place. I don't really care whether you believe me or not. I'm simply
relating what occurred. If you are predisposed to believe - on no evidence -
that I am a liar, there's not a lot I can do about that.

>
>PVDL>There are 2 (two) more hallmarks of an urban legend:
>PVDL> 1. In retelling the tale, the speaker always claimed it
>PVDL> happened to him, or a friend of his.
>PVDL> 2. The speaker will not be budged from this claim, and
>PVDL> if challenged, becomes more adamant.

So how would you distinguish this from someone who was telling the truth? If
you say that I'm a lemon and I deny that I'm a lemon and you then say that
it's characteristic of people who are lemons to deny that they are lemons
there's not a lot further we can go is there?

>
>PVDL>In the final analysis, it doesn't matter whether Douglas Adams is
>PVDL>big enough to say that the incident stems from something he heard
>PVDL>rather than something he felt:

How do you kow this? Do you have access to some part of my mind that I don't?

>PVDL>On the other hand, you're posting on the Internet, and Adams wouldn't
>PVDL>know Internet from an alt.sewer.

I do know about the InterNet. Presumably the fact that I'm saying this will
only confirm to you that I know nothing at all about it. I would say that
wouldn't I? Ah. Perhaps I'm an imposter. Why don't you ask me if I am? If I
deny it that will prove that I am because that's what imposters always do.

>

>PVDL> Peter "thought the Hitch-Hiker's Guide was a good idea taken
 >PVDL> a long way too far.   It's been a book, a radio show, a
 >PVDL> tv show, a play, an opera... about the only artform that
 >PVDL> it hasn't been is a tapestry, and there's probably someone
 >PVDL> working on it now" vdL.

The Hitch Hiker's Guide has not been an opera. It has however been a tapestry,
if you count a woven bath towel as a tapestry. Careful with your facts. That's
how myths start.
           \_ Get over it.  One could easily ask why the Bush clan scum are
              still around.  How many rapes and murders does it take?  Oh yeah,
              they're ultra dumb crack-smoking fascist so it's all ok.
           \_ Get over it.  One could easily ask why the Kennedy clan scum are
              still around.  How many rapes and murders does it take?  Oh yeah,
              they're ultra leftist so it's all ok.
              \_ Don't mock the Kennedy's. The Kennedy's can kick the Bush's
                 ass and their "compassionativity" any day.
              \_ Whatever you think of the Kennedy family doesn't excuse the
                 entire state of Texas for turning a clan of rapists and
                 murderers into heros.  And I wasn't mocking them.  The
                 entire country would be a better place if a Bush
                 specific virus was developed and released.
                 \_ At least the Bush clan believes in freedom, progress
                    and prosperity, unlike the Kennedy's who want to keep
                    us all in miserable poverty and servitude (to them)
                    for the rest of humanity.
              \_ How many Kennedys are ALREADY dead? Ever study them? Tragedy
                 everywhere.
                 \_ Not enough.  Not nearly enough.

\_ Who is "linden@Eng?
        \_ he's just this guy, you know?
        \_ I think it's Peter van der Linden at Sun, author of Just Java
           and Deep C Secrets.
           \_ yes it is. -alexf
                    \_ You are right they breed way too fast.
          \_ this rules, you guys can even turn the death of a great
             author into a flame war.  carry on.
             \_ "Great author"?  *pshaw*  hardly.
                \_ then why'd you read all his books then?
             \_ Who asked you?  No one needs your permission to have a flame
                fest.