Sad news : Hitchhiker Live cancelled !

This is a sad day. It has just been anounced that he Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show 2013 Tour has been cancelled. The show was due to continue till the end of November.

All our thoughts to the fantastic team that brought to us this incredible show, principally Dirk Maggs.

"IMPORTANT NOTICE

The Radio Theatre Company deeply regret to announce the immediate cancellation of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Show 2013 Tour. Tonight's performance at The Hawth, Crawley and tomorrow's at the Watford Colosseum will not take place, nor will any of the remaining scheduled shows in October and November. Ticket holders are being contacted and should contact venues for refunds.

Although a well-loved show, Hitchhiker's Live has been subject to the same extreme economic pressures as many productions touring the UK this autumn. Ticket sales across the board have been lower than average and we have not escaped this trend. A difficult financial environment for such a large and technical show means that covering operating costs has become impossible. As a result in the last 24 hours we have had no option but make the extremely hard and painful decision to stop the tour.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and share the extreme disappointment and frustration felt by many who were looking forward to seeing the show. we sincerely hope that it can be brought back in the future."

Hichhiker Live hits the road the 14th September !

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Show Live is back for a two and a half month tour in UK starting the 14th September in London and finishing the 30th November in Milton Keynes.

Almost the entire casting is back but Mark Wing-Davey, the original Zaphod, who won't be here this time. But fear not. Dirk Maggs, director and adaptator of Hitchhiker Live, has found a valuable replacement : Mitch Benn. Otherwise, Simon Jones (Arthur Dent), Geoff McGivern (Ford), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Stephen Moore (Marvin) are all part of the show !

Announcements for the Voice of the Book have been incredible : Neil Gaiman, Clive Anderson, Colin Baker, Billy Boyd, John Lloyd, Jon culshaw, Miriam Margolyes...

If you missed last year tour, you don't want to make the same mistake. So book now !

2013 Tour dates

14 Sep	Book nowLondon, Hackney Empire Voice of the Book: Neil Gaiman
15 Sep	Book nowLondon, Hackney Empire Voice of the Book: Jon Culshaw
16 Sep	BOOK NOWNorwich, Theatre Royal Voice of the Book: Jon Culshaw
17 Sep	BOOK NOWNorwich, Theatre Royal Voice of the Book: Anita Dobson
18 Sep	Book nowLeamington Spa, Royal Spa Centre Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
19 Sep	Book nowCardiff, St David's Hall Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
21 Sep	BOOK NOWNorthampton, Royal & Derngate Voice of the Book: Harriet Walter
22 Sep	Book nowSouthampton, Mayflower Theatre Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
23 Sep	Book nowSouthend, Cliffs Pavilion Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
25-26 Sep	Book nowSunderland, Empire Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
27 Sep	Book nowEdinburgh, Playhouse Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
28 Sep	Book nowGrimsby, Auditorium Voice of the Book: Phill Jupitus
29 Sep	Book nowIpswich, Regent Voice of the Book: Miriam Margolyes
1 Oct	Book nowAylesbury, Waterside Theatre Voice of the Book: Clive Anderson
2 Oct	Book nowBirmingham, New Alexandra Theatre Voice of the Book: John Challis
3 Oct	Book nowMalvern, Forum Theatre Voice of the Book: John Challis
4 Oct	Book NOWCambridge, Corn Exchange Voice of the Book: John Challis
5 Oct	Book NOWBillingham, Forum Theatre Voice of the Book: John Challis
7 Oct	BOOK NOWSheffield, City Hall Voice of the Book: Danny John-Jules
8 Oct	Book nowManchester, Opera House Voice of the Book: Danny John-Jules
9 Oct	Book nowManchester, Opera House Voice of the Book: Shappi Khorsandi
10 Oct	Book nowBradford, St George's Hall Voice of the Book: Graeme Garden
11 Oct	Book nowRhyl, Pavilion Theatre Voice of the Book: John Challis
14-16 Oct	Book nowBelfast, Grand Opera House Voice of the Book: Eoin Colfer (14 & 15), Rula Lenska (16 Oct)
18 Oct	BOOK NOWSt Albans, The Alban Arena Voice of the Book: Anita Dobson
20 Oct	BOOK NOWKingston, Rose Theatre Voice of the Book: Anita Dobson
21 Oct	Book nowCrawley, The Hawth Voice of the Book: Clive Anderson
22 Oct	Book nowWatford, Colosseum Voice of the Book: Clive Anderson
24 Oct	Book nowSouthport, Theatre Voice of the Book: Barry Cryer

25 Oct	Book nowPreston, Guild Hall Voice of the Book: Jon Culshaw
27 Oct	Book nowWoking, New Victoria Theatre Voice of the Book: Danny John-Jules
28 Oct	Book nowReading, The Hexagon Voice of the Book: Clive Anderson
29 Oct	Book nowReading, The Hexagon Voice of the Book: Anita Dobson
31 Oct	Book nowBuxton, Opera House Voice of the Book: Anthony Daniels
1 Nov	Book nowYork, Grand Opera House Voice of the Book: Phill Jupitus
2 Nov	Book nowScarborough, Spa Voice of the Book: Barry Cryer
3 Nov	Book nowDorking, Halls Voice of the Book: Anthony Daniels
5-6 Nov	Book NowGlasgow, Theatre Royal Voice of the Book: Bill Paterson
7 Nov	Book nowDunfermline, Alhambra Theatre Voice of the Book: Billy Boyd
9 Nov	Book nowAberdeen, Music Hall Voice of the Book: Billy Boyd
10 Nov	Book NowInverness, Eden Court Voice of the Book: Billy Boyd
13 Nov	Book NowNew Brighton, Floral Pavilion Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
14 Nov	Book nowLeeds, Grand Theatre Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
15 Nov	Book nowNottingham, Royal Concert Hall Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
16 Nov	Book NowHull, New Theatre Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
17 Nov	Book nowHalifax, Victoria Theatre Voice of the Book: Phill Jupitus
19 Nov	Book nowTorquay, Princess Theatre Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
20 Nov	Book nowHigh Wycombe, Wycombe Swan Voice of the Book: Colin Baker
21 Nov	Book nowSalisbury, City Hall Voice of the Book: Paul Gambaccini
22 Nov	Book nowBromley, Churchill Theatre Voice of the Book: John Lloyd
23 Nov	Book nowBromley, Churchill Theatre Voice of the Book: Anthony Daniels
24 Nov	Book nowPoole, Lighthouse Voice of the Book: Jon Culshaw
25 Nov	Book nowTruro, Hall for Cornwall Voice of the Book: Shappi Khorsandi
27 Nov	Book nowBrighton, Theatre Royal Voice of the Book: John Lloyd
28 Nov	Book nowBrighton, Theatre Royal Voice of the Book: Hugh Dennis
29 Nov	Book nowBasingstoke, The Anvil Voice of the Book: Danny John-Jules
30 Nov	Book nowMilton Keynes, Theatre Voice of the Book: John Lloyd

New Douglas Adams biography to be published in autumn 2014

Jem Roberts is also a successful Ukulele player

Thebookseller.com has just anounced that "Preface publisher Trevor Dolby has bought world rights to "The Frood: A Guide to the Galaxy of Douglas Adams" by Jem Roberts, for hardback publication in autumn 2014".

 Jem Roberts is not new to british comedy history. He previously wrote "The Clue Bible: The Fully Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" and "The True History of the Black Adder".

 The bookseller.com quotes publisher Trevor Dolby. "Following the wonderful reception of Jem's last book, The True History of the Black Adder, published by Preface in 2012, I'm very pleased to have convinced him that the time is right to gather Douglas' friends and acquaintances round the campfire, share stories and celebrate the man and his greatest work, H2G2." Roberts said that thought there were "a clutch of great biographies published in the wake of [Adams'] heart-breaking loss", but that "so much time has passed that a whole new celebration of the Universe he created seemed timely and welcome".

 On his twitter account, Jem Roberts has announced that he exepcts to work nine month on this project : "This one = 9 months-ish. Result = I am living and breathing Hitchhiker until April." He also announced that the launch of a H2G2 blog was "imminent".

 Don't hesitate to follow Jem Roberts on Twitter : https://twitter.com/JemRoberts

Note that lasst june Jem Roberts published a long post introducing the "Original pitch, as cordially okayed by Ed Victor, Polly Adams and the Adams estate"
http://jemroberts.com/2013/06/13/the-frood-fit-the-first/

Towel Day 2013 is coming !

 Once again this year Towel Day will be huge. And as it will be a saturday and not a damn week day, there will be ever more celebrations than usual.

If you check towelday.org, you will probably find a nice event happening not too far from where you live. If there is not one yet, it's still time to organize something !

In Vancouver, the Public Library is organizing once again the horribly hilarious Annual Vogon Poetry Slam. In Turku (Finland), like every year since 2006, the worst poetry in the univers will be recited at Cosmic Comic Cafe. In Brasília-DF, Brazil, for the second consecutive year, Towel Day will be celebrated with a Vogon Poetry Contest! In Netherlands, Nijmegen will be a hotbed of Towel Day activity, with lectures, live comedy and music. In In St. Louis, MO (US), anime store Animeggroll is doing a towel drive for the local Crestwood animal shelter. In the Italian Alps you can meet fellow hitchhikers at an alpine refuge (altitude: 1200 meters), not far from Lake Maggiore, ...

In UK, there will be events and meetings in London, Canterbury, Oxford and Edinburgh, but the biggest event will take place in Cambridge with the Cambridge Towel Day Tour (12h-14h) and Cambridge Towel Day Talks (15h-18h).

 In Paris, Towel Day is once again organized by Grand Ordre de la Serviette (GOS), my own association. We'll have Dirk Maggs (the guy who adapted the three last hitchhiker books for the BBC, but also the two Dirk Gently books, and who organized the Hitchhiker Live Tour), a commemorative towel, a commemorative poster, three talks, the Towel Day Olympics, exhibitions,... According to Towelday.org "Towel Day in Paris will be brilliant!". I really hope so !

All details about these events, and useful links, as usual on towelday.org !

Douglas Adams left hand guitars collection for sale !

 

 The Music shop Chandler Guitars has announced on his website that they have for sale Douglas Adams' collection of left handed guitars.

The collection contains 10 eletric guitars from £ 1695 (for a Hofner 500/1 Beatle Bass 58 Reissue 1989 Left-handed) to £ 4995 (for a Gibson ES355L 1963 Stereo Left-handed).

 You an also purchase 12 accoustic guitars (price start at £ 875).

Finally the collection contains also two amps sold for £400 each.

The most collectibe item in the collection is certainly the Santa Cruz OML 1993 Hitchhiker Brazilian Rosewood Left-handed wich have been customized with Hitchhikers themed inlays(Offers invited...)!

"When Douglas Adams created "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy", he wanted it to look like more a rock album than a more classical radio series. He was in fact an accomplished guitarist and his life and works were marked by his love for music. Douglas Adams often said that to be able to write he had to eat an impressive amount of sandwiches and soak in a just as considerable a number of baths. "There's also a lot of playing the guitar very loudly involved as well…" For a full list via email of the collection please email sales@chandlerguitars.co.uk and add subject Douglas Adams to the email. Please provide phone number. Each instrument will come with a certificate of authenticity and provenance signed by the owner of Chandler Guitars and the Douglas Adams Estate. Douglas Adams was known for having one of the biggest left handed guitar collections in the world.

For more information, picture and details, see their website : http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/douglasadams.php

Limited edition Marvin T-shirt on Qwertee

Today only (between 24 and 25th April 2013 depending on your time zone) you can buy a nice Marvin t-shirt on Qwertee.com. It has been designed by thomashy2000 (his website : http://wurwaldesign.com/tshirts/.

http://www.qwertee.com/product/marvin-s-medicine/

Vogon Jeltz quoted at the House of Commons !

(thanks to Dave H for this goundbreaking news)

Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, is undoubtly so coool it would fluster a Vegan snow lizard! He quoted Vogon Jeltz in an answer to a question from a Member of Parliament.

Sadly it was a written answer. It would have been great to have Vogon Jeltz quotation read aloud in the UK Parliament !!!

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has any plans to deregulate the publication of planning permission applications in local newspapers.

 Brandon Lewis : (...) my Department does not have any current plans to remove the statutory requirement for certain planning applications to be advertised in newspapers. Such notices ensure that the public are informed of decisions by their local authority which may affect their quality of life, local amenity or their property. This is especially the case in relation to planning applications, where there is a limited period for local residents to make representations.

 More broadly, in response to his implicit suggestion that such notices should be abolished in newspapers, I would direct the hon. Member to a passage from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

“People of Earth, your attention, please... This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council. As you will no doubt be aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions of the Galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably, your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you... There's no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for fifty of your Earth years, so you've had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it's far too late to start making a fuss about it now... What do you mean you've never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven's sake, mankind, it's only four light years away, you know. I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that's your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams.”

Google pays tribute to Douglas Adams for his 61st birthday

The 11th march 2013 we celebrate Douglas Adams' 61st Birthday. Google pays tribute to the man with one of its famous doodles. Thanks Big G ! ;)

The doodle was created by Sophia Foster-Dimino. She explains how she worked on this doodle on the doodles' site where all the doodles are archived. So you can still see it here and read Sophia explanations and homage to DNA .

Google founders love Hitchhiker. When you ask google.com what is "The answer to life, the universe and everything", it still answers 42.

And Eric Schmidt, executive chairman and former CEO of Google, told last year : "Think back to Star Trek, or my favourite, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Much of what those writers imagined is now possible," Schmidt said.

"Translating... voice recognition, electronic books. The people who predict that intelligent robots, virtual reality or self-driving cars will soon be commonplace are right," he continued. "Governments will be able to spot the economic makings of a crisis before they happen and doctors will be able to accurately predict the outbreak of disease before anyone feels it."

Douglas Adams died 12 years ago and Google's doodle also makes us remember how young he was when he died. 49 years old, damn it ! It was such a shock for so many fans in the universe. "Life, don't talk to me about life" !

Douglas Adams was a comic genius, author of the celebrated "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series (which started in 1978 as a radio series but which also spanned through five books, a six episodes BBC TV series, several plays, a movie, a computer game,...),  but also of two Dirk Gently books (two books plus an unfinished one, a famous play called "Dirk", two radio series and a four episodes BBC TV series), a dictionary about names that should exist ("The Meaning of Liff")  and a remarkable book about endangered species "Last Chance to See"(book, radio series, computer software, TV documentary series).

He was also a radical atheist, a rock addict (who owned many left hand guitars and played on stage with Pink Floyd for his 42nd Birthday).

For more informations about Douglas Adams and his work, you can read my website www.douglasadams.eu

Hitchhiker Live back in 2013, book now !

Hitchhiker Live is back on tour in september 2013. The first date will be in London the 16th September.

Here are all dates available now (updated 21th February 2012) :

14-15 Sep	Book nowLondon, Hackney Empire
16-17 Sep	COMING SOON Norwich, Theatre Royal
19 Sep	COMING SOON Cardiff, St David's Hall
21 Sep	COMING SOON Northampton, Derngate
22 Sep	Book now Southampton, Mayflower Theatre
23 Sep	Book now Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
25-26 Sep	Book now Sunderland, Empire
27 Sep	Book now Edinburgh, Playhouse Theatre
28 Sep	Book now Grimsby, Auditorium
29 Sep	COMING SOON Ipswich, Regent Theatre
1 Oct	Book now Aylesbury, Waterside Theatre
2 Oct	Book now Birmingham, New Alexandra Theatre
3 Oct	Book now Malvern, The Forum Theatre
4 Oct	COMING SOON Cambridge, Corn Exchange
7 Oct	COMING SOON Sheffield, City Hall
8-9 Oct	Book now Manchester, Opera House
10 Oct	COMING SOON Bradford, St. George's Hall
11 Oct	Book now Rhyl, Pavilion Theatre
14-16 Oct	Book now Belfast, The Grand Opera House
21 Oct	Book now Crawley, The Hawth
22 Oct	Book now Watford, Colesseum

24 Oct	Book now Southport, Southport Theatre
25 Oct	COMING SOON Preston, Guildhall
27 Oct	Book now Woking, New Victoria Theatre
28-29 Oct	Book now Reading, Hexagon
31 Oct	Book now Buxton, Opera House
1 Nov	Book now York, Grand Opera House
2 Nov	COMING SOON Scarborough, Spa Centre
5-6 Nov	COMING SOON Glasgow, Theatre Royal
7 Nov	COMING SOON Dunfermline, Alhambra Theatre
9 Nov	COMING SOON Aberdeen, Music Hall
10 Nov	COMING SOON Inverness, Eden Court Theatre
13 Nov	COMING SOON New Brighton, Floral Pavilion
15 Nov	Book nowNottingham, Royal Concert Hall
16 Nov	COMING SOON Hull, New Theatre
17 Nov	COMING SOON Halifax, The Victoria Theatre
19 Nov	Book now Torquay, Princess Theatre
20 Nov	Book now Wycombe, Swan
22-23 Nov	Book now Bromley, The Churchill Theatre
24 Nov	Book now Poole, Lighthouse
27-28 Nov	Book now Brighton, Theatre Royal
29 Nov	COMING SOON Basingstoke, Anvil

You can also check dates on the official website :     http://www.hitchhikerslive.com/tour-dates.html

Polly Adams interviewed on Aussie radio

Douglas and Polly, circa 2000/01

Polly, Douglas Adams' daughter, has been interviewed for the first time ever (well at least to my knowledge) on an Australian radio where she currently (as january 2013) gets some holidays.

A great little interview very informative and funny. Polly is so kind and witty, that's pretty nice to hear her here :

http://blogs.abc.net.au/tasmania/2013/01/douglas-adams-little-rocket.html

The Doctor Who legacy collection box set

This is of course great news for all Doctor Who fans and Douglas Adams fans alike. BBC video has just released a great DVD boxset. It contains the legendary and unfinished "Shada" story never fully completed. You'll find all the existing footage + some Tom Baker narration to fill the missing gaps.

The boxset contains also the BBC produced  documentary "More than thirty years in the Tardis" (1993), a famous documentary about the first thirty years of Doctor Who directed by Kevin Davies (who also directed the also famous "The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" TV series making of).

A must have !!

Buy it here on play.com

Buy it here on BBCshop