Hey, you sass that Hoopy Ford Prefect?
This a friendly reminder to all who know (or do not know, as the case may be) that this coming Monday is Towel Day! What is Towel Day, you ask?
Towel Day is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late
author Douglas Adams.[1] On this day, fans carry a towel with them to
demonstrate their love for the books and the author. The commemoration
was first held in 2001, two weeks after Adams' death on May 11,
2001.[2] The towel is a reference to Adams's popular science
fictionThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
comedy series
The original quote that referenced the greatness of towels is found in
Chapter 3 of Adams' work The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
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 vapors; you can sleep
under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of
Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft 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 avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast
of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you
can't see it, it can't see you); 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: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker
has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also
in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, 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 hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker
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.
Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you
sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where
his towel is." (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy:
really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
So bring out your towels on Towel Day, peoples! Pictures, fanfics, comments, as long as it isn't overly smutty, (Yes, *I'm* saying that XD) please post to show your support to Douglas Adams!
(Special thanks and credit to River Tam on Sylum for reminding me about this day *hugs*)
Towel Day is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late
author Douglas Adams.[1] On this day, fans carry a towel with them to
demonstrate their love for the books and the author. The commemoration
was first held in 2001, two weeks after Adams' death on May 11,
2001.[2] The towel is a reference to Adams's popular science
fictionThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
comedy series
The original quote that referenced the greatness of towels is found in
Chapter 3 of Adams' work The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
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 vapors; you can sleep
under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of
Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft 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 avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast
of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you
can't see it, it can't see you); 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: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker
has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also
in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, 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 hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker
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.
Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you
sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where
his towel is." (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy:
really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
So bring out your towels on Towel Day, peoples! Pictures, fanfics, comments, as long as it isn't overly smutty, (Yes, *I'm* saying that XD) please post to show your support to Douglas Adams!
(Special thanks and credit to River Tam on Sylum for reminding me about this day *hugs*)