Douglas Adams Continuum (DAC)

Hey, everybody. I want to ask a question about the radio show.

In 1994, I believe it was, I was on vacation with my grandparents in Florida where my grandparents were buying a house and my grandfather and I stopped in a Montgomery Ward department store and on the audiotape deck, I saw the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I assumed it was the book on tape because I knew it had been a radio series (thanks largely in part to our own Gwen's documentary) but I did not know it was available for purchase anywhere in the United States, in the days before Amazon.com. Anyway, as my Pop-Pop and I listened to it in the rental car, I realized it was the radio series and I really got into it, so much so that I wore out two Walkmans listening to it and when we got home my mother remarked how much I seemed to love the tapes.

Anyway, ever since then, and this includes the more recent Dirk Maggs adaptations of the last three books, I always listen to any of the Phases whenever my nerves need calming, and for some reason I find the radio series of h2g2 very soothing. Is this weird or does the series affect other DACers in the same way?

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"If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now!"

-- Zaphod Beeblebrox

-- Wrestling is a spectacle all right. But believe it or not, some of the most devoted fans are highly intelligent people

I just realized it's been ages since I listened to the radio shows! I used to listen to them before bed, ages ago, and I did find them rather calming, now that you mention it.

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You know what you are? You're a beard with an idiot hanging off it.

Maybe it's the light music combined with the reassuring narration of Peter Jones?

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"If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now!"

-- Zaphod Beeblebrox

-- Wrestling is a spectacle all right. But believe it or not, some of the most devoted fans are highly intelligent people

I think its exactly that. My favourite "fit" is Fit the 7th, the one that was originally broadcast on Christmas Eve 1978. It put me in a great mood then and it still does.

Hey, just realised it will be 30 years since the broadcast of the second series in 3 weeks (21st Jan) - some not so happy memories then: I totalled my car the night of Fit the Tenth (although it was actually called Fit the Third back then) and missed it!

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D.
The Thirteenth Triskaidekaphobe
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I don't think it's odd at all. We actually had a thread about this about a year ago. My two cents worth is that the thing I find the most calming in all the world is to listen to DNA's audiobooks -- any of them. His voice is deeply soothing and no matter how stressed I am he can smooth out my brain. I recommend them to anyone who needs to de-stress -- a whole lot better than Enya, et al.

Which reminds me -- I've been meaning to ask the forum this: I have found the following audio versions of at least one and as much as five of the Hitchhiker's Books:

Douglas Adams - 5
Stephen Moore - 2
Stephen Fry - ?
Martin Freeman - 5 I think

Are there any others that any of you know of? I think I once saw a reference somewhere that Simon Jones did a reading of one of them, but can't find it now. I know he did Salmon of Doubt.

One of the frustrating things about buying the audio books on Ebay or Amazon is that a lot of the sellers don't note who the reader is. You have to come to recognize the covers to know which of the above it is.

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I'm just here

Stephen Fry did a reading of the first book which was released about the same time as the film. He was unavailable after the film when the Macmillian wanted to release the others, so that is when Martin Freeman did the other 4. These are described as "Mostly Unabridged".

Simon Jones did The Salmon of Doubt and also And Another Thing... and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul.

Stephen Moore did the first four Hitchhiker books. These are double cassette abridgements.

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(... don't piss us off)

Ah, thanks.

I have the first two Stephen Moores and I thought that was all there was. I now have some hunting to do.

Mostly Abridged. Nice.

Thanks for straightening this out for me, Dave.

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I'm just here