5.1 Stuff (Douglas Adams)
Description
This article is from the Douglas Adams FAQ, by Nathan Hughes nhughes@umich.edu with numerous contributions by others.
5.1 Stuff (Douglas Adams)
The phrase "the long dark teatime of the soul" appears in Chapter 1 of
"Life, The Universe and Everything". Wowbagger the Infinitely
Prolonged is described as being eventually ground down by the Sunday
afternoons, and "as you stare at the clock the hands will move
relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark
teatime of the soul."
Also, this explanation recently appeared in the group. Make of it what
you wish:
Where did the phrase "Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" come from?
DNA's mind, certainly, but there is a well-known mystical poem by Saint
John of the Cross called "the Dark Night of the Soul" ("La noche oscura
del alma", to be precise) and I always thought the title of the book was
a great play on that. The poem describes how the soul feels lonesome,
yearning for God (the Beloved, actually, as I recall from high school) and
finally reaches him at dawn. All is well, ecstasy is shared (I don't mean
pills) and, well, let's just say Spanish seventeenth-century mystical
writing by Saint Theresa and Saint John (San Juan de la Cruz) is Spanish
high-school students' introduction to highly erotic poetry.
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At the time the original radio series aired, the Islington telephone
number belonged to friends of his who did not mind calls, but by
1989 they had moved. If you ring the number now, you will get some people
who have nothing to do with Douglas Adams and who are sick of the whole
bloody thing. Don't do it.
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Arthur plays Dire Straits' "Tunnel of Love" from their "Making Movies"
album to Fenchurch, in "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish". The
Radio Scripts book has plenty of information on music used in the
show.
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Hotblack and Desiato were Estate Agents in the Islington area.
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The More Than Complete Hitch Hiker's Guide printings seem to have
a couple flaws in them. The first printing had a significant typo
on the spine label, namely the books were named "The Hitch Hiker's
Guide to the Universe" and "The Restraunt at the End of the Galaxy".
A later edition is bound upside-down.
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Milliways is quite expensive. Had Zaphod deposited $0.01 in a bank on
Ursa Minor Beta before visiting the Guide offices, and had he earned
one ten-millionth percent interest annually over the five-hundred and
seventy-six thousand million, three thousand five hundred and seventy-
nine years that Marvin waited for him, he would have had $1.42 x 10^248
with which to pay his dinner bill. It seems that ``fabulous cost'' does
not quite do justice to the expense of eating at the Restaurant at the
End of the Universe. In fact, were Zaphod to withdraw all his money in
bills of denomination $ 10^219, he would be able to, in principle, lay
his money from one end of the observable universe (at that time) to the
other. Were Zaphod to attempt to withdraw his money in bills of
denomination $ 10^191, the bank would be unable to comply with his request,
as the observable universe at that time would not contain the mass required
to supply him with so many bills.
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The theme music to the radio series is a ditty called "Journey of the
Sorceror", written by Bernie Leadon, originally performed by the Eagles. When
Original Records re-recorded the show for the LP release, they used a new
version arranged/performed by Tim Souster (presumably to avoid paying The
Eagles wodges of cash). The TV series also used a Tim Souster arrangement,
which was released as a 7" single by Original Records (backed with "Only the
end of the World Again", a section of narration by The Book, and Max
Quordlepleen warbling)
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