The Hitch Hiker's Guide has brought me some excellent tools for thinking and analysing. Many ideas contained within the stories have helped me to think through my own positions on various mysteries of life. With the exception of women, obviously.

The total perspective vortex was an interesting idea. A machine that, by extrapolating the information as to the fundamental relationship between all matter from a small sample (piece of fairy cake) an image of the entire universe and the relative position of the individual could be projected into the victim. DNA (That's Douglas Adams, I'm hip to this jive talk, daddy-o) said that the vortex was the most profound torture device ever created, other tortures could destroy a man's body or mind, but only the total perspective vortex could destroy his soul. Interesting concept. Perhaps a sub-lethal version could be developed to instil a little true humility into Christians. They too are under the same impression as to the reason for the existence of the universe as was Zaphod Beeblebrox.

I also liked DNA's dismissal of time travel (other than a plot device) by pointing out that if time travel did exist it would appear to have been invented simultaneously in all eras. Is that the right tense for that sentence, I don't have access to quite as many tenses as time travellers would have needed. Or is that will have nood? No, shall have would nid.

I liked Deep Thought, the computer so powerful that, before anybody had time to switch it off, it had started from the basic "I think therefore I am" and had got as far as deducing the existence of income tax and rice pudding before anybody had a chance to switch it off. Excellent.

The Guide didn't have a single hero. There was Arthur Dent, but, well, he was Arthur Dent. His heart was in the right place I suppose. I also associated with certain aspects of Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the android. One mistake Adams made was calling Marvin a manically depressed robot, Marvin wasn't bipolar, his depression never lifted. Not only was the glass always half empty everything about the glass was unspeakably dreadful, but he'd speak about it anyway. Even if nobody listened. Which they never did. He didn't know why he bothered.

Douglas Adams (1952 to 2001)

was to the English language what Jimi Hendrix was to the guitar.

Hitch Hiker Links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/douglas-adams-FAQ/

http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/hhgg.html

http://www.zz9.org/

In writing my website I have come to the startling conclusion that every hoopy frood out there in cyberspace is also a hitch hiker fan. All the sad obsessive types prefer the X-Files or Star Trek.

My own sci-fi heritage is mostly of the tongue in cheek variety although I must confess to liking the very British, BBC and low-budget sci-fi of Doctor Who and Blake's Seven.

...and masturbation fantasy figure for millions of my generation.

Lalla Ward (Mrs Richard Dawkins, ex Mrs Tom Baker) as the beautiful and intelligent Romana, with K9.

Not to be confused with the other Laa Laa.

Gratuitous sexual fantasy picture.

Before Doctor Who came Thunderbirds. The antics and atomic rocket powered equipment of the Tracy family occupied my imagination as a small boy. One of my early memories is of sending my plastic Thunderbird 4 off on a dangerous and ultimately fatal rescue mission down the grid at my primary school. This story greatly amused my son when he was at the right age to appreciate Thunderbirds for himself.

Now our father son moments of togetherness peak on a Saturday evening with the revived Doctor Who. He likes the adventure, I like watching a hero who saves the universe without carrying a gun and of course the rather tasty Billie Piper adds to the mix.

Unfortunately my wife seems to have an interest in the tenth doctor.