Happy Towel Day 122
An anonymous reader writes "While Douglas Adams continues his attempt to set a new record for the longest extended lunch break, geeks all over the universe pay tribute to the beloved author by celebrating the tenth edition of Towel Day. Towel Day is more alive than ever. This year Richard Dawkins, one of Adams' best friends, has tweeted a Towel Day reminder to his numerous followers. The CERN Bulletin has published an article on Towel Day. There has been TV coverage and there will be a radio interview. The Military Republic of the Deltan Imperium, a newly formed micronation, has recognized Towel Day as an official holiday. In Hungary several hundreds of hitchhiker fans want to have a picnic together in a park. And there's a concert, a free downloadable nerdrap album, a free game being released, the list goes on and on."
Don't forget.... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Don't forget.... (Score:5, Informative)
I always bring mine but I've forgotten why now.
"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 vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft 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 to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); 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: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, 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 hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker 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."
Stolen (well, copied really... it's not missing or anything) from The Towel Wiki. [towel.org.uk]
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Pirated!
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wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat;
Indeed, you could even put someone's eyes out with it, then subject them to the Death of a Thousand Painful Welts ;-)
SB
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You don't have to bring one. You have to know where yours is.
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I leave a towel in my desk at work.
(Seriously, I do.)
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We will now learn a word in Turkish ...
FireSignTheater
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No really. ( I bike to work,and keep a towel in the company locker room. )
I missed my chance. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I missed my chance. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I missed my chance. (Score:5, Informative)
<cover style="font-size: large; font-family: friendly_letters;">DON'T PANIC!</cover>
There, fixed that for you.
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I have a google calendar full of geek holidays to make sure I don't forget things like this
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http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nrt3u596ooihfcbb6h2qoudhh8%40group.calendar.google.com [google.com]
I saw a couple of others before making mine, but they had irrelevant and/or inappropriate days (e.g. "Steak and a BJ day", which has nothing to do with geeks in any way I can see).
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Just because the US is behind the rest of the world and they want to bring everyone backward with them :P
Best Towel Rack (Score:2)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/513235829_c6ebab39af_o.jpg [flickr.com]
backup link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitta/513235829/sizes/o/ [flickr.com]
triple backup link http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitta/ [flickr.com]
I've got mine (Score:2)
sitting right here on my work chair. Been asked about it about a dozen times thus far, really dissapointed that in an IT firm so few have read the book (let alone seen the movie).
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Have had some recognition though, so I guess there's still hope.
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towelie says... (Score:5, Funny)
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I was so waiting for someone to make a towlie reference :)
haha... beautiful!
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No, your a towel.
and the show lost what little originality it had years ago.
This from the person whose posts seem to consist mainly of tired memes, inflamatory comments, liberal use of the word "fuck", and a journal so stunningly verbose you could barely call is a complete sentence.
How about fuck you and your wire-coathanger sense of humour.
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Crap troll is crap.
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It got your lips frothing, so I consider it well worth it.
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I enjoyed a few simpsons episodes as a kid, but god they're up to like 30 seasons or something ridiculous now and have been tired and sad for a long time. I'll admit I did watch family guy for a while but stopped well before it got canceled and I've seen maybe one episode of it since it got renewed.
Honestly my TV watching is pretty limited these days and mostly consists of Top Gear, Mythbusters, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and the occasional episode of House.
PS Southpark sucks donkey dick
I still say (Score:2)
it should be February 11th.
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I use my Happy Towel *everyday* (Score:1)
Thanks!!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
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Have a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojydNb3Lrrs [youtube.com]
Part of the absolutely superb hitchhiker's guide movie, which anyone reading this should already have seen.
picnic? (Score:2, Funny)
want to have a picnic together in a park
Shouldn't that be a panic in the park?
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It is all covered by my SEP-field.
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The picnic was rained off but hundreds of us did form a big '42' in Moscow Square and then move on to Millennium Park for 42 science experiments.
A bit late now (Score:2)
Why are these "x day" stories only widely reported on the day itself, when it's too late to take part?
For once there's a day dedicated to doing something so easy that even I might have bothered making the effort, yet now I'm denied that opportunity for another 364 days.
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Why are these "x day" stories only widely reported on the day itself, when it's too late to take part?
For once there's a day dedicated to doing something so easy that even I might have bothered making the effort, yet now I'm denied that opportunity for another 364 days.
Why are these stories published the day after it has actually happened for us who live near the date line?
It's already tomorrow for us over here.
Maybe we could have an events section to give us a heads-up on what's coming soon.
I was just in the Post Office... (Score:2)
and saw a guy with a towel over his shoulder. I thought to myself, "what's with the towel?"
Now I know
Dawkins (Score:5, Insightful)
<grin>
'E's not dead! E's resting! (Score:2)
While Douglas Adams continues his attempt to set a new record for the longest extended lunch break
That’s just for tax reasons. ;)
P.S.: Oh, and don’t dare to taint towel day with the lamest drawn character of all time. You know who I mean. That one of South Park infame.
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Amazing how some of y'all just don't get the homage of the towelie character to HGTTG.
What's the answer? 42.
Think about it for a minute. [haze.net]
And Don't Forget Your Towel.
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Adams is right (Score:1)
It really is good to know where your towel is. I'll explain.
A few weeks ago, I went to Atlanta (interstate, not interstellar) for a real estate closing. I stayed at the house there instead of a hotel. When I arrived, I found the "lawn" to be be nearing three feet tall. Though it was typically hot and humid, I had to mow it. That done, it was time for a shower, except there's not a towel to be found. Ended up driving to a store, just to buy a single towel.
Next road trip, I'm taking a towel. I've learned my l
I was hoping for "Nudist Pride Day" (Score:2)
...but "Towel Day" is pretty close to being the same sentiment.
Ask Google to recognize Towel Day (Score:1)
"I would not have put that part in the book" (Score:1)
In 1985 or so, Douglas Adams came to a local mall to promote "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish." A 17 year old version of myself brought a pink towel for him to sign (I also brought a marker as I suspected he would not have one). As he signed it he said to me "If I had known that everyone was going to bring me towels to sign, I would not have put that part in the book."
Quite frankly, he seemed a bit unappreciative of his nerdy fans. It gives me some satisfaction that now, beyond his grave, the towel live
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Got mine (Score:2)
I ride a bike to work and I keep my towel in a locker.
Except last night....
(why, you may ask...)
It needed washing so I took it home, and brought a fresh one in today.
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Why, what's the problem with Dawkins? I enjoy his books, but I've never met the guy.
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He contends that faith (belief in something that cannot be proven) is fraudulent, while arguing from and promoting a philosophy that cannot be proven (atheism).
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Which is why I think that everyone should be agnostic. (Yes, I realize that that largely would then make the term meaningless.)
Sure, if we pretend that there is an invisible man in the sky that controls the universe, he *could* make the universe exactly as it is now... So even though I don't believe that that invisible man exists, I do understand the theoretical possibility (and consider myself atheist AND agnostic).
Now, if all
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Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:5, Insightful)
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ROFL at the irony. So the arguments to illustrate the non-existence of what you call "God" are straw-men? Again, ROFL at the irony.
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Necessarily! While certain beliefs can be proven false, the underlying concept cannot be, by it's very nature.That is exactly why religion and science don't mix, the underlying hypothesis of religion is not falsifiable. Given that, any argument that appears to falsify religion must be a straw man.
Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Does this stamp collecting lead to wars, genocide, terrorism, assaults on human rights, genital mutilation, suppression of women and suppression of free speech? Opposing that might be a good hobby then.
Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:5, Insightful)
My neighbour has some sort of hippy spirituality thing going on. She does meditation, won't eat animals, all of that junk. I'm sure you are familar with the type.
Religion can cause harm, but so can anything else that humans feel strongly about. My neighbour has not caused any harm with her own little brand of religion, so suggesting that those things be universally connected to religion seems to be in error.
In other words, the existence of atrocities committed by religion does not indicate all religions cause atrocities.
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Even though these are small things, religion causes shops to close on sundays. Religion is given all sorts of exceptions(imagine anyone else wanting to make a ton of noise on a sunday morning). Religion sneaks into laws all the time.
You can be religious as much as you want, but for some reason those who are constantly feel the need to press their superstitions on the rest of us, starting with their children who will then do the same, ad infinitum.
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It's a catalyst. ... dare I say since the beginning of human-kind as we know it.
It may be violence for religious purposes, it be be religion for violent purposes.
The link has existed for
By the way, your neighbor has a lifestyle, not a religion. The moment that your actions are disassociated from a person through adhering to the demand of a being that does not physically exist, that's when religion fabricates itself.
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There is also a strong as shit link between politics and violence, yet to assert governments are harmful constructs (as many people do assert) also seems in error to me.
You say tomato, I say... tomato. Guess that doesn't really work online...
She engages in what is essentially Gaia worship. I should have emphasized the spirituality part obviously.
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Give her time to gain influence over decision makers. Then tell me how harmless she is/was.
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Your analogy is flawed. A stamp is something you can pickup and hold. God is not. A better analogy is the Emperor's New Clothes. Something you can't see, but everyone behaves like they can.
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No, it's the stamp collectors who invest considerable amounts of time trying to get me to collect stamps
I don't have to try, those flaws are obvious
Never done that
It's stamp collecting that's totally based on straw man arguments
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That is to say, i'm no longer sure what side of the original discussion you are arguing from, because the stamp analogy has gone so far.
its somewhat like the rule of narration that you can't have a flashback inside a flashback, because it will confuse the audience.
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You'll learn someday, soon or when it's too late, that science dictates proving something, and not a requirement to disprove something without the item being proven.
Hint: writings in a book through multiple governmental rewrites is not proof.
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I don't think philosophies need to be proved. Yet Dawkins seems to believe that atheistic rationalism reigns supreme among philophies. If that's the case, then by appealing to rationalism, logic should be able to prove that rationalism is correct. Show me the proof.
I guess when he's done with that, he can appeal to rationalism to prove to me that he exists.
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Dawkins may be a fine scientist as evidenced by his education and his scientific accomplishments. When he tries to apply scientific principles to matters of theology, which is what he does every time he claims in a scientific context that there is no God, he violates that distinction... he makes a theological claim, which, as you point out, should have no bearing on the validity of a scientific theory.
But saying that if rationalism reigns supreme among philosophies logic must be able to prove it is correct is rather silly.
And you have captured the point I was trying to make quite well... Reductio ad absurdum.
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Nah, it'll never work. All you'll do is prove that those particular people were poseurs. The only way to dis-prove that would require that you prove their religion to be true and cause God to disappear in a puff of logic.
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How do you know he exists, then?
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He makes Bible-thumpers doubt their faith, therefor he is a tool of Satan, or some stupid crap like that.
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Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks for letting everyone know that you're not a frood, AND you don't even know where your towel is.
Belgium!
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Watch your $#*! language!
Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:5, Funny)
Awwwww. Poor baby. Did he make fun of your imaginary friend?
Re:Idle's the right place for this... (Score:4, Insightful)
In the end, the last war on earth is going to be FSM followers vs IPU followers.
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Funny. Perhaps you should read your sig block.
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Very well, I'll say it then. Your signature combined with your post reminds me of that moronic quote from one of the recent Star Wars movies: "only the sith deal in absolutes".
I didn't start shit here, and don't consider myself particularly religious in any sort of classical sense (does futurism/transhumanism count? I'd argue probably not, for the purposes of this discussion). You're eagerness to write off criticism as the merit-less words of zealots does nothing to help your cause.
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Except I never claimed to be particularly tolerant; I'm not ... at least not in the way you and the politically correct crowd want. The whole notion of tolerance has been co-opted by people of your ilk who don't want to be held accountable for your bad decisions. You preach tolerance on the one hand, and expect that the world bow down on the altar of tolerance and when some chose not to, when they have the audacity to disagree with you, you get up on your high horse and shout "blasphemy!" as you have so a
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Amen!
*grin*
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He has shown over and over to be nothing more than a glory hound who likes to cause strife wherever he goes.
Nothing more? That's it? We have encapsulated everything about this guy's humanity in one sentence? I'm a Christian, and I therefore disagree with Dawkins on a great many things, but I still think he's got a lot of good things to offer. I'm glad he's around. I frequently find his talks very refreshing. It's always a good thing to have devil's advocate in a discussion to weed out the crappy ideas. And regardless of your flavor of Christianity, there's certainly a surplus of crappy ideas. (Sam Harris is a way
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Happy now? Give me your "turning the other cheek" theater again, dipshit.
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I can't speak for the others, but you sure showed me.
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Towel Day. It says it right there in the title.