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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."

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Happy Towel Day

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  • Don't forget.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by blankoboy ( 719577 ) on Tuesday May 25, 2010 @10:45AM (#32336988)
    ....to bring one!
    • I always bring mine but I've forgotten why now.
      • Re:Don't forget.... (Score:5, Informative)

        by FatdogHaiku ( 978357 ) on Tuesday May 25, 2010 @12:19PM (#32338178)

        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]

    • by pangu ( 322010 )

      You don't have to bring one. You have to know where yours is.

    • I leave a towel in my desk at work.

      (Seriously, I do.)

    • We will now learn a word in Turkish ...
      FireSignTheater

    • by berbo ( 671598 )
      I brought mine today!

      No really. ( I bike to work,and keep a towel in the company locker room. )

  • by dsavi ( 1540343 )
    Reason #453 to not live in a time zone other than the US: I never remember Towel Day until someone in America reminds me, during the afternoon.
  • 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).

    • Out of the ten people in my office today half of us have our towels. ^_^ I guess I'm lucky to work for a company of true geeks.
    • I'm in the Computer Science labs at my uni now, and I'm surprised how few other people have one.
      Have had some recognition though, so I guess there's still hope.
    • I'm carrying mine for 8 hours now and nobody asked why the &@#! I am carrying a towel. WTFs wrong with Dutch people?
  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 25, 2010 @10:53AM (#32337102)
    Do you wanna get high???
    • Dont forget to bring a towel
    • I was so waiting for someone to make a towlie reference :)

      haha... beautiful!

  • it should be February 11th.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      why not 4/2 ?
  • It can finally stand up by itself.
  • Thanks!!!! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by irreverant ( 1544263 )
    So long, and thanks for all the fish / So sad that it should come to this / We tried to warn you all, but, oh, dear / You may not share out intellect / Which might explain your disrespect / For all the natural wonders that grow around you / So long, so long, and thanks for all the fish! The world's about to be destroyed / There's no point getting all annoyed / Lie back and let the planet dissolve around you / Despite those nets of tuna fleets / We thought that most of you were sweet / Especially tiny tots a
  • picnic? (Score:2, Funny)

    by SnarfQuest ( 469614 )

    want to have a picnic together in a park

    Shouldn't that be a panic in the park?

  • 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.

    • by tom17 ( 659054 )
      I agree. I'm putting it in my calendar for next year right now!
      • Good idea. Too bad the Earth will be destroyed next month to clear the way for a hyperspace bypass. But if you can hitch a ride on a passing spacecraft before then, by all means, take your calendar and your towel and Bob's your semi-uncle.
    • 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.

  • 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)

    by IGnatius T Foobar ( 4328 ) on Tuesday May 25, 2010 @11:53AM (#32337866) Homepage Journal
    Sorry, but I don't believe that Richard Dawkins exists.

    <grin>
  • 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.

    • 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.

      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.

  • 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

  • ...but "Towel Day" is pretty close to being the same sentiment.

  • 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

  • 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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