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1979 Interview With Douglas Adams

Posted by kdawson on Mon Apr 02, 2007 07:30 PM
from the six-by-nine dept.
Sci-Fi Books Media
An anonymous reader points out the inaugural issue of the online sci-fi mag Darker Matter, which start off with a bang by publishing an interview with the late Douglas Adams that has not seen the light of day in 28 years, except for brief excerpts published in the magazine that commissioned the interview. The first two parts are now online with the last part coming next month.
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1979 Interview With Douglas Adams 50 Comments More /

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  • Whoosh! (Score:5, Funny)

    by ian_mackereth (889101) * on Monday April 02 2007, @07:48PM (#18581507) Journal
    I know Douglas was notorious for missing publication deadlines, but this is ridiculous!

    I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
    Douglas Adams
    English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001)
    • I just hope that after they publish part 3 of the article, Ian releases .MP3s of the original cassettes of the interview, which are likely entirely different.

  • Doctor Who's finest hour... (Score:4, Informative)

    by skoaldipper (752281) <skoalstr8NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday April 02 2007, @07:59PM (#18581603)
    Tom Baker was my favorite Doctor, and I see Douglas Adams wrote a few of those episodes. I wonder how much of Adam's influence was present in Tom Baker's tenure outside of those 4 episodes he wrote. I later latched on to reruns from the crudgy old white guy and that blonde haired chap.

    • Re:Doctor Who's finest hour... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by ewhac (5844) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:34PM (#18581833) Homepage Journal
      There are all kinds of wonderful quips from that season. I'm sure they're down to Adams' influence.

      There's a quote from the episode, "Nightmare of Eden." It's one of my favorite quotes anywhere, and I would be very surprised if it wasn't penned by Adams himself.

      Captain Rigg:
      Well who do you work for?
      The Doctor:
      Work for? I don't work for anybody! I'm just having fun.

      Schwab

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Douglas Adams wrote 2 Doctor Who stories by himself: The Pirate Planet (one of the best Who stories ever IMHO) and the uncompleted Shada, and co-wrote City of Death. He was script editor for a lot of episodes.
      I've always wished he had written more episodes!
      • I agree with you about The Pirate Planet, but I think we may be among the very few. :-) Sadly, I've only seen it the once -- when it was first broadcast (in the 1970s?); made a big impression, though. Incidentally, IIRC the script for Shada was completed, but not the filming; so Adams reused a lot of the plot in the first Dirk Gently book.

        • Incidentally, IIRC the script for Shada was completed, but not the filming; so Adams reused a lot of the plot in the first Dirk Gently book.

          You recall correctly. The script was completed; the filming was not because of a strike at the BBC.

          In 1993, the BBC commissioned Big Finish Productions to remake Shada as an audio play, accompanied by a Flash animation. You can still enjoy it on the BBC website - Shada [bbc.co.uk].

  • Great for Dark Matter to get their hands on this. Must be fun for the journalist too to come back to this article so many years later.
  • I know no one on Slashdot reads TFA, but you need to. Some things should be required, like building your own PC or Lightsaber, or reading HHGTTG. Those who wish to learn more should go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game_andre w.shtml [bbc.co.uk].
  • "I'd finally given up on the idea of science fiction comedy, simply because no-one was interested. But then Simon Brett suggested the idea to me. 'I'd like to do an SF comedy, and I think you might be the guy to do it.' And I sort of fell out of my chair."

    The Red Sea had parted, and Douglas had the opportunity he had been waiting for.     Delicious

  • Best. Analogy. Evar. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by $RANDOMLUSER (804576) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:08PM (#18581655)
    "The ships hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don't."

    There's a special, reserved place in heaven for anybody who can turn a phrase like that.

    • Re:Best. Analogy. Evar. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by 644bd346996 (1012333) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:44PM (#18581917)

      "The ships hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don't."

      There's a special, reserved place in heaven for anybody who can turn a phrase like that.
      Even for atheists. We can go on all night with our favorite quotes. I have my omnibus edition within arm's reach.

      I think it is great that Douglas Adams continues to appeal to younger audiences. With sci-fi, there is the risk of the real world catching up to the point that the sci-fi sounds quaint. Not so with Adams, partly because of the satire inherent in his work. Even kids who have grown up with Harry Potter can appreciate the Hitchhiker novels.

      And, for those who don't remember, the Paul Simon inspiration mentioned at the end of part 2 of the article is the album One Trick Pony. It was mentioned in the acknowledgments for "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe".
      • I have the illustrated version of the first book, complete with the African Zaphod pictures (in complete contrast to the text, which describes Zaphod as a kind of a double-above-the-waste-Blond-Greek-God), which I plan to introduce to my son when he's old enough to read it.
          • Plus the costuming was all wrong. What the hell was that tiny second head about? Didn't they read Douglas's original memo which stated that Zaphod was supposed to be double from the penis up (and obviously so)?
      • Even kids who have grown up with Harry Potter can appreciate the Hitchhiker novels.

        Yes.

        And I read both aloud to my kids.

  • Wow, thats some bad grammar, right there. (Score:3, Funny)

    by MetalliQaZ (539913) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:31PM (#18581809)
    "An anonymous points out the inaugural issue of Darker Matter, which start off with a bang by publishing an interview with the late Douglas Adams that has not seen the light of day in 28 years, except for brief excerpts published in the magazine that commissioned the interview. The first two parts are now online with the last part coming next month."

    (in case they fix it)

    -d

  • Lem (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Yurka (468420) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:34PM (#18581825) Homepage
    How nice it is to see DNA give his respects to Pan Stanislaw - and his translator, Michael Kandel, though not by name. I've read Lem in Russian, a language very close to his native Polish, which makes the translator's job significantly easier, and still some places are better in English. Go get yourself a copy of the "Cyberiad".

    • Go get yourself a copy of the "Cyberiad".

      Seconded. Absolutely brilliant stuff. "Altruizine" is worth the price of admission all by itself.

      Schwab

  • A Tragedy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by vertigoCiel (1070374) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:46PM (#18581939)
    His death, at only 49, was one of the saddest events in recent memory for English literatue. Apart from being brilliantly funny, he also made very keen observations on society and culture. One of my favorites: "... To summarize, the people who want to lead the government, are, by virtue of wanting to lead, the least qualified to do so. To summarize the summary: people are a problem." May he be remembered fondly, with tea and biscuits.

    • Re:A Tragedy (Score:5, Funny)

      by belg4mit (152620) on Monday April 02 2007, @09:02PM (#18582073) Homepage
      Specifically, while ignoring the chap across from you who's the gall to also be eating your biscuits.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Dan Slotman (974474)
        I love that gag. It is so easy to imagine that it actually happened. Here is what I thought the most striking part of the interview was, "I just want to kill the idea that you have to be bland to appeal to your market, though I know a lot of the BBC old guard still regard Hitchhiker's as a momentary aberration, a fluke, and not really what radio comedy ought to be about." Adam's work definitely displays his quirky, almost backwards way of looking at life, and it is easy to see why his ideas didn't get a

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by DMoylan (65079)
          > I love that gag. It is so easy to imagine that it actually happened.

          i think in a part of salmon of doubt there is an interview that explains that did actually happen to him. he ate somebody else's biscuits as described in hitch hikers. and the other person probably never realised why he did it. there was no apology or explanation.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by westlake (615356)
      One of my favorites: "... To summarize, the people who want to lead the government, are, by virtue of wanting to lead, the least qualified to do so. To summarize the summary: people are a problem."

      This is just Plato's dream of a philosopher-king given a fresh coat of paint.

      • One of my favorites: "... To summarize, the people who want to lead the government, are, by virtue of wanting to lead, the least qualified to do so. To summarize the summary: people are a problem."

        Sounds to me like he's compressing his own output. I just knew he could transcend the laws of nature.
        • No need for that. As a programmer for the State of Oregon, I completely agree that people are the problem with government, which is why my little sub-department (Central Services, Information Services, Transportation Application Development) is incredibly busy attempting to replace as many people as possible with expert systems. The really neat thing about this is that the one most frustrating segment of people in government (bureaucrats) are the easiest people to replace with software; all you need to do

    • May he be remembered fondly, with tea and biscuits.
      And a towel.
    • "... To summarize, the people who want to lead the government, are, by virtue of wanting to lead, the least qualified to do so. To summarize the summary: people are a problem."

      I think there's a bigger problem with people wanting to lead in bad faith.

      People who don't want to lead - will likely be bad leaders.
      Effective leading takes a lot of self-confidence, and drive.

      The real problem is people who want to lead as a means to an end (that end being power).

  • My senior yearbook quote was DNA (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Gazzonyx (982402) on Monday April 02 2007, @09:47PM (#18582377)
    This quote struck me as dead-on 4 years ago when I was a senior in highschool, so much so that I made it my senior quote.

    "Human beings are not an endangered species; however, this isn't for a lack of trying." - DNA

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      My favorite is:

      Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

  • Today's Date (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lawn Jocke (1064716) on Monday April 02 2007, @11:05PM (#18582885)
    How fitting that this is posted on the date 4-2

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Considering DNA would have written it 2-4, not at all fitting?
  • How topical - what with it being exactly a bit less than six years since he died and nearly precisely two since the movie HHGTTG was released.
  • Remembered seeing him at the 1999 JavaOne conference (anyone else?). Did that anecdote about eating the biscuits of the guy opposite from him at the train station. One of the best key-notes I've *ever* been to.
  • this is pretty much a dupe of a slashdot posting about 27y 10m ago!

    Sheesh, slashdot, old news for old nerds, stuff that no longer matters!
    • But 6 * 9 is 42 in base 13.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Phroon (820247)
        "I may be a pretty sad case, but I don't write jokes in base 13!" - Douglas Adams

        See Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] and Wikiquote [wikiquote.org]. This quote is also in video form on the DVD release of the Hitchhiker's TV series.
        • Well, I am a sad case, so I like jokes in base 13.

          Serendipity. That's why it's amusing to me. DNA picked two numbers that shouldn't produce 42, but did, entirely by accident. It's so ridiculous, I love him all the more for it.
    • No. Turn in your UID now for one at least 100 times larger. The Answer is 42. The question was "what do you get if you multiply six by nine". Chapter 33, The Restuaruant at the End of the Universe.
      • And as we find out later, it's impossible to have both the question and the answer in the same universe. We know that 42 is the answer; "What do you get when you multiply six times nine?" is a question, but it can't be the question.
        • And, in fact, as the man who got the overdose of truth serum in Life, The Universe, and Everything admitted, the question and the answer are mutually exclusive. The correct question, and the correct answer, cannot coexist in the same universe.

    • Re:6-by-9 department? (Score:5, Informative)

      by The Darkness (33231) on Monday April 02 2007, @08:53PM (#18581993) Homepage

      I think that ought to be 6*7.
      No.
      (SPOILER ALERT)
      In The Restaurant ah the End of the Universe when Arthur is stranded on the planet with all the Golgafrinchans and early Earth computer man he tosses out the scrabble pieces to form the Question for the Ultimate Answer. He tosses out:

      W H A T D O Y O U G E T I F Y O U M U L T I P L Y S I X B Y N I N E

      So the 'from' department is correct.
      • It is refereed to possibly being both 6*7 and 6*9.

        From The Restaurant at the End of the Universe:

        "Alright," he said, "but where do we start? How should I know? They say the Ultimate Answer or whatever is Forty-two, how am I supposed to know what the question is? It could be anything. I mean, what's six times seven?"

        Zaphod looked at him hard for a moment. Then his eyes blazed with excitement.

        "Forty-two!" he cried.

        Arthur wiped his palm across his forehead.

        "Yes," he said patiently," I kn

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          No, the 6*9 is "correct" (in the story, if not in mathematics); the Answer to the Ultimate Question (being calculated by the young Earth) got screwed up by the arrival of the Golgafrinchans. cf the original radio series.
      • 6*9=42 is correct, if one uses base 13 and not 10 (Yes, I checked. Sad, isn't I) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Answer_to_Life,_t he_Universe,_and_Everything [wikipedia.org]

        • 6*9=42 is correct, if one uses base 13

          From the horse's mouth, also on the same Wikipedia page:

          It was later pointed out by readers that 6 × 9 = 42 if the calculations are performed in base 13, not base 10. Douglas Adams later averred that he was not aware of this at the time, and repeatedly dismisses this as an irrelevant concoction, saying that "nobody writes jokes in base 13 [...] I may be a pretty sad person, but I don't make jokes in base 13."

    • His favourite colour, lest your were curious is, "While many of us agree with your assertion than the term 'unreleased' is often a misnomer due to the general lack of marketing appeal, you're a pompus nimrod."
    • Who's Adam Douglas, and what does he have to do with this story?
    • "Adam Douglas sucks. He's overrated. You can only handle so much of his nonsense until it starts to get really unfunny."

      Yeah, yeah. Haven't you got some poetry to write?

      • Eh its Monty Python in space. Look at it that way and its not too bad. I suppose its kind of science fictiony...some interesting ideas...but ultimately, only really funny and intriguing if you're blitzed out of your mind.

        What's so unpleasant about being drunk?

        You ask a glass of water.

        -- Arthur and Ford, from the first episode

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