HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

Douglas Adams is one of my favorite writers, and intellectuals, ever.

If you are like me, you absolutely have to watch this hour-long presentation he gave at UC Santa Barbara in 2001 [0], titled "Parrots, the Universe, and Everything". Mind blowing.

His last book, "Last chance to see" [1], which is about endangered species, is heavily related to that talk.

I recently learned that Douglas Adams had a chance to play on stage at Pink Floyd's 28 October 1994 concert at Earls Court in London [2], playing guitar on the songs "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse".

He's even responsible for the 1994 album name "Division Bell" by Pink Floyd. David Gilmour and Douglas Adams were good friends.

Well, what can I say... It sucks that he went away too soon. I'd love to read more of his stuff, and I'd love to know his take on today's world.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See

[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOoJmDCV64

⬐ bjelkeman-again

I had the privilege to attend a presentation by him at the Royal Society in London about his book Last chance to see, before it was published. I think a lot of people miss the seriousness behind his writing because it all just seems like comedy.

⬐ simonebrunozzi

Any chance that was recorded, and published online? Can't find anything.

⬐ bjelkeman-again

I don’t think so. It is 30 years ago.

⬐ staycoolboy

His last book was "Salmon of Doubt" published posthumously. Prepare yourself if you're going to read it, it is unfinished and ends abruptly, and you're left realizing, "He'll never finish it because he's dead." Very sad. I remember walking around my office the day he died and the majority of the people were like, "Who died?"

I watched H2G2 when it aired on PBS in the early 80's in my teens, and it changed my life, I didn't know humour could be like that. I have a signed copy of "Mostly Harmless" from an Intel Developer Conference he spoke at that I attended in the 90's.

Obligatory mention for every fan of Douglas Adams: "Parrots, the Universe, and everything". [0]

Watch the whole thing. You will thank me later.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

Obligatory mention of one of his most wonderful talks [0]: "Parrots, the Universe, and everything"

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

In the same way, I'd also recommend Last Chance To See for a slightly different flavour of Douglas Adams. His whimsical style is remarkably well-suited to a non-fiction nature and travel book. I can't say I completely get his science fiction books, but I felt the constraints of a non-fiction book gave me a new appreciation for his sense of humour and his way of balancing that with thoughtful, meaningful exposition. It's one of my favourite books :)

He gave a great talk about it, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

Let me just leave one of my favourite talks given by Douglas adams here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

It's a big problem not knowing the audience.

[1] 47:00 https://youtu.be/_ZG8HBuDjgc?t=47m10s

You might like [0]. It's a lecture he gave about his nonfiction book Last Chance to See.

[0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc#t=1985 (Douglas Adams talking, fairly humorously, about extinction)

"ending the human race" is such an interesting thing. Put aside that bone-headed nazis will tell you that humans have more than one race: We do extinct other species in incredible amounts (ask any greenpeace flyer). If we were extinguished by our own invention seems sort of fair.

But by the off-chance that an AI figures out that we are actually worth being, then there might be an realistic chance that it will actually help us survive our own mistake.

A bit of a gamble but if curiosity kills the cat then we are lucky to be alive anyways :)

⬐ cavedave

Also great "How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet" http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/19990901-00-a.html

⬐ sidmitra

Oops I upvoted and realized it was on 42 points. :-( sorry!

⬐ samdk

Douglas Adams is always excellent, but his writing (and his speaking, now) related to endangered species is my favorite.

If you can find a copy of Last Chance to See, it's well worth reading.

⬐ jacquesm

There is also a BBC programme by the same name.

edit: and it has a website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchancetosee/