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From: willisr@pyr1.Cs.Ucl.ac.uk
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Hitchhiker's Guide Trivia
Message-ID: <4700002@pyr1>
Date: Wed, 26-Nov-86 11:15:00 EST
Article-I.D.: pyr1.4700002
Posted: Wed Nov 26 11:15:00 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Nov-86 19:23:48 EST
References: <12208@watnot.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:watnot.UUCP:-1220800:pyr1:4700002:000:1243
Nf-From: pyr1.Cs.Ucl.ac.uk!willisr    Nov 26 16:15:00 1986


Here in England (that little iddy biddy island just off the
coast of Europe), there exist several concurrent versions of
HHGG on different media. Some of these contradict each other in
various ways.

With this in mind, I remember hearing a radio series (part of)
about 2 yr ago of HHGG which has not appeared in any of the 4
books.

The particular episode to which I am referring consists of
this bird-inhabited planet on the surface of which is a 13-mile
high statue of Arthur Dent throwing a teacup at the Nutrimatics
drink synthesiser.
The teacup is suspended 'by art' ~13 miles off the ground.

As far as I remember, for some reason Zaphod is about to fall
off the statue and says 'Belgium man, Belgium."

The narrator explained that Belgium was the worst obscenity
known to civilisation and is only used by loose:tongued people
like Z.B.
(It was also used on a small land-mass on Earth where the
inhabitabnts didn't know what it meant.)

In the version of LTUAE what I read, the guy at the flying
party won the award for the most gratuitous use of the word
F%$#.

The word belgium does not appear at all in any of the 4 books.

The main point to remember is that the books and radio series
are not consistent to the point of consistency.