
Riding the Rays (1992) - rfreytag
https://douglasadams.com/dna/980707-08-a.html
======
simonebrunozzi
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZG8HBuDjgc)

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

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

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tudorw
[https://vimeo.com/72501076](https://vimeo.com/72501076)

If you're a fan and you haven't seen Hyperland, it's fantastic.

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charlieflowers
"The hotel shop only had two decent books and I'd written both of them."

Favorite line.

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YeGoblynQueenne
>> Hamilton Island looks like a pretty good example of what not to do to a
beautiful sub-tropical island on the edge of one of the great wonders of the
natural world, which is to cover it with hideous high-rise junk architecture,
and sell beer and T-shirts and also picture postcards of how beautiful it used
to be before all the postcard shops arrived.

All the pretty places looked pretty before the tourists arrived. That's _why_
the tourists arrived. And then, the tourists arrived.

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russellbeattie
This is actually one of the essays included in The Salmon of Doubt, a
posthumously published collection of some of Adams' best writing. The
audiobook version of this chapter being read by Simon Jones is a treat.

[https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Salmon-of-Doubt-
Audiobook/B00...](https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Salmon-of-Doubt-
Audiobook/B002UZL7R8)

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nebrelbug
One of the most enjoyable articles I've read in a long time.

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jdkee
iifx

[https://www.wired.com/2004/03/douglas-
adams-m/](https://www.wired.com/2004/03/douglas-adams-m/)

~~~
BLKNSLVR
_" Apple Computer has lost its most eloquent apologist," Richard Dawkins noted
in his eulogy._

Beautiful line, only made more apt by who it was that spoke it.

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mlang23
I loved reading "Last chance to see". That, and the essay about the palm top
bought at a airport shop to pass time.

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senectus1
gods that was a beautiful piece of writing.

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irrational
> I may even have wrestled him to the ground and knelt on his windpipe

Oh no. I wonder how he would've phrased this in 2022.

