Looking for hard-to-find singles (Marvin)
The Floydian Slip
I am currently on the lookout for the two singles that featured Marvin
the Paranoid Android from Hitch-hiker's Guide.
The songs on them were wuite funny, and I haven't heard them in years.
If anyone has copies of them, or knows where they can get copies, please
let me know, and perhaps we can work something out so I can get my
hands on those singles.
Thanx in advance.
pfloyd@wpi
THEORY:
If anyone ever discovers what the universe is for and why it is
here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more
bizarrely complex.
COROLLARY:
This has already happened.
Michael J. Hennebry
>I am currently on the lookout for the two singles that featured Marvin
>the Paranoid Android from Hitch-hiker's Guide.
Why is Marvin called "paranoid"? Depression is not paranoia.
For all we know Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet.
If so, Marvin does not have *delusions* of grandeur.
--
Mike henn...@plains.NoDak.edu
"Pax Romana was a Visogoth." -- Theo Vavrina
MindWalker
>Why is Marvin called "paranoid"? Depression is not paranoia.
>For all we know Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet.
>If so, Marvin does not have *delusions* of grandeur.
Marvin is called paranoid because one of the characters (Zaphod ?) called him
so in one (or several) of the episodes of the radio series. Besides, it has
a nice ring to it... ;-)
/MHd
--
Programming isn't a science, | Foo: how...@lysator.liu.se
it's an art. | Bar: d89m...@odalix.ida.liu.se
Why is it called common sense, | Fubar: Martin_Howard:d89:li...@xns.liu.se
when so few possess it ? | Voice: Int +46 (0)13 261 283 (GMT + 1h)
Edward_Lee...@cup.portal.com
song is on the 80's volume of the Doctor Demento's Greatest Novelty songs
record on Rhino records. It's not on the Dr. Demento CD, though, which does
have "Star Trekkin'", which was a big hit in England (does anyone have
the video for this? done in clay animation).
Daniel Ake Massimo Paolo Carosone
> In article <1990Oct15....@wpi.WPI.EDU> pfl...@wpi.WPI.EDU (The Floydian Slip) writes:
> >I am currently on the lookout for the two singles that featured Marvin
> >the Paranoid Android from Hitch-hiker's Guide.
>
> Why is Marvin called "paranoid"? Depression is not paranoia.
> For all we know Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet.
> If so, Marvin does not have *delusions* of grandeur.
I never came up with a more satisfactory answer as to why he was called
'paranoid android' other than a) it sounded good, and b) it was only every
mentioned on the blurb.
Now, for your general amusement, I post my .plan file:
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Question to the Answer to the Great Question of Life,
the Universe, and Everything....
1. The Answer to the Question is 42.
2. Marvin, amongst numerous other complaints, claimed to have a
brain the size of a planet.
3. Marvin, like other robots, has a computer-based brain.
4. The Earth is a planet.
5. The Earth was built by the mice as a computer, the only such
planet or computer ever built.
6. By (2), (3), (4), and (5), the Earth must therefore be Marvin's
brain.
7. The sole purpose of the Earth's program was to discover the
Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
8. Marvin once announced that he had, in a moment of boredom,
found the square root of -1, something never before done in the
history of the universe, and previously believed by all sensible
hyper-intelligent beings to be possibly the most difficult
task to undertake, as it was dependent on the very structure of
the Universe. (Most normally-intelligent beings gave up, dismissing
it as impossible)
9. Marvin announced that he felt a brief, but deep, sense of
satisfaction after having accomplished the achievement in (8).
10. The Earth was apparently destroyed just as the purpose of its
program was fulfilled, and a Question was found.
11. By (7), the Earth computer would have felt a deep sense of
satisfaction at having achieved the task it was designed to fulfil.
12. By (10), the sensation in (11) would have been brief.
13. By (6), and by the fact that emotional feelings are based in
the brain, the feelings in (9), (11) and (12) are the same single
feeling.
14. Finding the Great Question was deemed to be the single most
difficult task undertaken by hyper-intelligent beings in the
history of the universe, as it was dependant on the very structure
of the Universe - as well as Life and Everything.
15. By (6), (8), (13), and (14), Marvin (the Earth) had clearly
solved the Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
16. By (8) and (15), the Question is "What is the square root of -1?".
17. By (1) and (16), the square root of -1 is 42.
--- (c) Daniel Carosone, 1987
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, it makes about as much sense as any other explanation of what
i *really* :-) is.
--
Daniel Carosone, dani...@ecr.mu.oz.au
"Neomort" : Brain-dead human, kept alive for medical purposes.
"Medicine Lecturer" : Brain-dead human, kept alive for medical purposes.
Tim Steele
> I am currently on the lookout for the two singles that featured Marvin
> the Paranoid Android from Hitch-hiker's Guide.
> The songs on them were wuite funny, and I haven't heard them in years.
> If anyone has copies of them, or knows where they can get copies, please
> let me know, and perhaps we can work something out so I can get my
> hands on those singles.
I've got one... but it isn't that wonderful. A snatch from memory:
"I am a robot and I know my place,
A metal servant to the human race.
I work my can off trying to satisfy;
I know they'll disconnect me by and by.
Marvin! MarVIN!! Mar.... (funky guitar stuff)
Solitary solenoid, terminally paranoid Marvin.
Know what really makes me mad?
They clean me with a Brillo pad. /* British pan scourer */
A car wash wouldn't be so bad.
Life. Don't talk to me about life.
(more funky stuff)"
The B side is even worse!!
Tim
--
tj...@tadtec.uucp ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!tadtec!tjfs
Tadpole Technology plc, Science Park, Milton Road, CAMBRIDGE, CB4 4WQ
Phone: +44-223-423030 Fax: +44-223-420772 Telex: 817316 TADTEC G
The Floydian Slip
>For all we know Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet.
>If so, Marvin does not have *delusions* of grandeur.
It rhymes with android.
Nuff said 'bout that then.
David Green
> Why is Marvin called "paranoid"? Depression is not paranoia.
I think that technically 'paranoia' refers to _any_ form of delusions:
grandeur, persecution, or whatever. Certainly severely depressed people
(psychotically depressed?) do suffer from the impression that their lives
are going much worse than they actually are, which makes Douglas Adams' use
of 'paranoid android' more or less OK.
What really interests me is the bit in HHGTTG where Marvin is referred to as
'manically-depressed' when he shows absolutely no signs of getting manic
anywhere in the series. I suspect DA used the phrase thinking it meant
'severely depressed' when in fact it actually refers to bipolar affective
disorder, which is another thing entirely.
- Dave "used to be a psychologist" Green, DAI, Edinburgh, Scotlind.
Christopher M. Dicely
>/MHd
Also, Marvin IS paranoid because he thinks that everyone is actively trying to make is life miserable
-Chris Dicely (dic...@pooh.caltech.edu)
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you"
Michael J. Hennebry
>Also, Marvin IS paranoid because he thinks that everyone is actively trying to make is life miserable
Marvin does? I'm aware that Marvin thinks that lots of folks are making
his life miserable, but not that he thinks they are doing it on purpose.
>-Chris Dicely (dic...@pooh.caltech.edu)
>
>"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you"
"It's impossible to be paranoid in Washington." -- Kissinger and I expect
lots of others
David W. Robson
>henn...@plains.NoDak.edu (Michael J. Hennebry) writes:
>
>>Why is Marvin called "paranoid"? Depression is not paranoia.
>>For all we know Marvin may have a brain the size of a planet.
>>If so, Marvin does not have *delusions* of grandeur.
>
>Marvin is called paranoid because one of the characters (Zaphod ?) called him
>so in one (or several) of the episodes of the radio series. Besides, it has
>a nice ring to it... ;-)
Also, Zaphod had a tendency to screw things up - calling Marvin the
"Paranoid Android" was probably an intended joke on Adams's part. Everyone
else knew Marvin was a manic depressive.
>
>/MHd
>
>--
>Programming isn't a science, | Foo: how...@lysator.liu.se
>it's an art. | Bar: d89m...@odalix.ida.liu.se
>Why is it called common sense, | Fubar: Martin_Howard:d89:li...@xns.liu.se
>when so few possess it ? | Voice: Int +46 (0)13 261 283 (GMT + 1h)
While I'm on the subject, has anyone ever heard of the book _The Meaning
of Liff_ ? (That IS the correct spelling) One of my friends has it, and he
won't let me touch it - jerk! The book was written by Douglas Adams and John
Lloyd (<-sp?). It's a book of various definitions of words coined by the
above two. If anyone knows where I can get it, PLEASE tell me. I've been
searching and searching............
OH Well, Things crumble to an end(#22)........
DAVE!!!!
(sui...@uiuc.edu or
da...@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu)
Bob Gray
>have "Star Trekkin'", which was a big hit in England (does anyone have
>the video for this? done in clay animation).
It was at number one in the charts in Britain for weeks.
The video was also well done, I particulary liked the shots
of Captain Kirk sitting in the Captain's seat holding the
ship's log.
Bob.
Ben Scott
> While I'm on the subject, has anyone ever heard of the book _The Meaning
>of Liff_ ? (That IS the correct spelling) One of my friends has it, and he
Yes. At an absolute minimum, you, me, Douglas and John have...
>won't let me touch it - jerk! The book was written by Douglas Adams and John
>Lloyd (<-sp?). It's a book of various definitions of words coined by the
>above two. If anyone knows where I can get it, PLEASE tell me. I've been
It is out of print, if indeed it ever was released in the U.S. But there's
a story behind it, which I got directly from Adams in person (brag brag)
which I probably have told here before but I guess not since this is rec.
arts.TV.uk so I'll tell it again but everyone who's not interested can just
skip from here (gasp).
Douglas Adams invented Sniglets. At the time I met him, at his first U.S.
booksigning for "Long Dark Tea-Time..." here in Denver about two years ago,
the legal proceedings against HBO were still in progress. They licensed
"Not the 9 o'clock News" from the BBC but did NOT license the Sniglets
concept. Yet they used it, even some of Douglas' exact words, and have
made an awful lot of money; what really made him mad, though, he says, is
that they began releasing books which rather took the wind out of the sales
of The Meaning of Liff.
The story goes roughly like this - it was at a party in Greece... following
a very large meal, and a lot of drinks, they began playing charades. After
a while, due to the amount of retsina drunk they had to find a game which
involved "less standing up". So Douglas began inventing words for concepts
which needed them. Someone else wrote them down. This someone else (might
have been this John Lloyd, I'm bad with names) happened to work for the BBC
in connection with "Not the 9 o'clock News" and at one point they were in
the process of making up a promotional calendar to go with the show. The
guy called Douglas to ask if he would mind them using some of the words,
and Douglas agreed. Apparently, HBO decided they liked the idea but didn't
bother to include them in the licensing deal.
So, in short, The Meaning of Liff is a Sniglets book, good luck finding it,
and always know where your towel is.
. <<<<Infinite K>>>>
--
|Ben Scott, professional goof-off and consultant at The Raster Image, Denver|
|FIDO point address 1:104/421.2, bsc...@nyx.cs.du.edu, or BBS (303)424-9831 |
|"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams that || The Raster Image IS responsible for|
| stuff is made of..." - Michael Sinz || everything I say! ** Amiga Power**|
Tim Steele
> It is out of print, if indeed it ever was released in the U.S. But there's
> a story behind it, which I got directly from Adams in person (brag brag)
How? When did you meet him?
I almost met DA... 8-)... when I was at Cambridge University. He gave
a talk, but I didn't go... a friend who did chatted to him in the bar
afterwards. My friend was really interested in working in the
Radiophonic Workshop. Douglas reached into his battered satchel and
removed a script (does this remind you of anyone?), wrote down Paddy
Kingsland's name and telephone number on the back page, tore it off
and gave it to my friend.
After the meeting, my friend turned over the page... it was the back
page of the script for the last episode of the first series! Cool,
huh?
David Brooks
|>
|> So, in short, The Meaning of Liff is a Sniglets book, good luck finding it,
|> and always know where your towel is.
With the additional constraint that the Liff words are all genuine
placenames. The idea of taking an intrinsically funny placename,
(like Uttoxeter or Yeovil) and fitting a common-noun definition to it,
has been around at least since I was a child. Back in the early 14th
Century. Well, certainly before the Grecian party referred to by Ben.
Still, the definitions in the book are uniformly hilarious. I've seen
a copy in the US, but its owner and I are no longer talking :-(
--
David Brooks dbr...@osf.org
Systems Engineering, OSF uunet!osf.org!dbrooks
That last signature was getting a little tired...
Dale Schouten
>>Why is Marvin called "paranoid"?
Because ``Paranoid'' rhymes with ``Android''
The Dwelf
> >>Why is Marvin called "paranoid"?
>
>Because ``Paranoid'' rhymes with ``Android''
And it sounds MUCH better than Marvin the Hemorrhoid Android.
"I don't mind the itching, but I can't stand the scratching."
--tim
--
"It's magic!!! I'm foolin' ya and II "Lovely! La la la la la la -
you don't like it!! Fuck you!!" }{ la LOVE! LOVELY!!!!!!"
--the punk magician-- II --suicidial tendencies--
uunet!plains!tscott - uucp tsc...@plains.nodak.edu "Or just plain Tim."
The Unknown User
In article <64...@plains.NoDak.edu> tsc...@plains.NoDak.edu (The Dwelf) writes:
>> >>Why is Marvin called "paranoid"?
>>Because ``Paranoid'' rhymes with ``Android''
>And it sounds MUCH better than Marvin the Hemorrhoid Android.
>"I don't mind the itching, but I can't stand the scratching."
Hey, a Letterman fan!
I don't know what language you people are speaking, but it apparently
isn't English (although some close variant as I can understand most of what
people say!)... [That's meant as a joke]
Paranoid doesn't rhyme with android!
They both have an "oid" sound at the end, but I was thinking of this
a few days ago.... To rhyme, words need more than the last syllable the same
sometimes.. I don't know how to say it 'correctly,' but it seems as a general
rule, they need the last syllable, but if the last syllable is mainly a vowel
sound, they also need the previous consonant sound...
Maybe I'll get some mail from English teachers explaining this..
But I honestly don't believe paranoid rhymes with android..
annoyed rhymes with paranoid
droid rhymes with android
--
/ Apple II(GS) Forever! unk...@ucscb.ucsc.edu \
\"If cartoons were meant for adults, they'd be on in prime time."-Lisa Simpson/
Mike Godfrey
> I've seen a copy in the US, but its owner and I are no longer talking :-(
"The Meaning of Liff" is easily available in Canada. You might consider a
visit and/or emigration if you're so inclined.
--
Mike Godfrey "Everyone has a system, but they can't seem to win.
Dept of Comp Sci, UofT Even Bob Geldolf looks alarmingly thin."
mi...@csri.toronto.edu -- Loudon Wainwright III
Eric Ant Von Laudermann
>"The Meaning of Liff" is easily available in Canada. You might consider a
>visit and/or emigration if you're so inclined.
There are two, count 'em TWO, copies in the Boston Public Library.
--
--E.V.L.
"Captain's log, Stardate: Two."
Disclaimer: "It's all absolutely devastatingly true, except the bits that are
lies." --Douglas Adams
Adam Curtin
Comic Relief book, *ON MY DISK RIGHT HERE*!
I typed the whole lot in one summer, whilst waiting for compiles, so I could
use them as fortune cookies. The whole lot's about 100Kb.
Adam
PS Don't even ask!
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British Aerospace (Dynamics) Ltd. . Email: ad...@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk
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