Happy Towel Day, Scifi Mafiosi! It’s May 25th, that magical day of the year where we take time to remember Douglas Adams, and his scifi comedy masterpiece, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It has been 10 years (give or take) since the beloved author passed away; his series still resonates with fans both old and new all over the world since it’s first appearance as a BBC radio show in 1978. As I make the trek to work this morning I will be listening to some of that delicious radio dramadey to pass the time and remember Douglas for the wonderfully whimsical legend that he is.
What do you do on towel day?
Carry your towel with you throughout the entire day, wherever you go.
Why?
Because a towel is the most useful thing that anyone can have.
To quote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value – you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you – daft as a bush, but very, very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
– Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
If you’ve never experienced The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, do yourself a favor and check it out. You owe it to your nerd badge if nothing else. Here’s a few bits to help whet your palate.
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Widescreen Edition)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Complete BBC Radio Series
So long Douglas, and thanks for all the fish!
Visit TowelDay.org for more information and a list of Towel Day activities all over the world.
