Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (via sc0rnflakess)

I’m definitely due a reread of these books sometime soon.

(via ladyjeeves)

Mark Carwardine (via whitepajamas)

Oh my heart.

(via apiphile)

I wish I could remember exactly where this is from but it’s still lovely.

(via ladyjeeves)

apiphile:

fahye:

neon-loneliness:

fahye:

ineptshieldmaid:

angelophile:

Tea

One or two Americans have asked me why the English like tea so much, which never seems to them to be a very good drink. To understand, you have to make it properly.

There is a very simple principle to the making of tea, and it’s this—to get the proper flavour of tea, the water has to be boilING (Not boilED) when it hits the tea leaves. If it’s merely hot, then the tea will be insipid. That’s why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot). And that’s why American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag, and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a thin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. The Americans are all mystified about why the English make such a big thing out of tea because most Americans HAVE NEVER HAD A GOOD CUP OF TEA. That’s why they don’t understand. In fact, the truth of the matter is that most English people don’t know how to make tea anymore either, and most people drink cheap instant coffee instead, which is a pity, and gives Americans the impression that the English are just generally clueless about hot stimulants.

So the best advice I can give to an American arriving in England is this: Go to Marks and Spencer and buy a packet of Earl Grey tea. Go back to where you’re staying and boil a kettle of water. While it is coming to the boil, open the sealed packet and sniff. Careful—-you may feel a bit dizzy, but this is in fact perfectly legal. When the kettle has boiled, pour a little of it into a teapot, swirl it around, and tip it out again. Put a couple (or three, depending on the size of the pot) of tea bags into the pot. (If I was really trying to lead you into the paths of righteousness, I would tell you to use free leaves rather than bags, but let’s just take this in easy stages.) Bring the kettle back up to the boil, and then pour the boiling water as quickly as you can into the pot. Let is stand for two or three minutes, and then pour it into a cup. Some people will tell you that you shouldn’t have milk with Earl Grey, just a slice of lemon. Screw them. I like it with milk. If you think you will like it with milk, then it’s probably best to put some milk into the bottom of the cup before you pour in the tea.¹

If you pour milk into a cup of hot tea, you will scald the milk. If you think you will prefer it with a slice of lemon, then, well, add a slice of lemon.

Drink it. After a few moments you will begin to think that the place you’ve come to isn’t maybe quite so strange and crazy after all.

Douglas Adams, May 12, 1999

¹ This is socially incorrect. The socially correct way of pouring tea is to put the milk in after the tea. Social correctness has traditionally had nothing whatever to do with reason, logic or physics. In fact, in England it is generally considered socially incorrect to know stuff or think about things. It’s worth bearing this in mind when visiting. 

Whhhhy Earl Grey? It tastes wrong.

EARL GREY IS FUCKING DELICIOUS & milk in any variety of tea (with the exception of chai) tastes icky and weird

/important tea opinions

AU CONTRAIRE

the Irish companies Lyons and Bewley’s have the best ‘regular’ black tea (orange pekoe, iirc) of all teas I have tasted so far.

and Earl Grey tastes like you forgot to rinse the washing-up-liquid residue off the inside of the cup.

ALL THESE PEOPLE HATIN’ ON THE BERGAMOT

I have always known I am a bit of a tea weirdo because although Irish Breakfast rocks my world (orange pekoe is also excellent), I can’t stand English Breakfast.

Earl Grey tastes like soap. FACT. 

I only drink black teas, also: green tea and white tea can fuck off

I like Earl Grey, either that or just your bog standard everyday black tea (with milk of course, although not too much). My taste in tea isn’t particularly adventurous.

neil-gaiman:

Wishing Douglas Adams a happy 60th birthday. 

Disconcerted by the general lack of hair, although what is there still manages to be crazy, but otherwise this is wonderful. Happy birthday Douglas, you hoopy frood who somehow didn’t actually know where your towel was <3 (which I have recently actually done so I’m clearly not a hoopy frood either).

Douglas Adams, from his guide to the proper method for making tea here.

Well sometimes. I know that I for one spent most of my time in school pretending I didn’t know the answers for things because otherwise I’d get bullied for it, plus it would negate my desire to be as invisible as possible, probably caused by said bullying. I don’t quite trust people who say that being at school was the best time of their life, either they’re romanticising it or they have really bad memories about ninety percent of the time.

More definitions from The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd.

Yes these are all real place names in the west country. They could easily have filled a book with ones from Somerset, Devon and Cornwall alone.

Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, from The Deeper Meaning of Liff

I don’t know why but I was suddenly just reminded of this. Bude is the town next to the one where I was actually born in Cornwall. We used to go there at least once a year but I haven’t been back in a while unfortunately. This definition fits it pretty well though.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (via staygold-pwnyboy)

I could easily just extract quotes from the entirety of this book. It’s just so brilliant.

(via apiphile)

neil-gaiman:

Douglas Adams and me, October 1983, back when I was a 22-year old Journalist. This was a test Polaroid that Henry the photographer gave me, taken while he was testing shots. I’m glad I still have it.

(This was back when I wore colourful clothes and also back when I smoked. And I wore tinted glasses because I thought they made me look older.)

Douglas is playing Marvin the Paranoid Android’s “How I Hate The Night” song on the guitar, but you can no longer hear him singing. It was too long ago.

I’m sure I’ve reblogged this photo before but I’m reblogging it again for the caption. RIP Douglas, you are still missed even by those who never actually knew you.

(via streebgreeblings)