42 years ago on this day, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4. While it was broadcast to relatively little fanfare, it quickly developed a cult following and is one of the most beloved sci-fi universes in the UK. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy played a huge part in my own genesis as a geek. My parents listened to the show together when they were first married. The mini-series was one of the earliest sci-fi shows that my dad introduced me too; it was later one of the first things my new American husband and I watched together. The video game on the Commodore 64 was the first video game I ever played. Throughout my life, whenever the number 42 came up, I could look around the room, see who smiled, and know instantly who my people were.
So in honor of this day, I offer up 42 suggestions of things you might feasibly, and less feasibly, do to mark the launch of a sci-fi behemoth.
- Launder your towels.
- Lie down in front of a bulldozer.
- Watch 42 minutes of the original BBC show.
- Make a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.
- Go to your fish counter, or local fishmonger, and thank them for all the fish.
- Watch Monty Python sketch 42:16.
- Write some awful poetry.
- Watch 42 minutes of the new movie.
- Ask Siri what the answer to life, the universe, and everything is.
- Give a dramatic reading of The Hunting of the Snark.
- Greet everyone today with the words “Don’t Panic.”
- Help 42 people register to vote.
- Watch Stargate Atlantis season 4, episode 13, “Quarantine.”
- Book a seat on the next available space flight.
- Send 42 emails to your congressperson.
- Tweet 42 42-character tweets.
- Read the first 42 pages of each book.
- Listen to 42 minutes of the radio show.
- Send 42 flowers to someone you love.
- Eat 42 English toffees.
- Watch Doctor Who series 3, episode 7, “42.”
- Play Trivial Pursuit and stop after 42 questions. Whoever has a towel with them is the winner.
- Solve the Rubik’s cube in 42 moves.
- Fertilize your cauliflower beds with Molybdenum powder.
- Climb to a mile high and yell “leave the court” through a megaphone.
- Ride all the elevators in the Rockefeller Center.
- Visit Czechoslovakia.
- Play Cribbage—the first person to 42 points wins the game.
- Re-energize by eating 42 peanuts.
- Make a $42 donation to Save the Rhino.
- Have trout for supper, and tell your fellow diner that you doubt it is salmon.
- Give 42 people a high five.
- Send 42 text messages asking people where their towels are.
- Take a shot of 42 below.
- Play 42 rounds of rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock.
- Play a card game, but use only 42 cards of the 52 card deck.
- Go to Starbucks, order an exceptionally complicated coffee, give the name Slartibartfast.
- Visit your local fjord.
- Do a 42 dot dot-to-dot puzzle.
- Spend 42 minutes looking for a 42 dot dot-to-dot puzzle because we can’t find one.
- Watch a video of Bill Clinton playing the saxophone.
- Spend 42 minutes trying to leave the bedroom.
