Friday, January 05, 2007

The Answer Is 42


According to Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the question, "What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?" is 42.

I wonder if he would have chosen another number if he'd realized that "42" is the answer to some other interesting questions?

  • The world-record jump by a kangaroo is 42 feet.
  • The right arm of the Statue of Liberty is 42 feet long.
  • Elvis Presley died at the age of 42.
  • Fox Mulder (The X-Files) lives in Apartment number 42.
  • There are 42 Oreo Cookies in a 1-pound package.
  • There are 42 decks on the Enterprise NCC1701-D (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
  • Bill Clinton was the 42nd U.S. President.
  • A Wonderbra consists of 42 individual parts.
  • The angle at which light reflects of water to create a rainbow is 42 degrees.
  • In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet sleeps for 42 hours.
  • The Torah (the holy book of Judaism) is broken into columns, each of which always has exactly 42 lines.
  • There were 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ.
  • The total number of dots on a pair of dice: 42.
  • Both Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia were born in 1942.

"I Never Said What I Said," is the title of a book by Yogi Berra. Following is a few more "Never" qiotes:

"Never accept a drink from a urologist." - Erma Bombeck
"Never eat Chinese food in Oklahoma." - Bryan Miller
"Never hunt rabbit with dead dog." - Charlie Chan
"Never keep up with the Jonses. Drag them down to your level. It's cheaper." - Quentin Crisp
"Never trust a man who has only one way to spell a word." - Dan Quayle, quoting Mark Twain
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." - Mark Twain
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can get someone else to do today." - Douglas Ottati
"Never put off until tomorrow what can be avoided altogether." - Ann Landers
"Never hit a man with glasses. Hit him with something much bigger and heavier." - Anonymous

The above lists are from the book: Uncle John's Great Big Bathroom Reader.

No.853

8 comments:

lime said...

that list of 42s was pretty interesting. and the picture was just ...wow! i mean would she fly around the room backwards if you found the knot and untied it?

Peter said...

Both Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia were born in 1942.
That's a pretty slack year for births Mike.

Scary Monster said...

42 also be the number of posts Me has written to date(Me has four in draft status )...Hmmmm Me wonders if Me new years would have been different had me known that 42 was what me was lookin for.
Great post!!!!

Brian G Ross said...

42 is also the number of women I have kissed -- women, not ladies.

;o)

Karen said...

Happy New Year, Mike!

1942... a very good year!!

Raggedy said...

Great post!
I needed the laughs.
Have a wonderful day!
*^_^
(=':'=) hugs
(")_ (")Š from
the Cool Raggedy one
c'mon people we need 42 comments to this post..

Serena said...

I've always thought 42 was a pretty decent number. Now I know for sure. Where did you find that picture? Those things can't be real! If they were, the poor thing couldn't possibly remain upright on her own. LOL.

Shannon akaMonty said...

Hey, we have good Chinese food here.

It's the Texans you have to watch out for. :)