"I came across the name Hotblack Desiato when I was driving along Upper Street in Islington, and there it was on a house For Sale sign. It was the name of a new (real) estate agent. I thought it was the most wonderful name I'd ever seen, and wished I could come up with names as good as that. I couldn't get the name out of my mind, and when I was trying to figure out the name for the rockstar who was spending a year dead for tax reasons, every name I thought of was not nearly as good as Hotblack Desiato. So in the end I gave up and phoned the agency and spoke - as it happened - to Geoff Hotblack. I asked him if I could use their name and he was, as you might imagine, quite surprised but said I certainly could. And so I did. I spoke to Geoff quite often after that, in his capacity as an estate agent. And one day he told me that they had had quite a few calls from people saying hadn't they got a bit of a nerve naming their agency after a character in The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy?"Alright Chris?
Updated Ironically, just as I was trying to post this, I clicked onto Planet Magrathea to find a message from MJ Simpson saying that he was shutting the thing down and walking away from Hitchhikers:
"But the thing that has tipped the balance for me is the unwarranted, ill-informed personal abuse and libel which has been directed towards me on the IMDB, livejournal and many other websites in the wake of my review of the film. Although those people who took the trouble to read my long review were, in the most part, extremely complimentary about my analysis and as dismayed as I am about the route that the film has taken, they have unfortunately been drowned out on many discussion boards and forums by people who refuse to accept even the possibility that something connected with Hitchhiker's Guide may not be perfect."Considering he was one of the franchises most ardent supporters is fairly shocking and as I said in the quick email I sent to him it shows what an ill informed and stupid place the web can be sometimes.
Many years ago a friend of mine told me of being at a party where Douglas Adams (a thoroughly nice man, she says) was present, & someone asked him how he'd decided what to leave out out of one adaptation. He casually said that he'd cut out some boring bits, & the fan told him there were no boring bits. Seemed angry about it, from my friend's account. Couldn't even accept the author's mild implicit criticism of his own work.
ReplyDeleteAdams was apparently taken aback by the vehemence, but was emollient.