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From the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy":

The Vogon began to read - a fetid little passage of his own devising. "Oh frettled gruntbuggly....." he began. Spasms wracked Ford's body - this was worse than ever he'd been prepared for. "... thy micturations are to me As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee. Groop, I implore thee," continued the merciless Vogon, "my foonting turlingdromes." His voice was rising to a horrible pitch of impassioned stridency. "And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly binderwurdles, Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if I don't! Ford Prefect threw one final spasm and went limp. Arthur lolled. "Now Earthlings ..." whirred the Vogon "I present you with a simple choice! Either die in the vacuum of space, or ...." he paused for melodramatic effect, "tell me how good you thought my poem was!" Ford was rasping for breath. He rolled his dusty tongue round his parched mouth and moaned. Arthur said brightly: "Actually I quite liked it."

Ahh, British humor. You either like it or you don't. I happen to like the 5 book Hitchhiker's trilogy. The last book is pretty weak compared to the rest of the story, but overall a good series. They recently made a movie out of the books. Finally. And it was ok. If you had never read the books you probably didn't "get" the movie's humor, but for fans of the books there was enough subtle references to some of the books finer humor to make it a fair movie. I don't think that it would be really very funny to read Monty Python as they were so visual in their humor, and it was of course a TV program. On the other hand I think Hitchhiker was better experienced by reading rather than watched in a movie. Books can so often create a better visual picture (for me at least) than can props and actors in a movie. This is not always true of course. Maybe it's just that my experience of the Hitchhiker's story for years was in printed form and for me that's the true Hitchhiker, and the movie then becomes a passable attempt at a copy of the original. So all that is to say watch the movie if you want, the books are better, and I promised an answer to my question in the first post. Once again here's Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

"Good morning" said Deep Thought at last. "Er ... Good morning, O Deep Thought," said Loonquawl nervously, "do you have ... er, that is ...." "An answer for you?" interrupted Deep Thought majestically. "Yes, I have." The two men shivered with expectancy. Their waiting had not been in vain. "There really is on?" breathed Phouchg. "There really is on," confirmed Deep Thought. ""To Everything? To the great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything?" "Yes." "And you're ready to give it to us?" urged Loonquawl. "I am." "Now?" "Now," said Deep Thought. They both licked their dry lips. "Though I don't think," added Deep Thought, "that you're going to like it." "Doesn't matter!" said Phouchg. "We must know it! Now!" "Now?" inquired Deep Thought. "Yes! Now ..." "Alright," said the computer and settled into silence again. The two men fidgeted. The tension was unbearable. "You're really not going to like it," observed Deep Thought. "Tell us!" "Alright," said Deep Thought. "The Answer to the Great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything is ..." said Deep Thought, and paused. "Yes ...!" "Is ..." "Yes ...!!...?" "Forty-Two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm. It was a long time before anyone spoke.

Craig