Life, the Universe and Everything day?

Some of you may have heard of Towel Day, a day venerated by fans of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Towel Day has been observed annually since the death of Douglas Adams, and is coming up on the 25th May (pack a towel).

I am not posting about Towel Day though because this year, and this year only, there’s another naturally occurring treat in store for Hitchhiker’s fans.

The 10th of October.

10/10/10.

Yep: it’s 42 in binary.

If I need to explain the significance of the number 42 to you then I commend you for bearing with me thus far (and you must be very confused about the towel thing) – it is, to put it bluntly, the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.

If I need to explain to you why translating numbers from binary isn’t mental, then you are not getting into the spirit of things!

I’m thinking there must be space in the calendar to make something of this day? A worthy charity to raise funds for? A party to have at least?

The 10th of October happens to be a Sunday, so there’s plenty of scope for organising a mass-participation event of some sort. Maybe a mass writing-awful-poetry-in-the-bath event? (Or maybe not).

There is no significance to the fact that 10/10/10 translates from binary to 42 – none at all, but there’s not about to be a 42nd day of a month so it’s as good as we’re going to get as far as fitting into calendars goes.

Whatever may happen, incorporating two scruffily attired men on a Chesterfield sofa at Lord’s cricket ground into some sort of ceremony would be particularly satisfying. Obviously.

UPDATE – 04/04/10

I’ve heard from a chap from ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha who says that they have spotted this numerological phenomenon already. They are planning to observe a ‘42 Day’ but gave no indication what form this might take. Follow @zz9news for more on that I guess. I’m still thinking a charitable event of some sort would be in order.