ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society , is mounting a campaign to adopt a plank at Southend Pier in memory of Douglas Adams.
Our story starts in the English seaside town of Southend, which gets a mention in Hitchhiker’s when Ford and Arthur are first rescued by the Heart of Gold, at a probability of two to the power of two hundred and sixty seven thousand seven hundred and nine to one against...
Arthur: You know, if this is Southend, there’s something very odd about it...
Ford: You mean the way the sea stays steady as a rock and the buildings keep washing up and down? Yes, I thought that was odd...
And as the improbability factor falls...
Arthur: Southend seems to be melting away...the stars are swirling...a dust bowl...snow...my legs are drifting off into the sunset...hell my left arm’s come off too, how am I going to operate my digital watch now? Ford, you’re turning into a penguin, stop it.
And upon being told they’re perfectly safe...
Ford: That’s not the point! The point is that I am now a perfectly safe penguin and my colleague here is rapidly running out of limbs!
In August 2009, assorted ZZ9ers slouched along to Southend to check whether it’s the buildings or the sea that wash up and down. Sadly, at current improbability levels, it’s the sea that does the washing. However, they did discover that Southend pier has an Adopt a Plank scheme, and thought it would be a jolly nice gesture to adopt one in memory of the late Douglas Adams.
This was proposed at the 2009 ZZ9 Annual General Meeting, and met with warm approval. 2010 has been officially declared the Year of the Plank, and we will be working towards our goal of raising £250 to adopt a plank.
An auction and a collection at the AGM started us off nicely with £30, and fundraising will continue throughout the year. The main ways to donate are through this website and through the Plank Bank, a perfectly safe penguin that will be coming soon to a slouch near you.