One of the Earth's most beloved books and mini-series celebrated a big birthday today.

Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first published 30 years ago today. The wildly imaginative and funny science-fiction novel spawned four more books, a radio series, a text based video game and a cult classic British mini-series. It also spawned a big budget Hollywood remake that shall not been mentioned again in this post, so there.

In honor of this momentous day for sci-fi humor geekdom, here is the iconic opening of the original BBC mini-series originally aired in 1981. Pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and enjoy.

Comedian Harry Shearer, a frequent collaborator with Christopher Guest and the voice of such Simpsons characters as Mr. Burns, Smithers, and Ned Flanders, is bringing his voice to BBC Radio 4. Well, his voice and his body, which is where he keeps his voice. Although, I guess I don't know that for sure, he might actually keep his voice in a jar, allowing himself to do voiceover work while his body tends to daily household chores. Anyway, he'll be providing the voice of a character named "Nostrils" for a show called Not Today Thank You that will air starting August 22. The show centers on a once great radio host now trying to broadcast a show from his grandma's basement.