Tri-funathon Event Benefits Fund For Historic And Land Preservation 
As We All Prepare For The Holidays And Days Of Snow, It Is Nice To Reflect 
Back To That Wonderfully Warm Oct. 4 Day When We Were Blessed With Our First 
Tri-funathon. On Behalf Of The Entire Steering Committee, We Would Like To 
Thank Everyone Who Participated And Volunteered To Make This First Event A 
Successful One.

2 Teenagers Robbed At Gunpoint

By RICH DREES; Times Leader Correspondent
 Sunday, December 14, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





NEW YORK- It's probably the first time that a parrot has written a book. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Or, more specifically, it's probably the first time someone who has played
a parrot has written a book. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That's the tangled case with "Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic," (Crown
Publishers, 246 pages, $20) a novel written by Monty Python alumni Terry
Jones, based on the CD-ROM game designed by Douglas Adams, author of
"Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy." On that software, Jones portrays the voice
of a deranged parrot. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Douglas realized that all my life I'd been playing parrots," says Jones of
his unusual casting in the game. "I sometimes pretended they were other parts.
The Virgin Mandy (from the Python film "Life of Brian") or the Spam waitress
are really just parrots." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Having enjoyed his small bit of work on the project, Jones asked if there
was anything else that needed doing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He said, `Well, would you like to write the novel?' " says Jones, relaxing
between book signing appearances at his Manhattan hotel room. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I said, `Sure.' The only snag was that there was only five weeks to do it
in order for the publisher to have it come out at the same time as the game." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It was a challenge that peaked Jones' interest. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Douglas proposed this on a Thursday," Jones says. "I had a quick canter at
the first chapter just to see how easily I could write it. I gave it to him
the next morning to see if he could live with it. We did the deal over the
weekend, and I had to start on Monday if I had any chance of finishing it. As
it is, I finished it in three weeks. It wrote very easy." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Working from an outline provided by Adams, quickly fleshed out the story of
the galaxy's most magnificent luxury starliner and the dark secrets behind its
construction that lead to it undergoing that rare phenomenon know as
"Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure." It's an idea that started off as a
short digression in Adams' "Life, The Universe And Everything" and has now
taken on a life of its own. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Besides having been friends for almost 25 years, the pairing of the two on
the project was rather natural, says Jones. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Douglas was saying how influenced by Python he had been and I would say
that I've been influenced by Douglas' writing," Jones says. "I can remember
reading `Hitchhikers' and thinking that the great way Douglas constructs
sentences is usually there's something surprising in them. You embark on a
sentence and you can't guarantee where it's going to end up." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jones cautions that game players shouldn't pick up the novel just so they
can get a few hints on how to beat the CD-ROM. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's totally different," Jones says. "The book won't help with the game.
I've not played the game and probably never will. I'm not much of a games
player." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

`python' Alumnus Enjoyed Challenge Of Game-based Book