All Summer in a Day, by Rad Bradbury, is one of my favorite stories. Our second-grade teacher read it to us- she was an avid reader. She was also very strict, and perhaps she was giving us a warning about what the cost of being a little shit can truly be. We didn’t live on Venus, but the kids seemed very familiar. The story stayed with me and pops back into my head anytime there is a solar eclipse, just like a few days ago. This story might have sparked my interest in all things space-related: between it and Star Wars the lure of distant galaxies stayed with me. When my husband and I go to watch a movie, the conversation usually goes like this:
“Are there any new space movies?”
“ No.”
“But you didn’t even check…”
“No.”
“What about that one…”
“No.”
I end up losing the argument much of the time. We’ve watched most of the good ones, the super cheesy ones, and the ones that just sucked. But often he surprises me with one that has a sci-fi element, which is close enough.
Why is “space” so appealing to me? If I’m honest, these days it’s appealing because I think we’ve done a terrible job with our planet. We’ve become a world of greedy, economic growth hungry dipshits. (Thanks, C, for reminding me of the world dipshit). And to think, back in second grade when I heard this story, we had a picture of the world on the cork board, with people of all colors encircling it, holding hands. I really thought that we would one day find the vision to be this place, connected, helping each other. And because we aren’t, in so many ways, I think hope lies in the future. A really effing far off far away future. Not that I don’t work towards a better world, I do. But it might be the distant galaxies that send smarter beings to come in and do better.
I’m not alone in this thinking. Did you know you can buy insurance in the case of alien invasion? And here I’ve only just made an earthquake kit! My alien kit would be much different. It would have big foam green hands for waving hello, some craft beer and BBQ essentials, some fireworks. And in almost every space movie, a woman is standing on a high hill, waving to the aliens, shouting that they should take her with them!! You know- the one that usually gets blasted into dust in the next few frames? I’m going to be her.
And in case any of you didn’t know this, back in 1977 we shot a golden record into space along with Voyager. It came with simple directions on how to play it- to listen to the sounds of mankind (gender biased language from the 70’s, sorry) songs from around the world, and pictures of scientific relevancies. It has now been released to the public for the first time, available to you through a Kickstarter campaign:
VOYAGER GOLDEN RECORD 3xLP BOX SET
And I will probably order a copy. I’ll listen to the sounds of buses and dogs howling and songs that may or may not enlighten me. But what if the far-away beings are bored as shit by all of this? Blah blah, they say. We know all about you puny destructive mofos. Where is the real music?
If I had to send them B sides, what would it contain? Think about it. What’s your interplanetary playlist?I think, if we are to become nearly as fascinating to them as they are to me, we need to send some excellent music. For some reason “Fear of a Black Planet” popped into my mind, immediately, I’m not sure why. (Eyes rolling). The Beatles will make the cut this time, and some perfect samples of jazz and blues. Of course, some Heavy Metal, because that will really get their attention. And Donovan, just to throw them.
“Huh. This one says “Donovan.” What does he mean, first there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is?”
It’s a riddle they can try to solve when they are deciding whether or not to eradicate the self-serving little shits on earth. And I’ll include a copy of All Summer in a Day, just in case they’re from Venus. Maybe they will pause and think about their actions, long enough for me to get out my BBQ.
Here is the Bradbury story if you want to read it:
Click to access 6_All%20Summer%20in%20a%20Day%20by%20Ray%20Bradbury.pdf
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