Sunday, July 31, 2011 - Space... the final frontier... a place where no man had gone before... the usual springs to mind. Staring at the stars at the top of the mountain, and away from the light pollution of the city below, one can't help but wonder if there is other life out there somewhere. All those stars you see... some burned out, some are galaxies of their own right... and you can't be certain there isn't someone standing on the top of an elevation looking out of their galaxy at the stars above wondering the same. There they are staring at us staring at them.
So what was the curiosity that sent the Ranger 7 space probe out to take pictures of the moon? Was it really a search for water or was it a search for those lifeforms? Was it a deep seated hope to find that proverbial large headed alien with the huge black eyes that you see in all those graphic novels and at Roswell and in ancient Egyptian art? Makes you wonder why the stereotypical "alien" has an iconic look from as far back as King Tut doesn't it?
Perhaps those who have been looking up at their skies towards our galaxy have already found a way out. They managed to find themselves in our Galaxy and when they landed here on Earth, they didn't find any intelligent life forms worth exploring. We think of ourselves as evolved. Perhaps we would be no higher upon the food chain in their worlds than pigeons are in ours... hardly worth writing home about. Maybe they've come back every hundred Earth years to see if anything has changed, and in their disappointment, have left again to leave us another 100 years.
Think about it, we aren't the only carbon based life form on this planet to build homes. Wasps make pulp and build paper houses. Ants build sophisticated systems of tunnels and caves, they have jobs and a payment system. Bees build homes, go to work, play and live in communities. Bears build dens that suit their needs. They have the ability to go nearly dormant, thick fur to keep them warm, and their needs are met. We have lost our fur. We have a need for heat. Ok, we don't chew on wood and make paper for our homes, instead we rape the land and build boards and drywall for our dens. Tools no longer separate us from the rest. Chimpanzees use tools to forage for food, to make displays to attract the other sex (we use cars) and displays of aggression (we use guns).
So on todays date in 1964, when Ranger 7 beamed pictures of the moons surface back to Earth, did we think we were going to see bears and chimps?
Probably a good thing the aliens aren't in town this weekend. It's Pride Week in Vancouver, and if you think the aliens are out there... you ain't seen nothing yet! The parade will open your eyes... in amazement, amusement and puzzlement. There is a whole other world that many will rarely get to glimpse right in your own backyard. It's all about being out and proud. One should NEVER need to hide who they are or what they desire out of life. Pride Week is about being proud: Proud to be gay if your gay; Proud to be bi if your bi; Proud to be straight if your straight; Proud to be transgendered if you are transgendered; Proud to male, female, hermaphroditic.... Just proud. Our City should be proud to be so open, and our citizens should be proud of diversity. Why should only the aliens be OUT there?
