THE
BLUE BOX (Recycled Ideas)
by Don Cox
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Have you noticed these days that almost everybody is afraid
of the dark? There's street lights, yard lights, night lights,
there's light everywhere, day and night. It's the worst
pollution of modern society, light pollution. When I bought
my property here in the Quebec wilderness I could look at
the night sky and marvel at the stars. Now, even though
my neighbours are distant, their yard lights are bright
enough to intrude. It's depressing.
Considering this strong modern aversion to the dark, I
find it totally amazing that so many people get involved
with astrology. Why do they do that when most of them have
never seen the stars? It's truly remarkable. It's not as
if they were watching the skies while they tended their
flocks by night. If they did that I could understand an
interest in astrology. Take me for instance, if I were tending
my flocks by night, every year the sun would rise in Scorpio
on my birthday, and I would watch it serenely move through
the other constellations with the stately march of the seasons,
until it came back to Scorpio on my next birthday. In a
situation like that I just might start to think the stars
were somehow connected with my life.
I can't fathom this modern interest in astrology, but one
thing I can tell you, it will get worse. Why do I say this?
Because modern technology is going to find a way to rivet
our attention on the Heavens again, whether you've got flocks
to tend or not. Here's what's going to happen, I read it
in the Globe. Back in the 90s, Pizza Hut was planning to
shine the company logo on the Moon, using powerful lasers.
The cost was excessive then, but wait a while, it's going
to happen. Orbiting ads will soon be a fact of life.
Science marches on, you can't stop it, it's the Moon next
year and the stars the decade after. Don't tell me it can't
be done with the stars, no one would have believed Pizza
Hut on the Moon was possible ten years ago. My bet is that
the first stellar modification will be to move Polaris slightly
to make it exactly in line with the earth's axis, it's a
few degrees off right now. This would make sense as a navigation
aid, but believe me, it will be nothing but a foot in the
door. The next thing will be to straighten the handle on
the big dipper, after that it will degenerate into a free
for all.
My guess is that the major astrological constellations
will be rearranged to spell out corporate logos. Probably
Aquarius will be moved around to spell out COKE, and Virgo
will spell BARBIE. You can bet that MSN will be there some
place, replacing Taurus I would imagine. It's hard to foresee
any but the most obvious of these changes, Gemini is a natural
for WONDER BRA for example.
This may stick in the craw of all you traditionalists,
but try to see the positive side, people will be out looking
at the stars again, and maybe there will even be a move
to reduce light pollution. We have to hope so. Also just
think of the new opportunities for the conversationalist.
"What's your sign?" someone will ask a new friend,
and the friend may reply that it's COKE, and ask "What's
yours?" "GMC, it's a powerful sign, and my Moon's
in MSN". And so it goes.
Isn't it wonderful how things in human affairs tend to
go full circle, and bring us back face to face with our
past. Once shepherds tended their flocks by night, and fancied
they saw reflections of their Aries and their Capricorns
in the sky. Now we can imagine a future where the night
watchman on the General Motors retail lot will tend his
GMCs by night, and see his sign in the sky. Sort of makes
you feel warm all over doesn't it.
Bluebox ©2001 Don Cox
Website ©2001 OttawaWEB
