Watching The Fifth Element1 recently had me thinking,
naturally, about Russian pop singer Vitasâ 1999 classic
âThe Seventh Elementâ, which is far catchier than it really deserves to be. [4â˛]
I was originally going to post this excerpt from William Shatnerâs new memoir, printed in
Variety, alongside the usual link roundup, but something about it touched me enough to give
it its own post.
Mr Shatner, in his own words, on his first trip to space:
I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into
space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over
thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light
traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies
in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely⌠all of that has thrilled me for yearsâŚ
but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic
awe to behold ⌠all I saw was death.
I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth.
It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. I turned back toward the light of home. I could see
the curvature of Earth, the beige of the desert, the white of the clouds and the blue of the
sky.
It was life. Nurturing, sustaining, life. Mother Earth. Gaia.
And I was leaving her. [âŚ]
It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The
contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me
with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further
destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna ⌠things
that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the
interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a
celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral.
Upon returning to earth, and trying to put his story into words for the first time, he was, as you
may remember, bluntly cut off by Jeff Bezos, asking for more champagne:
Holy shit, they found silphium!
I hope some day, many years down the line, when cultivation comes to fruition, we can all
finally taste this ancient spice.
I have to say â thereâs something strangely haunting about this cover of âIdiotequeâ using just the
soundfont from Super Mario 64. Those marimbasâŚ
I had a really good idea for a post the other night. Then i fell asleep and promptly forgot it, so
youâre getting this instead â apologies.
Itâs here it's here itâs heeere! The 1975 have released
the first single off their new album,
and by god, they might not be the greatest band in the world, but they got me into music, so i
canât help but call them my favourite band in the world.
Hey, kid, wanna hear a secret? Donât tell anyone i told you this, but iâve got some Secret Links for
you. This isnât your usual weekly shit â these are the links iâm saving for the big satyrs dot ee
you slash linkroll. Deluxe links. Gourmet, even. Straight from my âWork (Copy 3) (final)â folder.
Well, i donât know about you, but iâve had a nice few weeks. Went to see the new Batman at the
cinema, bought some records, went out on a couple of jaunts â you get the idea. Anyway. Links.
