oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
From Shakespeare's Hamlet, “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!/how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”
Poor Hamlet, here again he can't make up his mind and is torn between mans closeness to divinity and the baseness of the people who are in his life.
The words are delivered melodically in the new revival of the recently Tony winning rock musical “Hair” to a toe-tapping staccato beat.
Whether mankind is angelic or somewhat less on the evolutionary scale it makes no difference to the premise of the new 10 part series currently being shown on The History Channel called “LIFE AFTER PEOPLE“
The Series begins in the moments after people disappear from planet Earth. The cause is not addressed - only the aftermath. As each hour, day, month, and year passes, the fate of a particular environment, city or theme is disclosed. With the aid of numerous special effects, and interviews from authorities in the “fields of engineering, botany, biology, geology, and archeology provide an unforgettable visual journey through the ultimately hypothetical.”
Humans may not be around forever, and now we can see in detail the world that will be left behind in 'Life After People.' Click on any particular episode to explore what would happen to our world after we are all gone at once. No body (‘body’ in the literal sense), be they embalmed, mummified, or cryogenically frozen will last. There will be no electrical power to sustain the temperature and humidity necessary for their preservation. Domestic pets and surviving animals will roam and revert to savagery as lethal viruses will doom them and plant life weaves its carpet over all things. Pythons battle alligators, plants strip oxygen from lakes, corrosion is rampant, all colossuses collapse and crumble.
Atlanta becomes buried in kudzu (no kidding!). Semi-tropical Houston reverts to the swamp. Miami is submerged. Phoenix is swept by sandstorms. Shanghai sinks. Las Vegas has roaming rat packs, not the entertaining kind.
Devoid of mankind, there is no one to provided maintenance, repair, and replacement of worn and deteriorating materials (i.e. concrete, wood, and steel). The weather, water, heat, freezing, with their constant expansion and contraction, will eat away at skyscrapers, bridges, and everything will yield to the force of gravity; to become more surface for plant life to blanket. There goes the Washington Monument, the Liberty Bell, all of the national treasures. The Mona Lisa and The Sistine Chapel ceiling dissolve with mold.
The series extends to centuries and then millions of years into the speculated future. It is fascinating, thought provoking and brings out the genius of the generations of mankind. “What a piece of work is Man”, indeed!
In a not so gloomy a vein let’s consider some lighter aspects of “Life After -----”
Life after shoes - Sure our soles would become callused from the terrain but don't the Kenyans win almost every marathon having practiced barefoot in their rugged country? What would my BH (Better Half) do? She would certainly gain a lot more closet space and money in her bank account.
Life after TV - A long time ago someone said that “radio was TV without a picture”. True enough. When you listen to radio the pictures in your head are usually more vivid than a Technicolor movie or plasma screen. Who knows……the art of conversation may return again.
Life after Twitter - People may expound ideas exceeding the 140 character limit. Who is interested in someone picking up a six-pack at the grocery or searching for a bathroom while on a new city visit? Why are the airways and broadbands cluttered with this garbage? Think of the time saved for both sender and receiver.
Life after cockroaches - I really can't imagine that! They may be the only creatures moving on earth millenniums after man’s existence.
Life after politics - No more pesky robotic telephone calls, mean-spirited TV and newspaper ads, no more un-kept promises or juicy scandals.
Life after Lehman Brothers/Chrysler/ Pontiac/analog TV - Hey - that’s what happening NOW!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/06/20/columnists/doc4a37a4d1ae836981221515.txt
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