Return of Memoryfest - Day 12/31

[bironic]

12. Pre-school

I remember visiting a museum when we were very young that had a bare room in it where you'd mill about, and then the lights would go off, you'd strike a pose, a bright light would flash, and a few moments later the lights would come back up and you could see everyone's silhouettes on the wall. I'd say it was like magic except my dad was a science teacher, so half the fun was listening to him explain how it worked.


We visited a lot of museums back then, and while I remember things about each of them, I can't place this particular memory. I was just telling my sister I couldn't remember if this exhibit was in Sesame Place or some science museum, but she's positive it was the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. (That's a story in itself; our parents told us that the next museum we went to was called the "Please Don't Touch Museum" so we knew to keep our hands off the displays. For years afterwards I believed that was its actual name.)

WTF

Comments

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, it was a completely deserted exhibit, which might explain a lot *g*

A little rummage around shows you mean "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea" - no, not that one. It was just called "Deep Sea", and narrated by Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp. The creatures were just amazing, though - pretty much the equivalent of alien life on earth, some of them.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hm, no, it wasn't "Volcanoes of the Deep," although by coincidence my father and I just watched that one on video last week. But it wasn't narrated by Kate & Johnny either, so it doesn't matter. :)

it was a completely deserted exhibit, which might explain a lot

*sniff* Kids these days, they just can't appreciate old-school entertainments.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see. There's also Aliens of the Deep. Yes, I know it doesn't matter, but you know how it is XD

[bironic.livejournal.com]

(spam!) Yes, that's the one -- I remember the title, and a quick Google search confirms it was directed by James Cameron.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

...And, not to skip over the best part of your comment, but yes, it's always fascinating to learn about creatures that live deep underwater or in hot springs or in other extreme conditions. I think the fact that they strike us as being so bizarre and puzzle the world's best scientists is a sign that our imaginings of what actual alien life might be like is woefully limited.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I tend to think actual alien life may not even be comprehensible - like we may even have fallen over it but it's so different our senses aren't able to process it. Or something. Almost by definition, we take our concept of 'alien' life from the things we can see and comprehend.

(Just my contribution to the spammage *g*)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It's true -- some alien species could be so radically different from anything we could conceive of, or beyond what we could comprehend even if it were explained to us, that we wouldn't know it if we saw it. Like trying to explain the third dimension to an inhabitant of a two-dimensional world, or trying to imagine a new color.

On the other hand, there's the idea that conditions might occur on another planet similar to those that gave rise to life on Earth, leading to a comparable evolution of carbon-based life forms that produces intelligent life we could identify and attempt to communicate with.

I don't know which one is more likely, if one has to be more likely than the other, but they're both so much fun to think about.