Blog post... on spaaaaccceee!

For the last week, my mind's been in space. No, really, it has been. All I've been thinking about is the skies and the mysterious beyond above us. It all started when my sister brought up watching the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (she had seen it and loved it). I had wanted to see it for a long time, but didn't have the drive until she started talking about it. It also helps that she owns it on DVD.

The first thing I did was dig up the trailer and watch it. Looked interesting. And, if you've been aware of pop culture since, well 1968, you would be shocked to see all the references to this film in surprising places. So, it made more sense to see it and not just to "get" the references.

Before I watched the film, I found myself faffing about the Internet (wow, what a shock) and looked up photos on space, mainly on Jupiter (since 2001 has a subplot about an exploration trip to the planet). More faffing about led me to other pictures of space. Upon seeing this image, tears welled into my eyes. What beauty! These clouds of stars looked like solid rock formations! The colors looked like something from the more pleasant of acid dreams. And to think this all is somewhere beyond the familiar skies...

This photo nearly struck me dead. In all that alienating darkness, in the great distance, therein lies the home we all call Earth (the speck in the middle of the right beam). I felt small suddenly, but humbled. This world just seems so big, and here we all 6 billion are, all contained in that wee speck.

This looks like something out of a dream I could have. Imagine floating below all that. It would be tempting to touch. What would it feel like? Sea foam? What about watching it, all of it swirling and twinkling like living glitter paint?

Watching a sunset, especially in a nice town, is always a treat. One on Mars would be no different. Just gorgeous.

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After all that, my sister and I sat down with refreshments and watched the movie. It was her second time seeing it. While the same amazement that struck me when viewing those photos did not happen, the movie affected me in its own way. Sure, the story is fairly straightforward, but again it does remind us that "damn, the universe is big".

Besides the philosophical business, it reminded me that films with special effects can have some substance (unlike certain films that are popular with the kids these days). For its time (remember, this film was done in 1968), the film managed to do some amazing things: portray how light and sound operate in space and show zero gravity pretty convincingly. The darkness of space has always been haunting, how the stars we know and love are insignificant specks of light in the vastness. This film didn't shy away from that, adding to the eeriness of isolation and hopelessness when the rising action takes place. Not much talking takes place and music is also a rare treat. With such minimalism, aside with the stunning visual effects and design, it may amaze some of this generation that such a film could still stand the test of time. The great thing is, even with over forty years under its belt, 2001's effects have aged spectacularly well. The acting was wonderful, even when faced with silence.

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After a few days passed, I did some research to understand more about the movie and its development. I then came across two videos that made me appreciate the visual effects all over again.

Needless to say, I fell in love with the movie. Definitely on my top twenty for sure.

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I don't know what this all is supposed to be for, or what my point is. I guess it's nice to be reminded once in a while of the amazement of the whole scheme of things. And how a good film can inspire the sense of wonder we should never lose.

And, just because y'all knew it was coming: the Discovery Channel song. You know you want to sing along to it.

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The tl;dr version: sci-fi masterpiece inspires repeated views of space photos and realizations of humankind's place in big-ol' universe. Said person writes post to see if people would actually read it.