The greatest discovery ever made on our planet is here. At Jade news, we have a young woman who is an anthropologist working at Jade University. She is here to give us some discoveries about the planet earth. There are quite a lot of interesting things that she has to say about the planet, but her main caution is that the earth is not a safe place for us to visit.
I am Melotica. Some few days ago when looking through my window, I saw a newspaper that supposedly came from earth. Its contents made me grow weary of the planet earth and I feel that I would not like to visit it at all. Normally, we hear stories of other planets, but the most interesting to us is the planet earth. The stories from this planet, though constructed on the sketchy understanding of the planet, suggest that there are humans living on it. I have, for a long time, been interested with knowing more about this planet and even considered visiting it at one time.
This explains my curiosity when I came across a newspaper that had been dropped by one of the astronauts from earth. The paper was titled San Francisco Chronicle. Well, I thought that by looking at the paper, I could learn more about this earth, and maybe it could raise my curiosity about the planet. I, therefore, quickly opened it to have a look. The first thing that met my eyes is the story of San Francisco Giants who were celebrating a third World Series victory. At first, I was astonished by the heading. From the understanding we have on our planet, giants are mean creatures that tend to terrorize innocent people. I, therefore, could not understand how such a thing as giants celebrating a victory. What was the victory all about? My curiosity drove me to read more and that is when I came to understand that The Giants was just a name of a team playing a kind of game called Baseball. Though this cleared my confusion as to what giants could be doing on earth, it also made me wonder what kind of a game baseball was. The pictures on the story showed people who seemed to be in a very erratic mood, jumping and shouting, and in a way, causing destruction to the environment by lighting fireworks. (Ho 1) describes a scene as ‘Police hold a line as the San Francisco Fire Department attempts to put out a fire.” I could not understand what kind of a game this was that drove people to such violence. Though I could not decipher what sort of a game it was, I could tell that it was quite exciting for the people. Well, this made me have mixed reactions about the planet. First of all, I felt that I would like to go there and see how the game was played. However, I figured that there is a kind of competition involved, with the winning team appearing to be superior. The competition seemed to be a cutthroat since some of the supporters of the loosing team went on to vandalize vehicles and other property in town (Kane and Riley 1). This goes against our beliefs on our planet where everyone is treated equally and there is no competition as to who is better that the other. My urge to know more about this planet was still flaming.
Another surprise came to me in that the people on earth like knowing what is ahead in their lives, or a kind of prophecy. I realized this through the horoscopes as indicated by Minerva (1). This is a column which places people in groups depending on the month and date they were born, and then try to predict what will conspire in their lives on that specific day. For instance, there was one for the people born between March 20 and April 18, termed as Aries. It instructs the people to “Hold your breath Monday as the full moon focuses on finance” (Minerva 1). Well, I did not understand why the people on earth cannot just let nature take its course and wait for the mystics of life to unfold. We enjoy that back home.
One thing that cannot be denied is that the people on the planet have a great liking for entertainment. They are even willing to take risks just so that they can have some fun. One of their greatest loves is for movies. Coyle (1) observed that even after the storm had hit and most people were disoriented, they could not resist the urge to go for movies. One of the box office analysts was quoted as saying, “We didn’t really have a playbook for this, but the numbers show that audiences across the country, and particularly in the North east, wanted to go to the movies and they did” (Coyle Para 5). However, I was surprised at the kind of movies they prefer. For instance, there is a movie titled "Wreck-It Ralph" which had massive viewings. Well, this made me think that the people have an inclination to violence. I could not understand how violence could be a way of entertainment. Their liking for films is quiet expressive. For instance, Alleva (1) describes a situation where there is a film adapted from a book. In this article, Alleva gives a review. It is called the sentimentalized barbarity; the hunger games. It is quiet disturbing to read the preview as it indicated quiet a lot of manipulative strategies. It is for this reason that the writer argues that such skepticism should be avoided when making such movies as it depicts a bad name for the country. Nevertheless, I could not help but wonder why the people could have such films.
They also have a thing for partying. Guthrie (1) observed that there was a party for everyone as they headed to the much awaited elections. She thus states that “after what seems like the longest election season since, well, last year, America finally trudges to the polls Tuesday, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to party.” I gather that this happiness was due to the fact that they were looking for a ruler for their country. Well, they are justified in this course. They also have a sense of decency in entertainment. Such was seen through the performance by an entertainment group called the Conlon Nancarrow (Kosman 1). These men looked so elegant in their suits and the description of their music was also appealing. I could say that there are different forms of entertainment that the people on earth can choose from. This sounds exciting. Story telling is also another form of entertainment that they engage in. this was quite familiar since we also have a lot of that on our planet. However, I continued encountering the use of words and phrases which made me wonder why humans like crooked things. For instance, we understand that folklore should be a way of passing our cultures to the next generation. However, the people on earth have funny story telling times such as ‘Dirt-day’ which is described as a “grab bag of hilarious and provocative observations and wildly hilarious music” (Hurwitt 1).
Nevertheless, I should mention that not all forms of entertainment from the planet depict violence or the like. I really liked one article by Baker (1) which was about art. I realized that the people on the planet have a liking for art and they are quite creative on the same. The portrait showed what looked like a forest, which made me realize that there are some humans which have a thing for nature. Well, this was a consolation after all the weird things I had read about them.
There was also a story carried by Italie (Para 1) which indicated that a certain author had been decorated for her works in authoring. In appreciating teh creativity of the people, she observed that the “National Book Awards honored both longtime writers and new authors.” This was a good act indicating that the people from earth also had an appreciation for what they considered to be good and valuable for them. I also figured that honoring writers is a good prospect since it encourages the generation and transfer of knowledge. Another touching story was about the people’s liking for music. There was a very flowery description by Chun (Para 1) of a young pianist who was to entertain the crowds with his prowess at the piano. This indicated that the people had a liking for music, given that there were several areas in which musical concerts and shows were mentioned.
I also came to understand that the planet also has problems with the weather and climate, most of which is brought about by the degradation of the environment, which brings about global warming and puts the entire planet in danger. For instance, they have engaged in so much industrial activities which have had negative effects on their environment. They also use a lot of chemicals in their farming, which leads to much pollution of the soil and the water bodies. Above all, they engage in deforestation which is the cutting down of trees in the forests and converting them into farming land. This leads to great changes in their environment. If only these people could learn to interact with the environment in a positive way such as the way we do it, then they could save themselves from a lot of problems. Rather than cutting down trees to plant crops, why should they not eat the fruits from the trees? Instead of having machines which produce a lot of exhaust fumes, why should they not adopt safer machines such as the fecaliciahe that we use here? As I pondered on these questions, I was inclined to think that the humans do not have much regard for their environment.
There are also natural calamities such as what they termed as hurricane. The surprising thing is that they have names for such events, and they called this one Sandy. A story written by Breed and Parry (Para 1) indicated that the people in this planet were trying to deal with the dangers that could be caused by such a hurricane. This was hard to imagine as I have never witnessed or heard such a thing on our planet. I tend to think that by severely destroying the environment, nature has decided to deal heavily with the inhabitants of the earth. They were issuing warnings for people in certain areas to relocate so as to save their lives and be safe from the floods. They argued that it was time for people to act. The Mayor of the city, Michael Bloomberg ordered the people to evacuate, arguing that “If you don’t evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you” (Breed and Parry Para 4). As I read along, I could not help but pity sympathies with the people. They seemed to be quite desperate, and not knowing what to do. The situation also made me perceive the earth as not a very safe place, making me believe that I should not even think of going there.
I read many other stories, included stories from the date book as written by Buren (1) in a famous column known as ‘Dear Abby.’ In this section, I got the story of a father who was seeking advice on how to deal with his father in law, a 60 years’ old man who had posted an unnerving photo of his granddaughter on the bulletin board of the family, which made the father suspect that the old man was up to no good. Another story talks of the young woman who had dropped out of school and was miserable in her relationship. She wanted advice on how to go on with her life, arguing that “I don’t know what to do; I don’t want to throw my life away” (Buren 1). This section made me realize that the people also had problems in their inter-personal relationships and needed help on the same. This was quite interesting to know, given that people from our planet do not have so much of such issues. My analysis of the paper made me believe that there are so many issues on the planet, which made me realize that it is not as perfect a place as we used to think. I am no longer as enthusiastic to visit earth as I was before setting eyes on this paper.
Works Cited
Alleva, Richard. Sentimentalized Barbarity: ‘The Hunger Games.’ Expanded Academic ASAP, 2012. WEB. 19TH Nov. 2012, http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.alameda.peralta.edu/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE|A288689686&v=2.1&u=collalamedal&it=r&p=EAIM&sw=w&authCount=1
Baker, Kenneth. A Taste for Modernism Review: Artistry, Flair. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 7th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/A-Taste-for-Modernism-review-artistry-flair-3866009.php
Breed, Allen G. & Parry, Wayne. Northeast Buttons Up against Terrifying Megastore. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 31st Oct. 2012, http://www.chron.com/news/article/Megastorm-could-wreak-havoc-across-800-miles-of-US-3987910.php
Chun, Kimberly. “Adam Parker Smith Artwork at Ever Gold.” San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web. 15th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/music/thewatch/article/Adam-Parker-Smith-artwork-at-Ever-Gold-4038255.php
Coyle, Jake. Not Wrecked by Sandy, Ralph Tops Box Office. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 5th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Not-wrecked-by-Sandy-Ralph-tops-box-office-4007228.php
Guthrie, Julian. S.F. Election Day Parties for Everyone. San-Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 5th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/S-F-election-day-parties-for-everyone-4007838.php
Hurwitt, Robert. ‘Dirt Day’ Review: Laurie Anderson. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web. 7th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Dirtday-review-Laurie-Anderson-3877753.php
Italie, Hillel. “Edrich Wins Her First National Book Award.” San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web. 15th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Erdrich-wins-her-first-National-Book-Award-4039030.php
Kosman, Joshua. Nancarrow Celebration Review: Buoyant. San-Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 5th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Nancarrow-celebration-review-buoyant-4007740.php
Minerva. Minerva’s Horoscope for Sunday, 10/28/12. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web. 7th Nov. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/horoscopes/sundayminerva/article/Minerva-s-Horoscope-for-Sunday-10-28-12-3982252.php
Sumnar, Mathew. Giants’ Fans Celebrate World Series Victory. San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012. Web, 31st Oct. 2012, http://www.sfgate.com/news/slideshow/Giants-Fans-Celebrate-World-Series-Victory-51513.php#photo-3657460
Van Buren, Abigail. “Dear Abby.” San Francisco Chronicle, 28th Oct. 2012.
