Saturday, December 26, 2009

Life After People

I'm at home basking in the food network, HGTV, Say Yes to the Dress! and the history channel. And clips of Jersey Shore. My brother is not impressed with my ability to know the slang "guido." Ah well...I tried.

One of the particular shows on the history channel is called "Life After People." It's an incredible look into how nature would reclaim the earth if people were gone --it's not a story of why we would vanish, but what would happen to those things left behind.


It shows a crumbling New York City due to steel superstructures which peel away from their internal structures. The Empire State building slowly implodes in on itself, and moss climbs up street lamps. The stainless steel plates of the Arch in St. Louis plunge to the ground and crash into the dirt, leaving behind heaps of twisted metal. The rubble of skyscrapers become canyons. Bridges fall into the harbors, rusting and corroding on the seabed.

The tagline for the history channel is "History is made every day."

The History Channel was built on the idea that it's a good idea to know history: to learn, to find joy, and to see the peril in repeating the mistakes in yesteryear. It's fitting that they have decided to look at what could happen if we were gone. They're the ones saying, "Hey! This is what will happen if a deadly pandemic strikes the planet! Or if we continue to be morons and practically wipe the earth clean of all our natural resources. So think about your choices, guys. Seriously."

It's sobering. And sad.

Can I watch Ace of Cakes now?

2 comments:

Sprite said...

I can't watch that show anymore. They did a little segment about how long paper lasts, which is not long at all! And I can't think about global book death like that. Now THAT'S sobering.

Laura said...

I totally watched that! I was freaked out for sure. A lot of it is hard to believe.

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