Saturday, October 31, 2009

What do the aliens look like in "The Sirens of Titan"?


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Why: DJ is reading it. I read The Sirens of Titan many years ago. I just remember blue and yellow jelly kite aliens. (Not the Tralfamadorians, ps.)

Answer: Here is the description from Ch. 8:
There are creatures in the deep caves of Mercury.
The song their planet sings is important to them, for the creatures are nourished by vibrations. They feed on mechanical energy.
The creatures cling to the singing walls of their caves.
In that way, they eat the song of Mercury.
The caves of Mercury are cozily warm in their depths.
The walls of the caves in their depths are phosphorescent. They give off a jonquil-yellow light.
The creatures in the caves are translucent. When they cling to the walls, light from the phosphorescent walls comes right through them. The yellow light from the walls, however, is turned, when passed through the bodies of the creatures, to a vivid aquamarine.
Nature is a wonderful thing.
The creatures in the caves look very much like small and spineless kites. They are diamond-shaped, a foot high and eight inches wide when fully mature.
They have no more thickness than the skin of a toy balloon.
Each creature has four feeble suction cups – one at each of its corners. These cups enable it to creep, something like a measuring worm, and to cling, and to feel out the places where the song of Mercury is best.
Having found a place that promises a good meal, the creatures lay themselves against the wall like wet wallpaper.
Source: Flickr

The More You Know: This reminds me of the stained glass windows at Casual Corner, where I think my grandmother used to work (?), and also these 2nd Skin pads my dad used to have at his office for blisters and burns.

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