Posthuman Blues

In less than an hour I'll be able to claim that "tomorrow is my birthday."

Synchronicity: On the day I was born, Aug. 20, 1975, the Viking probe that went on to take the first photo of the "Face on Mars" was launched. For better or worse, that staple black-and-white image has played a not-insignificant role in shaping my creative and intellectual trajectory.





Additionally, I share my birthday with H.P. Lovecraft, a horror/science fiction writer whose most enduring body of work, the "Cthulu mythos," is predicated on the idea that ancient nonhuman extraterrestrial "gods" have played a secret role in the development of the human species. Thanks to authors like Zechariah Sitchin, Richard Hoagland and Paul Von Ward, this basic concept has entered the New Age meme-pool (albeit in a retooled context). And, not surprisingly, the Face on Mars and related features on the Red Planet have found themselves sharing page-space with "ancient astronaut" theories.

Kinda weird.