Calling occupants of interplanetary craft

Speaking of space, I'm a big Craigslist fan, and it's funny to note that their expansion has brought them to outer space:
Recent posters to craigslist may have noticed a little checkbox that asks if it's "ok to transmit this posting into outer space." In a few weeks everyone who answered "yes" will have their messages beamed into the heavens by the Florida-based Deep Space Communications Network via a five-meter parabolic dish antenna. A March test transmission of the first 138,000 messages went swimmingly. Act now and you, too, can offer our intergalactic pals a low, low price on your used computer peripherals. (East Bay Express)
Here's an actual Craigslist post to extraterrestials. And here's a personal that was quoted in the East Bay Express article:
It would be cool if you had like a transporter or something because I'm not good with LDR's [long distance relationships]. Either that, or a spaceship that goes really really fast but somehow doesn't affect the space/time continuum. I don't want to go see you for the night/weekend only to come back to find out that everybody I know is dead and 400 years have passed. That would suck.
Ah. Classic. I presume aliens would also receive the usual Craigslist hodgepodge of posts - attempts to give away unfriendly hamsters, rants about Microsoft Word, ninjas seeking ninjas, and other personals. Then they'd blast away our world for an interplanetary bypass.

Comments

Eric "Babe" Morse said…
It's not often you see Carpenters references in blog titles. Well done, indeed.
If we aren't doing so already, Carpenters tunes should be beamed into space. Any alien race with plans of domination would become just too dang sad to attack us. Especially if we sent up a double-shot of "Hurting Each Other" and "Ticket to Ride."
28 April 2005 at 06:41
Daryl said…
But Carpenters songs could expose our weaknesses to a hostile alien race! They'd know that rainy days and Mondays get us down!

Speaking of the Carpenters, this was probably the only other time I referred to them on my blog.

Oh, and here's an article about the original Klaatu version of "Calling Occupants".
28 April 2005 at 06:54
Eric "Babe" Morse said…
Wow, that Klaatu link is more information than I'll ever need to know about any song, ever. Whew. It's amazing the stuff there is to know if you want to know it.
29 April 2005 at 07:10
Anonymous said…
Is it too late to get your blog posts beamed up? This is the first I've heard of it... Personally I think better songs to transmit could be "In the Event of Something Happening to Me" (Beegees) and Ground Control to Major Tonk (David Bowie)...couldn't resist that ;-)) Gonna follow that Klaatu link now: well, it can't get any weirder than Trekkie terrestrials in chatrooms speaking Klingon, or can it? ;-))
17 July 2005 at 18:49
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