Hello, friends…I seem to be in a bit of a Nightwish tear right now. As I put together a Gryphon play list and in doing so, a manuscript for The Dragon in The Garden’s sooooooo long overdue sequel, these are the songs which speak- even yell- at me.
This week’s song is from Nightwish’s latest album, Human.:ll:Nature. It’s called Shoemaker. Now, if one is a fantasy writer who lives in modern day fairy tales one might instantly be reminded of the Shoemaker and the Elves. Certainly that was my first thought… until I watched the video and knew that unless this was Shoemaker: A Space Elf Odyssey I was way off base. Like WAY off base.
So, what is Shoemaker about? I’ll answer the question with another question. Who is the only human to have at least part of their remains (in this case, ashes) interred on the Moon?
Shoemaker isn’t a what. He’s a who. His name is Eugene M. Shoemaker, American scientist, pioneer in planetary science, and the only human being enjoying his best afterlife on another celestial body. His amazingly interesting life was cut short July 18, 1997 in a car crash while studying meteor craters in Australia. (What a cool job!)
Here’s his Wiki entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Merle_Shoemaker
Shoemaker in life had always wanted to be an astronaut but couldn’t pass the medical. After his death friends took it upon themselves to see to it that he got to move among the stars. Working with a company called Celestis which specializes in memorial spaceflights, actually the only company to successfully pull them off to date, friend and colleague Carolyn Porco and more friends at NASA undertook this very stellar manner of honoring their late comrade. A small box was crash landed on the moon in a probe which NASA had used (looking for ice). It had been wrapped in a piece of brass foil, laser-etched with his name and life dates over an image of the Hale-Bopp Comet; an image of Arizona’s Meteor Crater, where he had trained the Apollo astronauts; and a quote from Romeo and Juliet.
Here are the words his friends chose to send him into space with:
And, when he shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
As you watch the video and enjoy this lovely song you’ll hear these words spoken and I hope you’ll appreciate the uniqueness of Shoemaker the man and of his slice of heaven. And now you know, the Man on The Moon.
Enjoy!
This post was written by Erika Gardner. She’s a native Californian, lifelong lover of fantastical adventures, and a dedicated Whovian. If you enjoyed it, please sign up to receive updates on www.erikagardner.com Or you can follow Erika on Twitter @Erika_Gardner, “Like” her Facebook page Erika Gardner- Writer and Storyteller.Or check out her contributions to the BBB Blog. Erika’s debut novel, The Dragon in The Garden can be found at Tirgearr Publishing.
