war of the worlds

 

 

In 1938 (at the age  of 23) , Orson Welles’ radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds, which caused some listeners to believe that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was in fact occurring. Although reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety.

His first film was Citizen Kane (1941), which is consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made, and which he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in as Charles Foster Kane. Welles also released twelve other features.

If you’ve got an hour to spare, you can still listen to the original radio broadcast by clicking on the link below:

Orson Welles: War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast - October 30, 1938 - Bing video

 According to the radio broadcast, the Martians made their landing in a small town in New Jersey called Grovers Mill – and it is being invaded AGAIN today. This time, the Martians are nowhere in sight (unless you count the monument erected in Van Nest Park that commemorates the original radio broadcast.)

https://nypost.com/2021/05/25/cicadas-invade-nj-town-where-war-of-the-worlds-was-set/

This time around, the invaders are small noisy critters with red eyes – and they are called cicadas. The creepy crawlies typically spend 13 or 17 years underground, where they spend their time eating tree roots, digging tunnels and take tabs on what’s happening above on Earth. When they finally do emerge, they only survive about a month, but the females leave behind hundreds of eggs — setting the scene for another invasion in the years to come.

 IF you live in an area that does not have any, this is what they sound like:

 Sounds of the 17 Year Cicada - Bing video

 This time of the year, they seem to be everywhere – and they have created havoc in numerous ways.

A man in Cincinnati had some cicadas fly in his open car window when he was driving. Although he was able to get them out of his car quickly, the distraction caused him to lost control of his car, sending it into a utility pole, and totaling the car.

A plane carrying dozens of journalists preparing to take off from Washington, D.C., to cover President Biden's first trip abroad was delayed for several hours Tuesday evening.

A swarm of cicadas was evidently looking to hitch a ride to Europe with the press corps.

A horde of Brood X cicadas had filled the plane's engines, causing mechanical issues that delayed takeoff. Eventually, White House aides had to find another plane for reporters to make it overseas, according to The Associated Press.

                 

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1004648785/a-cicada-infested-engine-is-to-blame-for-bidens-press-corps-travel-delays

Cicadas are no supernatural poltergeists, but at this week’s Memorial Tournament they are unnatural visitors all the same. I have watched enough wildlife documentaries to know that bugs swallowing up birdies goes against normal animal behavior.

Yet set foot on the grounds of Muirfield Village Golf Club over the next seven days, or listen on TV, and that is exactly what will happen. Once the Brood X bugs get their game on, the buzz of mating call victory will drown out the sound of birdies. And eagles. (On the plus side, the whiny mutterings of players cursing bogeys also will be harder to hear).

How loud will it get when the red-eyed wonder — no, not John Daly, who is not among the 120 competitors scheduled to tee it up on Thursday — begins to shimmy and shake? A male cicada’s pick-up line can reach 96 decibels.

For perspective, a normal conversation is about 60 decibels, a commercial jet landing is about 80 and a lawnmower reaches 90, which explains why cicadas will sometimes follow your Toro like children trailing a motorized Pied Piper. For these pent-up bugs — no sex for 17 years! — a noisy power mower is quite the aural aphrodisiac.

 https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/05/31/pga-tour-cicadas-memorial-tournament-columbus/

Golf, or course, is not the only sport being invaded by cicadas.

These days, folks in the District, Maryland and Virginia aren’t living in a storm corridor so much as a swarm corridor. There are so many cicadas around, they are showing up on weather maps.

 Given that NFL minicamps have been taking place in the area, the big, noisy bugs also have made their presence felt with the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Football Team.

 In fact, at the Ravens practice facility nestled among the trees in Owings Mills, Md., the cicadas have been doing a good job approximating the volume of a stadium full of fans. That’s not hyperbole: NFL crowds have been estimated to average between 80 to 90 decibels, numbers frequently reached — and often exceeded — by thick throngs of cicadas.

 Of the almost 200 cicada species in North America, most emerge annually, but the vast majority assaulting the ears of Baltimore players are part of a periodical group called Brood X that pours forth from the ground every 17 years.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/06/11/cicadas-ravens-wft-practices/

The invasion will soon be over, giving us another 17 years of peace. Their arrival, however, has given entirely new meaning to an old phrase:

DON’T BUG ME!