Inarea

Laika was the first living being to be launched into space and her adventure on spacecraft Sputnik 2 made an impression on many hearts. First and foremost, alas, on her own: it turns out that she probably died of a heart attack, or as a consequence of shock, a few hours after being launched into low Earth orbit. Laika never actually reached outer space, despite Soviet propaganda to the contrary. However, Laika had much posthumous fortune, especially as far as music is concerned, with compositions dedicated to her by Max Richter, Gorillaz and Arcade Fire, to mention just a few… Also the Americans (symbolically) launched a much-loved dog into space during the Cold War: we’re talking about Snoopy who was the mascot of the Apollo 10 program in 1968. But in actual fact, the USA used to launch primates into space, far less beloved by humans than dogs (after all, few people have monkeys as pets), but much more similar to us. Propaganda is always capable of making things up or embellishing them with great precision. If we look carefully, though, we realise that these ‘made-up’ facts are as translucent as fine face powder. Luckily, however, the memory of these little sacrificial mascot-victims lives on: lovable and intergalactic. Name Day: St Silvia

When this Disney-Pixar animated comedy film was released, the concept of renewable energy was perhaps confined only to a few outposts of academia. But imagination is always the vanguard: in “Monsters, Inc.” there’s no need to import energy and the population don’t get annoyed with energy prices going up for the umpteenth time. The city of Monstropolis is powered thanks to a strange pact between monsters and kids: the former frighten the latter whose screams are harvested to generate volts. In the course of the film, it transpires that children’s laughter is “ten times more potent”. The film takes us back to the origin of the word “monster” that comes from the Latin “monstrum” which, in turn, means an “awesome” or “prodigious” event or creature. And yet, in these modern times of ours we often hear it said that the sleep of reason produces monsters . Now, if we reread this in a non-literal key, we’ll realise that it’s only when reason makes way for imagination that we can measure reality in a different way. At which point: who can be afraid of something awesome in the cupboard? All Souls Day

Whenever we hear someone talking about a Danse Macabre we immediately think of a medieval fresco with the Grim Reaper wielding his scythe. Yet, in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” those dead people didn’t seem at all sad as they danced with Death… So with this revelling spirit in mind, let’s fly over to Mexico where the “Día de los Muertos” is about to get into full swing. This festivity celebrates everyone: those who were killed, passed away prematurely or died in their mothers’ wombs. Should their souls return to the earth, they’ll be welcomed with yellow and orange flowers strewn over graves and streets, and with a myriad of tiny altars. The Día de los Muertos is a colourful fiesta whose purpose is not to emphasise attachment to life but, rather, the continuity between the here-and-now and the hereafter. After all, the purpose of All Saints Day, which falls almost at the same time in another part of the Christian world, is not to remind us of good practices, but of the impression these people left behind during their passage through life. Which is very vivid indeed. The tape that keeps these different ‘cousins’ bonded together, despite their distant latitudes, isn’t that hard to find. Do you know which country the flower associated with the birth of births, that of December 25th, comes from? The famous Poinsettia is indigenous to… Mexico! Talk about “saying it with flowers”… All Saints Day