A haiku is a
short poem, but not as short
as this gator rhyme!

I rather like this. It has a quality that makes you turn your head and ponder just what you mean.

Dominus tecum

Here's a similar sentiment, from a 1960's 'Outer Limits' episode:

A man's survival can take many shapes, and the shape in which a man finds his humanity is not always a human one.

(Man, I love that show.)

Wow, that's an awesome line! I really love the sentiment! I do recall watching some Outer Limits back when I was younger; my folks rented them from Blockbuster or Errols. I do not recall that particular line though. What happened in that episode?

Dominus tecum

Episode was called "The Chameleon" & it starred Robert Duvall (who did a lot of TV episodes in the mid 60s & was already a superb actor) as a government agent expert at disguising himself and infiltrating enemy groups. I don't remember the exact details, but when an alien ship is shot down, the government gets a DNA sample from a killed alien & it uses it to transform (yay!) Duvall into one of the aliens so he can find out what they're up to. (They used sonic wave bombardment to accomplish the TF - interesting technique & one shot of Duvall sitting in a chair in mid-TF getting the treatment.)

The episode is on YouTube at -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgAux4rwWjo

You should also check out my 2 fave OL episodes there: "Borderland" and "O.B.I.T" (which has a killer final line all its own.)

Thanks for the pointer. I watched it and enjoyed it, although the aliens made me go 'yikes'. Not what I'd want to be transformed into. But the sentiment was fun, and at least when they did this plot, it was still new!

What are the other two about?

Dominus tecum

"Borderland" is about a team of scientists using electromagnetic energy in an attempt to open up a gateway to another dimension, and are being bankrolled by a corporate CEO who hopes they can put him in touch with his dead son... incredibly trippy sequence when one of the scientists is trapped in the energy field. (Maybe I shouldn't have watched this episode back in college when I was on acid )

"O.B.I.T." is about a mysterious eavesdropping device that can tune into anyone's 'wavelength' (& yeah, we actually do have unique electromagnetic signatures) & spy on them. When a US Senator (who looks like JFK - safe bet this episode was made pre-assassination) comes to the base to hold a hearing into what's going on there, he finds out that the machine...

I don't think it gives away too much to quote the final narration, since it's something I've never forgotten:

In the last analysis, dear friends, whether O.B.I.T. lives up to its name or not... will depend on you.

The narrator of a commercial TV series featuring a 'scary monster' every week, intimately addressing his audience as 'dear friends,' and directly challenging them to live a moral life... wow.

indeed! Outer Limits challenged us in ways we don't see anymore. A TV show that actually teaches morals is rare anymore. But I remember how much it had to say about human arrogance and greed amongst other things. The Bellero Shield haunts me to this day. I'll never forget Sally Kellermen because of that.

Dominus tecum

It's 2 years since I put this picture up & generated the above thread... I've been giving a lot of thought as of late to that closing line from "O.B.I.T.":

In the last analysis, dear friends, whether O.B.I.T. lives up to its name or not... will depend on you.

Oh yeah? Now we have goddam 'reality' TV shows that people line up to appear on and play out their private lives for audiences of millions who might as well be watching O.B.I.T. screens - not to mention people posting the most boring to porny moments of their lives on YouTube & for others to vicariously enjoy.

Sorry 'Control Voice,' but I guess people weren't listening...

It's a consequence of a society where everyone is interconnected but nobody has a physical community which they're a part of. But yeah, I try to stay away from that. I use Youtube to find beautiful music like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RrfV4Q5vTA

Sometimes the future is not even close to what people ever imagined it to be.

Dominus tecum

To be scaled is to be blessed. We should be so lucky.

Deep. Very deep. Deep like the bayou