Posted
on April 23, 2014
If
you see people with tally marks all over their arms and faces today,
do not be alarmed. Instead, wish them a happy Impossible Astronaut
Day!
On
this date in 2011, the popular television show Doctor
Who
ran an episode called “The Impossible Astronaut.” This was the
first episode in which the aliens called The Silence are actually
seen.
Some
Doctor
Who
fans (or Whovians) call the day “Silence Day” – but that's
pretty confusing since the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network's “Day of Silence” is in April, too. I'm going to stick
with calling it “Impossible Astronaut Day”!
Now,
I know you're wondering why marking yourself with tally marks is a
commemoration of a TV show about The Silence. What gives?
The
Silence are the sorts of aliens who make suggestions. They are alien
enough to be frightening to look at, but the moment someone looks
away, he or she forgets about the encounter. Still, the person
remembers the suggestion (while forgetting where the suggestion came
from).
This
power makes The Silence hard to locate, hard to fight against, hard,
even, to know that they exist! But if you could write tally marks on
your skin BEFORE looking away, it makes it harder to forget...
Last
year on Impossible Astronaut Day, thousands of Whovians went to
school and work with tally marks on their arms. Fans are hoping that even
more people will wear tally marks today!
 |
| Doctor Who fans who cannot or don't want to write on themselves might choose to mark up an old t-shirt. |
Totally
Tally
I
bet you knew that “hash marks” is another name for tally marks,
and that this counting system is often used in games and sports.
After all, it's easier to mark down one more tally mark on a score
sheet than it is to erase a number and write the next higher
number...over and over and over again, as the game continues.
And
for a sign like this grim sign, you couldn't possibly carve a number
into the wood, then somehow erase it and carve another number into
the wood. Tally marks make the task easier—although just as
depressing!
But
did you know that different cultures use different sorts of tally
marks?
This
familiar system is used in most of Europe and North America, Turkey,
Zimbabwe, Australia, and New Zealand.
These
tally marks are used in France, Spain, most of South America, and in
French-speaking Africa.
This
system is used within the field of forestry.
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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