I'm back.

Ugh. Finally. Had to do the business trip thing for 2 weeks. Limited time for keeping you all up to date on halfway decent TV viewing or introducing readers to the wonders of forgotton history.

First order of business is a beer update. From the good folks at Discovery Channel (and my wife for seeing the article) comes the tale of 45 million year old yeast.

Seems Raul Cano extracted the yeast sample from a piece of ancient amber. Now this was 10 years ago, so between then and now he has perfected brewing using the yeast originally taken from the sample of Burmese amber.

His beer, which he brews is sizable quantities , has caught the eye of aficionados and critics. Apparently it did good at the Russian Beer Festival, a yardstick by which better beers are measured, and garnered reviews like this one from Oakland Tribune beer critic (now there's a job) "weird spiciness".

It's safe to say that his ingredients are not off the shelf.

hehe

In an effort to provide an ever expanding range of services to readers I have decided to implement a weird TV alert when I cruise through notable history-ish shows to watch. Reading all those TV guides is an eye opening experience. For example, did you know there are now at least 2 shows devoted to families with a lot of kids and at least 2 shows about small people?

Now for a bit of sanity with The Perfect Weapon: Siege Engines at 6pm (just in time for supper!) on History Television. "The destructive power and accuracy of siege engines, including a mangonel and a trebuchet, are tested." Gives me an appetite. Then at 8pm it's Lost Worlds:
Building the Titanic. So now we put up with repeats and mainstream TV till later on. Stay up till 1am if you want and catch Engineering an Empire: The Aztecs

But Discovery Channel comes to the rescue with Secrets of the Dinosaur Mummy at 11.

tune in to this

Marvin P. Middlemark was born on this in 1919. We owe Marv a debt of gratitude. You see in in 1956 (took him a while to get going) he invented the Rabbit Ears used on TV sets in the 50's and 60's.

This device alone identifies television to many folk. Even those too young to have ever seen a pair of them. Television was transmitted to most markets back then just like radio was, from atop a transmission tower. The signal varied with location and the weather so viewers stood on their head trying to get a clear picture. (There is a Mr. Bean episode where he winds up naked standing on his head in an effort to get a clear picture)

Mr. Middlemark's tidy little gizmo caught more signal for the viewers and made TV just that much more exciting. Until cable TV penetrated to most markets, Rabbit Ears were king.

He had a few more inventions up his sleeve but none hit the success nerve again. But they were the water powered potato peeler and the tennis ball rejuvinator. Go figure.

soorry

Hey I've been off the beat for a week or so, doing the hanging with my son who's in town for a rare visit. My guess is there have been exactly 17 shows of note we missed. Shit.

Down to business.

Here's an odd little show called Tank Overhaul: The Panther. Kind of a history/hot rod/extreme renovation mix. Wonder where they get the parts. It's on History Television at 6pm. Good dinner viewing. At 8 they have one of my favourite series on. Battle 360: Vengeance at Midway "An American aircraft carrier fleet turns the tide of World War II in the Pacific by defeating the Japanese Imperial Navy in 1942 at Midway in one of the greatest naval battles in history." Then a bunch of repeats and mainstream stuff before Dogfights: Dogfights of the Middle East at 1am.

Looks like History Television takes all the prizes for Monday.

satellite of love

History Television is a little more playful towards the end of the week with shows like Lost Worlds: The Age of Airships and The Perfect Weapon: Skull Smashers. Starts at 8pm. Fun. Fun. Then a big break till we get to Engineering an Empire: Greece. Peter Weller hosts.

OLC is in the same mood too with Robbie Coltrane's Incredible Britain at 10pm.

And if you're in the mood for this, AMC has a mountain of real old Kay Francis movies on. Don't know what that will do to you, but what the hell.

wooly.

It turns out that there was another world's fair devoted to cotton. It happened just a few years after the now famous Atlanta International Cotton Exposition of 1881. The World Cotton Centennial of 1884, held in new Orleans, was a bit of a crapper.

New Orleans was at the very centre of the cotton industry and was home to the Cotton Exchange. If ya wanted cotton, dis was the place. But the fair was a non starter. One of the original directors took off for Brazil with over a million bucks before the fair even opened.

It did have the worlds biggest building at that time (covered over 30 acres) and was lit with more lights than all of New Orleans had at the time.

The fair was a a money loser. It was decided that the fairs buildings would be held over and used for the North Central & South American Exposition of 1885. Sounds exciting. It too couldn't get the whole she bang back in the black. What was left in the spring of 1886 was sold off for whatever they could get.

The photo above is of a stuffed alligator on exhibit at the fair. I can see the link between cotton and reptiles.

Manos, Hand of Fate

A short word about today's heading. This is probably the worst movie ever made. Really. I've shied away from going after obvious subjects, and I would probably never do one on movies, but this flick is in a league of it's own.

But hey, let's have some fun! History Television has Cities of the Underworld: A-Bomb Underground. Golly. At 9 they have a real golly gee old fashioned show with The Real Treasure Island. "Alexander Capus believes that the author of ``Treasure Island,'' Robert Louis Stevenson, knew of a real treasure." Wiley devil. All the way over the hump at 1am they have Digging for the Truth: Pirates: Terror in the Mediterranean.

I'm always on the fence when it comes to many of History Channel's offerings. You have found the odd poke at how many "mega" shows they have. So it is with some hesitance I let you in on tonight's fare. Starting at 8pm they have 2 back to back Monsterquests: Birdzilla (gosh) and American Werewolf. And if you can stick it out till 11pm, they have UFO Files: UFO's and the White House. Thought they were there already.

ah fall . . .

You gotta tune in to this series if you haven't it seen it yet. The Worst Jobs in History. Tonight at 8 it's Rural Jobs. This episode includes such gems as "shepherd boy; nettle harvester; reddleman; thresher; sedge cutter; sin eater; pole man." Yeesh.

TCM has 2 Shirley MacLaine / Jack Lemon gems on starting at 7:30: Irma La Douce and The Apartment.

And if you have the energy after the Labour Day long weekend catch a few not bad shows over on the History Channel. At 8 you have Cities of the Underworld: New York: Secret Societies, then at 10 it's Evolve: Flight (some of these have been odd, but this one's OK) and then finally at 11 catch Shark Attack 1916. Just wait for the sequel.