The Second Sleep

In 1468, a young priest is sent to bury his predecessor in a remote village. In arriving he sees that the man was distinctly odd, with a number of coins, bone fragments and bits of glass from the ancient world in his collection. Did his seeming obsession with the ancient world lead to his death? What does he know of the lost world of the ancients?

For you see, this is not our 1468.

In his new novel, Robert Harris delivers another exciting tale of alternate history. The world is only just rising from peril, and it is enduring a time of The Second Sleep. Some spoilers follow.

I've reviewed Harris's work before, Fatherland being a staple of the alternate history genre, but he delivers exciting reads in straight historical fiction and thrillers as well. This new work of his is merely another excellent exploration on these themes with a twist. Considering it came out in 2019, just before our own cozy catastrophe took place, it seems fitting to review it after the fact.

Young priest Christopher Fairfax sets out from Exeter to a small village called Addicott St. George, where he is tasked to perform a funeral and at least perform mass for the people until a replacement can be sent. There he discovers that all is not as it seems in this little village. The people are dour, rural, and insular, which bothers Fairfax as he goes about his duties and tries to flee as quickly as he can. Unfortunately, bad weather traps him in the little valley, and he thus must work to do his duties. 

He does though, come upon a mystery. The old priest had a collection of items from before the apocalypse, coins, plastic, dolls and a complete Apple iPhone on display. Alongside them, a series of heretical books that seem to challenge the teachings of the Church where the world was destroyed by the Beast. At the funeral he meets local notables John Hancock and Sarah Durston, who verify the priest had strange doings. A minor tension mounts between Hancock and Fairfax as they both seem to vie for the affections of Lady Durston. The mystery deepens as they learn that there is supposedly a treasure hidden near where the old priest died. They set out to discover more about his yearnings for the past.

In turns out that the story has picked up up roughly eight centuries after an unspecified calamity which has been identified as the Apocalypse of John from the Book of Revelation by the people at the time. It is an interesting response as, in a similar story to A Canticle for Leibowitz, the people living through this calamity have knowingly thrown off the technological society of their forebears and then wrapped the fall of the old world in religious significance, which has been spun into official history by the power of the Church in order to keep England (mentioned as now unified under Church and Crown) in order unlike the calamity of the bad old days.

With this forceful renunciation of technological society, old superstitions come back hard. Ghosts, demons, evil spirits, and other ideas are rife in rural areas, and even some cities. The Church does little to dissuade these ideas, and even frowns on many innovations. Wind, water and muscle power are the primary movers of society, and though they have not lost access to gunpowder, the weapons of the day are crude in comparison to those that came before the Apocalypse. Harris also paints a haunting picture of a world where the old has washed away, the glories of the 21st Century looked on at like ancient Roman ruins, and barely a trace of the ancient world still stands. It's emblematic in how many of the (now ancient) manor houses of England are either in ruins or barely kept afloat by proud aristocratic families.

That this old history is presented as a minor mystery is a bit odd. Everyone knows the world collapsed, and it seems that the Church also helped tie society together again, which meant that at some point in the past the collective trauma of the Apocalypse pushed people to adopt this story that the world did indeed end - in a way. After eight hundred years much of that would be forgotten, and Church teaching would have calcified into a more mystical version and other histories might indeed be suppressed. But with everyone knowing technological society collapsed, one of the main mysteries (especially the how and why) never quite gets addressed satisfactorily. Indeed, for what one of the major revelations turns out to be in the end it is barely hinted at, at all and could have provided a much more compelling drama!

That being said, the obfuscation of the calamity, the Church efforts to cover up the past, and the way society has regressed, does create an interesting crusade to find out about the old world. The mystery and interplay between characters is fun as it shows a healthy skepticism amongst many which runs up against rigid attempts at imposing order on society in the after a calamity long ago.

While perhaps not the great mystery it was meant to be, it certainly paints a vivid picture of a world which has moved on from its former glory. Humanity has survived, but has it thrived? The characters present interesting contrasts and make for some amusing drama, while showing us just how people live in this world. It also reminds us that no society is immune from decline or collapse, and raises disturbing questions about just how secure our own world is. Fascinating reading.

Prepping: Starting Simple

Well readers after a few hectic weeks where I have been stuffed to the gills with no fewer than four birthday cakes I am happily back to blogging.

This week however I am going to once again deliver a piece on prepping and how easy it can be. While the idea of prepping may seem a daunting task to the novice I assure that in the long run it is well worth it.

To begin there are seven primary things a prepper must have in abundance or plan for extensively to actually get started in the prepping game. In our modern consumer world storing up on these essentials can be as easy as 1,2,3 by going to cheap bulk mark stores like Costco and Walmart!
Though to begin here is a list of the 'must haves' when you begin prepping.

1. A clean and renewable source of water:

Water, the blood of life from the deserts of Arabia to the rivers of lower Canada. You can go for weeks without food but never more than three (and if you're insanely lucky, seven) days without water or fluids of some sort to help replenish your body.

The fact is that without this basic first step any attempts at prepping are sunk right from the start.

There are a myriad of ways for people to get a fresh, clean, renewable source of water from rain catchment to ground wells. This article is only a list of course but I will be going into other ways to get water another time.

What is important to remember is that you will also need a way to purify water as there is no stretch of water which is 100% safe from the contaminants of the modern world. Boiling, purifying tablets, even a rather simple charcoal and dirt water strainer is useful.

To use an example, I as a Canadian do not need to be overly concerned about fresh water. I live in a country where we have the most plentiful fresh water in the world! Now does that mean I can take it for granted? NO! I have to be aware of where my water is coming from, what possible pollutants could be going into the water, and what secondary advantages this water could offer me (fish, boat transport, ect).

Just remember, in a quick fix you can buy large 10gallon drums to store water in! Having at least ten of these fully stocked would be a good idea for a back up supply.

2. A safe place to lay your head:

Now if you have a fresh source of water you next need a shelter to protect yourself from the elements. Suburban home, old farmhouse, raised tent/treehouse, and hobbit holes abound for your choice in shelter.

A shelter is important as it gives you a place to call your castle (and depending on how you like to prep it will be your castle) and for you to store your supplies.

In designing (or buying) a shelter you must think about where you are prepping. Is it in a city? The country? The wilderness? Is it a warm climate? How are the winters? How much rain do you get annualy? What is the wild life like?

I am currently city prepping so I take into account what my home in the city looks like and I have a Bug Out plan in case the worst happens and I am forced to flee the city for my family home in the country. Its rather simple as plans go, with hopes for establishing a secondary stockpile of supplies somewhere else.

3. A good food supply:

Now I won't say a food supply is prep specific as food is a universal must, but I will say how you plan on prepping is going to effect how you prep.

The safest bet for an early prep is to have a six month supply of food stocked away (in emulation of the Mormon tradition) as a just in case idea. This can include canned goods, easily stored grains and vegetables and canned meat and blocks of salt.

Buying canned goods in bulk couldn't be easier if you go to places like Bulk Barn, Costco, or Walmart. You can set aside some money every grocery trip to get items that will store for up to five years and if stored right can last longer! A deep larder is just good planning people.

Now if you are thinking long term well that's another matter entirely and one which would require way more detail this this simple list post. Though there is one generalization I would make it is this, chicken's are a wonderful food animal and are great for eggs and meat.

Whatever you do don't forget about a personal garden! If you're tired of mowing the lawn go out and put that vacant space to good use! I personally reccomend this as most of the time you can get easy practice with growing items in a garden. It's good practice and most of the time it's good food.

4. Waste management:

This should be a must. Unless you have a generator which can run 24/7 continuously, at some point your toilet is going to break down. Now most toilets can still be flushed if you pour water into them or use the mechanism inside the toilet to auto-flush it.

However, what will you do if you can't make your toilet flush? How will you dispose of this human (or animal) waste safely?

The answer readers, ought to be fairly simple. An outhouse. This is the most ideal form of disposal when the toilet stops flushing. You will want to have a space marked for an outhouse on your property which is a) well away from your house and garden b) not going to interfere with your water supply. Unlike most animal wastes our own feces is not beneficial to growing good plants. Over time it will go back to nature but you will want to have a deep hole to let it do so for a while. Preferably three such sites in abundance in order to avoid overtaxing one area.

Trust me here, an outhouse may smell and have insects, but the alternative is much much worse to comprehend. I'd rather go in an outhouse than take a 'wild one' and worry about stepping in it later.

5. Toiletry Items:

This should be obvious. What happens when you can't get a good supply of toiletry items? What will happen when you run out of toilet paper? Feminine items? Toothpaste?

Stock up while you can readers. Remember how much of an inconvenience it was when you saw no one had changed the toilet paper roll? Think about how much worse it will be if you can't get any toilet paper for weeks on end.

The same goes for toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorent, and of course soap and shampoo. There are many ways to make your own soap and find natural substitutes for these items. It should be a top priority amongst preppers to get these personal hygiene items in abundance in order to stave off disease, and of course, social problems from bad BO.

Soap stores essentially forever, and deoderant can be useful for a few years while shampoo will be essential (though you may not want to waste it every day) and simply feeling clean is a great mental boost after a while.

6. Necessary medical items:

Now this is important readers. Band-aids, lots of them! From painkillers to antiseptics you will want a well stocked first aid kit in your home. If God forbid you find yourself in considerable pain or having a minor wound which could get infected you will want it healed up as quickly as possible.

If possible you will want to be on good terms with your doctor so you can have some clue how to get help.

Since that is not always possible (like having a person who is skilled in medicine) you will want to have some rudimentary knowlegde of medical procedures and have some know how in order to look for the obvious signs of infection or illness.

There will always come a day when you just might not be able to go to the hospital so having at least the basics for first aid or how to set a broken bone could prove to be an indespensible boon someday. There are a variety of good books on the subject available on the market and I would personally suggest these three:

*American Red Cross First Aid

*Where There is No Doctor by David Werner

*Where There is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

They are good starter guides for prepping in the medical sphere.

Number seven however is something that many would say is essential but I would call a lesser consideration. Though I don't view it as optional since at the very least hunting is important.

7. A hunter's weapon:

The old US survival adage goes "Beans, Band-aids, and Bullets". This is true I suppose but contrary to many in the US who stock up on weapons to fight off looters and bandits I would only reccomend a weapon to hunt animals and push off the inevitable feral dog that will spring up.

No matter what your opinion on hunting/killing animals I view it as a necessary thing to keep a hunting rifle to at least bag the occasional deer, or shoot a pesky raccoon.

Hunting can be a great short term suppliment for food and meat if you can manage it, but it is only that, a short term solution. In a short prep scenario that means it is essential to have this as a back up plan in case your supplies run low.

For me driving off a wild animal or predator is more important (and likely) than pell mell banditry that many survivalists predict.

---

So readers prepping is easy to start with! It is committment which is the key. If you can stick to it over time it is easy to stock up for tough times in bulk!

I understand prepping can be a daunting challenge, but as I said in my previous article on the subject, it is something that people ought to do. It is smart, forward thinking, and above all a good excercise in mental and family planning.

Until next time readers!

The Case for Prepping

Well readers I suppose many of you might start to consider me an odd duck after this post, but if that is the case, so be it. What I aim to do today is make a valid case for the idea known as survivalism. Now some of you may have passing aquaintance with the idea of survivalism and may have seen movies where so called 'survivalists' are featured.

For a moment let me sketch out the the typical mental image that people see when they hear the word survivalist. For most people the word evokes images of a man (usually in his late 40s early 50s) holed up in a bunker beneath his house surrounded by stockpiles of MRE's canned food and cradling an M-16 in his arms while checking his other illegally obtained weapons and waiting for the Soviets or New World Order to come knocking. Now while this stereotype isn't completely undeserved (as an unfortunate number of websites and authors show) it is only focusing on the extreme fringe of so survivalist movement. Many people who identify as survivalists have recently been using the term 'prepper' to differentiate themselves from this fringe. I myself use it as I am not in the process of prepping for a global collapse, but rather more local things.

More about me in a moment though. What people will find today is that may preppers are people who are members of the Green movement and want to get back to the land. Or they are simply people who live in areas that are at risk for terrible weather and other natural disasters (hurricanes and earthquakes and the like). Most people will simply have an emergency supply of food, batteries, and blankets to be used in case of a terrible power outage or storm. If you do something basic like that then yes dear reader, you are indeed a prepper. It's even just the little things that make someone a prepper, if you are preparing for any kind of freak hit mother nature can throw at you, you fall into the category of prepper.

Though now some of you may be asking 'Stienberg why do you prep? Surely you aren't afraid of the NWO nor do you need to fear the weather so much?' well readers I'm glad you asked that!

As I'm sure many of you will remember back in 1998 we had the mother of all ice storms which came down on us like the wrath of an inebriated and severely ticked off Jack Frost! For some readers who may not remember, or who would like to see how devastating this was I present you these:

This is some trees bent under their own weight from the ice (one having its branches totally ripped off)

No these aren't ice scupltures.

This is a twig, covered in two inches of ice, to illustrate just how bad this was.

Now I was just a little rascal at this time, but I do still remember three things in abundance. One was that a great big tree was literally uprooted and smashed across the road blocking part of the neighbourhood, the other was that our power didn't work for days, and that we eventually had to flee to my grandmothers house because it was to cold to stay in our own.

The problem grew so great and many communities (like my own) were isolated and the roads impassable from the ice sheets and debris covering them. Eventually the army was called in and I can remember how glad my parents were to see helicopters flying overhead and for a soldier to come and check on us.

That time dear readers, was bad. Some froze to death in their homes (especially the elderly) and many who did leave to stay with relatives who did have power, returned to find their homes looted by opportunistic scavengers (of both the four and two legged variety). Now it wasn't anarchy in the streets, nor a world ending disaster, but it made many people quite upset and uncomfortable and made me realize just how fragile our modern way of life is. My father for instance, has not owned a house without a woodstove since.

Now of course I was to young at the time to really appreciate these details. As I got older though, I began to really see the effects that a few days without power could have on people. Take the 2003 blackout for instance. I was again cast into a world of darkness and no power, but was thankfully warm as it was summer. So these memories have weighed heavily on me as I see how catastrophic man made screw ups can be.

From the time I was sixteen onwards I began asking myself what I could do in situations like these. So from there I began reading about disaster prepardness and storm shelters. What will surprise readers is that it wasn't any man made disaster that finally tilted me over the edge into full on prepper, but a fictional one.

I purchased the Zombie Survival Guide (and consequently have reviewd it on Amazon as MDStien) many years ago. I bought this book as friends and I had become infatuated with zombie movies, and all the post-apocalyptic aspects there of. This book really got me thinking, what if the power goes out for weeks at a time? What if I get caught up in a riot or other civil disturbance? And even, what if maybe, just maybe a horde of undead flesh eating monsters tries to force its way into my home? The last one aside (well I'd focus that on burglers really) these are very important questions. What will I do if I'm without power for a number of days, or what will I do if there is a critical shortage and I have to stock up on food for something, and even what if I'm stranded in the great Canadian wilderness?

These are all important questions people should ask themselves. It's little things like that which can throw our entire world into disorder. Especially with food, there's an old saying 'every country is three meals away from a revolution' and if an entire region were deprived of food for many days I can assure the reader that things would not end well.

I personally began scanning the web and blogosphere for websites which might help me prepare. Eventually I've come across two important websites which have given me tips and tricks to help prepare. One is the famous Survivalblog by James Wesley Rawles a well known author and blogger on the subject. His political leanings do however influence his writings and ideas about survival and he has a bit of a militia bent to him. That being said he also spends a considerable ammount of time on weapons and other self-defense ideas. However, his blog is an excellent resource for starting preppers, and his book How to Survive the end of the world as we know it, is a must have for starting preppers as it gives you an idea of where to begin, and where to go.

Now Rawles does have another book. This one:

Now understandably this may begin to sound alarm bells in some readers heads screaming 'militia fanatic!!' and while there are some elements in the book of this, it actually reads more like Red Dawn in Weirmar Republic Germany. The author is controversial because of his viewpoints and beliefs and this will certainly turn away some readers. Though it doesn't even read as well as a regular novel I can gaurentee it is chock full of excellent ideas and tips packed into a useful narrative. His non-fiction works and blog are much less controversial and could be easier to swallow, I merely reccomend this book to people who want to see what would be described as the best-case scenario for a prepper group put into print.

Now on another note, here is a blog that is a) more Canadian and b) closer to what I'd envisage as my prepping scenario dream. Modern Homesteading is a blog begun by Victoria Gazeley when she moved to her proverbial cabin in the woods and began a life of self-sufficiency and work. Now my proverbial cabin in the woods would look something like this but that's beside the point. Gazeley sets out her ideas on self-sufficient living, and how to prep in a Canadian environment and for a rural lifestyle. This resonates with me a) because I come from a very rural background and seek to return to it and b) because it is from a Canadian perspective and will thankfully avoid foreign politics and ideological banter. The blog offers so many helpful tips and advice that you would be hardpressed to keep track of it all.

That being said online resources are not the only resources that can be used. Amazon has a plethora of books and how to guides on things that can be essential for prepping, and I encourage readers to check some of these items out starting with this.

In the end dear readers I ask you to remember a few things. Being a prepper does not make a person crazy, it is something that almost everyone does to one extent or another (and some simply take it further) and that it is something we should all practice to some extent, just in case.

For now though readers I hope I have outlined the pros for a prepper mindset, and I can assure you I will be doing some more prep oriented posts in the future. Keep on reading and please give these issues some thought.

As a final note, I encourage everyone to think about Hurricane Sandy and many of the ill effects it has had when you consider prepping. If you don't think you can be affected by weird weather and natural disasters, you are oh so sadly wrong dear reader.

The Last Pilgrims: By Micheal Bunker, A Review

Recently readers I have finished an entirely new book. It is a book from my favorite genre, the post-apocalyptic sort. It revolves around an interesting post-apocalyptic premise and has a unique view on the post-apocalyptic situation. This week I bring you, The Last Pilgrims by Micheal Bunker.

This book I picked up after seeing it advertised on other sites and having visited the book's website and the author's blog. The book and author presents a unique view point on life and a post-apocalyptic scenario in general. It could count among science-fiction, but the only real science fiction element I would say it has is the quickness of the collapse in the beggining (two-weeks or so) which firmly sets it out of that genre and into the regular post-apocalyptic camp.

I've heard many comparisons of thie book to the Hunger Games, or the new TV show Revolution. To which I say, well there are a few comparisons to be made yes. One of the main characters (Ruth) does use and bow like Katniss, and yes like Revolution it is a world where there really is no modern technology and most people don't use electricity as it is unavailable. Otherwise this book stands out as something completely different in its own right, in a good way!

The story itself centers around an area in West Texas and the community of the Vallenses, an Amish-like plain people who are a thriving religious community in a fallen world. Their model of prosperity however sincerely irritates their large and powerful neighbour, the King of Aztlan, who wants this land for himself. A free independant people of course cannot be tolerated.

The story is really a retelling of the struggles of the ancient Waldensians a group of Evangelical Christians who defied the might of the Catholic Church and suffered horrendous persecution at the hands of its agents before the survivors fled to the New World.

The Good:

Micheal Bunker establishes right off the bat the kind of world we are seeing. His prlogue gives us an excellent synopsis (if not the outright cause) of the collapse and its extremely quick escalation from mere economic downturn, to minor nuclear war. Thus American (nay world) society as we know it is thrust five hundred years into the past with petty kings and lords taking up claims and projecting their power through armies of thugs. This would go ill for the pacifist Vallensian people were it not for the emergence of the Ghost Militia who are dedicated to fighting Aztlan and by extention protecting the Vallenses.

We get a clear look at the local political situation (the world one being understandably sketchy) and see just why the Vallenses are so persecuted. The king of Aztlan hates them as they are a large successful nation who are a) opposed to his rule b) setting a successful example for rebels from his own lands to follow and c) follow a faith that diverges markedly from the corrupt political Church in New Rome. Indeed he rightly fears his people taking this example and rebelling against him. The only reason he has avoided outright war thus far is internal problems, and the dogged persistance of the Ghost Militia killing his raiding parties.

Now though twenty years after the collapse, he is turning his attention to stamping them out completely. Thus our story opens with Jonathan Wall, respected leader of the Vallenses, sending a plea for help to the King of the South States. Unfortunately this is interrupted when a would be assassin just misses his target. Here we greet Phillip, the leader of the Ghost Militia as he saves Wall and brings in the assassin, Gareth, who has a ulterior motive of his own...

Then on we follow a colorful cast of characters, Jonathan's daughter Ruth, a militia rider named Timothy, a Aztlani knight named English, and Jonathan's son David.

Each character brings something unique of their own to the story, Ruth in her growing up experience, and David's internal conflict between his faith's pacifistic nature, and the brutal reality of the war creeping down upon them.

The dialogue is good, well written, but often slightly to mild mannered for my taste. Though it does serve to show how society has fallen down with the disapearence of so much of the modern slang that we know, verses a more eloquent and Biblically reflective speech that would come from a deeply religious society. This is though contrasted with the speech of those from Aztlan and beyond.

The war itself is put in very brutal terms, with heartwrenching atrocities and brutal battles. Though we clearly see that Aztlan is the evil agressor and the Vallensians a normal people caught in the middle of a territorial and religious conflict. The battle scenes though, are spectacular. You feel as though you are right in the middle and Bunker's keen eye for these details gives you an impressive mind's eye view of every fight and each tactic undertaken by the combatants.

The moral, and philisophical issues brought up by the many characters will leave you asking deep questions yourself about how prepared you are in your own life, and of course in your spiritual life.

Micheal Bunker is also something of a philosopher, practioner and writer in the world of prepardness (and if you visit his blog you will see he has a refreshing habit of practicing what he preaches) thus there is a great element of prepardness and self-sufficiency in the novel with some unique and interesting ideas that readers interested in such things may find interesting. There are also a number of health facts and tips that are pleasantly surprising (organic beer anyone?).

We also get lovingly beautiful descriptions of Texas and the landscape. The blue skies, the wonderful countryside, the deadly desert, and of course the Wall ranch which is given loving detail and sounds like a truly wonderful place to live. In fact the author has made me sincerely want to go visit this beautiful area sometime in the future.

The author has an expert way of reeling you into the story and making you care about the troubles of the Vallenses and the epilogue left me feeling both heartbroken, hopeful, and intrigued.

The Bad:

Unfortunately like all novels I read it does not get a complete pass.

Most of my issues with the book were minor, a lack of comprehensive detail and timing is one. The lack of comprehensive detail left me fuzzy on certain aspects of what was going on or how certain characters looked, I was extremely confused as to David's appearance for some time actually, and I found The Mountain was given a mean lack of characterization early on in the novel, which would have saved considerable trouble later on. The major characters, such as John, Phillip, Ruth, Gareth, and Timothy, all recieved adequate page-time for me to epmhasize with them and get an understanding for their motivations and troubles. Characters like The Mountain, and Piggy needed better characterization earlier on so we could get a better view for what they did later in the novel. That and I didn't find a good timeline of when these events started, and when they finally ended.

Also the Duke of El Paso. This is merely a personal pet peeve of mine but he did not make a good villain. Described a short, wearing boots that make him look taller, child like in appearence with a high picthed voice and ridiculous accent, he was a caricature. Thus he made for an extremely irritating character whose redeeming feature was we did not have to see him much. He exuded no sense of menace or threat which made me heave a heavy sigh and wonder what the King of Aztlan, who sounded much more sinister, was up to. It wasn't until we met Sir Jarius Whiteside, Chancellor of Aztlan, that I felt much real respect for the villains themselves. Sure they had clever plots but the offscreen nature of them left me feeling a little underwhelmed by their impact initially until we got about half way through the book.

Then of course there was a minor bit of consistency between the beggining and end of the novel. I found the low tech, and scavenger society of this world fascinating. But earlier on we are told that guns are heavy, difficult to use, and ammo is hard to come by. Then near  the end we have gun battles taking place on the large scale! It was something of a continuity error that left me scratching my head after but if one can put it aside it doesn't harm the book at all.

My one final nit-pick is that I found it to short! Not a criticism per-say but I am hoping for more by Mr. Bunker and hope that as he gets his writing legs under him he will begin writing longer works so I can keep reading longer!

The Verdict:

Overall this book is a wonderful read full of rich characters, an exciting world, excellent survival tips, and a sense of the holy and pure as well, which is immesely refreshing.

I have been impressed by Mr. Bunker's writing thus far and I eagerly await the upcoming sequel Cold Harbor and its continuation of the tale of the Vallenses.

The Last Pilgrims has been an enjoying read which kept me guessing for most of the novel. It was also a very happily unique post-apocalyptic fiction with some (thanfully) tasteful morals and a good message throughout. I would be happy to read it again and certainly will. I encourage readers who are interested in post-apocalyptic fiction to pick it up and read it, you will not be disappointed. I am glad to advertise for Mr. Bunker and let people know about his wonderful and original work.

4 out of 5 stars for this piece of wonderful literature.

The Problem with History Television

I myself am personally a great fan of both the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, but here's the issue. While the programming of the Discovery Channel has managed to adapt with the times and keep a great line up of diverse and interesting programs, the History Channel, to put it bluntly, has not.

The Facts:

The History Channel is a channel which by its very name should mean that it is devoted to programs that are either documentary style or information nuggets about general times in history. It used to be that the station was called the 'Hitler Channel' because of the truly disproportianate numbers of shows regarding World War II back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Since then however, the programming has gone steadily down hill.

As a young boy I would avidly watch the channel (even though much of the content would go straight over my head) and try to learn as much as I could. The shows on the History Channel as well as tutoring provided by my favorite uncle, is what originally got me so fascinated in history. So back then it had to many World War II documentaries? So what? Even those were far better sights than what the channel is playing now!

Today we are stuck with an array of boring, and worse, useless shows! We have a decent show like Pawn Stars, which starts a cascade of ridiculous and outrageous spin offs which have almost no great historical content, and would have been laughed out of the board room were it not for the success of Pawn Stars! Pawn Stars itself only is successful as it has people scrounging their attics for any 'historical artifacts' to attempt to sell to make a buck! And speaking of scrounging attics we have such wonderful shows like Canadian and American Pickers! Two guys in a van who go around pawing at eccentric people's collections trying to sell in a niche market! What's worse is that they could have made a sitcom out of this! Like Pawn Stars or its many spin offs it is low on facts and instead relies on interesting nuggets to reel the audience in. I could deal with this if it was one or two shows that functioned like this, instead we have at least seven!

Then we have the lackluster television show Ancient Aliens. This is of course a tinfoil hat on head conspiracy theory/ whackadoodle show posing the question of whether aliens came to earth in order to help ancient civilizations build themselves up and design their ancient wonders. I could take this show seriously if they attempted to debunk these crack pots, but instead we are treated to half an hour of crazy pseudo-historians claiming aliens built the pyramids. I personally have a hard time believing these people aren't being paid to say these things. Sadly it appears they have brought out the nutter parade and these people are serious. I think the near blatant racism of saying that the ancient Americans or Egyptians couldn't possibly have built their structures without aliens is something that should have died out in the 1930s yet continues blatantly to this day.

Then we have shows like Swamp People and Full Metal Jousting. Neither show is bad in and of itself and each is quite interesting, but, the problem is for a program on the History Channel other than brief mentions to historical context each show does not portray any historical background nor expand on the rich and interesting history of either jousting or the culture of Louisianna gator hunting. As reality shows or sports shows, they are acceptable. As historical shows, they lack severely! Do a segment on the history of jousting, explain the evolution of the armor or even why they chose to ressurrect the sport! And with Swamp People, give us a better history of the families and Louisianna in general! Don't get me wrong, each show is great, but they lack content and context to be on the History Channel!

This is my problem, there are so many shows that lack context and an even poorer program line up which drives me mad whenever I try to watch the channel! So here, my humble readers, is how I would like to frame my solution.

My Solution:

Taking a look at the History Channel's more successful cousin the Discovery Channel we can see how they could improve. For instance there was a wonderful show aired for two seasons (despite the general disaster of the second season) called the Colony which was premised around survival after a flu pandemic. A decent show despite suffering from trying to imitate Survivor to often at times, it was still a good look at how that sort of TV series could be approached. For the History Channel simply try something like that, but set in any (literally ANY) time period in history! The possibilities are endless! You could set it in a mediveal village or frontier America! Each with its own unique historical ideas and challenges to be presented to participants and for the viewers enjoyment!

Another thing is to shows about less publicized wars. Sure we've all heard about the World Wars, the Korean war, Vietnam, the Civil War ect. So instead how about a series on the Hundred Years War or the Crimean War or even the Mexican Revolution? You could take any war in history and have it presented in a dramatic and compelling way! Make a miniseries about it even, like the upcoming Hatfields and McCoys (which I will be reviewing on this blog!).

Then of course we can do more specific shows about things like the American Revolution, the original Native American cultures and societies. Things that could become so much more interesting which can be used in a myriad of different ways to tie into both modern events, or try and predict future events. Perhaps shows like After Armageddon and Life After People can become more mainstream and promote a prepardness mindset for those who don't think about even things like a bad storm?

All in all there are so many positive changes that can be made to the History Channel's line up, and I sincerely hope that people running the show will see that.

The Grey: A Review

Recently I saw the film "The Grey". This film was promoted as a film about survival, and was also said to have a surprisng philosophical message. I call the promoters liars on both counts because of that. I am not saying the film was bad, far from it, I merely call the promoters liars. It is a good film and overall I enjoyed it.

To get this review started I will simply give a rough recap of the plot. A man employed by an oil company to protect workers from wolves in a remote drilling camp in Alaska and struggling over his seperation from his wife, is caught up in a disastrous plane crash while flying back to Anchorage and stranded in the wilderness with a number of other survivors and they are forced to survive on their wits and not much else.

This is the so called survival element. Though the film does show some interesting elements and very accurate ideas about surviving in such a harsh wilderness, the film plays more like a slasher movie.

Like any slasher movie it prays off our fears of something, in this case being eaten to death by wolves. It establishes from the start that the wolves are to be the films main antagonists and I'm surprised at just how much screen time they get in comparison to natures other perils, especially frostbite.

As wolves fufill the survival element and make the film a slasher by picking off our fairly dim protagonists we get a deep look into the ideological view of both narcisism and atheism.

The films philisophical tune is essentially harsh post-modernist nihilistic thought mized with passive atheism. The nihilistic thought creeps in as we see the characters struggling and continuing to fail despite any hope spots that might seem evident and consistently portrays the struggle against nature as hopeless and futile. This lends to a meta idea that struggle for reform or absolution is useless and that all we can do in life is fight and hope our deaths are not too meaningless. The atheistic element involves a camp fire discussion where one character asks about faith, another dismisses it as a fairy tale while a third says he wishes to believe its true but he can't. This directly leads to another scene where the principal character has just lost all hope and looks skyward and pleads with a higher power to do something saying "...fuck faith! Earn it! Do something!" in response we see an empty and uncarring sky looking back at him. A hope spot could have been inserted here but the writers chose for a long drawn out sequence to emphasise that there wasn't one. This reinforced the sense of passive atheism but gave the film a tone of ranting against nature and how unfair live could be.

I found that the setting for its post-modern views was uniquely thought out but by extension was self-fullfilling. Rather than a rant of how unfair life could be it showcased the deep uncaring ways of Earth and nature around us and seemed to mock the use of prayer. But by its very setting it merely proves the point of an uncarring Earth and not any sort of uncaring God, rather the writers knew this and decided to add the long sequence of empty sky in order to make that point. That and ensure that they kill the obviously religious members of the cast in rather cruel ways. Clever, but hardly proving the point. Instead of making an atheistic point it relies on old arguments of "why would God let this happen?" one which, mixed with many of the characters attitudes and various ineptitudes is rather uncompelling.

Though somewhat depressing due to its subject matter and portrayal I found the movie interesting but couldn't help be irritated once it abandoned its interesting survival premise and became a more predictable slasher film harping on an irritating ideological agenda. I reccomend it for those who enjoy slashers, not any sort of deeper ideological experience.

All in all I'll be generous and give it two and a half stars.