Post by artraveler on Oct 30, 2019 20:25:23 GMT -8
Most of television is a wasteland. It seems that any perversion, nonfunctional, psychopathic and extreme is to be found on the airwaves. One of the most bizarre is a TLC (The Learning Channel) 90-day Fiancé. In which people who are unlikeable go overseas to find a relationship. We have all heard the stories about men and Russian brides and Bangkok girlfriends. According to this show women are looking in Africa and the Middle East. The supposed presumptive spouse is allowed into the US for 90 days to woo and wed the girlfriend or boyfriend and there must be a marriage or back they go to their home country. This may be the only area where immigration law is actually obeyed.
A man is engaged to a woman he met online and has never seen. He spends thousands of dollars to bring her to the US and is surprised she has a history as a brothel worker. What could go wrong? A woman converts to Islam leaves the US to visit her boyfriend in Syria, how could that go bad?
Is it possible for an American to fall in love overseas? Absolutely and very strong relationships happen all the time. However, I doubt a TV show can or will ever document it. Comes down to ratings. Dull normal relationships do not gather ratings on the freak show.
Another show is My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. We are supposed to believe that Gypsies in the US are still holding to their distinctive culture in which young girls, some barley 16 are married in a Gypsy ceremony that includes garish dresses, lots of alcohol and pregnancy, not necessarily in that order. This is another TLC show. Given the premise you don’t need much more information it is just another edition of the freak show.
History channel has a show that has some entertainment value, Forged in Fire. This show has been running for several years and has a simple format. Four smiths are invited to turn a hunk of metal into a usable blade using the forges and anvils on site. Most of the time the forges are gas fired but occasionally the show runners slip in charcoal forges. One of the judges is Doug Maracida a martial arts specialist in edged weapons and the only one of the judges I had heard of when the show came on. The weapons are then tested, and the two best are selected to make a classic weapon from history. The best of these is declared champion of the week and receives $10,000.
Some of the smiths are very good, and some of them need to spend more time learning the craft. The majority are journeyman level and produce a usable product, but often not a winning one. The show is entertaining and informative, if you like edged weapons. Some of the smiths are characters and some are, well—just stupid and shouldn’t be around anything sharp.
Discovery channel has a long running show, Gold Rush. This show is in its 9th or 10th season the main participants are, Tony Beets and family, Parker Schnabel, Rick Ness and in earlier shows Todd Hoffman. Tony and his wife are Dutch. He left the Netherlands to find his fortune in the gold fields of the Yukon and has done just that. Parker Schnabel and his father and grandfather are native Alaskans with a long history of mining in the area. Rick Ness is a former employee of Parker and has opened his own mining claim. In the first seasons Todd Hoffman and his father are running a small mine.
I confess, I don’t like Todd Hoffman. He has no leadership skills and appears unwilling to learn them. His father needs medication to focus on the tasks he is capable of doing. And the entire Hoffman operation is generally out of control. It is a wonder he lasted as long as he did before calling it quits. My guess it was the checks from the Discovery channel that kept him above water.
My philosophy is that if someone has leadership skills I would consider following them into battle, or fighting next to them. I do not want a Todd Hoffman behind me. It is people like him who cause friendly fire causalities.
Parker Schnabel is a leader. He makes mistakes, corrects them and continues on to his goal of getting as much gold from the ground as possible in the 6 months they can mine. Tony Beets is also a leader, but very different from Parker. Tony is, even by standards of the north, rough. However, he is fair, and the size of his operation allows him some leeway when he makes a mistake. Parker is 24 and Tony is 50 something but both men are leaders. I would follow them into combat or mining or stand next to them with assurance they have my 6. Gold Rush is interesting and informative about mining in the 21st century.
