Now I remember why I don't watch the History Channel.

[varkam]

I seem to remember a time when the History Channel was good. I mean, it's kind of fuzzy but I can almost remember when there were interesting and informative programs on. Then, of course, it sort of morphed into the Hitler Channel (All Hitler, All The Time!), and now it seems like it's going the way of the woo. Tonight, for example, they were talking about "eerie" predictions made about popes, and how "some of the wording was just too accurate to be a coincidence". That, of course, immediately set my BS detector off. As evidence of this, here's what they offered:

Pope JP the 23rd was predicted as being a sailor and a priest. As evidence that he was a sailor, they mentioned that he was once a ruler in Venice! Eerie, indeed.

:eyes:

[moggie]

1. Someone predicted the pope would be a priest?

Wow, talk about sticking your neck out!

[onager]

2. Yawn. The "prophecies" of St. Malachy

Probably a 17th-century hoax by those Blackwater Operatives of the Catholic Church, the Jesuits. St. Malachy himself died in the 12th century and his official bio never mentioned the amazin' Papal prophecies.

From Catholic-Pages (of all places!), full link below:

The prevailing view today is that they are elaborate forgeries, probably perpretrated by a school of Jesuits in the 1600s. This is based on the clear relation of the mottos to the various popes until that period, and the need to find oblique references (such as the motto of the Pope's home diocese) to make the particular motto fit the particular pope. The inclusion of anti-popes would also appear to militate against the authenticity of the prophecies.

"Too accurate to be a coincidence?" Bwah! Some papal candidates apparently consulted the list and tried to match the prophecies. I love the story that, in 1958, Cardinal Spellman of New York rented a boat and some sheep, so that he could fit the prediction of the next Pope being "pastor and sailor." It didn't do him any good, since John XXIII won that election, as you noted.

Just for the record, Pope Panzer may (or may not) be the Penultimate Pope. Prophecy is a tricky business, ya know! The prediction (maybe) for the next and (maybe) last Pope:

In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable Judge will judge his people. The End.

Here's a good write-up, complete with a list of all the prophecies:

http://www.catholic-pages.com/grabbag/malachy.asp

Totally irrelevant, but your post reminded me that some years ago I had a girlfriend who used to tease me by calling the History Channel "AH-1--All Hitler, All The Time." To return the favor, I would harass her about watching "The PMS Channel," a/k/a Lifetime.

[varkam]

4. Ah, *pastor* and a sailor.

I was only half-listening :D

[realisticphish]

3. definately

there's a bit from the Daily Show that I can't find on youtube where they make fun of the "WWII/Civil War Channel." I can't believe I long for those days to return.

Though, I will say, History International still has some decent stuff on.

[onager]

5. Ah! Maybe that's the difference!

I get a version of History International here in Egypt. Judging by the complaints I see on DU, it must be quite different from the U.S. version. Sometimes I wouldn't mind a bit of woo for comedy relief, but most of the shows over here seem pretty normal (for lack of a better word).

Last night HI showed a documentary about the US civil rights struggle. I tuned in late but caught some of it.

I'm sort of annoyed by the trend of "dramatizing" historical events in what used to be called documentaries, which seems to be spreading. Last year the BBC did a very interesting 4-hour documentary about the 1956 Suez Crisis...hey, you in the back, wake up! :-)

Lots of rare genuine footage showing the history of the British in Egypt etc. And one full hour on "the other side," with Egyptians talking about the 1956 invasion.

But for some reason, they had a lot of "dramatizing." Though I have to admit, it was well-done. To portray British PM Anthony Eden, they got the fine actor James Fox. Probably best known as the assassin in "Day of the Jackal." Interesting casting!

[realisticphish]

6. actually

i find the 1956 suez incident very interesting, primarily because it overshadowed the budapest revolution. If that hadn't have happened, the soviets might not have crushed the revolutionaries without anyone noticing, as they did.

But yeah, HInt is MUCH MUCH better. Unfortunately it often isn't included in basic cable.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. History International, available only on the higher digital tiers here, is

where all the intelligent history programming has gone.

However, it had gotten so that History International was the only channel worth watching on that tier anymore (given the loss of News World International and Ovation and the dumbing down of BBC America), so I no longer have anything above the basic local channels.

I'm happy with PBS and my DVDs.

[realisticphish]

13. i remember

when BBC America had a lot of the good british comedy from the 70's-90's. Now, its a bunch of reality shows and soap operas.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. Mostly reality shows

They're capable of showing back to back episodes of the same damn reality show all day.

I could go on about them, but I'd rather order British DVDs from Amazon UK and play them on my computer or eventually invest in a region-free, NTSC>PAL converting DVD player.

[realisticphish]

15. I have Father Ted

Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Monty Pythons Flying Circus, 'Allo 'Allo, and Keeping Up Appearences, all complete and all on Region 1 DVD. But there is still a lot not available here.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. Oh yes, there are lots of Region 1 DVDs of British TV

but some of my favorite classic series are not available, including Dalziel and Pascoe, Silent Witness, and Tenko, even though they were shown in the U.S. on A&E when it was still a respectable station.

[onager]

18. Here's a DVD player suggestion.

Pioneer model DV600-AV. I use one bought here in Egypt and love it.

It is region-free and plays NTSC or PAL format. In fact, so far, it has played just about anything I've thrown at it. Including *.avi files straight off the DVD, which is a big time-saver for all those non-copyrighted, personally owned home videos you may have laying around. ;-)

It also has a USB input and digital photo-viewer.

From the sales pitch at the website: Plays DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, DivX, DVD-RW (compatible with CPRM), VCD, Super VCD, DVD-R//DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD+, Dual-Layer DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD+RW, CD-RW/CD-R/CD/Super VCD, Video CD Playback Capability Official DivX® Ultra Certified, Plays all versions of DivX® (Including DivX 6)

http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/pioneer600.html

[Warpy]

7. It's all spooks, all the time, starting late Friday afternoon

and continuing through Sunday night, proselytizing the working folks of America so they won't murder the bosses in their beds, I suppose.

The rest of the week, they actually have some good stuff on and don't mention Nostradamus or Revelations at all.

It's at least no longer the Hitler Channel. That really was too much to take.

[Orrex]

8. Hang on--I'll reply as soon as "The Truth Behind The Hangar 18 Coverup" is over

Right now, I'm just dying to see what they did with that autopsy alien's spleen.

:popcorn:

[salvorhardin]

9. Crostini ai Fegatini Extraterrestre

1 lb (400-500 grams) alien liver
1 lb (500 grams) ground young alien
parsley, to taste
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 young alien spleen
2-3 teaspoons tomato concentrate
chopped capers
anchovy paste or finely chopped anchovy

Fry the parsley and onion in olive oil, when the onion is golden add the ground young alien and cook until browned. Separately, boil the alien liver in water for a few minutes, then mix with the cooked ground young alien and the alien spleen in a blender to make a spreadable consistency. Return to the frying pan and brown again, adding a splash of white wine. Stir in the tomato concentrate which was dissolved in a bit of warm water, the capers and anchovies, and finish cooking for 1-2 minutes more.

Take fresh alien kidney meat and remove its veins, and peel off the alien spleen its under-skin; take one part of the spleen, and five parts of clean alien kidney fat; pound all this until it is like alien brains, and stuff this into alien large intestines, and boil it in a pot of tafaya; take it out and empty it into a serving dish and serve it hot.

Alien spleen is not to be found in English cookery books, although it's acknowledged in France, where it is known as étranger rate and sometimes added to a pot au feu. It's an organ which lies very close to the alien stomach and regulates the blood. It also interferes with photography causing all photographs of aliens to be blurry and unrecognizable. It is long and flat, with a texture not unlike that of alien liver. Tastes like chicken.

[madinmaryland]

10. Actually last night, they had on a show about

exploring the underground of several cities in Russia, and a show about ancient chinese shipbuilding (pretty interesting actually). I can't stand the crap you are talking about, which they seem to dedicate one night a week to.

[semillama]

11. I saw that show on Chinese ships.

It was good right up to the part where they brought in the "1421" guy and had a part that focused on a group of DOWSERS who were looking for a 15th century Chinese Junk supposedly buried in a sand dune on the Oregon Coast.

They did their little waving of magic wands, outlined an area with pin flags, and sunk a core down to where they thought the ship would be. This being a sand dune in Oregon, of course they go through layers of driftwood and vegetation, but when they hit little pieces of wood at the level they "dowsed" the ship at, all of a sudden "That's a keel part!" and "This is Chinese Wood!"

Of course, ZERO critical analysis of the dowsing by the show, just presented it at face value. Ruined the whole show for me. Dicks.

[Orrex]

17. They night before last

They ran a show called "Siberian Apocalypse," or something very similar. It was a predicatable (and predictably tepid) investigation of the Tunguska explosion.

After that, they ran a show called "Earth's Black Hole" that explored possible connections between black holes and the "mysterious" happenings in the Bermuda Triange.


I weep.

[onager]

19. WHAT mysterious happenings?

Grumble, mumble...

Of all the woo out there, the Bermuda Triangle is one that really yanks my chain. AFAIK, all the "mysterious happenings" have been explained. Not just once but over and over again.

One of my favorite wooeries is the "vanishing" of the Martin Mariner rescue aircraft that went after Flight 19. The Mariner blew up in mid-air. People SAW it blow up and reported it. Didn't matter, it's still touted as a mysterious disappearance.

Then there was the BSAA (British South American Airways) Avro Tudor "Star Tiger." It had compass failures during the flight from the UK, and was grounded at the Azores due to bad weather (where the compass needed more work). Another plane from the same airline was grounded along with it, and completed its flight the next day with no problem. According to the useful Aviation Safety-Net website, the Star Tiger took off nearly 1,000 pounds overweight--all of it fuel.

[realisticphish]

20. not to mention

that from what i've read, the distribution of disappearances, etc, is no greater for the bermuda triangle than any random triangle drawn over major sea lanes

[onager]

21. Yep. And insurance rates are no higher than anywhere else.

I ran across a woo site once that tried to explain away the insurance problem. I remember the explanation being convoluted but otherwise don't remember much. Maybe I was laughing too hard.