Watchin' The Detectives

 "The History of Weapons"  By: ZDF Studios, Episode 5 *Continued from Ep. 4 Episode 5: Faster Than the Enemy                                                                                                                                              Common Two Person Chariot                                                                           By Álvaro Pérez Vilariño - Flickr: Biga, CC BY-SA 2.0,            ...

Episode 4 of "The History of Weapons" Produced by ZDF Studios *Continued from Episode 3  Episode 4: Weapons for All                                                                                                                         Automatic Kalashnikov, or "AK-47"                                         https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nemo5576    This episode covers the weapons that were taken up by the average foot soldier pressed into service by a lord, to protect their village or lands and resistance fighters, or what call now with a bit of malice: we now cal...

    "The History of Weapons"       Produced by: ZDF Studios    *Continued from Intro, Ep.1, Ep. 2  Episode 3: Close Combat                                                                                                           Common War Hammer                                             By Samuraiantiqueworld - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,                                                                    ...

                                                Photo Credit: leonardo @ https://www.fluentland.com/weapons-vocabulary-word-list-different-types-of-weapons-with-images/                                                                 In this ten part review, I'll be discussing one of the most comprehensive documentary series on the history of weapons that I've ever had the pleasure to watch. (and many times, at that) It's a ten part series, each part about an hour a piece, produced by ZDF Studios. Some of my absolute favorite military historians (Mike Loades, Andrew Lambert & Stephen Bull) take on three separate weapons per episode, and over the course of  the series cover the evolution of weaponry; from...

                                  Photo: National Park Service United States, Chaco Canyon Cultural Site The Mystery of Chaco Canyon 1999 Director: Anna Sofaer     Today I will be discussing "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon," in my mind, one of the best documentaries available on this enigmatic site. For those not in the know, Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito (meaning: "Beautiful Village") is one of the most complete and impressive sites built by the "Chacoan" culture of the larger Puebloan peoples that still exists in the U.S. today. Built starting around 850 AD and used until a 50 year drought in the twelfth century drove them away. They closed up the site by walling in the structures, clearly in hopes that they would one day return the site to its former glory. It was a site for ceremony and worship, which drew people from hundreds of miles around as is evident from the timbers used during constr...

       Today I am going to review a series from another documentarian that has changed my life and the world: Sir David Attenborough. We're going to look at a few of his lesser know documentaries that have been repackaged for rebroadcasting. The series was put together by using archival footage from earlier series and reworked for a new generation. (and to honor Sir David's 90th Birthday in 2016) It worked exceedingly well, in my opinion. It's a four part series, at about an hour/hour-ten mins per episode, and it touches on some of the more intimate interests of Sir David  himself.  Episode 1: A Blank on the Map   Sir David travels to Papua New Guinea in search of the Biami tribe, which at that point, (1971) were uncontacted. He hires some ten and hundred men to be porters, guides and most importantly: cultural liaisons. They trek through uncharted territory for days, up and down mountains, across rivers (the porters make a suspension bridge with ...

 So, we are here and you are here!  That's a good start!    Before we get into content, we'd like to give you an overview of what we're trying to do here. For many years, Mandy and I have shared a mutual love of documentaries. We've gotten to the point where, (unless it's a movie) the only programming we have on when the television is on is educational programming, and more to the point: documentaries. (where she finds a near continuous supply of them, it continues to boggle the mind) We'll also watch entertaining educational programs (let's use Mythbusters as an example) a good portion of the time as well, but mostly it's straight up documentaries/series. This has led to us having an encyclopedic knowledge on a wide range of topics (like the known sciences) but also many other niche interests that many would find "mundane," or even 'boring." In our quest to continually have education programs on, we have found that the more narrow a d...

     So, for my first review I'm going right to the heart of the matter: the presenter that got me interested in documentaries in the first place, and with one of his (and possibly of all-time) best documentary series.  (my father also played a big part in my love of documentaries as well)   I'm talking about the maestro himself: Michael Wood.   Besides David Attenborough, Michael Wood was absolutely instrumental in fostering my love for documentaries. He weaves an incredibly compelling tale and has a sense of wonder and compassion that most lose in their childhood. His passion for his subjects and the way he has a reverence for the cultures he's visiting (without getting too preachy) puts him in the running for one of the best documentary  presenters of all time. I'd watch him read a phone book; and in some instances it's come very close. Going through 400 yr old tax records while looking for any written record of William...