Face the Beast - Sep 7

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Just ask the dead opossum I came across the other day – it clearly wasn’t dead via road kill, but died after tangling with some bigger animal, and it was a fairly large opossum – about the size of an average house cat or bigger. I do not know just what would have attacked such an animal – probably a red fox or even a coyote, but regardless, the opossum is dead. The world won’t be quite the same after its’ passing. Now, onto the TV land.

Well, speaking of animals, I watched ‘Face the Beast’ miniseries today, and I must admit, it was good. It involved a couple of scientists/investigators… well, investigating various infamous animal attacks in human history: First, the saltwater crocodile attack on the Ramree islands, and then the sharks on the Hispaniola shipwreck. And you know what? It was good.

It has been a while since we’ve talked about AFO and its’ episodes, which had featured CGI versions as well as robot replicas of crocodiles and sharks, (as well as various other animals), and for a certain reason, ‘Face the Beast’ brought it back: sure, there was plenty of excitement and entertainment, but there was data collecting and at least some educational factors as well. Unlike whatever is going down on Animal Planet these days, the History channel in Canada tries to be educational too; whether it really succeeds is another story entirely, but it tries. In the first part, the FTB team actually ended up capturing a saltwater crocodile to rescue a village on the Ramree island, (it’s located in the Indian ocean, if anyone cares); in the second, they did a series of experiments, and proved that, you know, sharks are smarter than how they are credited to be, plus they can communicate with each other via their bioelectricity, I say. Go team FTB! …Pity that it is only a two-parter, but it works.

What it works about? In both parts, the FTB crew proved, that under a right combination, normally shy animals – yes, crocodiles and sharks are shy, especially if they have plenty of space to maneuver around humans – can become man-eaters and as such deadly dangerous, pun intended. Yes, it is not quite clear if FTB research will help avoid such scenarios in the future, but it is not the show’s concern, so there. The show’s primary role is to entertain us, its’ audience, and it quite succeeds here. Anything else?

BA has defeated SW in tennis. It is real life, not TV, so go team Canada! Not every Canadian’s life sucks, as it did for the opossum that I have come across, (remember that guy?). Life sucks, but you can feel proud for your country, this is what I am saying here.

…This is it for now, see you all soon!