History Channel

So anyone who has followed me for a little while on Twitter will know my feelings about what the History Channel (Wikipedia page), and to a lesser but still important extent Discovery Channel, has become, and I am not the only one (but I can't find a relevant link right now so please post some in the comments if you come across them). A channel that used to have mostly shows that were based on true history now has shows called Ancient Aliens and MonsterQuest that contain very little to no actual evidence except for maybe one piece of evidence that we "can't explain", yet. It also contains shows that seem to have very little to do with true history such as Ice Road Truckers, or all of the equally "relevant" IRT shows. I will admit that sometimes I will take a guilty pleasure in watching one or two of those shows but it has been so long since I have regularly tuned in to History Channel that when my channel guide showed Vietnam in HD (Wikipedia page which as of the time of writing looks pretty new), which must have been a new show, I was caught off guard but didn't stop because I figured that was one of those series you had to see from the start. Also the History Channel owns what used to be known as History International (now H2) and that used to show more shows like what History Channel used to show but has now become nothing more than more of the same. It was also why I was glad to see this week's South Park make fun of what the History Channel has become (relevant clips below, 2 of which are below the fold, and the full episode can be found here). Now I should state that there are good shows on History/H2 but to me it seems that they are trying to get away from history and more on to entertainment which kind of leads too a little bit of false advertising.

A History Channel Thanksgiving
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Lubbock Paleontology

When I first moved out to Lubbock, Texas I wasn't sure what I was getting myself in for. I knew that the terrain would be flat but I had also heard stories that there is nothing to do here. While I have been living out here I have found plenty of things to do, including visits to the Museum of Texas Tech and the American Windpower Center (among others) within the city and trips further west to visit several national parks. One of the places in Lubbock that came as a surprise to me was the Lubbock Lake Landmark (LLL) (Wikipedia article) [Photo at left of Short Faced Bear, Arctodus simus, statue at the LLL]. The LLL is a primarily archaeological site that shows evidence of at least 12000 years of human civilization from Clovis time to present. Well an article in today's Daily Toreador, the Texas Tech University student paper, talks about a new exhibit at the LLL that shows the animals that have been found at, or near, the site through time.

The exhibit includes surprising animals once living in Lubbock. The Hub City once was home to many exotic animals no longer found anywhere near Lubbock.

“Short-faced bears, sloths and camels all lived in Lubbock at one time or another,” [Susan] Rowe [education program manager of the LLL] said. “Many visitors are very surprised about camels once living in our area.”

I saw the exhibit a few weeks ago and while it is small it is really well done. Most of the animals they show are from the site itself but some of them have not been found on site but at a nearby site, about an hours drive, and a formation that underlies most of the landmark, the Blancan Formation (yes the type locality for the Blancan Land Mammal Age). Overall worth a couple of hours of your time if you are in Lubbock.