intelligence on the idiot box...

ok, so i was a stereotypical teenage girl about a decade ago... when i flicked on the television, i favoured shows like breaker high and beverly hills 90210 over the knowledge-packed productions on discovery channel... i do remember when TLC used to truly stand for "the learning channel", but i selected it more often when saturated with episodes of trading spaces, followed by what not to wear...

suffice to say, i missed out on what were likely dozens upon dozens of solid television hours that would have taught me something other than what it might be like to go to school on a cruise ship...

in the present day, i won't comment on whether i catch up on tv trash on youtube or not (due to the fact that we no longer have cable), but i will proudly confirm that i've developed a penchant for two utterly astonishing series -- planet earth and the blue plant...

not only is the footage completely amazing and unbelievable, but the comprehensive research put into each episode is incredible... it's obvious that these series had a pretty penny behind them -- but the results are worth every cent... capturing the birds of paradise in the midst of their mating dances, zeroing in on small, transparent creatures as they burrow through the sands of the world's coastlines and filming majestic animals as they leap from edge to edge on some of the highest bluffs known to humans...

what has struck me since watching these shows is the survival of wildlife... for many, they wait months on end to find their prey, living off of fat reserves... they live for protecting their young; they battle for territorial ownership; they patiently await their window of opportunity to explore receding tides for food and fertilization...

the hours i've spent finding out about their lifestyles makes the threats of climate change and our industrialization of this planet clearer and clearer...

so much more tangible than the teachings of so-cal life with the walsh family...