Watch This: Whale Wars
I've been thinking of launching my own non-lj blog. It'd be about all sorts of things I like and think people should check out. And in return people can send me their own recommendations and it'd be like a big spot to get turned on to new things, via myself and via other bloggers, as well as submitters. There'd be a number of different categories like tv, movies, music, books, and then maybe a sort of "other" category for anything else. Content wouldn't only be new, older things that warrent checking out would be there too as well as a mix of independent and mainstream stuff. But I need some input. What would you think of this idea? Let me know.
Below the cut is a sample of something you might find on such a site:
Whale Wars
Summer's lack of tv often drives one to search out shows you might have missed the first time around. Whale Wars is one of those shows that I discovered this summer. It just had it's 2nd season finale on Friday and I wound up being all caught up just in time for it. You can still catch episodes streaming at animalplanet.com and there's also DVDs available.
The plot is simple. The show follows the Seas Shepard foundation as they do everything in their power to stop the Japanese from whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. The Japanese claim their actions are legal because they are whaling for scientific purposes but the thing is the law also states that all parts of a killed whale must be used, allowing them to sell the meat back home. It is big business. The Sea Shepards are hunting them down in an ancient ship not made for Antarctic waters with an all volunteer crew led by a co-founder of Greenpeace who was kicked out for being too radical.
I'll admit that that sounds pretty dull. So why should you check it out? First of all there's the captain. This guy is totally nuts and is willing to die to save whales. He often just doesn't understand how anyone won't do something borderline suicidal. He's also a master of manipulation.
Then you have the crew. They're 99% untrained volunteers who just want to save whales. Most have never been on a ship before. They're mostly young and ideallic and in way over their heads.
I already mentioned the 35 year old ship that barely works and is totally falling apart. It has no place being anywhere near the Southern Ocean (which is the middle of nowhere). There is no help and if you go into the water you're basically dead due to how cold it is. And the ship has a very thin hull and there's a lot of ice.
But if none of that entices you (crazy suicidal hippies fighting against a huge corporation/world power at the edge of the world and all the catastrophies that occur) then maybe the actual style of the show will. It's not typical reality. There is very little petty drama among the crew featured, I can actually only think of one example and it was pertinant to other things. It's all about the actions against the whalers and the survival of the crew. There's a ton of exciting stuff going on so that the producers don't need to obviously meddle. Like one scene where the camera guy actually says "fuck this I'm not gonna die in this hole" and leaves his camera running on a nearby box.
There's also the thinking mans aspect to the show. It's shown from the persepective of the Sea Shepard crew but the show never takes a side. It explains why each side thinks they are right and leaves any feelings about what's happening to each individual viewer to decide.
Oh also the theme song is the Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings".
sample scene of awesome
(note usually this might feature something from YouTube or a piece of a song or an excerpt from a book, but I'm writing this on my iPhone cause I didn't feel like turning my computer on so it will just be a description of something I enjoyed)
In season one two crew members manage to jump from an inflatible boat onto the deck of a harpoon ship holding letters informing the Japanese that they are breaking the law. This could be seen as an act of piracy. Also if they didn't make the jump they would have died. Japanese crew members appear to beat them and try to throw them overboard before they are eventually led inside and out of sight. This causes an international incident between Austrailia and Japan. And no one knows what will happen next to the two boarders.