Thanksgiving Eve

John Kerry is elected… as jury foreman.

PBS this week:

Tuesday night – Nova had “Storm That Drowned A City” – to look at the science behind the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Fascinating viewing, but didn’t really tell us that much new – unless you were really curious to check out the computer graphics of how the storm surge undermined the levees.

Plus, Frontline had “The Storm” – the politics behind Hurricane Katrina. I highly recommend it – makes you feel all the outrage all over again. And, see the history of FEMA. It’ll be re-broadcast again at a local PBS station near you, so do watch.

Tonight, I’m catching the rest of the “In Search of Myths and Heroes” – British host Michael Wood takes a look at the history and historiography behind great myths – Queen of Sheba, King Arthur, Shangri-La, and Jason and the Argonauts. Really cool, as Wood visits different places – literature and history mixed together, the creation of myth and the layering of myth due to the course of history. His enthusiasm is infectious.

At some points, Wood’s journeys are caught up in the politics that keep 21st century traveling no better than that of years ago – ex., Wood had a bit of trouble looking for the ancient city that could have belonged to the Queen of Sheba in the Middle East; but he managed not to be totally turned away because people don’t hate Brits (imagine if he had been an Ugly American? Or maybe it was the vestiges of colonialism – the natives of the countries he visited probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid over a Brit traveling around and getting curious since they’ve seen that type for years). Cool stuff.

Don’t over eat on T-Day! Or is that my wishful thinking at this time of year?…