The World is Just Awesome

Ever since I was little, the Discovery channel has been one of my favorite television channels. Sure, I watched my share of Saved By the Bell and Nickelodeon, but I've always loved nestling down with a nice Discovery show. One of my favorites was a show called "Next Step" that highlighted cutting-edge gadgets and inventions. I also used to love "Junkyard Wars", where teams of really smart people rummaged through a junkyard to create and build a machine that would perform a certain task better than the other team. When the Discovery channel store came to the Galleria in Birmingham, it quickly became my favorite store. I could spend hours in there playing with all of the toys and gizmos.

That was the Discovery of the past. The Discovery channel of today is in a league all its own. I mean, they have really stepped it up! The first thing in recent history that really made me renew my vows to Lady Discovery was the epic series "Planet Earth". Through the use of high-tech HD cameras and extremely dedicated film crews, and in partnership with BBC, Planet Earth brought viewers footage of our planet like nobody has ever seen. I'm not talking about a jerky, fuzzy clip of Sasquatch. This was stunningly beautiful scenes of some of the most gorgeous animals our Lord has created. If you haven't seen it, or just haven't taken the time to watch it, you are truly missing out. Buy the DVDs, watch them, then give them to me.

The quality of Discovery shows has increased in recent years as well. We now have everything from the nerd-magnet "Myth Busters", to the hit game show (that's right, GAME SHOW) "Cash Cab", to the dangerous "Deadliest Catch", and of course the crowd pleaser "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe." It's all good stuff! How am I supposed to get anything done EVER when there is such amazing scientific content at my fingertips!?

Then came the new slogan. "The World is Just Awesome." Perfectly down-to-earth, yet so true. It makes me want to learn all about that awesome world... on the Discovery channel.

Their most recent triumph premiered last night. "When We Left Earth: the NASA Missions" is a six part series chronicling the American journey into space; the final frontier. I watched with my good friend and fellow nerd Lee. We ate it up, pausing to discuss temperature and pressure equations, rocket trajectories, and various NASA missions. Why hasn't anyone put this footage together before? Leave it to Discovery channel to kick ass again! Footage from the Mercury and Gemini projects of the early 1960s as well as interviews and commentary with some of the astronauts themselves. If I had been alive then, I would probably have become an astronaut. The only downside is that I have to wait another week to see the next episode!




So I encourage you, put down that garden hose, get off the treadmill, stop getting things done for just a little while. Turn on the Discovery channel and see for yourself why the world is just awesome!