Survivorman vs Man vs Wild

Two of my favorite shows on TV are "Survivorman" and "Man vs Wild."  As many people reading this probably know, the two shows are pretty similar.  Each is about how to survive if stranded in some kind of accident in a country or just part of nature that us city folk don't particularly know too much about.  

 

Man vs Wild is hosted by Bear Grylls, an ex 

British special forces guy who's "climbed mount Everest etc etc."  He is followed around by a camera crew that films him demonstrating the survival skills you would need if you were stranded in that week's destination.

Survivorman is hosted by Les Stroud.  From what I can tell, he is just an outdoors-man who must have worked at one of those stores like REI or Whole Earth for a really long time.  Unlike Bear, Les hauls all the camera equipment with his gear and films himself.  He has no film crew following him around and helping him build stuff off camera.  He is just alone in the wilderness for 7 days.

I have had the debate with a lot of my friends before about whether Man vs Wild is fake or not.  I used to say that it's real but the more I watch, the more I realize how much help he has to be getting.  He still eats all the gross beetle larvae and drinks his own pee etc, but his upbeat attitude and healthy look makes the fact that he is in the desert without water and food all day seem improbable.  What Man vs Wild does have going for it is Bear's accent.  If you know what I'm talking about, lets share a giggle.  If you don't, you need to watch Man vs Wild.

Almost Surrounded by Sound

I am cheap.  

I bought a set of Durabrand 80 watt surround sound speakers.  $40 seemed like a reasonable price to surround myself with sound.  I knew they weren't going to be anything fancy seeing as they were the cheapest speakers I found that money could buy, but I didn't think they were going to die on me in under 2 months.  

Have you ever sat in a room where there is only sound coming from 3 corners?? Well quite obviously, it's agitating.  If anyone has any suggestions better than "buy nicer speakers" or "should have bought nicer speakers," I'm open to them.

First Thoughts

11:30 p.m. the night the assignment is due after a few drinks is no way to start a semester of daily blogs but you have to start somewhere.  In this optimistic spirit, I'll talk about the entertainment I've been enjoying this evening during my procrastination.  

My long time friend and new room mate moved in last week from Colorado.  During the 17 hour drive, he thought his Xbox 360 was stolen out of his car.  Not willing to go to college  when he got here, he bought a Nintendo Wii.  I know I'm about 2 years late celebrating how much fun this thing, but I want to do it anyway.  

Whoever designed the Wii was a genius. It does away with the age old stereotype that people who enjoy video games are nerdy. It's the perfect party video game because: you can play it with a beer in your hand; first time players are just as skilled as people who don't go to extreme lengths to improve their Wii bowling performance; and then there's the exercise it imposes. Dedicated Wii players stand out amongst their fellow gamers by not having overdeveloped thumb mustles.

Oh and my room mate's former room mate in Colorado called yesterday and said he found the Xbox in the closet. 

I'm gonna go play some more. Thats all I've got. Play a Wii.