Assholes of American History...

Spike TV vs. The History Channel...

If you haven't yet, go check out Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior! New episodes are currently airing Tuesdays at 10p (EDT).

The series examines the abilities, weapons + technology and strengths/weaknesses of some of history's most notable warrior-castes, pitting them against each other. There's a great deal of the typical Spike TV vibe (I'm sure that a big heap of cheesy testosteroni will be the first dish on their upcoming cooking show...), but the weapons testing - often against ballistics gel dummy torsos - is intense + informative. And the final act of the show - a recreation of the battle as it would look if it were to ever have happened - is usually quite excellent!

Episodes that've aired thusfar:

• apache v. gladiator
• viking v. samurai
• spartan v. ninja
• pirate v. knight
• yakuza v. mafia
• green beret v. spetznaz
• shaolin monk v. maori warrior
  (while I don't want to give away the outcomes of these pairings, c'mon... anybody seen a pile o'moobies about maori warriors? Anybody... ? Anybody out there been able to avoid ever seeing any shaolin kungfu flicks? ...Exactly.)
  and airing the next coupla weeks:
• william wallace v. shaka zulu
• the i.r.a. v. the taliban (...I'd be stunnd if the I.R.A. didn't win; no 'Murrkin could watch otherwise...)

Good stuff, fun + somewhat educational... sorta. If you can't wait, hit Spike's website, where you can watch episodes, read expert analysis, blog about the show, etc... Kybot + I found the show independent of each other + I figured that made it worth a mention here, to other like-minded folks, many of whom might never bother to check it out, since it's on the same channel as the UFC (which I also enjoy)...

Oh, and go get the new Tortoise CD on 23 June. It fuckin' (post-)rocks!!!