If you are as big a fan of PBS high culture television as I am, and if you live in the DC viewing area, you may enjoy the following (right after Bleak House, in fact):
Quest for Dragons
Sunday, January 29, 10:00pm
CHANNEL 26 (WETA)
Dragon lore throughout history and across cultural divides is explored through expert commentary, prehistoric art and computer imagery. Included: the link between dinosaur fossils and dragon legends.
CC, Stereo
Some of the "expert commentary" is given by me. In one scene I am even holding an authentic replica of a page from the Beowulf manuscript. Some of the other expert commentators include a frightening man with many dragon tattoos, and an anthropologist with a long pony tail.
The documentary is also in frequent repeats on the History Channel.
4 comments:
Wow, an authentic replica! Can I buy one off the History Channel online store?
I believe it was made on a color copier, so anyone can have an authentic replica for about fifteen cents. It did have a slightly singed smell, though, that reminded me in a sobering way of how the manuscript was once partially incinerated.
Actually the singed smell seemed to be from the lighting guy -- not sure what was going on with him.
Anyway, I should have warned readers that the documentay ("A dragon documentary? Now there's an oxymoron!" wrote CNN in a review of the show) has been decried by creationists, who see it as an attempt to deny the literal truth of the bible:
http://www.creationists.org/farkcom.html
I would remind everyone that evolution, like gravity and relativity, is just a theory, and this author makes no endorsement one way or another.
Wait, this isn't the same one they showed on PBS, is it? At least I think it was PBS. heh. I caught something on dragons on a non-cable channel somewhat recently.
So the Beowulf manuscript--would that be *the* manuscript that's half burnt, dry, and water-soaked, or the one that was copied from that?
I'd love to see your thoughts on Beowulf sometime, should you decide to post on it.
Yes, the show was co-produced by WETA (local PBS station) and the History Channel. It was directed by Phil Frank, an independent documentary film maker.
As to Beowulf ... someday.
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