Lost in the Pond. A funny and touching look at ourselves.

Lost in the Pond

And now for something completely different. 

   This channel is not about technology, tools, airplanes, history, or cats. This channel is about being an American. It is a mirror that we can stare at ourselves in and laugh. 
   The creator of this channel is a gentleman from England that moved to the US around 10 years ago with his American wife. He moved not to a big city on the coast but to the midwest. This is about all the things he loves about America and the things he finds really odd. It is a fun look at ourselves through someone else's eyes. 
   If you are not from the United States it is a great way to find out more about the United States. I am sure that many people think that they know all about the US from movies and TV but imagine what we would think of the UK if we based it on Harry Potter, Bennie Hill, and Mr. Bean. 

Scorecard

The Rating uses G, PG, PG-13, and R while the other categories use A for the best that I know of, B for good but others might be better, C is average, D below average, and F is just terrible. 

• Rating G I have not seen every video but the ones I have seen have been profanity-free with a few beeped out words.  While small children may not get the humor you will not have to turn it off in a hurry if they walk into the room.
•  Quality B  Production quality is good, It is mostly talking headshot but he is actually a pretty good presenter. I could see him as a good stand up act. 
• Community B The communities on YouTube Channels are often terrible but this one seems fine. I have not looked a lot into the comments to be honest because it is just pure entertainment to me. 
• Depth A It is as deep as it needs to be. The creator does research a bit on the subjects that need it. Again this is just a fun channel and not really a how-to or Nerd war channel. It is educational but in a fun way. No test will be given at the end of the videos. 
• Overall A  It is fun and enlightening all at the same time. Just watch it.

Where to watch it

  YouTube Lost in the Pond
     

What I think of this show

I really like it. It is fun.

Random Thoughts: An Analysis of Macbeth as an Aristotelian Tragedy,

If you are wondering what the heck this is all about or think that I might be kidding let me explain. I am currently taking college courses and I had to write a paper on Shakespeare's Macbeth and analysis it as an Aristotelian Tragedy. I decided to go ahead and post it on my blog.

Spoiler Alert

If you have never seen or read Mcbeth you might not want to read past this point. Frankly, after reading past this point you may never want to read or watch Macbeth.

 

   The complication in the plot of Macbeth is when the witches tell him that he is to be king after he won a great battle. He had really everything that he could have wanted but his greed and ego for more lead him into self-destruction and a murderous rampage. 

   The climax comes when Malcolm kills Macbeth and retakes the throne. The denouement comes when Malcolm states he is going to return the land to peace and order. The denouncement is all very much in line with the old concept of the divine rule of kings being the only correct path. The usurper Macbeth brought mayhem to the kingdom that was only put right when the true king was put back on the throne.

   The principle protagonist and antagonist in Macbeth are one and the same. Macbeth. You could list just about every other character from the witches, Lady Macbeth, Duncan, to Malcolm as antagonists but the primary antagonist was Macbeth or Macbeth’s ego. The witches just provided an excuse for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s greed and ambition to take control of their lives, but it was only an excuse. Lady Macbeth encouraged her husband to abandon his morality and duty for power. All the rest of the characters had very good reasons to oppose Macbeth he was after all a murderous tyrant. In the end, the greatest opposition that the protagonist faced was his own ego, greed, and lack of moral compass. He was his own worst enemy.

   The themes in Hamlet are pride, greed, and infidelity. The pride and greed themes are clear but the infidelity has to do with Macbeth not keeping faithful to the true king. The virtue that Macbeth seems to inspire is the virtue of the status quo and of the ruling class. While it is easy to include the Christ-like attributes of humility as well as the blatantly obvious ones of don’t go around murdering people or trusting witches the actual virtue that it may have been created to inspire is not considered a virtue today. When looked at in historical context it is a cautionary tale about the futility of opposing the righteous rule of kings. Macbeth in his arrogance decides he should be ruler and kills the king. When that happens, things go badly for the people and Macbeth and his family. Only when the true heir to the throne regains the throne is all returned to normal. Today we do not believe in the divine right of kings to rule without question, so we see other lessons in virtue like humility and of course not committing murder that apply to current times.  

   Macbeth’s fatal flaw is hubris, his arrogance and compassion are what cause his downfall. Finding two examples of Macbeth’s hubris is difficult because the play is in many ways nothing but his hubris. The clear examples are when he believes the witches when they say he will be king and the second when they tell him that he will not be deposed until the forest moves and cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Both times he took it as proof of his own greatness and invulnerability. 

   It would be easy to select Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and out dammed spot as examples of using diction to increase the drama. The dialog of the sergeant in Act I scene II is a far less well-known example. In his description of the battle, he references the site of Christ’s crucifixion Golgotha as well as many other metaphorical terms to describe the horrors of the battlefield. The second is in Act V when Macbeth talks of the prophecy that no man born of woman can defeat him and dismisses the threat that Malcolm poses. I wonder what the people of the time thought. Did they wonder how the prophecy and events would resolve the paradox?

   The play starts off with spectacle the opening scene with the witches invokes the supernatural. The use of sound effects of thunder crashing and a storm raging are all images of wonder, terror, and power beyond the understanding of the people of the time. If you think of the time, they lived in such images would inspire awe in the audience.  The descriptive language of the great battles would then use imagination of the audience to provide a spectacle that was more internal. Shakespeare lacked the resources to stage a great battle so he uses descriptive language as a tool to create a spectacle in the audience’s mind. 

   My emotional reaction to this play? Disgust is probably the best description. I do not like it. I do not feel that it is a great example of a classic tragedy because it was completely avoidable, and I find the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to be completely unlikable and without any redeeming value. Unlike Oedipus Rex where the tragedy was driven by fate Macbeth is driven by greed and a complete lack of mercy and compassion. A passage that moved me. Nothing really did in a positive way. Even the Out Dammed Spot speech is about how the guilt of the murders committed affects Lady Macbeth.  I did not see any sorrow for the victims killed. It all filled me with disgust for the self-indulgent nature of the Macbeths

   Lady Macbeth’s Out Dammed Spot as an example of peripety is in that Lady Macbeth went from saying all that one has to do is wash away the blood to descending into insanity because of guilt over the murders.  I question the idea that she became insane at this point I am tempted to think that instead she regained some sanity and could longer just dismiss her terrible crimes.  Her death could be seen as her act of repentance or even the wages of sin. A dramatic change from her unbridled lust for power at the beginning of the play. 

Cat Free YouTube Channels: Drachinifel

Drachinifel

Nerds!!! But only military history nerds need to apply.

I am a big fan of history, technology, and all things that fly. That lead me to add Military History to my list of interests.

This channel does a great job of covering the history of not just ships but also the technology used on those ships as well as the evolution of the ships over time. 

Scorecard

The Rating uses G, PG, PG-13, and R while the other categories use A for the best that I know of, B for good but others might be better, C is average, D below average, and F is just terrible. 

• Rating PG This channel is profanity-free which is nice to see but it is all about military history and that means warfare. That also means people die in none too pleasant ways. It is not graphic but when talking about warfare I believe parental involvement needs to be involved. 
• Quality B  Production quality is good but a lot of the images are just that images with Drachinifel doing a voice-over. I feel the writing and research is very good. Some of the early videos use a voice synthesizer instead of a human voice and it can be distracting. The information is still good but you may want to see if he has remade that video with a human voice before watching some of the older videos.
• Community A The communities on YouTube Channels are often terrible but not this one. The community is small and you will see very little drama. Sure you may get into some heated debates about things like the value of the British armored flight decks in World War II or F4U versus F6F as to which was better but nothing really nasty.
• Depth A Yes this is pretty deep. Not as deep as it could be since we are talking about Military History here but deep enough for a YouTube Channel.
• Entertainment Value B  This channel is much like the last one I reviewed Lore Reloaded except that instead of doing deep dives into fictional starships Drachinifel does deep dive into real historical starships. If you are into military history you may like it. If not then this channel is probably not for you. It lacks a broad appeal but that is not a terrible thing.   
• Overall B A good channel if you like naval military history.  I am glad that Drachinifel has dropped the robot voice overs.

Where to watch it

  YouTube Drachinifel
       

What I think of this show

After talking to my wife I increase the scorecard for this channel. I actually really like this channel and it is great. I am really going for nerdy content it would seem. I really like this show and I have learned a lot from it. That being said it is not going to be a show that everyone loves. It is a Naval Military History Channel before you dismiss it might I suggest that you watch this video.