Tivo and Giants

Let me just come right out and say it: I've fallen in love with my tivo. I no longer have to worry about missing the latest "Office" or the series finale of "Arrested." I can fast forward through "Idol" and I can watch "Iron Chef" whenever I like.

I set the little bugger to record any program with the word 'folklore' in the title or description. This week it recorded its first 'folklore' program, the History Channel documentary
Giants: Friend or Foe. I was a little apprehensive about watching it, thinking it would be some sort of fakeloric gala. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Simon Bronner and his shining head pop up. Granted there was some sillyness to the movie, and like many tv documentaries it tended towards the repetitive. Overall, it was quite entertaining. I watched bits of it with my three-year old and now she is totally curious about John Henry, the steel driving man. I would definitely show this to a high school class, or a general survey course, on folklore. It would make a great jumping off point for many topic areas: i.e., genre, fakelore, the hero, mythology.