Please proceed.

Sorry….. Anyways, Cam, Meg, and I spent the day at Plimoth Plantation last weekend and I wanted to give them a much deserved plug. For those of you who don’t know, Plimoth Plantation is sort of a living museum attempting to replicate the day to day life of the original Plymouth colony, circa 1627. It’s a semi-working plantation inhabited by actors and actresses role playing as pilgrims, who, I must say, they do a fantastic job. It’s not a guided tour, but a literal stroll down history lane where you are encouraged to explore the plantation, popping in and out of various houses and talking to the townsfolk. Every history buff at some time in their life has wished they could experience various eras in history for themselves. Well this may be as close as one might get to making that wish come true — short of a building time machine of course — which I’m working on.

My personal favorite part of the day was spent in a very authentic looking reproduction of a Wampanoag home site, just a quick walk from the village. The Wampanoags here are not role playing, but are actual descendants of Native People dressed in traditional clothing and showing off various crafts and skills. You can sit and chat with them as much as you like, and ask them all sorts of questions regarding their lineage and traditions. Fascinating is a word that comes to mind. If I were alone, I probably would have spent all day there, just listening to other people’s questions and soaking up the rich heritage of these people. Again, another “must visit” place for anyone who has a passion for history.

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.

The host, Dan Carlin, talks about all kinds of historical events and the impacts they had on the world, but he does so from unusual and thought provoking perspectives.

Unfortunately (and yet fortunately), the episodes are so in depth that only about one is produced a month. Believe me, they’re well worth the wait. Each episode runs about forty minutes (give or take ten minutes) and focus on topics ranging from Hitler to the Great Depression to the Bubonic plague. But again, these are not your typical history lessons. — I’ve listened to everyone.

Here is a list of the first fifteen episodes. I pulled these right from Dan Carlin’s site. I hope he doesn’t mind.

Show 15 – Desperate Times (.mp3 41:57, 30 Aug 2007)
The tough economic climate after the First World War fostered the growth of radicalism around the world. Did it also create tougher people? Dan looks at the connection between tough times and the “Greatest Generation”.

Show 14 – The Macedonian Soap Opera (.mp3 49:23, 18 Jul 2007)
When Alexander the Great bequeathed his empire “to the strongest” he set off a funeral contest that shook the world for decades. Murder, marriage, intrigue,and drama all feature prominently in the story.

Show 13 – Bubonic Nukes (.mp3 47:30, 13 Jun 2007)
What would happen if half the population died in a short period of time? Dan looks at the Black Death and other plagues that created almost apocalyptic conditions in the past…and maybe in the future.

Show 12 – Steppe Stories (.mp3 58:34, 8 May 2007)
Blood-sucking Scythian warriors, tattooed ice mummies, Amazons killing so they can mate, pot smoking head-hunters, scalp-taking, koumiss-drinking Mongols, Turks, Huns, and Aliens. What’s not to like?

Show 11 – Thoughts on Churchill (.mp3 53:45, 11 Apr 2007)
We almost called this show “Things about Churchill that have interested Dan”. Dan takes a look at various elements of the dramatic life and career of the great British leader.

Show 10 – The What-Ifs Of 1066 (.mp3 47:31, 13 Mar 2007)
How might history have been changed if the events of the momentous year 1066 had turned out differently? Dan examines Normans, Vikings, Saxons, Bastards, Conquerers, Confessors, Godwinsons and Hardratas.

Show 9 – Darkness Buries the Bronze Age (.mp3 33:43, 16 Feb 2007)
What was the cause of the collapse of the Bronze Age? War? Famine? Natural disaster? Sauron the Dark Lord? Dan looks at all the potential villains…except for Sauron.

Show 8 – Scars of the Great War (.mp3 40:34, 27 Jan 2007)
Dan looks at the shock and awe caused by the First World War and marvels at how connected we still are to the empire-shattering effects of the conflict contemporaries simply referred to as The Great War.

Show 7 – The X-History Files (.mp3 31:55, 27 Dec 2006)
Napoleon is supposed to have said that “History is a set of lies agreed upon”. With that in mind, Dan looks at some of the alternative and pseudo history ideas that many people embrace.

Show 6 – Shield of the West (.mp3 59:04, 08 Dec 2006)
Spartans, Athenians, Persians and references to Star Trek all make appearances in this look at the dramatic and extremely consequential Greek and Persian wars.

Show 5 – Meandering Through the Cold War (.mp3 48:29, 14 Nov 2006)
Dan meanders through a conversation about causes and effects of the Cold War without ever talking much about the actual events of the conflict.

Show 4 – Romancing The Tribes (.mp3 31:43, 24 Oct 2006)
Native American chief Tecumseh and Gallic king Vercingetorix both tried to unify their tribal peoples to face overwhelming foes. Dan examines the romance of their lost causes.

Show 3 – Organization of Peace (.mp3 42:09, 4 Oct 2006)
The early 20th century League of Nations stood for peace, cooperation, disarmament and international understanding. What happened?

Show 2 – Guns & Horses (.mp3 34:53, 12 Sep 2006)
The West is Mike Tyson and the East is Muhammad Ali in this episode as Dan mixes Art Bell, with Hans Delbruck in this look at a possible reason for the military decline of the near East.

Show 1 – Alexander versus Hitler (.mp3 16:45, 27 Jul 2006)
Dan compares the way the modern world sees Adolf Hitler with the way history views Alexander the Great and wonders if the two men weren’t more alike than different.

My friend and I were discussing photographers who take pictures of abandon objects and forgotten worlds. He had me do a search for the dead city of Pripyat. A wave of sadness came over me as he showed me the images of a place that was once home to thousands of families — now it’s nothing but a ghost town. Twenty years ago, the people of Pripyat collected what posessions they could and left their homes forever. I can’t imagine how sad that must have been.

Click on any of these images below to see the sites they came from.