How else would I know that tungsten carbide is the material used to make the nearly indestructible ball in ball-point pens and is also used in creating armor piercing ammo by the military. Can't a super evil genius use a bunch of ball-point spheres in an evil way? Hmmm, interesting story fodder...See?

I have to say I hate "How It's Made" with a hatred I usually reserve only for Steven Segal "movies." It's the fact that there is no story, and no characters. Bores the skull out of my brain.

I love watching the shows on Nat Geo though. You know those monster ones that always say "Did they find conclusive proof that Big Foot exists, stay tuned", and then eerie music, (Billy Mays commercial break), then cue creepy music silenced by a shot of a scientist saying, "now there isn't any proof that this theory is real, so we can't say for certain." and then the announcer over speaks and says "but there isn't proof that it isn't possible either". Roll Credits to creepy music.

I used to love the History channel, but now its overrun with ghost hunter stuff. I mean I like ghosts, and since they're dead and everything, I guess that makes them history, but that isn't the reason I pay money to watch the channel.

I have pulled story idea's from watching these kind of shows though. Even some that made their way into a story.

Anyway, if you are looking for a good show to lose a few hours in, I suggest you check out Primeval. It's brilliant and campy.
~Sheena

But I find myself now more than ever watching History, Discovery and such. Hooked on River Monster, The survival shows, SurvivorMan, Man vx. Wild and such. As I write fantasy in strange worlds, landscape and survival in harsh environments are key to realism.