Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Ark

I'm always on the lookout for new sci-fi...and believe me, it is hard to find.  I was on Hulu watching some episodes when I came across something.  I'd been watching Warehouse 13...it is cheesy, but not horrible.  I lost track of Eureka a while ago and a couple other shows looked too far along to pick up (e.g. Sanctuary).  Currently only Doctor Who is fulfilling my sci-fi fix (though it is doing a good job it isn't quite enough).  I found Ark, a web series apparently published last year on Hulu.  I can't find much about it on the web (apart from some articles written in 2010, but it was a fun watch.  Apparently it was filmed on a shoestring budget and each "episode" is only a few minutes long--the shortest is three minutes and the longest a bit over nine minutes).  If you like sci-fi give it a try.  I might be repeating what others have said, but with the mystery it reminds me a bit of Lost--in the good old days (when the show was still enjoyable, long before the final season).  But it is good sci-fi also.



You can watch all of the episodes for free on Hulu, so give it a look. I certainly hope that more of it pops up someday...

~Matt

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

"Repatriation" of Artifacts

I found an excellent article on ancient artifacts (thanks to the Bible Places Blog).

Archaeological Views: A Case Against the Repatriation of Archaeological Artifacts
By Rachel Hallote
When I proposed a column to BAR editor Hershel Shanks on the issue of repatriation of artifacts to the country of origin, he said it was not something that engaged him. It didn’t matter to him, he said, where an artifact was located as long as it was available to scholars to examine and study, and was available to the public to see and appreciate. But Hershel is wrong. There is more to it than this. The real problem with repatriating artifacts is the sacrifice of one country’s history for the sake of another.


It is well worth the short read. Today many "Eastern" countries are demanding the "return" of artifacts from Western museums. But where is the best place for these? Is it right to deprive everyone in the US and Europe a view of these usually legitimately obtained artifacts? Also modern governments aren't the same as ancient ones or the ones in place when the artifacts moved to the west. But read the article, it is far more eloquent than I am.

~Matt

-- Posted from my iPhone
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