Yes, that's Giorgio Tsoukalos, those are my hands doing the "aliens" motion as I explain Osprey to him, that's a copy of Osprey's "The Nazi Occult" in his hand, and that's the pin on his pocket which I coveted but did not receive - it went to a guy who asked him to sign on a first edition copy of "Chariot of the Gods?"; well played, my man...
Two weeks ago, my cable TV provider held a draw to give away ten pairs of tickets to meet Giorgio Tsoukalos and two other History Channel (Asia) hosts in a meet-and-greet session. Adrian and I both joined for laughs, and when we both won we imagined we were the only two who asked to meet Giorgio, because what were the odds of both of us winning, right? Wrong.
So we each grabbed a friend and went down this evening, expecting it to be a brief handshake plus photo session, but again we turned out to be wrong.
As it turned out all the attendees were there to see Giorgio. Some came prepared with book or CD for him to sign, others had questions. Giorgio, a consummate showman, played his part well and made everyone feel welcomed. He had a ready answer for every question, and answered each question passionately. The other two hosts were relegated to waiting outside the room while Giorgio overran his time.
Now I am not a believer, but I enjoy the series a lot and I enjoyed this session nonetheless. My agenda for the evening (other than shaking hands with a meme) was to suggest the idea of writing an Osprey book on Ancient Aliens by presenting him with a copy of "The Nazi Occult" so he knows that there is a market for this type of thing. So if you see this on Osprey's catalogue in a year or two, you know whom to blame.
Pity I didn't get the pin though.
That's really neat! I've got the episode about the Die Glocke recorded and go back to it often - I think there are a lot of great pulp gaming ideas throughout the whole episode, and other episodes as well.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun, and that's what it's all about; forget the usual suspects on TMP who never have anything positive to say and almost seem to enjoy dumping on anything someone else enjoys or finds interesting.
My friends and I certainly had a fun evening - it was like going to a concert or meeting a wrestling star: you know it's all a persona but you enjoy the showmanship and the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why some people are against the whole "movement". Scientifically it is not the most rigorous, they are making money off the people who believe in them, and as one TMPer mentioned, it can lead people to damage archaeological sites.I am generally against pseudo-science (and especially 'alternative medicine'), but 'ancient astronaut theory' is my guilty pleasure. :)
There's great potential to use this as a leveller in colonial type skirmishes.
ReplyDeleteThe white guys with guns approach the primitive village intent on grabbing the golden idol by persuasion or force.
Little do they know of the ancient powers that stand between them and their goal.