Given my busy travel schedule I generally don’t have much time for television.  No, I don’t have a TiVo or whatever it is kids are playing with these days.  My last project manager would always comment, “How do YOU not have TiVo?”  How do you not use Twitter?  We all have our priorities.

There is however, one brilliant showcase of amateurism out there that I cannot keep away from, Whale Wars.  For those unfamiliar, this is a weekly hour long peek into the daily routine of the MV Steve Irwin and crew, whose goal is to stop the Japanese empire from hunting various whales in the Antarctic region.  I of course, root for the Japanese.

Have these people ever sampled whale sashimi?  It’s delicious.  But what amazes me, is how a crew of hippies can sacrifice their fresh wheat grass juice and vegetables for an undetermined amount of time (undetermined because they often risk running out of fuel and being left for dead in an icy tomb), can embark on a journey requiring a specific set of skills that almost none of them have.  Lacking talent is okay as long as you’re enthusiastic, right?

I’ve seen Deadliest Catch a few times, and there are trained professionals that lose limbs and risk death, as the name implies, for the sake of crustaceans.  As such, it's a miracle this amateur crew is as unscathed as they are.  At least the Deadliest Catch crew get to feast upon the fruits of their labor.

There is another show out there, that I’ve started to watch regularly for the first time, similar to Whale Wars—The Next Food Network Star. Now I’m aware that the challenges are far harder than they seem, but a few nuggets of brilliance (from trained professionals) aside, it’s amateur hour.  Some episodes are more rough than others, but last week, when they had to conquer the ‘Ultimate American Meal,’ almost everyone crumbled.  I’ll admit that the long haired dude who got stuck with lobster and blueberries got the short end of the stick.  Most I thought of, was to make a salad, but it’d be a stretch.

I was shocked at other finalists that got gold mines, especially the kielbasa basket.  Am I the only Pollock watching? Beer and mustard to boot as well?  I’m so jealous! All of those ingredients are brilliant on their own to begin with.  If you don’t believe me, check out this take on kielbasa and sauerkraut.  Substitute the cider for beer and you would have had a winner, with time to spare, last week.

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