God bless ‘Aerial America’
With multiple interests being a life-long companion, I have never been moved to follow a certain TV show weekly, making sure all my chores and assignments were either managed or set aside to where nothing interfered or impeded the watching of each episode of a serial.
“Sixty Minutes” has sometimes been an exception. Most of us, even active travelers, are usually home late Sunday afternoon. What better way to end the week than to connect with the investigative inquiry that this program has showcased for 52 years, one of the classic productions in history of television.
Live sports broadcasts are an exception, as well. I have always found time for those and learned way back in the distant past that TV games offer an opportunity to multi-task. You can scan a magazine, organize a bookcase, file a few documents, shine your shoes — and more. You can even take a phone call by hitting the mute button on your TV remote.
Lately there have been no live sports to watch, and the nightly news is too depressing. It is business as usual, however, with the Smithsonian Channel, my favorite.
The Smithsonian and National Geographic channels along with the American Heroes Channel give me reassuring satisfaction that I am not wasting my time when I tune in to what they have to offer. Television has many pluses, but it also is given to drivel, junk and abundant nothingness. Who would admit to watching Jerry Springer? Or wrestling matches where the winners and losers know the results when they walk into the arena for the evening card?
An FCC chairman, Newton Minnow, in 1961, described television as “a vast wasteland.” If you want to eat healthy you are not required to order fatty foods. It is your choice what you eat. Likewise, you can choose mentally stimulating or informative programming when you watch television. It is your call.
Television is, after all, entertainment. You have a lot to choose from, which is why I enjoy hanging out with the aforementioned channels.
The show that I give the highest regard is “Aerial America.” Stunning, informative and breathtaking views. This channel offers an aerial video of a state or destination in our great country.
There’s brilliant script writing, soothing narration, extraordinary photography that showcases the best of every state and reminds one of the spectacular beauty of the U. S of A. Makes you want to sing, “America the Beautiful.”
If a state has a blight, the cameras mostly miss it in “Aerial America.” The story tellers, however, don’t leave out any state’s historical scars, such as the racial shortcomings of the Southern states.
For the most part, you will see the best of landscapes and the sensations of nature; monuments from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Empire State Building to Stone Mountain to St. Louis’ fabled arch. “From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam,” God bless Aerial America for showcasing our home sweet home.
Every scene is shot by the best of cameras and creative talent, using a “Cineflex V14HD gyro-stabilized camera system mounted under the ‘chin’ of a helicopter.” The cameras never hiccup; they never lose their immaculate focus even when the chopper is boring through unruly headwinds.
You learn that Wyoming is beautiful like the rest of America but has an eyesore with the giant hole created by the mining of coal. But the narrator reminds you that the industry funds a lot of jobs. Live and let live!
The expanse and majesty of the West, one can’t get enough of. New England’s charm and historical sites make you pine for a tour of the old colonial states that informs, inspires and enlightens you.
Here is the teaser for Georgia: “Where the Appalachian Mountains end and a great Civil Rights leader’s life began, Georgia is a state in natural wonders and history. This aerial tour of the Empire State of the South offers views of Atlanta’s skyline, Augusta’s legendary golf course and the rugged barrier islands coastline. From the South’s most beloved piece of literature to the United States ‘most haunted cemetery,’ this is Georgia, as you’ve never seen it before.”
The only thing better than watching Aerial America would be to ride shotgun with the camera personnel in those helicopters.