History was never my favorite subject when I was in junior high school. Back then the only history taught was European and U.S. history. Little was mentioned of Asian, African, South American, Middle Eastern, or Australian history, which might have made the subject a bit more interesting. If anything it would have helped me realize a lot sooner that the world is full of people and places with histories far more ancient and arguably more interesting than what went down in Europe back in The Day.

Good examples can be found in the history of weapons. It seems we’ve always had a tendency to find new and efficient ways of dispatching each other, and while you might think that the Europeans had a leg up on mechanized death, depending on the period, you’d be wrong.

While the Anglos, Saxon, Celts, and Slavs were laying each others heads open with sophisticated clubs and poking each other with sharp sticks, the Chinese had discovered gunpowder, which then introduced a means of killing that included things that went "BOOM!" Who knew that people would like a way to watch fireworks and dispatch enemies at the same time? And the rest..., wait for it,...is history.

In fact, the Chinese really took the killing thing to a whole new level even before gunpowder came about. They developed the philosophy that the mind and body could be honed to become the ultimate weapon, and that philosophy is the basis for all Eastern derived martial art forms.

It’s kind of interesting to compare Western versus Eastern philosophies on the art of killing; The West was influenced by the Greeks and Romans, whose ideas about Man and the world he lived in formed the basis of modern sciences and warfare, which resulted in an explosion of technological advances. This was buffered by the advancement of religion that taught that God, not Man, was who you relied on for victory in battle. Of course, it never hurt to have a little technological help. Hence armor and more egregious weaponry was created. Training on the use of those weapons started early in a warrior’s career.

The Chinese, however, believed that Man could strive to become better, and in that striving he would begin to understand the nature of the world and of God. So Asian warriors trained for years before they ever pick up a stick as a weapon. They believed that any weapon is only an extension of the body and the mind.

I mention all of this because one of the shows I want to point you to this week deals with ancient weaponry. In fact, much of the show is dedicate to a discussion of one of the first weapons: a stick.

Ancient Discoveries is a new Arts and Entertainment series that examines the technologies of ancient civilizations. If high school history was like this I would have gotten all A’s.

The free (and only episode so far) is titled Death Weapons of the East and does a nice job examining some of the blunt and pointy sticks wielded by martial arts masters back when blunt and pointy sticks were all the rage. After watching you may come away with a new found respect for blunt and pointy sticks. I know I did.

I also came away with new respect for the so-called "Death Touch" that is much fabled in martial arts lore.

I like shows like this. While there is seldom any counter opinion on what’s presented, that it is being presented at all shows that we Westerners are really starting to open up and pay attention to stuff that’s not Euro-centric

Check out Ancient Discoveries: Death Weapons of the East

Ok, remember Lucy Lawless who made a name for herself beating up bad guys while dressed in skimpy warrior togs every week on Xena: Warrior Princess?

The same crew that brought you Xena, and the series starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules is about to do it it again. Legend of the Seeker is a new fantasy show based on a series of books by Terry Goodkind called The Sword of Truth. This new ABC show is suppose to break new ground in visuals and story.

I’m thinking this will be kind of like Battlestar Galactica, except you have swords and horses instead of Colonial Vipers. It’ll be like Battlestar because it will follow an established and relatively well known story line that advances week to week.

I haven’t read The Sword of Truth series and I’m not a huge fan of sword and sorcery stories, but I might be able to hang with this. There are two preview shows available on the iTunes Store: The Making of a Legend, and A First Look.

Lucy Lawless hosts The Making of a Legend and offers sneak peeks of the series.

A First Look is a 30 minute romp into the two hour Season Premier. They give you just enough to whet you appetite, which, I guess, is the point.

I have to say if the rest of the show is like the first 30 minutes, ABC might have a hit on their hands.

Even if you are not into fantasy you might enjoy Legend of the Seeker. Download these two previews and check it out.

In keeping with the Halloween season, last week I talked about some of the spooky podcasts that are available. Today being Halloween it would be a bit of a let down if I didn’t include at least one spookified freebie. To wit, I offer Ghost Adventures.

You’ve probably already seen Ghost Hunters, the SciFi Channel show where some guys go to supposedly haunted places and see what they can find.

I’m not a fan of Ghost Hunters. I would be if they actually showed verifiable evidence of ghosts, but all they show you is these infrared camera views of the hosts looking weird and saying, "Did you hear that?"

Ghost Adventures looks to be the same as Ghost Hunters: A bunch of guys go poking around in dusty old places looking for evidence of ghosts. Ghost Adventures tries to get one up on Ghost Hunters by eschewing the professional film crew and using consumer cameras to film the ghost busting action. What results is a Blair Witch/Cloverfield view of stuff flying around and grown men looking scared in the dark.

I’m still skeptical, but Bobby Mackey, the host of Ghost Adventures, at least adds a bit of showmanship to the show.

Check out the free episode of Ghost Adventures at the iTunes Store.

OK, that’s a wrap for this week.

Remember that today is Halloween and there will be a bunch of kids with reduced vision and hopped up on sugar running loose in the streets. Please be careful not to hit one while driving.

More free stuff below (with direct links):

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.