John Kettler Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 (edited) Wanted to pass the word BBC Two has begun airing another season of Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week. 22 of the UK's best athletes (marathon, iron man, etc.), a highly gender,ethnicity and faith diverse group, goes to South Africa and does 48 hour stages under successive veterans from South African Special Forces "Recces" , Korean Special Forces, US Green Berets, Poland's GROM, Australian SAS, France's GIGN, May've missed listing some. The demands on the participants are extreme, the temperature delta is some 27 degrees C, and they are sleep deprived, hungry and thirsty. There is the expected military training and the unexpected bush survival training, too. Punishments for failures to perform are brutal. While I'm broadly familiar, from exyensive reading and watching lots of documentaries, with various aspects of SF training, I'm seeing tasks and devices I've never come across before, as well as theme and variations of others. There's a particularly diabolical one which is maritime themed. Thought some here would enjoy seeing not just the competition but the kinds of men and women from such units. After watching Episode 1, I can't wait for Episode 2. Looks as though the participants will be doing live fire drills, "kill house" and such, too. Things not really feasible in the UK, though I did see one show where they had to carry all their kit and an empty assault rifle. Watch this if you can. It is a grand opportunity to learn about leadership in the field, drive, determination, mental strength, overcoming obstacles, courage, teamwork and sheer guts. What happens will surprise and even shock. Regards, John Kettler Edited February 1, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 6, 2017 Author Share Posted February 6, 2017 Have just finished Episode 2, which may be summarized thus: GROM is grim. You absolutely never ever want to cross this GROM guy. He did 20 years in the Polish Army, 15 of them in GROM. His methods of breaking people are simple yet diabolically effective. His intensity is such that there seems to be a real possibility he might incandesce on the spot! Watching all these top nonprofessional athletes from the UK going through their various torments and evolutions is exhausting in its own way, but I think I'm spared a certain empathy because all the temperatures are given in Centigrade, which I don't use in terms of weather here. Their thermal misery therefore doesn't quite register the way it otherwise would. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 How do you watch the episodes? While I do have BBC here on cable, I can't watch the online stream due to not being in the UK. Anyways, thanks for the links looks interesting! I'm going to try to record these. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 Lethaface, (Original "Mission Impossible music plays. we see you looking dapper and immaculately turned out as you watch and listen intently.) "Good morning, Mr. Lethaface. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to penetrate nested non-lethal electronic defenses and return with the program or programs you select....Should you be captured, you may have to clear your cache or, in the extreme, yank the power and subsequently follow cold reboot protocols. This message will irretrievably dissolve in 30 seconds. Good luck, sir." Ready? I found it on a content aggregator called Project Free TV, which is one of several I use, since I can't afford cable and doubt cable would have most of these at all. WatchSeriesGo also has the show and seems (am having lots of internet issues generally, so can't say for sure) to have far less cyber undergrowth to hack through. Fair warning going in, this may take a bit of work. Then again, it may not. No way of knowing a priori, either. I have AdBlock Plus installed, and ABP used to do a great job of suppressing popups, FMV in sidebars and the like. It catches a great deal still (get site gripes to prove it, and some, such as Forbes, won't let you operate on them at all unless you whitelist them), but I think Lex Luthor lives even so. Sometimes, you just have to go to where your desired show is, which varies considerably from aggregator to aggregator. Project Free TV has many the others don't. But make no mistake, this is a war between the ruthless diabolically clever advertisers and the ad blockers. On the Mac side, under OS Sierra 10.12.3, it's been tough. Why? It varies from link to link, and even the same link on a different site. Pop unders (or worse, ones that open underneath and start playing something--after your show has started and intruding on it), pages which not only spring open but do so in a new tab, even such things which, shockingly simulaneously load and auto download a Flash Player or TV codec. Under NO circumstances have your computer set to auto open DLs, which is why I send DLs to my Desktop so I can see them! This is wise, because you can wind up with a bunch of copies of Flash Player and such, which need to be trashed and destroyed. Things may well be different on the PC side, which is most CM players, in which case life may well be much easier. What you get in the way of things showing up varies wildly, so it may be simple and painless, or you may hack your way through several iterations of fake virus warnings, obsolete Flash Player assertions, alibaba and ecig, game offers, etc. Not trying to scare you, just prepare you. Buttons may or may not do their ostensible function, and some videos are clickbait, and just loop. There are report toggles, and I find using them therapeutic! If you are on a PC, make certain your AV defenses are strong. Have never has a problem, but I have a Mac. If the above seems like a lot of work, it can be, but it has made it possible for me to see all kinds of things I never would've otherwise known about/been able to watch. This includes both the UK and US versions of The Selection, a fabulous doc on the origins and history of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "Ninth Company," "They Fought for the Motherland, "(Bondarchuk, Jr. and Bondarchuk, Sr., respectively), "1944," "The Admiral." and various other topics of interest to me. Right now, Season Two of "The Great Pottery Throwdown" has begun in the UK. Odd viewing to some, but we have a family friend who's done ceramics for decades and another one who does prize-winning raku and teaches Ceramics. Of course, it's got tough sledding in the face "Mythbusters:The Search," where I found major issues with the way they ran both challenges--in the very first episode! I'm keenly interested in programs where people make things and/or have to work solo or together in stress situations of divers sorts. Of course, there are the killer shows as well. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thanks, I programmed my canal device to record the season on bbc2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Lethaface, You're welcome. Happy to help.Given what you said earlier, am not sure how you pulled off being able to record the season, but I feel safe in asserting you'll find watching the fruits of your effort rewarding and informative. Also, wrote a polite, but pointed, letter to the Admin at ProjectFreeTV. Explained how counterproductive the current approach was and that some practices could cause real problems. If a buying mood is a happy mood, as I was trained in Sales & Marketing, the current approach is a marketing death wish. Regards, John Kettler Edited February 8, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Lethaface (et al.), You're going to need to add another program to your DVR. BBC2 has begun airing "SAS: Rogue Warriors." I grew up reading Phantom Major and other accounts, but the show was given unprecedented access to the unit's Archive, including the War Diary and unseen films! There are even interviews with the people that started the SAS, including David Stirling himself! For someone with an interest in such things, this is "lose your mind" grade material, and there's much more to come. The only glitch I've seen so far was not mentioning the proof of concept mock raid on the sprawling RAF Heliopolis Air Base outside Cairo--against alerted guards--upon whose success depended getting into combat. The base commander said it was impossible to penetrate the field, but the next day was horrified to find dozens of planes with stickers where Lewes bombs (combined HE and incendiary) would otherwise have been. Can hardly wait for the next one! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Thanks! I think I added that as well tbh Now I need to not forget to watch those in the future. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinophile Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 You could just use a VPN, set the server to the appropriate country. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) Lethaface, You'll be relieved to know the SAS show airs immediately before the Special Forces show does. This should make your DVR process simpler. kinophile, I distinctly recall reading something on the BBC2 site to the effect they block VPNs, since they don't know what country the connection is coming from. No idea whether they can actually block VPNs. Regards, John Kettler Edited February 9, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) Lethaface, Would you believe I found another one? Can't make up this stuff! Ancient Black Ops. Haven't watched any episodes yet, but it looks absolutely engrossing. The new season began tonight, for this is Season 2. The site is a little behind on posting. This documentary series focuses on elite military assassination units, or so says the blurb. Looks like I'll be hacking my way through the cyber wilds and watch it on ProjectFreeTV. It has all of Season 1. http://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/shows/ancient-black-ops/episodes/ Turns out there's also a Black Ops, too, also now starting its second season. This is about how SOF operate and apparently seeks to reconstruct various historic missions. http://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/shows/black-ops/ Regards, John Kettler Edited February 13, 2017 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Lethaface, Since I can't edit, here are a few relevant links. Black Ops Season 1 http://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/black-ops/article/about-black-ops/ Black Ops Season 2 http://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/black-ops/article/about-black-ops-series-2/ Score! YT has Ancient Black Ops Season 1. So happy I don't have to deal with ProjectFreeTV to see this! (Exults and capers about) Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Lethaface, Just finished 1.5 hours of a two-part documentary called "Navy SEALS: America's Secret Warriors." While I don't necessarily subscribe to everything said, it is a tremendous look at the SEALs going clear back to the Navy UDTs of WW II, the founding of the SEALs, the creation and rise of SEAL Team Six and tons of other things right up to just after 9/11. Many of the key players are interviewed, the combat accounts are harrowing, and there's even footage of the actual Black Hawk down bird crashing and CIA surveillance video of UBL at a place called Tarnak Farm in Afghanistan. The conclusion will run for two hours. Can't wait! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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