Uncommontary - Iditarod: Toughest Race on Earth - Episode 1

The Discovery Channel's documentary on the 2008 Iditarod is up on Netflix and available for instant watch. I watched the first episode and realized I should probably keep a log of what I think and put it on these here webs. I might do more, I might not; that's how these things go. 

• Doggy snow boots: They're adorbs. They should make them for people, too.
• The trail's too windy. For a trail that commemorates rushed delivery of medication, they sure took the scenic route.
• Deedee Jonrowe has achieved superhuman status through radiation treatment she received for breast cancer. 
• One guy built his own sled so he can slide up to the line and say, "Check it out, dudes, made my own sled." I don't trust my own craftsmanship enough for that. 
• I went to look up Jeff King the baseball player's stats because I couldn't remember if he existed or not, and I read he was traded for Joe Randa at one point in his career. Then I pouted.
• Lance Mackey's got some team chemistry issues. One of his dogs had to be scratched from the race hours before because it was injured in a fight. 
• Other dog teams are fighting each other. Make them stop. 
• They could make meta-sports out of all the activities that are required to provide support for the mushers: Throwing bags of dog food, defrosting supplies, alphabetizing. 
• I would put glow sticks under my dogs so they look like they're in The Fast and the Furious.
• They say it's a race of toughness and endurance. I say it's a test of courage. Once the sun goes down and dogs are howling like wolves, I don't want to play that game anymore. 
• A guy who used to be a school teacher, Rick, realizes he should have kept his day job. If the dogs won't listen to him, I bet his students were thrilled with him. 
• The dogs are a lot like computers - if you keep them frozen, you can run them faster. 
• This guy needs a computer: he says the dogs can burn 10,000 calories in a day, which is impressive, but then he says it's like him eating 50 Big Macs in a day. Not only is he doing the opposite of burning, I did the math; it's only 17 Big Macs.
• Deedee lost her team. It's the snow machine's fault. 
• Darren's dogs are succumbing to heat... in the snow. Also, his homemade sled is falling apart. 
• After Day 2, three teams and nearly 100 dogs are out of the race. 
• Rick the schoolteacher's dogs are excited now, so he is, too. 
• I'm not buying the "confessionals" here. They talk in the present tense but they're in some studio with makeup on. 

That's episode one. I feel like we've bonded during this time. I bet we'd bond more if you had watched this, too.