The National Geographic Channel

Ever play that game where you have to decide what to bring to a deserted island if you could only bring one thing? Well if I could only bring one TV channel and HBO didn't exist, it would definitely have to be The National Geographic channel, which is now called "Nat Geo" by its serious and urgent sounding announcers.

Nat Geo is everything a factoid geek could possibly love about television. From the heartwarming but useful "Dog Whisperer" to the terror of great white sharks and fire ants, this channel is a non-stop feast for the eyes and brain. It's also chock full of human oddity stories (don't miss the Foot Binding special...riveting and horrifying). When there is nothing on TV, which, oddly enough in the land of 500 channels, is often...I automatically go to Nat Geo on demand. Yesterday I watched a fascinating special called China Mummies, about a lost band of 3,000 year old Caucasian mummies found in the heart of a Chinese desert. How did they get there? DNA testing will give us a clue. Did you know that NG on Demand now features videos of World Music? It's exquisitely weird. I found a video of a Swedish rapper called Kommer Ifan. Apparently he's really big in Sweden.

Nat Geo also regularly features excellent miniseries, including the Global Warming thriller "Six Degrees that Could Change the World", previously reviewed by our Lisa Nose blogger.

If you can't get enough of nature and nose piercing documentaries, (which for me is about 95% of the time) Nat Geo is the place to be!