The Cartoon History of the Universe

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for a semi-regular update to this site. I know that my life is so amazingly exciting that you all want to know what's going on.

I found this great book while downtown a few days ago. It's called The Cartoon History of the Universe (Henceforth known as Cartoon History). Despite it's seemingly lowbrow name, it's actually an informative and well-researched book. Well, I think the proper name for it is "graphic novel" as comic book suggests something a kid would read.
I really like this book. Being a former English and history major, if I find a book that is supposedly historical or based upon history or expounding on a particular period of time, I like it to be accurate. If there is something that I find to be inaccurate, I go bonkers and will rant and rave about it. I'm that kind of person. I'm a stickler for accuracy as well as a Grammar Nazi. OK, I'm not that anal about such things, but I do make an effort to use proper English.
In addition to being a stickler for accuracy, I also like to be entertained in some way. If the material is boring, I will not enjoy it. Even if it is a topic that I usually find interesting.
I also have a...well...one might say an "interesting" sense of humor. I like quirky, odd, and unusual humor. Sarcasm is a good thing. Satire is a good thing. If you can find humor in the most morbid of situations, that's even better. Irony is good also.

What makes Cartoon History so great is the author/illustrator's sense of humor, the interesting manner the material is presented, and its historical accuracy. One can learn many facts about history while being thoroughly entertained. It's surprisingly scholarly, sophisticated, and well-researched in nature while keeping the reader interested. There's no jargon and academic blather. If there are intelligent and credible theories, Gonick presents them in a friendly and accessible manner. He's skeptical about the familiar but questionable stories, in command of history, and he's pretty damn funny to boot. In sum, he's combined the best of traditional and unorthodox.

Quite possibly the best section in this volume was the part about Sparta. He covers all the bases from life in Sparta to the famous incident at Thermopylae. There are many clever illustrations, acerbic and witty dialogues, and historical facts to boot.
The best lines:

Narrator: Now the Persians knew what they were up against!
Xerxes: Suicidal hairdressers...

Brilliant. They never had that in the history books.

There are four other volumes in his history books. They seem to be as funny as this one. I hope to get them all.
So if you're looking for a more unusual look at history, this is the book for you.

That's all for now.

Television News

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I've never been a fan of the news, especially the local news. I've written about this topic before, so this should not come as a major surprise. I have more things to complain and rant about now.
For some reason, TV journalists say some, well, in my honest opinion, really stupid things. For instance, if there is an accident or some natural disaster or some incident where people die, the news anchorperson will say something like this:

"There was a today at . The number of people dead is and it is expected to rise."

Um...and the number of dead people is supposed to do what...fall? Last time I checked, the death toll rarely decreases. And people don't come back to life when they are declared dead. Unless Jesus Christ just happens to be around and brings them back from the other side. Or you're a dead guy in a television show. Never in real life.

A bridge collapsed in Minneapolis yesterday. For some odd reason, KCTV5 is giving tips on how to survive a bridge collapse: "If you happen to be on a bridge when it is collapsing, here are some tips that might help you survive."
Yeah...I'm sure that will be really handy sooner or later. More like never as the odds of a person being on a collapsing bridge are astronomically low, even in a place that has a reputation for unsafe roads. I can think of a few tips that might help. Things like praying to God or a higher being that you don't die. Or gaining the ability to float. Or not being on the bridge in the first place. Why don't they do a special section on surviving a nuclear war or a massive asteroid strike or the end of the world?

And another thing...why do they milk every single emotional, tear-jerking moment from an incident? For weeks on end. I mean, what else is there to cover? Yes, it's a sad occasion when there's a natural disaster or a horrible accident. But nothing is going to change much. The dead will still be dead. They'll get buried. The living will mourn and try to survive. Things will get rebuilt. But not in a day or a week or a month. Come back later when things really change. Go on to something else. They news stations look like vultures picking over a carcass when they do live coverage from a tragedy.
There's a school shooting. Let's interview every single person on campus. Let's swarm on the campus and point cameras in all directions. Get a close-up shot of a person crying. Ask the same people the same questions over and over again. Look concerned and saddened when you hear the answers. Rinse and repeat. Keep on covering the story for weeks on end and ignore everything else.
There's a natural disaster. Zoom in on the dead bodies. Take pictures of the wreckage. Ask the survivors how it felt to be stuck in the middle of the disaster. More live coverage. Attend the funerals. More pictures. More questions. Rinse and repeat. Keep on covering the story for weeks on end and ignore everything else.

TV news? What a joke. That's all for now.