From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, in cooperation with the Department of Interestingness:
Department of Interestingness
The Ruins of Fabbriche di Careggine
A 12th c. village in Tuscany submerged under the artificial Lago di Vagli since the construction of a dam in 1946. Occasionally seen when the lake is drained during maintenance work, it could resurface again in 2020.
This is definitely the location of some kind of necropolis or portal to another dimension.
Video of a Great Black-Backed Gull swallowing a Rabbit whole
This is insane. One the one hand it's like something you'd see in a cartoon, on the other hand it's one of the most metal things I've seen a bird do. And I used to raise chickens.
My chickens LOVED mice. Seeing them fight over one was like watching a bunch of t-rexes tearing apart a goat. It wasn't pretty, but I couldn't avert my eyes from the carnage.
I'm a huge fan of birds, both modern and prehistoric. And a bird's gotta do what a birds gotta do to fill it's belly. With that, here's the video of a Gull swallowing a rabbit whole. How he doesn't choke on it is a mystery to me.
The Cannonball Run
From the Office of Wheels
I've been thinking a lot about the cannonball run lately. It's an unsanctioned race to see who can get from a garage in New York to a hotel in Los Angeles. LINK
It’s on my mind because the record has been beat 6 times since the US lockdown. The fastest being 26 hours and 38 minutes. LINK
I've always had a proclivity toward cars and odd races like Dakar and Peking to Paris. I love that the enterprising spirit behind them. The logistics, the car mods, the personalities that take these things on are all so fun, and makes me want to do a racing comic some day.
-Jake
The most important archeological discovery this year?
From the Department of Interestingness
Saw a tweet about what "could be this year's biggest discovery" an almost entirely intact Roman mosaic villa floor:
My wife and I were wondering how that gets covered with so much dirt over the years. I dug down into this. Apparently, the soil in any given place absent of human activity grows about an inch a century.
But where does soil come from? Organic matter that does erode away is some of it, but here's something I didn't know: Rain exist because of dust particles in the atmosphere. The particles give something for the atoms in water to latch onto. Every time it rains a small layer of dirt is deposited on the ground. (I wonder if that's why my car is so dirty after it rains?)
I assumed all this dust just comes from the earth itself; kicked up in dust storms and what not. But here's possibly the most interesting thing you'll learn today: As much as 40,000 tons of space dust arrives on Earth every year.
That means that even planets made entirely of water would still have rain fall...though not as much as you think. The earth weighs 13,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds and 40,000 tons is only something like 0.001% of the earth's mass. Our planet isn't really gaining mass at a significant rate, and a water planet probably isn't absorbing enough dust to make rain storms a common occurrence.
What is really cool about water planets is at their core is naturally occurring ice VII. Ice VII is, as I understand it, ice that has become crystalized so that it's indistinguishable from rocks. The only place scientist have found it naturally on earth is inside diamonds.
So...back to this Roman floor they found. How cool is that?
-Jake
Book Review: Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
First off, my rating system: I rate a comic in 4 different categories on a scale of 1-5 ⭐s
The categories are:
Story - Is the plot engaging? How well does the plot and characters support the theme? How well does the writer use point of view to tell the story? How has the writer used symbolism? Is the conflict and resolution satisfying? Was the story paced well? How does the writer use the narrative to set the mood? And is the mood consistent with the them?
Characters - How are the characters developed? Do the characters have clear motivations? Do the characters behave in a believable way? Are the main characters relatable, and if not, is it intentional? Do the characters have a rewarding arch? Is the dialogue character appropriate?
Art - Does the design/style of the art support the story? Is the panel layout easy to follow? Are the compositions used to emphasize key moments? Is the color in harmony with the line art? Does the artist use color to support story elements? Are the poses, action moments, and quiet moments done in an appealing way?
World - How believable is the world? Does the genre support or play against the story/characters? Are the locations sufficiently built out? Have the creators infused the world with culture? How are they at using geography to build out the world?
Rating system:
⭐: Abysmal
⭐⭐: Underwhelming
⭐⭐⭐: Good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: Excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Perfection
Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: First Second (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
This book came recommended by a friend and was described to me as an artist’s way to process and understand what his friend was going through after finding out his son was diagnosed with cancer. I came away from this book loving the art, but not being too impressed with the story.
The book is about a family consisting of a father, mother, and a son who live out in a quaint cottage in the countryside away from civilization. Very early in the book three shadowed beings show up on the hillside and it’s implied that they are here to take away the boy. Acts 1 and 2 play off that ominous beginning with the parents reacting each in their own way.
But the 3rd act takes a left turn. It was unexpected and kind of ruined the book for me. Spoilers ahead: In act two a slave trader is introduced. He is the worst kind of human who sells women to other evil men. In act three the three shadows go after an evil man, and I thought it was this slave trader, but it wasn’t. It seemed odd that they would set up that character, even go so far as to show his slave escaping and killing people, and then never return to that storyline again.
In act two we meet a character who steals the heart of the father. When I realized in act three it was this man that the Shadows were after, I thought it made ok sense...but then I didn't like that the 3 shadows are susceptible to earthly influences like alcohol. Kind of felt like they should be more “grim reaper,” and less “girls just wanna have fun.”
The different reactions from the parents was satisfying. That's what sucked me into the book. I felt most engaged when the father was trying to get them on the ship and the dilemma he found himself in. Like, if this book is symbolic of your child getting cancer you might not know how to navigate working with hospitals and physicians, and insurance companies and what not and that could get really frustrating and make you desperate.
Visually, this book just knocked it out of the park. Pedrosa's use of ink is next level. There was just so much atmosphere in his panels. And the decision to make most of the pages 4-5 panels meant you could savor some of the art a little more. Also, I thought the font was perfect. The world felt rich and lived in. Dangerous, and unforgiving too. Which made the father's choice to move his family out to the forest all the more understandable.
I liked the book and would recommend it. It’s a great example of using no traditional looking comic art to tell a very serious tale.
My overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Story: ⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐
Art: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
World: ⭐⭐⭐
You can purchase the book here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WNXC1c
You can purchase the book here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WNXC1c