From Belfast Common

                                                          Tumbling Dice? Seriously?

As if I had time to kill, I have discovered the joys of reading digitalized comics. I recently read the entire run of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise.

I'd read a good bit of Sandman before, but Strangers was brand new to me.  I enjoyed it very much, although I though it would have been better if some of the"thriller"  plot elements had been toned down to a more realistic level. Nonetheless, it's mostly a love story, and probably the best comic book "soap opera" I've ever read.

I am resisting the challenge of reading the complete run of Batman. I am not sure whether, if you did so, that you would feel very cool about having down, or a little bit pathetic.

21st Century Breakdown, Green Day / Little Honda, Yo La Tengo / Get Off, the Dandy Warhols / 1989, the Rakes / Learned To Surf, Superchunk / Clone, the Meat Puppets / Delightful Nightmare, Hugh Cornwell / East Jesus Nowhere, Murder City, American Eulogy, Green Day / Kap't Krunch, Los Straightjackets / Come Saturday, the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Into The White, the Pixies / Train In Vain, the Clash / Leopardskin Pillbox Hat, Beck / The Replacements, Art Brut / Gold Guns Girls, Metric / Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam, the Vaselines / Muscle Cars, Scream And Scream Again, This Will Not End Well, Wussy / Fly Trapped In A Jar, Modest Mouse / Talking Hotel Arbat Blues, Handsome Furs / Cry For Love, Iggy Pop / Flash Of Light, the Crocodiles / Again And Again, the Black Lips / Movin' On, Blur / Needles And Pins, the Ramones / I'm OK By Myself, Morrissey / Ask The Angels, Patti Smith / Wraithlike, Maximo Park / It's Nice To Know You Work Alone, Silversun Pickups / What New York Used To Be, the Kills / Sold Motel, John Cale / The City In The Sea, Crystal Stilts / Chartered Trips, Husker Du / Life, Flipper / Why Can't I Touch It, the Buzzcocks / Black Metallic, Catherine Wheel / Good Morning Captain, Slint / White Moon, the White Stripes

See if you can figure out which songs were part of the birthday tribute to Sigmund Freud.

Homosapien, Pete Shelley / I'm Waiting For My Man, Nico / Bitchin In The Kitchen, the Rakes / DC Comics And Chocolate Milk, Art Brut / Psychotherapy, the Ramones / Ill In The Head, the Dead Kennedys / Basket Case, Green Day / Institutionalized, Suicidal Tendencies / The End, the Doors / Mother, the Police/ Nice Dream, Radiohead / Cause I Sez So, the New York Dolls / Does This Mean You're Moving On, the Airborne Toxic Event / Crush On You, the Brakes / Sabre Dance, UK Subs / Argos, Bob Mould / Two Headed Coin, the Obits / This Is Our Perfect Crime, the Von Bondies / T Shirt Suntan, the Stereophonics / Son Of A Gun, Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam, Oliver Twisted, Lovecraft, the Vaselines / Blanket Of Weeds, the Meat Puppets / Panic Switch, Silversun Pickups / Geordie LaForge, the Low Frequency In Stereo / And The Holy Sea, Cymbals Eat Guitars / Superstition, the Kills / I Wanna Kill, Flash Of Light, Summer Of Hate, Crocodiles / Lithium, Nirvana / Millionaire, the Mekons / 23 Minutes In Brussels, Luna / Pink Steam, Sonic Youth / Broken Chairs, Built To Spill / I Have The Moon, Magnetic Fields

I've never been a Trekkie or Trekker or Trekkite or Trekazoid or whatever the hell they are calling themselves these days. I would describe myself as a casual fan. I've seen all the movies, and I have probably seen most episodes of the original series. The later shows, not so much.

Nonetheless, I was excited about the new "reboot" of the series, and I was not disappointed.  Watching new actors inhabit these characters, and tell us their stories from early on in their lives,  I really got a sense of why so many people have invested so much emotion in them. 

And beyond that, Star Trek has always been an optimistic vision of the future. It tells us that not only will there be a future for humanity, but that it is a future that will be progressive and enlightened. (I laughed when I read that some of the right wing bloggers are decrying the movie's "socialist vision"  of the future. ) So much science fiction is dystopian. But Americans are eternally optimistic, and that's why we have such a connection to Star Trek.  And now, when we are entering an era in which many of us finally see the possibility of a hopeful future ahead of us again, a new vision of Star Trek is perfectly timed.

Plus, the space ships look really cool and they brought back the 60s miniskirt uniforms for the female crew, so that's good too.

                               .

                                                 Is this maybe a little dark for a kid's comic?

Or is "Ars longa, vita brevis" a really dumb slogan for a tattoo parlor?