Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sunday Funnies & Arts




Citizen K.'s all-time favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips:
















As always, click to enlarge. For more Tom the Dancing Bug, Ben Sargent, Calvin and Hobbes, Pat Oliphant, Tony Auth, and Zippy, go here, here, here, here, here, and here...


Star Trek. D: J. J. Abrams. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin. Not bad at all. A renegade Romulan war ship captained by a vengeful Bana threatens the existence of the Federation and the job of stopping it falls to Starship Academy cadet James Kirk (Pine). The film deploys the tried-and-true Star Trek milieus of accidental time travel and alternate universes to move the plot along and show how Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scottie and the gang first met. A little long on the slam-bangery and a bit short on Trekkie philosophizing (the Prime Directive doesn't merit a single mention) but the movie treats its rich context respectfully and with a gently satirical wink. Long time fans will appreciate such touches as Captain Pike's wheelchair and the explanation (finally!) of why Kirk and Uhura never got together. Nimoy's commanding presence predictably steals the show...


Hank Williams writes some of the first rock-and-roll lyrics. John Waugh's intriguing essay shows how "Hey Good Lookin'" was one of the first songs to celebrate the youth culture:
Everything that rock and roll became, aside from the protest phase, is right there.

This is youth culture. This is mobility. This is freedom. This is rebellion. This fun for its own sake pure and simple. Its soda pop not beer. The dancin’s free. There’s escape. But at the same time innocence, youthfull exuberance and and joy.

Santana lovers won't want to miss Michael Caroff's Guitar Info Bytes blog. Far from a blathering fan, Caroff writes with insight and wit about everything from Carlos' guitar tone to his line of women's shoes, with stops along the way on such topics as why "Jingo" and not "Soul Sacrifice" epitomizes Santana's early sound...


Sunday Gospel Time: Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagan sings "Steal Away To Jesus":

8 comments:

Ima Wizer said...

Wonderful blog/pictures capturing the feel of new Orleans....love it: angels and people/life in New Orleans! Thanks for the peek!

Patricia said...

I agree about Star Trek. We really enjoyed it, but I did wonder, if the same crew makes more of these, where they're going to stand on the Prime Directive. It seems to me that the series that blew it off with insufficient angst were the least satisfying to watch.

Cheryl Cato said...

I love the Sunday funnies!! Great blog.

K. said...

ZY: I share your concerns about the prime directive. To this long-time trekkie, Nimoy's scenes were quite touching. BTW, last year I saw Patrick Stewart on stage as Macbeth. Brilliant.

Lizzie: Thanks! The funnies are regular Sunday feature at Citizen K. I have a lot of fun putting them together.

Scrumpy said...

I just adore Calvin and Hobbes. Reminds me of how to think like a kid again.

K. said...

Scrump: My boys were nuts about C&H when they were Calvin's age. We had all of the books and read them over and over. The Dad Poll sequence became a particular favorite of mine. They always cackled gleefully over those strips, too.

Roy said...

Sorry it's taken me so long to comment - that damned neck/shoulder/arm thing has been driving me nuts, but now it's easing back.

I really don't want to go see the new Star Trek movie. I'm such a Trek Traditionalist that the whole premise of the script makes me uneasy. Although I'm the heretic who claims that The Next Generation crew was a much better ensemble of actors. Oh well...

Are you just figuring out that ol' Hank was a proto-rocker? Heck, most of the guys who started the whole punk thing considered him their biggest influence!

And you really need to drop by my blog; I've discovered a really cool Delta Blues guitarist whose stage name is The Sauce Boss, who not only burns up that guitar but also cooks up a pot of gumbo up on the stage during the set, and when it's done he invites the audience up for free eats. Man, now that's my idea of a concert - gut-bucket blues and gumbo!

T. said...

Roy -- K. dragged me to Star Trek -- I didn't want to go, and I ended up having a blast! And I was a big TNG fan. So there.