I've added a light theme to the blog's CSS which should be automatically selected if your system is set to use light mode. The original dark theme will be selected if your system is set to use dark mode.

This is something that improves accessibility, but there's also a practical reason: I myself use light mode. Like many folks with astigmatism, I find dark mode more difficult to read. The effect is worse with high contrast. I initially went with a darker color scheme for the site because I was going for a specific aesthetic, but chose a low contrast set of colors to minimize the impact. That was okay for a while, but I realized that I want a blog I can actually read even when my eyes get tired. And if it bothers me, there are almost certainly other people it bothers as well.

The new theme uses a paper-inspired color scheme to match the logo and overall site design. It's the sort of color scheme that I've started using in a lot of my text editors as well; I find it incredibly comfortable to read. The links are a dark red: an homage to my favorite color of fountain pen ink. I'm really pleased with how it came out.

The thing about Star Trek is that the writers really want to write about the ship blowing up, but they’re generally not allowed to do that because it tends to preclude writing more episodes about the ship, so we get such scenarios as:

• Doomed timeline (just the one)
• Doomed timeline (multiple points from the same timeline)
• Doomed timeline (many of them all at once)
• An exact duplicate of the ship (regular kind)
• An exact duplicate of the ship (made of jello)
• It was only a Space Dream
• Holodeck malfunction

And, for when you really need to get the blow-up-the-ship urge out of your system:

• Groundhog Day

This week I've been contemplating a little marathon in memory of Val Kilmer, as one does. Almost immediately I came up with five movies I'd want to watch, which is kind of a lot! It really speaks to his work as an actor, I think. I might easily come up with a list of that many movies for a genre actor, but not so much a general actor.

In release order:

• Real Genius (1985) - I have, shockingly, never seen this movie. Friends and loved ones have been on my case for years to see this movie. I have no strong objection to seeing it; I just never got around to it. I guess I should get around to it now. (I'm sorry it took me so long!)
• Top Gun (1986) - I think this is the first movie I saw Val Kilmer in, but since I didn't know him from anything else, I didn't conceptualize him as Val Kilmer until much later. It's a great movie though. I know he made a brief reappearance in the sequel, but I don't know when/if I'll get around to watching it, so that one doesn't go on the list.
• Tombstone (1993) - I recently read an article about the tourism industry in Tombstone, and it reminded me that I've never seen this movie. I've been aware of it basically since it came out (and my goodness were the 90s a good decade for movies), but I've never actually seen it. So even before I heard the news about Val Kilmer, I was considering watching it soon. As I write this post I realize that the most difficult aspect of this movie is probably that as a Final Fantasy XIV Online enjoyer, it is almost impossible for me to write Tombstone and not Tomestone.
• Batman Forever (1995) - This is the first movie I saw Val Kilmer in that I thought of him as Val Kilmer. Mostly because that was how everyone presented it: There's a new Batman! They cast Val Kilmer as Batman! Who's Val Kilmer? Batman, apparently. It was the first Batman movie I ever saw in theaters, and it was a big deal at the time. Tommy Lee Jones! Jim Carrey! And...Val Kilmer. Who's Val Kilmer again?
• The Saint (1997) - Perhaps fittingly for The Saint, I have no idea if I've seen this movie or not. I think I've seen bits of it? Possibly out of order. Possibly I've seen a little bit of The Saint, and then mentally filled in the rest with Conspiracy Theory (1997), starring Mel Gibson and Patrick Stewart, and The Phantom (1996) starring Billy Zane. Is Billy Zane as The Phantom sort of like Val Kilmer as Batman? I don't know, really. I do know I probably shouldn't add The Phantom to my Val Kilmer movie marathon list.

It's false spring here, so let's enjoy the warmth with some summery city pop.

• Flying Saucer Video - Looks like I'm not the only cartoonist resuming their webcomic this week! After a long delay, Flying Saucer Video is back. This is currently my favorite webcomic, so I'm thrilled.
• WGN Presents - "Mitchell" (Complete Broadcast, 10/20/1984) - The Museum of Classic Chicago Television uploaded this unriffed broadcast of Mitchell that aired in 1984. This movie would later go on to be riffed by MST3K for Joel's last episode.
• Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Airwaves - Speaking of MST3K, here's a history of the Commando Cody shorts that aired on television (and also appeared in theaters!) These are a sequel to the serial Radar Men from the Moon, which was featured on MST3K as a series of shorts. Commando Cody went on to be a huge influence in science fiction; The Rocketeer is an obvious homage but personally I'm fond of Captain Proton.

We're back

After almost ten years, Brain Comics has returned!

What's changing? Probably not a lot.

The original comic ran for about five and a half years from 2006-2012, with regular updates for most of that time. To stave off the risk of RSI, and to free up my attention for other creative works, I ended the comic at that time.

Over the years since then, I added two additional bonus strips, commemorating the discovery of the Higgs boson and the first controlled landing of a rocket first stage after launch.

Flash forward to 2025. I no longer want a comic about SpaceX on the front page of my old webcomic.

Time to update!

I think every web cartoonist is at least a little scared of their archives. The longer you keep at it, the worse your old stuff looks. Virtually every mistake I ever made with Brain Comics is in those archives. But there's a lot of stuff I still like, too, and I think it's worth keeping up.

In any event, I couldn't let Brain Comics end on the strip it did. So return to it I must.

I feel like often I go too long between posts here because the easiest thing for me to post is a daily Today's Listening, but I feel self-conscious about posting two music posts in a row, because I don't want to give the impression that this is primarily a music blog.

This is, of course, a silly reason not to post.

Anyway, if you want to read an actual music blog, I highly recommend Morning Music.

意味なんて？答えじゃない

I have a complicated relationship with David Lynch’s work, in that I am deeply allergic to his own works, but often very fond of the works he inspired. I am sad he will no longer be around to vex me so.

Me: I would like 3 of these please

Retailer: this product only ships with a minimum order; how about 6?

Me: okay sure whatever I'll stock up

Retailer: just kidding, we're out of stock! we'll ship you 3. turns out we could do that the whole time

(Previously.)