In my real life, I’m a total and complete geek. I collect comic books and action figures. I read sci-fi. I’ve even got a cat named after a character from Star Trek. You can imagine then, I’m sure, the delight that I derive from the fact that U2 (or at least Bono, anyway) seem to share in my passion for the future and outer space. It’s not so much that I think that the guys are spending their spare time attending fan-boy conventions or cos-playing, (although an argument involving Macphisto could be made for the latter).

Rather, I think that this fascination that the band share with many great writers and creators for what might come next, and the imagination to give those ideas shape and substance is indicative of the same spirit that’s been driving the human race forward since Galileo championed the theory that our planet revolves around the sun. Stage-sets that are frequently referred to as “space ships”; virtual visits from astronauts; songs about technology taking on its own life and guiding the user; this stuff all bears the all hallmarks of speculative fiction, and it’s that kind of material that drives people to believe outside the confines of the world that we live in now, to work and strive for the better world that we want for tomorrow, to “dream up the world (we) want to live in…out loud, at high volume.” It’s only people that are crazy enough to believe that tomorrow can be better that have any chance of making it so.