HSU IT Department

Following up on yesterday's post:

Of course, the Jedi didn't go around beheading people who didn't believe in the Force so, y'know, still the good guys. But it kinda makes you think.

Antonio Gramsci did not like New Year's Day:

I want every morning to be a new year’s for me. Every day I want to reckon with myself, and every day I want to renew myself. No day set aside for rest. I choose my pauses myself, when I feel drunk with the intensity of life and I want to plunge into animality to draw from it new vigor...No spiritual time-serving. I would like every hour of my life to be new, though connected to the ones that have passed. No day of celebration with its mandatory collective rhythms, to share with all the strangers I don’t care about. Because our grandfathers’ grandfathers, and so on, celebrated, we too should feel the urge to celebrate.

And there is something to be said for that. But I still love New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, with its feeling of freshness and potential. I think there is something good about choosing a specific time to reflect on what has passed and what is to come, and to think seriously about how one hopes to shape the next twelve months of one's life.

We had a lovely, mellow New Year's Eve finishing up our Firefly marathon and then watching the first Star Wars movie. Both made us rather melancholy, Firefly because it was cancelled so early and so abruptly, with so many stories left untold, and Star Wars because they all look so damn young. Still, it was great fun to watch the young and dashing Han Solo swash his buckles across the galaxy, and cheer for Captain Reynolds and crew as they fight their way through Reavers to get the truth out about Miranda. It occurred to us both that Captain Reynolds bears more than a passing resemblance to Captain Solo, even down to the stripes on his trousers. And of course the aforementioned dashingness. Big damn heroes, both of them.

The last eighteen months have been a real roller-coaster for me and mine, and I am devoutly hoping that 2016 will be a more serene period. I also hope to do more writing -- yes, I say this every year, and so far have failed, but that doesn't mean I give up on it as a goal. I also plan to take a page from teddyradiator's book: "to keep my zen, to play more, and to cherish my friends."

Many hugs and warm wishes to all for the new year!

Check out The World Star Wars Project! I found out about this yesterday from one of the professional lists I belong to. It sounds like a lot of fun -- I'm only sad I somehow missed the World Hobbit Project which apparently happened a couple of years back. Feel free to send this information around to any Star Wars fans you know -- the more participants they get the happier they will be :)

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know about a research project that has been launched today and to ask for your help!

My name is Dr. Richard McCulloch and I am Co-Director of 'The World Star Wars Project.' Inspired by Martin Barker et al's 'Lord of the Rings' and 'World Hobbit' global studies, 'The World Star Wars Project' is a five-year longitudinal/ latitudinal study with multiple phases.

The first phase is an online questionnaire that aims to capture audience strategies of anticipation and expectation about the forthcoming film, *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* (released on December 17th).

As yet, we have not secured funding for the project, so we would be incredibly grateful if you could disseminate the link among your friends, family, students, and anyone else you can think of. It doesn't matter if you love Star Wars, hate it, or really don't care -- we simply want to hear from as many people as we can!

The window of opportunity here is quite small. We have twenty days or so until the release of the film, but wanted to open up a space for data gathering when fever pitch was reaching a crescendo. Given that this is the first Star Wars film in a decade, and the first Star Wars film since the Lucasfilm/Disney merger, this is a one-time opportunity, we believe, to capture 'audiences in flight' on the cusp of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.

Here is the link to the website: http://www.worldstarwars.net/.

We will be providing more information about the project on the website and will be asking researchers from around the world to join the project to collaborate on the global research. In the meantime, if anyone requires further information or would like to chat about collaboration or what have you, then please contact Project Director William Proctor ( bproctor@bournemouth.ac.uk).

'We would be honoured if you would join us'

Best Wishes

*The World Star Wars Project team*

All that and more, here in this very entry!

A friend of mine has opened an Etsy store to sell her awesome fabric tote bags. My favorite is the Star Wars one. If you need a tote bag, make this your first stop.

Signups are ongoing over at sshg_giftfest -- there's still space for both authors and artists/crafters so hop on over! I'm thrilled that we have lots of people returning from last year as well as some new faces. Also signups are open at hoggywartyxmas, so start thinking xmassy thoughts!

This past weekend Mr Psmith and I went to the State Fair where we saw, among other things: llamas, sheep, goats (why are their testicles so enormous? why???), adorable baby piglets and monstrous full-grown pigs, and many many flavors of dairy cow including an adorable Jersey calf being raffled off. I wanted to enter but sanity in the form of Mr Psmith prevailed. As always, the food on offer ranged from standard to startling, the latter including a "Gators and Taters" food booth, kangaroo spiedies, and Shark-on-a-Stick. Sadly, we did not get to see the draft horses -- Percherons, Belgians, Friesians, etc. -- which was our main reason for going, as the barn was closed for some reason, drat the luck. But we did get to see the arts and crafts building (quilts! cross-stitch! handmade lace! paintings on sawblades! tiny model rooms!) and the sand sculpture, which is always amazing. One side showed a train going into a tunnel watched by some woodland creatures, including a very alarmed-looking beaver.

My life continues to be far too busy, and sometime between now and the end of September, we have to pack up our entire house. Eek.

Little known fact: Stephen Colbert has been a Star Wars fan two weeks longer than anyone else. That and his encyclopedic knowledge of Tolkien are only two of the reasons I love him. Also, he can explain why the new light-saber design won't cause you to lose a hand :)


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One of the things the Obama administration instituted during its first term was a "We the People" website, where anyone can set up a petition. The administration promised that any petition garnering more than 25,000 signatures would get an official response. Well, someone put up a petition to build a Death Star.

It got 34,000 signatures.

The administration has responded.

The title of the official response? "This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For." And it just gets better, including an estimate from the Office of Management and Budget on the cost of construction. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying at this, and the best part is that it's TRUE :D