Welcome, ASV readers!

Thanks to Michele for the link. I have indeed been blogging a storm about Star Wars lately, so feel free to look around both on the front page and in the archives. I have a few older Star Wars-related posts permanently linked in my sidebar (see the section labeled "Notable Dispatches"), as well as the most recent two entries in my "Exploring the CD Collection" series and the most recent post in my "Great Love Dialogue" series. I also like this post, in which Emperor Palpatine makes a customer service call. (Fans of The Lord of the Rings may enjoy the post titled "Diary of a Ring", also linked in the sidebar.)

My general attitude on Star Wars can probably best be summed up thusly: I consider The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones to be good movies. Not guilty pleasures, not bad movies with a few good spots, but actual good movies.

For those new to my blog, my politics are obviously liberal, but this is not a politically-centered blog, not by a long shot. If I'm really in a political mood, the percentage of my postings centering on politics might reach twenty percent; so if you find something that annoys or offends, just keep clicking and scrolling. I really try to not foam at the mouth in this space. There's also some information about me linked by the photos near the top of the sidebar, if anyone's wondering. Comments threads here tend to be (a) short, and (b) fun and respectful. Nothing here goes on like what you'll see on an open thread over at, say, Atrios's blog. (At least, not that I know of. I haven't read one of those free-for-alls in months.)

And yes, I'm going to a midnight showing of THE FILM, but before that I'm showering, going to dinner with the family, picking up a friend to go to THE FILM with, and planning war with Guilder, so I'm swamped. This will be today's final post. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, since I have a couple of important errands to run before seeing THE FILM again (yes, I'm seeing it twice in twenty-four hours) and then seeing who wins The Apprentice while taping Quentin Tarantino's stint directing CSI, so there might not be much activity here tomorrow, either. I may post a brief something about THE FILM, but I'm going to hold off on a big, spoiler-filled posting blowout until I've had a few days to digest the plot. (One problem I have with a lot of the anti-Star Wars brigade is that George Lucas's plots often need a bit of digesting before one realizes how finely constructed they are, and too often they're just champing at the bit to bitch about stilted dialogue and the like.)

Obviously I fell well short on my hopes of posting on the subject of each Star Wars filmscore by the time of Episode III's release, but I will get those done sometime. Star Wars may be done in one sense, but it ain't going anywhere, folks.

May the Force Be With You!