European Hegemony, World Systems Theory, Order-Legitimacy-Wealth, and all that jazz!

Tuesday marks my Group 3 examination before the tribunal of Liu, Brummett, and Dessel. I am nervous, as this is the gateway exam to allow me further testing down the road. I have heard horror-show recountings of this particular test. I realize that it is only an hour. I realize that they have made it less of a stumbling block than in years past. I also realize that it is only the rest of my life that is at stake here. So, if things turn ugly, I may pull a Cas Walker (man on left in picture) if things head south for me in the conference room.

On a lighter note, I went to see 3:10 to Yuma last weekend, based on the expert recommendations of Mr. Julian Ayrs, and was extremely pleased with the movie. My only problem was that I, being a historian, tried to read a post-Cold War, post-9-11 subtext into the film, mainly because westerns have tended to be a kind of societal indicator of cultural trends throughout 20th / 21st century history. Were the characters meta-figures for varied post-millennial attitudes of American exceptionalism soured? Or had I eaten too much lamb sausage pizza at the Tomato Head before the movie? That's why I miss the GSHA - a group dedicated to over-thinking and over-analyzing the minutiae of things that don't even really matter. Damn, I loved that! By the way, thanks again, Mr. Ayrs, for the movie advice (if he likes Planet of the Apes and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure to boot, I'm sure we'll get along famously!)