Honestly, I thought Eurotrip was going to be Eurotrash. After all, how many bad comedies have been done with Europe as the backdrop? One was one too many, really.

But Eurotrip was freaking hilarious, from the sight gags during the movie intro, to the gag reel during the credits. The writers absolutely knew how to keep a running gag from going too far & getting old, how to juggle multiple funnies at once, and what quirky humor worked. Cameos by Lucy Lawless as a Dutch dominatrix and Diedrich Bader as a mugger were terrific. And the lead, Scott Mechlowicz? I’d strap a mattress to my back and follow that boy around! (Even if he is only 23 – ouch.) It was also neat to see Michelle Trachtenberg in an almost-grown-up role (even if it was blatant typecasting, to have a cute & fun 18-year-old playing – you guessed it! – a cute & fun 18-year-old).

There was even a poly reference, of sorts. A suave Frenchman trying to seduce the Michelle Trachtenberg character invites her to join him on his yacht and mentions what a great cook his wife is, implying that the wife fully consents to the arrangement. Not that it’s “serious” in any way – the whole movie is simply fun and funny, with interesting & likeable characters!

And I gotta admire a break-up scene (first 5 minutes, so it’s no spoiler) where the girl says, “We need to talk,” and the guy replies, “About what, honey?” and her response is a smilingly perky, “About me dumping you.” LOVE IT…so want to use that someday. *smirk*

Now I have “Scotty Doesn’t Know” stuck in my head. I wonder if I can download the ringtone… *laugh*

Lately I’ve been thinking about songs that define a situation, mood, or even a person. At any given time, I’ve had a particular song that has defined who I was at that moment, and which one it is varies, but there’s one that I keep going back to.

What is your lifelong theme song, the music and/or lyrics that defines something about who – and how – you are?

Mine is Pat Benatar’s Promises In The Dark, for over 20 years now.

Ever wanted to take a catchphrase, strategically replace a key word in that phrase with the word “blog,” and then post it on your blog? Apparently a lot of people have wanted to do just that – and luckily, with Blogstickers, they can. If you want to create your own, go to the Blogsticker Factory! If you’re not feeling very original, check out the zillions of Blogstickers already created.

I felt original…more or less.

I’ve been teasing a certain someone for months (if not years) about not having an online journal. Hey, all the cool kids do it! *snicker*

Guess who has one now? That’s right, one of my best friends and Trusted Advisors: Lyse!

She might even actually keep up with it. Knowing Lyse, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some delightful snark from her about the joys of being a NFB (non fluffy bunny) Wiccan, being in the military, and how stupidity should hurt more. I’m thinking words of encouragement might help, so go comment at her! *grin*

Everyone who’s dated me (and most everyone else in my life, too) knows I am not the typical girl when it comes to flowers. I simply don’t understand the point of giving someone a gift that will die in a few days! Would you give someone a cancer-riddled bunny as a gift to express your affection? Sheesh.

So when I saw this strip in one of my favorite comics, Queen of Hearts, I laughed myself silly. This is exactly the sort of crappe that gives chicks a bad name.

And yes, I did spend my all my time in high school in the library.

Of course, I tried several different versions of my name before I found the result I liked best. This one is the result for my full legal name as it appears on my driver’s license:

Your Star Wars Masturbation Method Is: Releasing the Special Edition

I just found out that the 2005 US Figure Skating Championships will be held in Portland in January! Damnit, damnit, damnit!!!

All-event packages, which include admission to all competitive events and access to practice sessions (basically all the skating that happens that entire week), start at $195 and run to $495 for the best seats. Ouchie! *major sigh* Some of the events tickets are as low as $15.00 but let’s face it, they’re the less-interesting events (like the compulsory dance event…as far as I’m concerned, watching ice dancing is about as exciting as watching golf, but with better clothes). Maybe I can get really good seats for just one or two events…if any good seats are left by the time I have the money. *sigh*

Yeah, I’m wild for figure skating. I can ice skate…sorta. My only bitch about figure skating is that Elvis Stoyko isn’t competing anymore, and he was the sexiest thing on ice ever. Well, and that ice dancing is lame. Hell, NASCAR is more exciting, even if all they do is “Go fast, turn left!”

Update! If it turns out that I can’t go, I suppose I can start saving my pennies for the 2007 US Figure Skating Championships which will be held in Spokane, WA!

My youngest, Anxiety, goes to an environmental magnet school. This means, among other things, that they do a lot of outdoorsy activities. Yesterday I filled out the paperwork necessary for Outdoor School. Today I filled out the paperwork for a 2-night educational camping trip which is taking place in early October.

The disclaimer (emphasis added by me) was priceless:

Young people can learn self-confidence, responsibility, and cooperation by participating in trips into wilderness areas, but there is a definite risk of severe injury or death because of conditions including, but not limited to: poison oak and other plants; snakes; bugs; steep terrain; danger from falling rocks; possibility of becoming separated from the group and lost; sudden and/or severe weather; slippery, muddy, icy, and poorly maintained trails; raging mountain streams; lakes; failure of each group member to participate as safe members of the group continuously alert for the safety of everyone; and other risks unnamed herein. Parents/guardians and students must judge for themselves whether the student is sufficiently mature to participate in these wilderness trips, guard his/her personal safety and the safety of those around them, and understand that injury or death may occur because of the limited physical skills and abilities of the student or others, or uncontrollable events including natural events. Safety cannot be assured and injury or death can result from personal carelessness or uncontrollable events including natural events.

Gee, ya think they pushed the “injury or death” motif enough? I don’t know. Maybe they should have included a few words about some of the other things that can happen in the woods, like killer bees, your friends losing their minds, attacks by biogenetically-engineered prehistoric beasts, attacks by non-engineered but unbelieveably big modern-day beasts, local inbred rednecks chain-sawing your limbs off, or run-ins with a gigantic vengeance demon. Oh yeah, and this is the Pacific Northwest, so let’s not forget about Sasquatch.

Okay, maybe that’s what they mean by “uncontrollable events.” *snicker*

Here is the Phobos Entertainment’s “100 Science Fiction Books You Just Have to Read.” I’m supposed to be a sci-fi bookworm geek – let’s see how many I’ve read (in bold).

1 Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
2 Foundation by Isaac Asimov
3 Dune by Frank Herbert
4 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
5 Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
6 Valis by Philip K. Dick
7 Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
8 Gateway by Frederik Pohl
9 Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl
10 Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
11 Cuckoo’s Egg by C.J. Cherryh
12 Star Surgeon by James White
13 The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
14 Radix by A. A. Attanasio
15 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
16 Ringworld by Larry Niven
17 A Case of Conscience by James Blish
18 Last and First Man by Olaf Stapledon
19 The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
20 Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
21 More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon
22 Gray Lensman by E.E. “Doc” Smith
23 The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
24 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
25 Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock
26 Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
27 The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
28 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
29 Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley
30 The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
31 The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
32 Slan by A. E. Van Vogt
33 Neuromancer by William Gibson
34 Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
35 In Conquest Born by C. S. Friedman
36 Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
37 Eon by Greg Bear
38 Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
39 Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
40 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
41 Cosm by Gregory Benford
42 The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. Van Vogt
43 Blood Music by Greg Bear
44 Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
45 Omnivore by Piers Anthony
46 I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
47 Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement
48 To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
49 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
50 The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
51 1984 by George Orwell
52 The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
53 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
54 Flesh by Philip Jose Farmer
55 Cities in Flight by James Blish
56 Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe
57 Startide Rising by David Brin
58 Triton by Samuel R. Delany
59 Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
60 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
61 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
62 A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
63 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
64 No Blade of Grass by John Christopher
65 The Postman by David Brin
66 Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
67 Berserker by Fred Saberhagen
68 Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott
69 Planiverse by A. K. Dewdney
70 Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward
71 Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
72 Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
73 The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein
74 The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
75 Forever War by Joe Haldeman
76 Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
77 Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky
78 The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge
79 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
80 Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
81 Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
82 Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
83 Upanishads by Various
84 Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
85 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
86 The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
87 The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
88 Mutant by Henry Kuttner
89 Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
90 Ralph 124C41+ by Hugo Gernsback
91 I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
92 Timescape by Gregory Benford
93 The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
94 War with the Newts by Karel Capek
95 Mars by Ben Bova
96 Brain Wave by Poul Anderson
97 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
98 The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
99 Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch
100 A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

---

Fourteen, huh? I have a hard time believing this is the best top 100. How did A. E. Van Vogt get on there twice, when Marion Zimmer Bradley & Anne McCaffrey only scored one each? What is “Alice in Wonderland” doing on the list, when it’s clearly fantasy rather than science fiction? Where the hell is Spider Robinson, who’s won a Nebula, three Hugos, and a John W. Campbell Award? There may be a few of these books, which are clearly classics, that I should read. But for the most part, I think the list bombed.

Tonight it’s all about the laughter, lots of giggles with my demonspawn & my Number One Internet Fanboy, so naturally I had to do giggly stuff online too!

Your Hippie Chick Name is: Patchouli

Your Stripper Name is: Rain

Your Porn Star Name is: Albino Kitty