And the winner this week is Marisa, who got damn near all the questions right (thank you Chris for participating), and here are the answers:

 

Easy

1.      Fidel Castro

2.      Neil Armstrong

3.      Merlin

4.      Hercules

5.      Tennis

 

Medium

1.      Mark Twain

2.      Gandhi

3.      Marie Curie

4.      Charles de Gaulle

5.      Nelson (Nelson Mandela and Horatio Nelson, respectively)

 

Hard

1.      Taiwan

2.      Pontius Pilate

3.      Sita

4.      Don Quixote

5.      Narcissus

 

As always, I’ll have more Hump Day Trivia Wednesday.

 

Okay, just a few random observations here:

 

In the span of one month, we have lost David Brinkley, Gregory Peck, Hume Cronyn, Strom Thurmond (not that I agree with his politics), Maynard Jackson, and now Katharine Hepburn. When it rains, it pours, I guess. I remember seeing a website run by some British newspaper that predicted the headlines from 2000 to 2050. They predicted that Gregory Peck would die at age 91, and they called him “the last of the Hollywood greats.” Obviously, the prediction was wrong, but it made me think: Now that Gregory Peck and Katharine Hepburn are gone, are there any Hollywood “greats” still alive?

 

On a lighter note, Laura and I went to the Weird Al concert on Saturday. It was so much fun! His first song was “Couch Potato,” which is a parody of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” He came out dressed like Eminem, and the resemblance was so uncanny it made the song even more hilarious. He made a costume change after just about every song (during which we were entertained with clips from UHF and Al TV, which I can’t find anywhere on MTV’s schedule now). Laura and I had good seats (first row of Section F), so we had a pretty unobstructed view. Unfortunately, we seemed to be stuck in the Boring Section. Nobody else there wanted to sing along or wave their arms, stand up, etc, so we were too shy to do it by ourselves. However, that was only a minor inconvenience. Weird Al performed all the familiar songs, and a few good ones off the new “Poodle Hat” album. It was a “thoroughly enjoyable evening” (yeah, like it was that proper).

 

And finally, here’s some more of the Mother of All Quizzes and some other quiz results:

 

[46] what are you listening to right now? Def Leppard’s “Love Bites”

[47] what time is it? 11:06 pm

[48] how many hours per day do you spend talking on the phone?  I try to avoid it, unless it’s one of my friends. Then I’ll probably spend about an hour on the phone.

[49] do you have your own phone line? No

[50] have you ever kissed someone of the opposite sex? Yes

[51] what are your favorite shoes? Sandals with backs (i.e. NOT flip-flops)

[52] what kind of clothes do you sleep in: pajamas or a large T-shirt and boxer shorts

[53] what's your favorite soda? Mountain Dew Red

[54] what things do you say a lot? …

[56] who is the coolest person in the world? I’m not really the best person to answer that…

[57] do you think you're weird or funny? little bit of both

[58] what would you prefer thong or bikini? Neither, but if I had to, bikini

[59] who was the last person you called? Laura

[60] where do you wanna get married? My church

[61] who is the hottest girl/guy in your school? umm.

[62] what are your favorite girl names? Claudia, Katherine, Laria, Elektra, Akira

[63] what are your favorite guy names? William, Thomas, Joshua, Michael, Jake

[64] what's your worst memory in the past 5 years? Bad stuff has happened, but nothing that sticks out

[65] what's your favorite childhood memory? New York

[66] what is your favorite fast food restaurant? Subway

[67] who do you really hate? Stupid people, Annoying people

 [68] do you have any brothers and sisters? No, and I love it

[69] if so, names? See above

 

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Very High
Schizoid:	High
Schizotypal:	High
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	High
Narcissistic:	High
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Moderate
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

I'm just one messed-up person, aren't I?

What Inuyasha Villain Are You?

Personally, I thought she was rather annoying, but it took, like, three episodes to beat her so I guess she wasn't bad, strength-wise.

What Magical Girl Are You?

I've never seen Utena, so I can't comment on this (Like I said, I'm not THAT big of an anime fan).

You are Tomorrowland, home of Space Mountain, Astro Orbitor, Disneyland Monorail, and Star Tours! You embrace the digital age and love new technology. You are the first to have all the new electronic gadgets and enjoy letting them make your life easier! Which Disneyland land are you?

Cool..

find your element at mutedfaith.com. <º>

For those of you who read my comment on Chris’s site: Just so you know, Chris and I know each other in real life, not just on Xanga. We've been best friends since preschool, but we obviously have different poitical opinions, and each of us pretty well knows where the other one stands on issues. We respect each other’s opinions, but neither of us are shy about disagreeing (Chris would probably do the same to me if I did a political entry here). I'm not trying to be mean with my disagreements (so don't send a bunch of flames to my site), and I want Chris out of Kuwait and back on American soil just as much as everyone else.

Hump Day Trivia-more fun than a bunch of old men hitting golf balls in ninety-degree heat! (In case you don’t know, the U.S. Senior Open PGA tournament is being held in Toledo this year, and the news people won’t shut up about it). Here are the rules: I’ll give five questions in each of three difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, and Hard). Each question is worth a set point value. Your goal is to use any combination of questions to get to ten points. I’ll declare the person with the most points the winner. If more than one person gets 10 points, I’ll go with the person who uses the “hardest” combination (So try to answer the Hard questions). Today’s theme is People. Good luck!

 

 

Easy (1 Point Each)

1.      Name the Communist leader of Cuba.

2.      Who was the first human being to walk on the moon?

3.      Who was the wizard at King Arthur’s court?

4.      Which mythical Greek hero performed 12 labors?

5.      What sport is played by Venus Williams?

 

Medium (2 Points Each)

1.      Under what name did Samuel Langhorne Clemens find fame?

2.      Which Indian political leader was known as Mahatma?

3.      Which Polish-French scientist discovered radium?

4.      Who was the leader of the Free French in World War II?

5.      What name links a South African statesman with the Battle of Trafalgar?

 

Hard (3 Points Each)

1.      Of which country was Chang Kai-Shek head of state?

2.      Which Roman presided over the trial of Jesus?

3.      Who was the wife of the Indian hero Rama?

4.      What Spaniard had delusions of knightly glory?

5.      Who reputedly fell in love with his own reflection?

 

I’m going to the Weird Al concert this weekend with Laura, so I’ll let you know how that goes. I better get dressed now, so I’ll talk to you all later.

All right, Chris is once again the winner (thanks to amy2k1 for playing as well). He was the only one that got ten points. Here are the answers:

 

Easy

1.      To Kill a Mockingbird

2.      Scar

3.      Toto

4.      Nun

5.      Herbie

 

Medium

1.      Julia Roberts

2.      Cecil B. DeMille

3.      Alec Guinness

4.      A leopard

5.      Tarzan

 

Hard

1.      Buster Keaton

2.      Gary Cooper

3.      China is invaded by Japan.

4.      Wai Lin, the Chinese spy in Tomorrow Never Dies

5.      Robert Shaw

 

I’ll have more Hump Day Trivia come Wednesday, so stay tuned!

 

I don’t have much time right now, so I’ll be brief. My mom got it into her head that she and I should go to the park at the crack of dawn and walk around for a while. I’m not a morning person, but she promised driving time so I reluctantly set my alarm for 6:00 am and actually got up, My mom didn’t get up until nine. When I asked her what the deal was, she said it was because I didn’t want to go (like that’s ever stopped her before) and then proceeded to yell at me for getting up so early and keeping her awake. Am I the only one who fails to see the logic in this? At least I get to stay in with the air conditioner (after weeks of unseasonably cool temperatures, the high was in the upper 80s today and will hit 90 tomorrow).

 

Other than that, it was a pretty busy week, with two concerts and a movie. The first concert was the Poison concert last Tuesday, which I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would. It was my fault though. After I got there, I realized that I only knew one Poison song (“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”). Don’t get me wrong; I had a good time, but I have no idea what any of the other songs were. Saturday was the Chicago concert, which was more enjoyable because I knew more songs. I’ll get into details later. Sunday I saw Finding Nemo again, this time with my parents (their idea; and yes, they liked it). However, to those of you who haven’t seen it yet or plan to see it again: Wait until the very end of the credits before you leave the theater…

 

Well, here’s some more of the “mother of all who are you quizzes:”

 

[24] do your friends smoke? No

[25] who are your closest friends? My two best friends are Laura and Chris Selmek

[26] who are your friends? Stephanie Delcamp, Marisa Wikramanayake, Liz Prophet, Andy Logan, Correy Adams, Darby Morris, Steve Norris, the list goes on…

[27] who are your best friends online? Look at my “Sites I Read” list…

[28] do you like bath & body works? It’s okay, I guess…

[29] kind of shampoo and conditioner do you use? Anything straightening/moisturizing, usually Pantene or Physique

[30] is your hair short or long? Long

[31] do you like to shop? depends on what I am looking for

[32] what sports do you play? Fencing, occasionally

[33] what turns you on? Good music, intelligence, courtesy

[34] what turns you off? Stupidity, annoying songs and commercials, intolerance

[35] what place do you go for fun? My computer, the movie theater, the library, Miss Cue

[36] what do you do for fun? Watch movies, read, talk to my friends

[37] how many phones do you have in your house? 4

[38] how many tv's do you have in your house? 7

[39] what's your favorite food(s)? Pizza, Chicken, Turkey, Ice Cream

[40] do you look like anyone famous? Not that I know of

[41] do you think ricky martin is muy guapo (very handsome)? Never gave it much thought

[42] who are the most attractive people you know? Never gave THAT much thought either…

[43] are you a virgin? Yes

[44] do you wish to be like your parents? My mom, a little; my dad, no

[45] what cologne should a hot guy wear? None!

 

And finally, some quiz results (Oh, I made another quiz on Quizilla but I’ll post the link later):

 

You're a Unicorn - Soft and loveble, and very
honost.

What kind of a mystical horse are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are a Mentalist. Your magic depends on strength
of will. You could be a memory-reading Mind-
Mage, a lethally telekentic Force-Wizard, or a
helpful Transmage for your abilities are a
result of sheer stubborn will and intensely
keen intellect. Your mind has been honed by
learning and practice into the perfect tool for
examining and dissecting reality and altering
it to suit your needs. You are intelligent and
scholarly with a tendency to distance yourself
from others.

Which Magical Order Are You In?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

Which "Natural Wonder" are you?

What Anime Stereotype Are You?

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for Hump Day Trivia! Here are the rules: I’ll give five questions in each of three difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, and Hard). Each question is worth a set point value. Your goal is to use any combination of questions to get to ten points. I’ll declare the person with the most points the winner. If more than one person gets 10 points, I’ll go with the person who uses the “hardest” combination (So try to answer the Hard questions). Today’s theme is Film. Good luck!

 

 

Easy (1 Point Each)

1. In what film did Gregory Peck play the part of Atticus Finch?


2. Who was the main villain of The Lion King?


3. What is the name of Dorothy’s dog in The Wizard of Oz?


4. In The Sound of Music, what was Maria’s occupation before she became a governess?


5. What was the name of the car which starred in The Love Bug?

 

Medium (2 Points Each)

1. Who played Tinkerbell in the film Hook?


2. Who directed the 1956 version of The Ten Commandments?


3. Who played the lead role in The Bridge on the River Kwai?


4. In the film Bringing Up Baby, who was Baby?


5. What jungle-dweller appears in the film Greystroke?

 

Hard (3 Points Each)

1. Who wrote, directed, and starred in The Navigator and The General?


2. Who played the beleaguered sheriff in High Noon?


3. What country is invaded in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun?


4. Producers of the James Bond movies actually considered producing a movie franchise centered around what Bond girl?


5. Which actor was swindled by Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting?

 

Finally, I forgot to mention yesterday that Stephanie’s birthday was Monday (June 16; she’s 20), my grandma’s birthday is today (June 18; she’s 84), and Chris’s is tomorrow (June 19; he’s going to be 20), so happy birthday to all of you, and if you stop by Chris’s site, wish him the same.

I have photos of the kittens and of Correy’s wedding up on my Yahoo photo site. Because I don’t have premium, I can’t give you a preview (Sorry). Also, when you go over there, be forewarned: Yahoo, for some unknown reason, will not let me use apostrophes or quotation marks in my captions, so it makes me look like I’m some grammar-deficient idiot. Just know that I didn’t intend for it to look that way.

I’ll give you your Hump Day Trivia sometime tomorrow. Right now, I have some quiz results (please take my quiz if you haven’t yet):

 

 

 

Try the What Kind of Xangan Are You? Quiz

Threat rating: High. The Bush administration is
concerned that it may not get a second term.
Therefore, we are going to change the rules so
that each Democrat vote only counts as 0.2
votes because Democrat is a shorter word than
Republican

What threat to the Bush administration are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Finally, I found the mother of all “Who are you” quiz things on fatkid1000p’s site (Chris, are you paying attention?). It’s over 300 questions long, so I’ll give it to you in small bits, so you don’t have to spend eternity scrolling, and here’s the first installment:

[01] what's your first name? Erin

[02] middle name? Louise

[03] last name? Saelzler

[04] nicknames? The Vampire Queen (‘cause I’m pale)

[05] age? 19

[06] gender? Female

[07] birthday? August 3, 1983

[08] your sign? Leo

[09] where do you live? Oregon, Ohio

[10] do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? No

[11] if so what's her/his name?

[12] have you ever been in love? not yet

[13] who are/were your crushes? Steven Tanaka (years ago)

[14] do you have any piercings, or want any piercings? I have pierced ears

[15] if so what do you have/want pierced?  Maybe a second ear piercing

[16] do you have a tattoo or want one? Wouldn’t you like to know...

[17] if so what kind and where? I would LIKE a tiger, somewhere I can see it

[18] where do you shop at the most? The Pharm or Krogers

[19] what color is your hair? Blonde

[20] what color are your eyes? Blue (apparently iridescent)

[21] how tall are you? 5’8”

[23] do you smoke? No

See you tomorrow!!!

Chris is the winner this week, so I offer you my congratulations. He was the only one to get ten points. Thank you also Marisa and drakoi for participating, and here are the answers:

 

Easy

1.      Unicycle

2.      On the end

3.      Caravan

4.      Motorcycles

5.      It burst into flames as it was landing.

 

Medium

1.      Hovercraft

2.      Spirit of St. Louis

3.      The first (safe) elevator

4.      Leonardo da Vinci

5.      1914

 

Hard

1.      TGV

2.      London

3.      The Seikan (between Honshu and Hokkaido)

4.      Louis Bleriot

5.      Istanbul and Paris

 

I finished reading 2061 last night. While it wasn’t as good as 2010, it was still a good read. Whoever edited the thing needs to be shot. There were so many typos it wasn’t funny. There were capitalization and punctuation problems, but the biggest offense was that things kept being called by the wrong name. In one chapter, a ship named Galaxy keeps being referred to as Universe, which is the name of another ship in the book. In another chapter, one character’s name changes three times. Her first name keeps alternating between “Rose” and “Rosie,” but that’s excusable since it’s still basically the same name. The problem is with her last name. She starts out as “Rose McMahon.” Then, on the next page, her name is “Rose McCullen.” On the page after that, her name is “Rose McCullan.” In the next chapter, her name is back to being “Rose McMahon,” and it stays that way (actually, none of those names are her real name, but I’m revealing too much). I’ve bought 3001 and I’ll be starting it soon. Here’s the updated list of books:

 

·        The Fall of Neskaya (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

·        Lady of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

·        3001  (Arthur C. Clarke)

·        Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)

·        A Woman’s Liberation (Sci-Fi Anthology)

·        Bearing an Hourglass (Piers Anthony)

·        Dragonflight (Anne McCaffrey)

·        Lasombra (Richard E. Dansky)

·        Blue Adept (Piers Anthony; this is a re-read)

·        Ogre, Ogre (Piers Anthony)

·        Crystal Line (Anne McCaffrey; another re-read)

·        The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Douglas Adams; re-read)

·        The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)

·        Muse of Art (Piers Anthony)

 

 

Well, I’ll wrap things up this time around with this, which I got from Chris:

 

What's your name, yo? Erin L. Saelzler

 

And how old are you? 19 (I’ll be 20 in about six weeks)

 

And what's the worst thing you've ever been called? Sheltered

 

Did you deserve it? NO!

 

Have you ever been arrested? I’ve done illegal things, but I’ve never been arrested

 

If yes, what for, you criminal, you? Read above

Mac or PC? PC

 

 What's the best concert you've ever seen? Styx in Toledo; January 16, 2001

 

Were you in any way under the influence at that concert? No, but I acted like an idiot anyway

 

If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be, and why? A Raspberry, because I’m told I have “sweet and sour” complex

What's the worst prank you've ever played on someone? My friend and I called a radio station once during a live call-in and insulted the DJs

How did they get you back? They hung up on us

You are having lunch with any three people, living or dead. (The dead ones will be magically revived for the purposes of lunch.) Who is on your guest list? Only three? I suppose God, Tommy Shaw, and Gloria Steinem

You have to flee the country you live in for political reasons. Where do you flee to? Toronto, London, or Sydney

Who was your favorite Beatle? (If you say Ringo, please, stop now.)It’s a toss up between George Harrison and Paul McCartney, but I guess I’ll choose George, because he always seemed to get lost in the mix (at least until he died).

What's your favorite song to sing in the shower? It changes frequently. Right now I’ll say “Someone Else’s Story”

Have you ever done drugs? No

Or did the drugs do you? Never.

You have to be marooned on a desert island with any rock group. Who do you want it to be? Styx. Duh.

And if it came down to it, which one would you eat first? Probably Todd Suchermann, because he’s the drummer and can be easily replaced (and he doesn’t write any of the songs), unless Dennis DeYoung was there. Then I might eat him first because he’s currently being an idiot.

What's your favorite t-shirt slogan? I don’t really know, but if you take it from the T-Shirts I own, I would have to say either “Tigers” or “Hard Rock Café.”

You are declared President. What are your first three acts of office?

1) Patch up our relations with the United Nations and with the rest of the world in general, mostly by not being the World Police

2) Initiate a huge federal audit of political institutions and the military to find ways to cut out unnecessary spending and redundant personnel (like the entire Dept of Homeland Security).

3) Use all the money I saved to increase funding for educational institutions (especially to raise academic standards and funding arts programs), libraries, the space program and other scientific foundations, and reduce the national debt.

 

You are going to an "I Love the 80s" party. It has been required that you attend in costume. Who do you go as? Indiana Jones, I guess

How many decimal places of pi do you know? I can recall 3.141592659 pretty readily, althought sometimes I can get more (I no longer have the first 60 digits memorized, but you never know).

Where's the kinkiest place you've ever gotten it on? Well since I’ve not had a boyfriend since first grade…

Do you know all the lyrics to your national anthem? Yes, since the first verse is the only one ever sung

Do you know any of the lyrics to REM's "End of the World As We Know It" other than "Leonard Bernstein" and the chorus? “That’s great; it starts with an earthquake…”

You can have your way with three of the famously beautiful people. Who will be sharing your bed this night? If I answered this question, people would draw the wrong conclusions from it.

You decide to become Goth. Which kind? I’m not sure if “sorta Goth” counts. I read Anne Rice and other vampire books, and I casually play Vampire by email.

 

Are you a Cure/ Smiths fan? No.

 

A Bauhaus/Joy Division fan? No.

 

A Type O Negative/Tool fan? No.

 

Or a Marilyn Manson fan? No.

You are suddenly a 13 year old girl. Do you surround yourself with Britney, Christina, or Jessica Simpson albums? (Yes, that is all we want to know about you as a 13year old girl.) Try none of the above

You get the creative urge to paint your room. What color? All colors. It would be a themed mural

What is your favorite sleeping position? On my stomach

Who has Ben's pants? Huh? I would hope Ben had his pants, but I can’t tell you for sure.

What book do you want to crawl inside and exist in? Either the Apprentice Adept series or the Incarnations of Immortality series

What's the weirdest thing you've ever made a bet over? I’m not a gambling person, aside from occasionally buying lottery tickets

 

What's the biggest loss you've ever suffered because of a bet? Money (from the occasional lottery ticket)

What three albums do you always want with you? Styx’s “Greatest Hits,” Josh Groban’s first album, and my “Rent” soundtrack.

What will the movie based on your life be called? The Unending Complexity of the Mind

Do you believe in ghosts? Maybe…

Fairies? It’s possible…

Vampires? In my mind.

Zombies? No, never imagined them

Werewolves? Once again, in my mind

Martha Stewart? I hope not!

What's the craziest date you've ever had? Never been on a date, per se

What's the sexiest movie you've ever seen, aside from out-and-out porn, you pervy bastard? In terms of the amount of sex in the movie, probably either “Shakespeare in Love” or “Amelie.”

You can date any poet that's ever lived. Who gets to woo you with their verse? Shakespeare, I guess.

What's your favorite profanity? Damn.

What five Xangans do you most want to go drinking with? Probably Laura (laelse7), Chris (CPhantom), Marisa (LadyKiadri), Jill (JKJoker), and April (AbbyNormal). They’re the ones I’ve known the longest.

 

What five do you most want to play paintball with? Same

 

What five do you want to go out for a fancy dinner with? Same

You just robbed a bank. What's your ideal getaway vehicle? I don’t really know cars that well, so I’d say something fast and common (the more to blend in with other traffic)

 

How much older than you was the oldest person you've dated? I’ve never dated (and yes, Chris, you did date someone 3 days older than you…remember Stephanie?)

 

Did it feel pervy? N/A

What's your favorite place on earth? (Geographically speaking here, people.) New York

And finally, what's your philosophy of life in 100 words or less? I think the ultimate goal is to bring meaning to your existence. You should impact the world somehow before you die, preferably in a positive way. I believe in God, but I don’t think he cares what religion you follow, just as long as you lived a good and full life. Finally, I think there are greater purposes than just those two designed for every person, but they are unique for every person and it is up to them to discover them.

Once again, it’s time for Hump Day Trivia! To review, here are the rules: I’ll give five questions in each of three difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, and Hard). Each question is worth a set point value. Your goal is to use any combination of questions to get to ten points. I’ll declare the person with the most points the winner. If more than one person gets 10 points, I’ll go with the person who uses the “hardest” combination (So try to answer the Hard questions). NOTE: Last time, there was a dispute about one of the answers. All I can say is that my research turned up the answer I posted (I double-checked and came up with the same thing). I use Microsoft Encarta to back up a lot of the Hard questions (just to make sure I didn’t go wrong somewhere), and I consider that pretty reliable, so in the future, I’m going to go with what my research turns up. No hard feelings, okay? It’ll be simpler. Okay, with that out of the way, today’s theme is Transportation. On your mark, get set, GO:

 

 

Easy (1 Point Each)

1.      What is a one-wheeled bicycle called?

2.      Where would you find the caboose located on a freight train?

3.      What name is given to a group of camels used for transport?

4.      What sort of vehicles did William Harley and Arthur Davidson produce?

5.      What happened to the German airship Hindenburg in New Jersey in 1937?

 

Medium (2 Points Each)

1.      What type of vehicle floats on a cushion of air?

2.      What was the name of Charles Lindbergh’s plane in which he made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight?

3.      What did Elisha Greaves Otis demonstrate in New York in 1853?

4.      What is the name of Rome’s airport?

5.      In which year was the Panama Canal completed?

 

Hard (3 Points Each)

1.      What is the name of the French high-speed train going into service in 1981?

2.      Where was the world’s first underground railway line built?

3.      Which is the longest rail tunnel in the world?

4.      Who was the first aviator to cross the English Channel by plane?

5.      Between which two cities did the Orient Express run?

Hey all! As I said, it was an eventful weekend, so here goes.

 

Saturday was my friend Correy’s wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. It was very traditional (and expensive), with a little bit of Disney mixed in for good measure. Correy and Chad’s love song was “A Whole New World,” and the napkins at the reception had “Correy & Chad June 7, 2003” written on them, along with an embossed image of Cinderella dancing with the prince (We thought that was very cute, and very Correy-like). Otherwise, everything was very traditional. Correy seemed to be having the time of her life. I took some pictures, and I’ll put them up on my Yahoo photo album once they’re developed, along with a better description.

 

Sunday, I went with Laura to see Finding Nemo. That was a good movie. The animation was phenomenal, and the story was pretty funny. Christopher Borrelli (Our local cynical, hard-to-please movie critic who has a flair for being wrong) actually got one right for once. Then again, Pixar has a good track record, being 5 for 5 (Actually, I never saw Monsters Inc, but I’ll go on the judgment of others for that one). Par for the course, we saw ads for some upcoming Disney movies as well: Brother Bear (which, at first glance, seems to be The Emperor’s New Groove meets The Country Bears. From what I can tell, it will be either really good or really bad; the title is pretty lame, though) and The Incredibles, which is the next Pixar movie, due out November 2004.

 

Sunday night I watched the Tonys. I haven’t really been impressed by the Broadway fare since The Lion King won a few years ago (except for The Producers, which I haven’t seen yet but want to). Broadway seems to be back into what I call “fluff” musicals, which I can’t really define other than examples of “fluff” musicals include just about every musical made before the late 1970s (My Fair Lady, Cabaret, Peter Pan, etc). I tend to prefer “darker” musicals like Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera (although I do like some “fluff” musicals). However, I always watch at least part of the Tonys every year. If I could just find a synopsis of Nine I would probably like the looks of it better (at least, I like the song “Unusual Way”). Now all that’s left is to see how many of the honorees are still playing come next year. The one that seemed interesting to me is The Play What I Wrote. I liked how they used a famous guest star every night. However, it didn’t win anything (I believe it is playing in New York). Actually, I was browsing Broadway.com, and I found a musical called “We Will Rock You,” based on the music of Queen (actually, Queen collaborated on it before Freddie Mercury died). It sounds interesting enough, except the plot, according to the website, has “the action taking place in a futuristic world where rock music is banned.” That sounds an awful lot like the concept plot for Styx’s “Kilroy Was Here” album, and that caused the breakup of the band (at least until 1995). If the concept didn’t work in 1983, I’m not sure how it’s going to work in 2003, but, hey, go for it, guys! As for me, I guess I’ll bide my time until The Vampire Lestat shows up (Actually, I have Starlight Express and possibly Miss Saigon and The Lion King to look forward to next year).

Well, that’s enough for now. I’ll see you tomorrow with more Hump Day Trivia.

All righty, the winner of this week’s Hump Day Trivia is AbbyNormal!!! She got the “hardest” combination of 10 points out of all the players. Thanks to Jeesie_d and drakoi for also taking my trivia quiz. Hope you guys play again next week, and here are this week’s answers:

 

Easy

1. They hit an iceberg (I could go into further detail, but you wouldn’t want me to. Trust me)


2. Napoleon


3. Abraham Lincoln


4. Gold


5. Samurai

 

Medium

1. Nicholas II (of the Romanov family)


2. To reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims


3. Magna Carta


4. The 95 theses


5. 1066

 

Hard

1. Apache


2. The Colosseum


3. Georges Clemenceau


4. Stone of Destiny (also called the Stone of Scone)


5. Edo

 

In other news…

 

I solved a fifteen year old (minor) mystery last weekend. When I was five, I saw a scene from a movie where a girl is running through a parking garage and “falls” into a puddle (actually, she gets pulled in, but my five-year-old attention span missed that somehow). Two people run out to the garage to help her, but they “fall” (get pulled) in as well, and the girl basically has no chance of escaping the puddle. If you’ve seen this movie before, you probably think I’m nuts by now, but I never figured out what the movie was (not that I spent considerable amounts of time or energy on it, but the scene stuck with me, so I always kinda wondered). Until last Sunday, that is. I turned on the TV, which happened to be on the channel 13 Sunday Afternoon Movie, and lo and behold, I turned it on just in time for that scene. And the movie? Poltergeist III (I’ve not seen any of the Poltergeist movies, although I wouldn’t object to seeing the first). There’s a reason why it took fifteen years for me to see it again, and that would have to do with the quality of the movie. It’s pretty bad.

 

At this point I think I’ll take the opportunity to remind you about my quiz on Quizilla. Thank you.

 

I watched the AFI Heroes & Villains special on Tuesday. For those of you who didn’t see it, here are the top ten in each category, in (The full list is available on AFI’s website):

 

Top 10 Villains

1. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)


2. Norman Bates (Psycho)


3. Darth Vader (Star Wars)


4. Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)


5. Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)


6. Mr. Potter (It’s a Wonderful Life)


7. Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction)


8. Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity)


9. Regan McNeil (The Exorcist)


10. The Queen (Snow White)

 

Top 10 Heroes

1. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)


2. Indiana Jones


3. James Bond


4. Rick Blaine (Casablanca)


5. Will Kane (High Noon)


6. Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)


7. Rocky Balboa (Rocky)


8. Ellen Ripley (Alien)


9. George Bailey (It’s a Wonderful Life)


10. T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

 

All in all, it wasn’t that bad of a list (Of course, all of them were better than the best comedies list, since I’ve only seen about 4 of the “100 Greatest Comedies”). I’ve actually the majority of the movies featured in the top ten villain list (I’ve never seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Fatal Attraction¸ but I’ve seen all the rest in the top ten). However, I did have some qualms about it, as usual. For instance, I know a hero does not necessarily have to win his or her battle in order to be considered a “hero,” but by the time you hit the top ten, the hero probably should (It’s one of the qualities that, while not essential, is important). I seem to recall Atticus Finch losing his battle, at least in the famous courtroom scene. While I think he has every right to be on the list itself (He is a great character, especially in the movie), I don’t really think he should’ve been at number 1 (I don’t really have a particular favorite for #1 though, just someone who won their battle, I suppose). Also, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were not on the list at all. That’s just wrong. They even put Han Solo and Obi Wan Kenobi their. What makes them better? Anyways, I can’t wait to see what list they come up with next year.

 

Well, this weekend promises to be eventful. I’m going to my friend Correy’s wedding tomorrow. Correy’s the first of my friends to get married. She and Chad (her fiancé) are moving to Sydney, Ohio, where he works (He’s a CAD designer of some sort) and she’s going to student-teach, so I don’t know how often I’m going to see her after tomorrow. They’re going to Disney World for their honeymoon, which suits them perfectly. Correy is the eternal optimist (she loves Disney, Care Bears, and Blue’s Clues), and Chad seems to be a teddy bear, from what I can tell (I haven’t met him that often).  They seem to be made for each other, so I think they’ll have a happy marriage.

 

Well, that’s all for now. Bye!