Wrybread's Cavalcade of Whimsy

 So as most of you are probably aware, I spent the better half of the last three months taking a long-delayed, long-saved for, possibly under-planned for trip to Europe. From start to finish, it was an overwhelming, unforgettable experiences with more little (mis) adventures and stories than I can count. I made it a point to keep a travel journal with the idea of compiling my rough notes into a day-by-day account of the trip here on LJ and Facebook. I can't recommend the idea of keeping a travel journal more strongly, by the way. If you're mostly traveling solo as I was they're a great way to keep from going bonkers if you have a few lonely days where most of the talking you do is with yourself, plus if nothing else all of the minor and major frustrations and inconveniences of travel (theft, travel delays, dodgy hostels, etc.) are that bit easier to endure if you can at least remind yourself that it'll make a good story one day. That being said, my idea of making these write-ups a day-by-day record of my trip has pretty much gone out the window. When you're traveling, some days have a lot packed into them, while others are pretty dull. No one really needs to know about every sheep I saw from a train window or every time I cooked pasta for myself in a hostel kitchen. With that in mind, I'm just going to pick out the highlights, really memorable/weird moments and characters, a few Top 5 lists (Museums, Cities, that sort of thing), and anything else I think my dozens and dozens of readers will find interesting. First, though, here's a brief overview of my trip: I flew into London on May 15^th and spent a few days there staying with some cousins. I then headed up to visit my mother's relatives near Cambridge, and then went further up north to stay with more relatives on the Scottish-English border near Berwick-on-Tweed, including a quick trip to Edinburgh From there, I took a ferry from Scotland over to Belfast, stayed there for a few days, then headed up to Northern Ireland's Antrim Coast, including the spectacular Giant's Causeway. I then headed down to (London) Derry, a very cool city with a troubled past. From there, I officially left the UK and took a bus to Dublin, where I had some very good experiences, including a Literary Pub Tour and an odd family reunion, but also had my wallet stolen. That would be one of those stories that'll be good to tell but was a pain at the time. I came through it okay though and then headed back up north to Yeats Country and then west to Doolin, the Cliffs of Insanity Moher, and the Aran Islands. I then headed back down to Dublin in time for Bloomsday, then took the Jonathan Swift fast ferry (yes, it's actually called that and even has a museum-style display on the writer inside) to my grandma's in North Wales. I stayed there and recuperated there for several days, making it my home away from home, then headed back down to London for a night, took the Eurostar to Paris and stayed there for several days (never long enough, of course), then south to Bordeaux, further south to Carcassone (yes, the place they based the board game on, lovely Medieval city filled with tourist shops), then back up north to Lyon to cross over into Italy the next day. After a trip through the Alps and much of Italy (including an hour in Milan before I decided I wasn't beautiful enough to stay there), I arrived in the Romeo and Juliet-obsessed city of Verona. I then followed a slightly skewed path around Italy, first heading south to Naples where I spent a good few days and took daytrips to Capri and Pompeii, and then all the way back up the country to Venice (expensive city even compared with the rest of Europe, and the hostel I stayed in was pretty crappy, none of which stopped me from falling madly in love with the city), then down to Florence, Pisa (the place with the Leaning Tower...and not that much else), then finally a few days in Rome before flying back to Vancouver. Doesn't seem like much when I type it out like that, but I could see myself blogging about it until at least the end of the year.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: Great Big Sea-Mari-Mac

Okay, so I haven't yet bothered to make any posts to this LJ regarding the upcoming Federal Election because, really, I don't care all that much.  None of the parties really seem to be courting my vote (it's all "working families" rather than "young single geeks with hopefully temporary retail jobs"), although I did get a phone call from a rather awkward volunteer from my Liberal candidate's campaign today.  When pressed for information about said candidate, all he could tell me-repeatedly and in the most stumbling manner possible-was that she'd been in Canada for "thirty-five, uh, no, twenty-five years."  He eventually 'fessed up that his computer had frozen and that was the only information he could get from his script.  I felt kind of sorry for him, but...c'mon, you're devoting your time to this candidate and all you can do is haltingly give me some vague biographical information to convince me to vote for her?  I wasn't too impressed.  Anyways, later on this evening I was clearing out my room, which consists of equal parts books, clothes, and crap.  I was trying to get rid of the latter to make room for more of the two former.  Mostly books.  As usual, the whole "clearing out my room" project lasted about five minutes before I got stuck into one of the books, a collection of poems by the criminally undderated and underappreciated Canadian poet Raymond Souster-read his Wikipedia page along with a few interesting links here-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Souster.  As fate would have it, I found a gem of a poem that seems appropriate to this or really any other election campaign (and there seem to be a lot of the damned things at the moment).  It's called "Good Dog Sam":

Good dog Sam
never plays favourites  
especially in election year,
spending equal wetting time
on the virginal posters
of both the virginal posters
of both the Liberal
and Progressive-Conservative
York-Humber candidates.
                                                       -Raymond Souster

I laughed my head off for about five minutes before it occured to me that Good dog Sam's most likely long dead by this point as the poem was written back in the Sixties or so, but if he was still around he'd have a few more candidates whose posters he would have to equitably urinate on; the Bloc Quebecois (in two official languages, of course, or perhaps they'd have their own Separatist pissing dog), the NDP, and maybe even the Greens, although it's debatable if they'd deserve equal wetting with the other candidates. 

And I also can't believe there used to be *Progressive* Conservatives, remember those days?     
      

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Animaniacs-Presidents Song

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

i_chaos_bringer

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Hit The Road Jack-Putumayo Round the World Version

....than anyone needed to know, but here's a Quiz yoinked from i_chaos_bringer:

Your result for The Kinkyness Test...

Pretty kinky!

Grats! You're 51% kinky!

Take The Kinkyness Test at HelloQuizzy

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: horny
Current Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers-My Friends

...On one of these silly epic memes.  Here goes...

( More than you ever needed to know about your Internet Friend Wrybread... )

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: peaceful
Current Music: Desolation Row-Bob Dylan

Your result for The Supervillain Archetype Test...

The Megalomaniac

Ambitious, Intelligent, Calculating

Take The Supervillain Archetype Test at HelloQuizzy

i_chaos_bringer

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: Star Wars-The Imperial March

...to the preview screening of Star Wars: Clone Wars tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 10am at Silvercity Metrotown. Yes, I know it's short notice considering that we'll need to get there by 9am, i_chaos_bringer just dumped an extra ticket in my lap tonight. Oh well, I'd hate to see it go to waste and this should be a good occasion (hey, it's a Star Wars Opening if nothing else, should be a lot of cool fans around), so let me know if any of you want the ticket ASAP.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: The Imperial March

Yoinked from i_chaos_bringer

Your result for The Marvel or DC Test...

Marvel Universe

Take The Marvel or DC Test at HelloQuizzy

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: WrestleCrap Radio Podcast

I was expecting a better result on this quiz, none of the questions were all that hard and there weren't any I thought I'd missed. Maybe I overthought some of the obvious "True/False" questions, like the one about the Earth's core being really hot.

Your result for The Public Understanding of Scientific Terms and Concepts Test...

77% Understanding!

Take The Public Understanding of Scientific Terms and Concepts Test at HelloQuizzy

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: drained
Current Music: Screamin' Jay Hawkins-Frenzy

 http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/80733

No surprise there as far as I'm concerned, given the standard summer blockbuster hype combined with the mix of morbidity and sentimentality surrounding Heath Ledger's final performance.  Luckily, I saw the movie Friday night and am pleased to report that the movie more than lives up to its' hype.  Go see it now.  And then consider seeing it again.  I'm usually cynical about posthumous accolades as they tend to come more from pity and/or nostalgia than they do from any genuinely impressive performance, but Ledger was bloody amazing, with an emphasis on the "bloody."  He hammed it up to just the right amount to remain true to the character, while for the most part keeping the character based in a twitchy, nihilistic, frankly scary reality.  An Oscar nomination would not be amiss.  Speaking of scary and realistic, how about that Two-Face?  Thank God someone's done one of my favourite villains ever justice on film and erased all memories of that pathetic Tommy Lee Jones abortion from Batman Forever (Jones should have been great, and he would have been if the script hadn't made the usually tortured character into a two-obsessed Joker Lite). I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the hype around the newer, scarier Joker makeup did a good job of making sure that the much scarier Two-Face makeup didn't get leaked out.  That's Grade-A Nightmare Fuel right there.  

Current Location: wrybread HQ
Current Mood: drained
Current Music: Bedlam Bards-Bear Dance

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.
5) Cross off the books you hated.

Well, supposedly the average adult has read 6 of these books, and I shudder to think of how many of those would include The Lovely Bones, The DaVinci Code, 5 People You Meet in Heaven, Harry Potter, and Bridget Jones.  I'm at 24.  Good to have my claim to being well-read confirmed memetically!  Yoinked from

thewatch

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Lily the Pink-Brobdingnagian Bards

Thanks to i_chaos_bringer for this one, time for me to be opinionated.

The Controversial Quiz

1 - Do you have the guts to answer these Q's and repost as The Controversial Survey?

Yes.

2 - Would you do meth if it was legalized?

No, I don't like to mess myself up on anything besides booze from time to time, weed once in a blue moon, and 'shrooms one time at Wreck Beach after a Final Exam a few years ago.

3 - Abortion: for or against?

For. Unless they're truly ready for it financially and emotionally after having given it a great deal of thought, people should hold off on having children. Frankly, I think if anything more people should choose abortion or at the very least adoption.

4 - A 2 month old child and a 65 year old man who has the cure for cancer but hasn't had a chance to announce it yet, one of them has to die...who should survive?

The 65-year old man. A shame about the baby, but the cure for cancer would save thousands of people of all ages. Utilitarianism-the idea that what is right is doing the thing that will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people-works 99% of the time.

5 - Would our country fall with a woman president?

Well, yes. If my country-Canada-had a woman president, it would mean we'd finally been invaded and annexed by the Americans. As for a woman Prime Minister/Leader, though, Canada briefly had one (and we technically do have a female Head of State as well of course) and things puttered along as well or ill as ever. I can't stand some feminist types who insist that the world would be perfect if women ran the world-since the type of person who makes it big in politics seems to be the same type regardless of gender, and no one's perfect-but it's equally silly to suggest that women can't lead.

6 - Do you believe in the death penalty?

No, too Old Testament for my liking.

7 - Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?

I'm apathetic, I suppose if it was more readily available I'd smoke it more, but whether or not that would be a good thing is open to debate.

8 - Are you for or against premarital sex?

For!

9 - Do you believe in God?

No. Nor do I really care to find out whether or not He/She/It exists, and it wouldn't change my view of the universe and/or any of my actions in life if I knew for sure.

10 - Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?

Yes. See #9. Honestly, there's no good argument against it, especially considering how messed up many (most?) hetero marriages are. I do feel, however, that no religious leader should be forced to perform a same sex marriage against his/her will.

11 - Do you think its wrong that so many Hispanics are moving to the USA?

Considering the way the American economy's going, I question whether or not it's a good idea! Although I've noticed more Mexicans around Vancouver lately, doing Construction work and the like...perhaps they're the next wave of immigration up here?

12 - A 13 year old girl has a baby...should she keep it?

Honestly, considering most 13-year old girls I've known, no. One of the "A" words is the best option.

13 - I guess the questioner has a thing about the number 13...

14 - Should the war in Iraq be called off?

Yes, I don't pretend to be the one who should be calling the shots on that extremely complicated and volatile situation, but if I was, I'd say get the US out of there, send in a multinational UN peacekeeping force to rebuild as best they can.

15 - Assisted suicide is illegal...do you agree?

I think that 9 times out of 10 life is worth living despite the pain, it beats the alternative, but in those situations like a debilitating terminal illness (ALS, say, or worse still something mental like Alzheimer's or Dementia) or a coma from which the patient has no chance of emerging, I think that it should at least be decriminalized so that no one's punished by the law for taking what they think is the best course of action.

16 - Do you believe in spanking your children?

I don´t actually plan on having children, but in general, no, I don't believe in corporal punishment. There are better ways of making it clear to a child that they've done something they shouldn't have without harming them.

17 - Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?

Yes. I'd burn a Canadian flag too. Hell, I'd burn a-well, you probably don't want to know how far I'd for a million dollars, that's a hell of a lot of money. As long as my health/dignity wasn't overly compromised...

18 - A mother is declared innocent after murdering her 5 children in a temporary insanity case...what do you think?

Having 5 kids is insane to begin with. More generally, I think it would be better if instead of "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity", people were declared "Guilty but Insane." It would take away the sense of being absolved for the actions they committed while still acknowledging that they weren't in their right minds at the time of their offence.

19 - It's between you and a person who is being kept alive by life support machines..one has to die who?

The other guy. What, I like being alive. I'm sure I'll feel different as I get older though.

20 - Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?

No. Everyone who reads this LJ's my friend, and since I don't judge my friends for their actions and beliefs, I don't expect them to judge mine. And if they're not my friend, then what do I care what they think of me?

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: The Real McKenzies-McPherson's Rant

Apparently a couple of clips from the upcoming Batman movie Dark Knight have just been leaked on Youtube today, they'll probably be taken down soon so I recommend seeing them while you can!  Seeing these have made me even more excited about this movie as it looks like they're taking the character to some deep, dark, unexpected places.  They're finally doing Batman right with this series.  I don't know how many people know about these clips, so this footage is pretty exclusive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRp45EmzCSk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0UJaprpxrk&feature=related

Man...July 18 just cannot come fast enough. 

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: hyper
Current Music: Johnny Cash-The Highwayman

I've already posted Bard on the Beach to my Facebook, so I think pretty much everyone on my LJ's already been invited to join me this year, but in case you missed it it looks like a great lineup this year, from King Lear, Shakespeare's Greatest Tragedy, to Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's Greatest Cross-Dressing Mistaken Identity Comedy.  It goes until September, but I'd like to see all four plays if possible, so I was thinking of spacing them out a bit over the summer rather than doing my standard "wait until August/September and then run around seeing them all in under two weeks" routine.  Let me know ASAP if you're in.  Also,

keirandyl

Great theatre, a chill job that I enjoy, the possibility of saving up money to go traveling/move out in the Fall...this summer should be pretty sweet.   

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: Richard Thompson-When I Get To The Border

Yoinked From i_chaos_bringer


According to a LibraryThing survey, these 106 works are the ones most often marked as “unread”, That is, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded.

Bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones read solely as a curriculum requirement, italicize the ones you started, but didn’t finish.

Final touch: denote (*) the ones you liked, and would (or did) read again or recommend. Even if you did read them for school in the first place.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: The Dubliners-Four Green Fields

...Yoinked from i_chaos_bringer, who yoinked it from a friend of his named interrobang, who yoinked it from a friend of theirs named hamsterwoman. I bring all of this up only because I think "hamsterwoman" is an awesome name. If years of Weird Al fandom have taught me anything, it's that Hamsters-like Monkeys, Penguins, and Cows-are always funny.


1. The phone rings, who do you want it to be?
Hmm. Let's go with an insanely beautiful woman with lots of money. Or failing that any one of my friends.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
Yeah, usually.

3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed, would you?
Meh. I could take or leave.

4. Do you take compliments well?
Sometimes. I could stand to take them in and value them a bit more though.

5. Do you play Sudoku?
Give me a crossword puzzle instead, especially one of those crazy Cryptic literary ones. Tougher *and* more interesting than Sudoku.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness would you survive?
Depends on how Wilderness-y. If it was somewhere *reasonably* close to civilization like Vancouver Island or Whistler I'd stand a chance. If it was *way* out in the Yukon or something I'd be pretty fucked.

7. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you would save?
Me! Seriously, I'd make sure I was out of any serious danger, then go back for anyone else who was at home, the cats, the computer, TV, books, my player piano, etc.

8. Who do you text the most?
I'm still a hold-out in terms of getting a cellphone, so no one. Instant Messaging probably my friend K.

9. Favorite children's book?
Tied between Winnie-the-Pooh and The Chronicles of Prydain.

10. Eye colour?
Blue.

11. How tall are you?
5'11

12. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you?
Maybe if I could start over from a certain point, say from the age of 9-10 or even just a few years ago. I wouldn't see the point in going back to the *very* beginning though. Oh, and only if I could keep all of my memories/knowledge from this time around, or else what would be the chances of doing things differently this time around?

13. Any secret admirers?
If I do have any, they're doing a very good job.

14. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?
Never been to one, actually.

15. Favorite ex?
KNN. Always something special about your first GF, even after they've gone from first GF to first ex.

16. Where was the furthest place you traveled?
Vancouver to Manchester, England-4562 Miles according to Wikianswers.

17. Do you like mustard?
Love it! Spicier=better!!

18. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
Eat, because I'm awake to enjoy that.

19. Do you miss anyone?
Not too badly, pretty much everyone I know is at my fingertips contact-wise.

20. Can you do splits?
Not so much. Maybe after a few more years of stretching and fencing, but don't count on it.

21. What movie do you want to see right now?
It's close between X-Files 2 and Dark Knight.

22. What did you do for New Year's Eve?
Worked, went home, had a couple of drinks then hit the hay. I was tired.

23. Do you think The Grudge was crappy?
Watched part of it on TV once, wasn't too impressed, so yes. The more SMG struggles against being typecast in horror movies, the more it sticks.

24. Do you own a camera phone?
Nope.

25. Was your mom a cheerleader?
Doubt it! For one thing, they don't really have them in England, plus near as I can tell she was more or less a female version as a kid and therefore probably not the cheerleading type.

26. What's the last letter of your middle name?
"H"

27. Are you Hispanic?
I sure am, Mang! Latinos Forever! Yeh Yeh! No, not really, I'm as white as they come.

29. Do you like Care Bears?
I liked Grumpy Bear, he was pretty cool. And what was the deal with the Care Bear Cousins anyway? They were, what, an Elephant, a Lion, and a Lamb or something? And they were all the "Cousins" of a bunch of irritatingly sweet bears?

30. What do you buy at the movies?
Occasionlly, movie Nachos with that viscuous molten cheese stuff. MMM, viscuous molten cheese stuff...*drools*

31. Do you know how to play poker?
Not too well, I know the basics but would be pressed to play in a really competitive game.

32. Do you wear your seatbelt?
Sometimes.

33. Anything big ever happen in your city?
Expo 86, X-Files, Stargate, BSG, Most of My Life (which is pretty damned important to me), and I think there's going to some sort of Games held here in a little while.

34. Is your hair straight or curly?
Straight.

35. Are your ears pierced?
No

36. Do you like liver and onions?
I like onions...with pretty much anything EXCEPT liver. Just last year I tried liver, thinking that after all this time had passed and I was now an adult I wouldn't mind it, and...still tastes as disgusting as ever.

37. Do you like funny or serious people better?
Funny. People without a sense of humour annoy me to no end.

38. Ever been to L.A.?
Yep, trip to Disneyland as a kid.

39. Who is on your mind right now?
A swack of fictional characters, as usual.

40. Any plans for tonight?
Sleep sounds good.

41. What’s your favorite song at the moment?
"Iron Man" by Black Sabbath thanks to its' badass appearance in the trailer for the movie Iron Man, combined with the fact that I love that song anyway. Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh, Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh...

42. Do you hate chocolate?
Of course not.

43. What do you and your parents fight about the most?
Space and chores, for the most part.

44. Do you need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy?
Absolutely Not.

45. How do you feel about your most current ex?
Meh, I hope we both find what we were looking for and didn't find with each other.

46. Easy to get along with?
Depends.

47. What is your favorite time of day?
Mid-to-Late Morning, once I'm already up but there's still a lot of potential day left.

48. Are you generally a happy person?
Sometimes. Not really, but maybe I have grandiose ideas of what happiness is.

49. What’s your favorite card game?
52-Pickup

50. What book are you reading right now?
I'm congenitally incapable of reading just one book at once, so currently it's Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold after years of people nagging me to try her stuff, Ghost Story by Peter Straub, and Shakespeare: The World as Stage, a bio by Bill Bryson.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: dorky
Current Music: Monty Python-Bruces Philosopher Song

And by "New" I mean "One Which I've Been Doing For Several Months But Haven't Blogged Abuot Because I've Neglected My LJ." Anyways, for the past few months I've been studying Western Martial Arts, ie Fencing With the Rapier & Longsword, Grappling/Wrestling, and Quarterstaff (cool weapons, but really bloody heavy) at Academie Duello: http://www.academieduello.com/

I'd been putting off trying a Martial Art for years, and I'm sorry that I waited for so long at this point! Then a while ago my gaming buddy TR, who's been training at the Academie for years, just randomly asked a bunch of us one night if any of us were interested in giving it a try, and I was the only one crazy/curious enough to say "why not?" It's been a really good experience thus far. Painful at times-our warm-up's pretty hardcore (Burpies, anyone? Don't ask.), swords are heavy and getting poked with one in the ribs while sparring isn't fun, plus there's a lot of crazy body movement/stretching involved-but fun in a "I've worked myself hard" sort of way. On a day-to-day basis, it's making me a lot more aware of and in tune with my body-especially my footwork, as well as improving my strength, flexibility, and fitness. It's improved my general confidence too, I think more than anything because I've stuck with something that doesn't come naturally to me.

Mostly, though, swords are just cool. It doesn't matter how much of a Nerdlinger you are in your everyday life, swing a sword around for a bit and you'll feel badass. Had a good Longsword cutting class today from which I'm aching (think I might have rolled an ankle), but it's great to feel my cuts getting more fluid and better-formed. Good times, good times.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: sore
Current Music: Smash Mouth-All Star

i_chaos_bringer just bailed on me to go to a sneak preview of Ruins tonight at the Scotiabank/Paramount Theatre. Before going home for some much-needed rest, however, he passed his ticket along to me, so if anyone wants a free pass to see this interesting-looking movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963794/ for info), e-mail me (newton.brendan@gmail.com) ASAP!!! I don't mind going solo to movies and the like-in fact I love it-but it would be cool to have some company, especially given that it's a *free* preview. The price is right!

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: quixotic
Current Music: Hard-Loving Loser-Richard and Mimi Farina

Thanks to i_chaos_bringer for this one:

The rules are: The people who have been tagged should post their answers and replace any question they dislike with another question they made up all by their little selves. Tag people. If tagged, don't feel you actually have to do the meme. But if you do, state who you were tagged by, and you cannot tag the person who tagged you. And, of course, change the fandom question to "fandom of your choice".

You just died. What happened?
I forgot to duck.

What is your most guilty pleasure?
Pro Wrestling, especially if Midgets and/or Women are involved. *Misses Trish Stratus and Super Porky*

What was your favourite childhood cartoon?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

What goes on your hotdog?
EVERYTHING with extra onions, sauerkraut, hot peppers, pickles, and cheese. Yeah, I like cheese on hot dogs. I have even been known to forego the weiner entirely and just slather a lot of ketchup onto a cheese sandwich. Good eatin'.

What was the last movie you saw for pleasure and would you recommend it?
10,000 BC, and it's definitely worth a rental to watch in the comfort of your own home whilst adding your own smartass remarks. Just check your brain at the door and have fun. DO NOT EAT ME!!!!

On balance, are you happy with your life as it is, would you change it a little, or would you change it a lot?
Not too happy at the moment. Changing it a lot by changing it a little at a time.

What’s the one possession you used to have, but don’t any more and wish you did? What happened to it?
My original, black-and-white Game Boy. I might still have it somewhere, but I don't think it works anymore. I sure could go for some Super Mario Land right now...

You (as you are now, not a fictionalized you or fictionalized a bit, if you like) are a guest character in an episode of Heroes. What’s your role?
An amazing new character whose special genetic powers involve the ability to memorize and recite episodes of The Simpsons.

Name one person for whom you’d definitely take a bullet, and one for whom you definitely wouldn’t.
Would take: My great-grandfather, assuming it was that thing where someone had traveled back in time and was going to kill him so that I wouldn't exist. Of course, then I'd be stuck in a time loop where I constantly died going back in time to make sure that I existed at all...*head explodes*

Wouldn't: Pretty much anyone else, unless I was assured of surviving and being richly rewarded. What? I'm not that altruistic.

Worst case scenario?
Nothing but pain and boredom for the next however-many years.

What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Tossup between getting my shit more together academically and socially/personally during the last two years of high school after a rough few years before that, and having lost a fair amount of weight and gotten in better physical shape than I've ever been in during the last two years.

What’s your greatest frustration?
Frustration itself. That and Fear.

For you only, not as a broad political statement: life imprisonment or death sentence?
Life Imprisonment. Better than no life at all, and the mind can always achieve some level of freedom.

Jury duty. Ever done it? What was it like? Wanna do it? Thoughts at all?
Nope, wouldn't mind trying it sometime. I certainly don't understand why some people get so bent out of shape about having to do it.

You've discovered you've been drafted into military service (to a country to which you hold a citizenship). What do you do?
Use the training to get in really good physical shape and toughen up, be sure to learn as many ways to kill a man as possible (you'd be surprised how often it comes up in conversation, really you would...), be sure to get at least one book out of the experience. Either that or try to convince them that my contributions on the home front are more valuable ("if someone doesn't have all 300+ Simpsons episodes memorized, then the terrorists have won damnit!")

Which fictional character could you see yourself marrying?
Let's go with Princess Eilonwy from the Prydain Chronicles.

Describe the flag of your personal utopia.
A Book sitting next to a bottle of good Beer.

Do you have a motto? If yes which one?
It changes constantly, usually with whatever wise saying I've heard most recently. Here are a couple of good ones I just read on a friend's Facebook Profile:

"Always remember others may hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself," Richard Nixon. I'm as shocked as you are by the source of that quote. Now if he'd just taped himself saying *that*...

"I feel sorry for people who do not drink. When they wake up in the morning it is as good as they are going to feel all day," Frank Sinatra.

What's in your pocket right now? Conversely, if you have no pocket, what are the three items closest to your right hand, excluding computer hardware?
A CD, a random book, and the DVD-ROM containing the entirety of WrestleCrap.com on it.

What place(s) most speaks to you?
Any place where there's water.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: The Beatles-Eleanor Rigby

Also ganked from the good people at usagivindaloo. This one really appeals to me somehow, partially because of the whole wacky randomness factor ("they'll play THAT at my funeral?") but also because I love the opportunity to show off the typically eclectic playlist I've accumulated over the years, something that's so integral a part of my use of this computer but that I rarely get to share with the outside world, ie my Friends List.

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. No cheating!

opening credits: Doug Kershaw-Jambalaya (Sweet!)
waking up: Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans-Roughest Neck Around
first day at school: The Beatles-Happiness is a Warm Gun
falling in love: The Oyster Band-Star of the County Down
breaking up: Weezer-My Name is Jonas (Well, if she keeps calling me "Jonas")
prom: The Dubliners-Whiskey in the Jar (Hmm...so I'd rob a cop on the way there, then my prom date would turn me in for the reward? That would have been a lot crazier than my actual prom was)
life's okay: The Beatles-Julia
college: The Chieftains-The Squid Jiggin' Ground (Well, I probably could find a pretentious English major way to connect this song back to College life...)
mental breakdown: Rock the Casbah-The Clash (So my mental breakdown will involve a Sheik trying to outlaw Rock n' Roll...?)
career: Loreena McKennit-La Serenissima (So my career will take me to Venice? Or maybe just involve me watching Serenity a lot.)
flashback: Warren Zevon-Things to do in Denver When You're Dead (Some sort of weird past-life thing?)
final battle: Jimi Hendrix-Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (It's not so much the song as the part where I actually get to have a final battle that's awesome. A final motherfrackin' battle! Unless it's something lame like a "brave battle with cancer" or something that you read about in obituaries)
death scene: The Beastie Boys-Intergalactic (So I'll be dancing around in a giant robot when my time comes? Cool.)
funeral song: Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah
end credits: (Oh lord) Weird Al Yankovic-Canadian Idiot (C'mon, that's a bit too harsh. Canadian Guy Who's a Little Slow in a Few Areas, Mostly Math and Spatial Relations, maybe.)
bonus track: Star Wars-Imperial March (Best. Bonus Track. Ever.)

Oh man...I'm really tempted to write this all out as a script.

Current Location: Wrybread HQ
Current Mood: nerdy
Current Music: The Last Saskatchewan Pirate-Arrogant Worms