It's still windy out, which prevented us from going out to the lake, so instead we did some maintenance around the field station.  This involved cleaning the boat, setting up a water distiller, calibrating the ceptometer (which measures light intensity), untangling buoys, and cleaning out the back of the car.  Also I got my first lesson driving a manual car.  I only stalled about 5 times in the 100 ft from the station to the barn.  And, rumor has it that our bags are on their way here from Akureyri and should be arriving any minute now, although I've lost my faith in the reliability of luggage transport.

BUT the really important thing is EUROVISION FINALS TONIGHT

Eurovision is one of those things that is either really great or really bad and you can't tell which.  If you haven't heard of it before, Eurovision is sort of like American Idol - each country submits a group and they compete for the best pop song.  The TV audience votes for their favorites, but voting for your own country isn't allowed.  The contest is for best song, not best group, so the same songs are sung every single night.  Quality varies, though.  Also, the vast majority of entries would be considered ridiculous in America.  We've hypothesized that Eurovision songs must contain a certain number of the following items:

- Pyrotechnics
- Fans
- Mist machines
- Nonsensical lyrics
- Oddly costumed backup dancers
- 360 degree camera pans
- Maintaining eye contact with the camera throughout its 360 degree pan

The local pizza place, Dadi's Pizza, is having a Eurovision special tonight that we plan on taking advantage of.  We're having a little tournament March Madness style and have all made our best guesses at the outcome.  I'm not entirely sure how the winner will be declared but somehow there are candy bar wagers involved (Saturday is half price candy day, which they actively try to keep secret from the tourists). Here's my picks:

1. France
2. Ukraine
3. Sweden
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. Russia
7. Iceland
8. Malta
9. Estonia
10. United Kingdom
11. Cyprus
12. Germany
13. Romania
14. Norway
15. Azerbaijan
16. Denmark
17. Macedonia
18. Estonia
19. Moldova
20. Hungary
21. Lithuania
22. Ireland
23. Bosnia and Herzegovinia
24. Greece
25. Albania
26. Serbia

Not that I really have any idea how this works.  Based on the semi finals, it seems like Europe has different taste in music than I do.  Our group's favorites are Sweden, Ukraine, and Russia.   I've embedded the videos below for your viewing pleasure.  Make sure you get at least a minute into the Russian one for the full effect.