It's Yuri's Night! Tonight, space enthusiasts the world over will kick off celebrations to commemorate 52 years of human space exploration by recognizing the anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic flight into space (not to mention the 32nd anniversary of the very first Shuttle launch).

Do you feel like having a once-every-thousand-year party? You only have a couple of years to set it up. Some of us will be planning 2015 Pi Parties — in some cases because we like math, and in other cases because we want an excuse to eat pie for breakfast. Let us know if you're going to be involved.

Since the dawn of humanity, our species has been assiduously researching ways to party hard. And every now and then, this impulse to rage like banshees unchained intersects seamlessly with our geekier proclivities. Behold six wonderful nerd soirées that were almost stranger than fiction.

In addition to the theme park Meridas and Mulans who roam Disneyland and Disney World, various companies hire out princesses for birthday parties and other children's events. So do those paid princesses get treated like royalty? Or does donning the dress and tiara make you feel more ready to play Ursula than Ariel?

Tonight is Yuri's Night! The night space enthusiasts around world celebrate 51 years of human space exploration by recognizing the anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic flight into space (as well as the 31st anniversary of the very first Shuttle launch).

Excited that next week's WorldCon in Montreal features such diverse guests as Neil Gaiman and Paul Krugman? And that it celebrates both Canadian and libertarian SF? WorldCon is offering "taster" memberships so you can see if the excitement holds up.