Early congratulations to James Dinan and Susanne Akin on their wedding this weekend. I met James through quizbowl, and it was a pleasure to work with him in TRASH for eight years. Unfortunately the blessed event fell on a weekend when we'd already accepted a wedding invite. So 24 hours from now we should be arriving in Vegas to attend the wedding of Scott and JC.

If you're going to neither event, may I suggest the film Brick, which opens this weekend in apparently-wide release. It's a teen murder mystery done in deadpan-noir style. This is a conceit which sounds fraught, but holds up remarkably well. It was one of the best things I saw at last year's film festival. And with people flocking to Basic Instinct 2, you should have no trouble finding a row all to yourself.

The The Indie/Alt/College Tournament of Songs is now underway, and will be for several months, if past tourneys are any indication. Vote and argue here.

It's the music video, I tell you
Behold the power of Cheeze! Annette Norberg and Team Sweden have back-to-back world championships, with an Olympic gold sandwiched between. The team they beat was...Team USA, which came very close to knocking them off.
So in the Worlds since 2003 the US women have come in 1st, 4th, 2nd, 2nd. But unfortunately most people will only know about the big Olympic collapse until given a shot at redemption in Vancouver. Anyway, ESPN 2 is showing a highlight package on April 2, from 2-4 PM ET. Check it out. I'd threaten to not be your friend any more if you don't, but I'll miss it myself.

3-Chord Monday #13
It wouldn't be right to finish Women's History Month without featuring The Runaways. The Donnas lifted their shtick pretty much wholesale. Lead singer Cherrie Currie starred in Foxes with Jodie Foster, while their guitarists went on to bigger things -- perhaps you've heard of Lita Ford and Joan Jett. Finally, the Runaways missed the cut in the indie rock tournament Leah and I are launching, so here's their consolation prize.
The Runaways - Cherry Bomb

The meme is: "Recount a one-line anecdote for each state you have visited [and then demand that others do the same]."

AK - Incurred bar bills that took me six months to pay off
AL - Dined at Steak and Shake with a Div. III softball team
CA - Got outbid on an authentic Sleestak costume
CT - Made first-ever paid sports roadtrip
DC - Squeezed a statue of a small hippopotamus for luck
DE - Paid exorbitant auto tolls
FL - Went out of way to see Perky Bat Tower on honeymoon (this is not a double entendre)
GA - Completed corporate training with coworker who had taken an average of one roll of film for each day of her toddler's life
IA - Went to Japanese-American cousin's wedding at a civic center named for the 5 Sullivan Brothers, killed when a Japanese torpedo sunk their ship
IL - Got groceries last night
IN - Broke down outside of Gary at 1 a.m. with all my wordly possessions and my mom in tow.
KS - May have crossed border during TRASH trip to UMKC
KY - Bought gas on drive to Florida
MA - Finding rare LPs by Twin Cities artists becomes major factor in college choice
MD - Attended CFL playoff game; next day won first trash tournament
ME - Drove to Portland to see REM's Green tour
MI - Created Hobey Baker promo material involving Bryan Smolinski, a hockey stick, and lighter fluid
MN - Went to six high-school proms in 4-year span
MO - Wondered why a McDonald's in the shadow of the one thing in STL you're supposed to see would not carry the Arch Deluxe
NC - Went from one Charlotte airport concourse to another
NH - Played cricket with one of Cooch's eventual ex-bosses
NJ - Had Cuban Thanksgiving with a crazy girlfriend's family
NV - Discovered admission fee to Liberace Museum is not only worthwhile, but is a tax-deductible charitable contribution
NY - Visited NYC during Carrie: The Musical's preview run; still kicking self for not going
OH - Observed the dumpy little hockey rink the Buckeyes used to play in, in the shadow of St. John's Arena
PA - Ate at Morimoto; later observed an 8-foot colon (not mine)
RI - Visited h.s. friend at Brown; 8 years later she has key supporting role in Fargo
TN - Sham sports attended here include women's football, NHL expansion hockey, and quizbowl.
TX - Saw unreleasable rough cut of film starring Gary Oldman as the midget brother of Matthew McConaughey
VT - Consumed no maple syrup or Ben & Jerry's, listened to no Phish
VA - Won a trash event at UVA I remember nothing about
WA - Had bleary layover after staying up all night in Anchorage
WI - Met a team with the greatest logo in all of sport

For those who can't get enough curling information, the women's world championship (annual, even in Olympic years) is going on right now. The US team is skipped by Debbie McCormick, and is 3/4 of the 2003 world championship team. They're 10-1 in pool play, and will play Sweden (also 10-1; beat the US) in Page playoffs today at either 3 or 9:30 PM. Team Sweden is Annette Norberg's rink, which is the defending world and Olympic champion. You should be able to follow the action here.

(Page playoffs: 1 v. 2, 3 v. 4, but the loser of 1-2 bumps down to play the winner of 3-4. The winner of 1-2 advances to the final. )

3-Chord Monday #12
Time for my favorite active band. I'm not sure this is my favorite of their songs, but when this comes on in the car I typically listen to half of it, then turn it waaay up and hit rewind three or four times. They still don't make Lollapalooza worth it, though...
Sleater-Kinney - "Start Together"