Notes from the weekend:

The hockey - I did not get to witness BU's capture of the regular season Hockey East title, as I was in Maine with the wife for my mother-in-law's birthday. Rather, I got to watch Maine-UMass on TV, which was not the most entertaining affair. Maine took a quick 2-0 lead (actually caught that on the radio going back from dinner), built on it, but let UMass hang around enough to result in a 5-3 win for the Black Bears.

I worry about UMass as a first-round HE playoff opponent, given that they are the sort of team that can beat anyone. I just hope they can't beat anyone twice on the road in the same weekend. I also worry about getting the New Hampshire-Providence winner in the semis (assuming we win and there are no other upsets), as both teams have played well against us this season. But that's another possible worry for another week.

The being away was nice, though I am looking forward to the coming weekend where I don't have to leave the state.

The Oscars were fine, outside of the decision to play music behind the winners from the start - it made things feel rushed from the get-go. Not seeing any of the nominated films I had no stake in anything, but was still surprised by Crash taking the best picture award. I'd have preferred a little more surprise among the acting winners - Felicity Huffman gets discombobulated when she wins, so her speech would have been very entertaining.

Jon Stewart gets my vote for a return engagement. Then again, I also liked Chris Rock and David Letterman.

In other news...

Lentorama 2006 Saint of the Day: St. Marcian

One of seven Sts. Marcian, today's Marcian was the bishop of Tortona for 45 years. Then he was crucified. You think a gold watch would have sufficed.

It also appears that he may be the same guy as St. Marcian of Ravenna. I'd like to think someone would notice if the same guy was the bishop of two different cities, but if holding the job led to crucifixion I suppose I'd lay pretty low, too.