Appalachia

          Today, Kappa Kappa Psi fulfilled a longstanding dream of Jared's and mine: an instrument cleaning party. I cleaned out my trumpet for the first time and feel very satisfied with it current state, though there was one valve that I was helpless to remove. I proceeded to Shillman for another rehearsal with Peter. Everyone involved is friendly and relaxed, so it's going smoothly enough. In the evening, I was picked up by Jules and her friend Katelyn, a West Virginian and student at Wellesley. We were off to Portland to see Neutral Milk Hotel and build up some hipster cred! After a brief search for someplace to eat, we settled on Thai food and chatted about social issues in WV and political activism.
          Not long after we settled into mezzanine seats at the State Theatre, we were "treated" to the most horrible opening act imaginable: the Dot Wiggin Band, formerly known as the Shaggs. This is an ensemble whose music has been described as "gimmicky," "uncanny," and "hauntingly bad." Formed by three young sisters in the 1960s after their father thought their stardom was prophesied(!), this is a new lineup with the same ear-scarring "outsider music". Their lyricism and musicianship was nil; at least they exhibited a merry stage presence. When Jeff Mangum took the stage for Neutral Milk Hotel, even his keening voice came as a relief. He was soon joined by the rest of the band, who were on fire throughout the show. Mangum and company played the shit out of some of my favorite NMH tunes: "King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1", "Naomi", and "Two Headed Boy" as a matter of course. We returned to Jules's apartment tired but happy, and relaxed thenceforth.

Playoff section:
East
MTL v. OTT: 2 - 0
TBL v. DET: 1 - 1
NYR v. PIT: 1 - 1          Ugly. 4-3 Penguins. I predicted five games in the series, let's see if I'm right.
WSH v. NYI: 1 - 1
West
STL v. MIN: 1 - 1         Tarasenko hat trick... ugh.
NSH v. CHI: 1 - 1
ANA v. WPG: 2 - 0
VAN v. CGY: 1 -1