ONCE MORE, INTO THE BREACH: Predictions for tonight's Sweet 16 matchups, via the exclusive MascotMatcher protocol:

EXIT 16-W REGION:

Pittsburgh Panthers v. Oklahoma State Cowboys: Wild cats can't outrun men on horses with lassoes. Tie 'em up and brand 'em.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons v. St. Joseph's Hawks: It may be the devil, it may be the lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody, and the double-D's from the woods are waffling like Arlen Specter on a pro-labor regulation. The Hawks won't die tonight.

CHARLES BARKLEY IS A TRAITOR REGION

Vanderbilt Commodores v. Connecticut Huskies: My first computer was a Commodore VIC-20, and it, too, couldn't handle color. Cornelius's offspring will not find an amiga in this matchup, and the Commodores' 64 hopes will end against the beefy nutmeggers. Game over.

Alabama Crimson Tide v. Syracuse Orangemen: In this colorful matchup, the missing tint is Melo's Yelo. We got it wrong last year but we're sure this time: like their Dutch namesakes, the Orangemen will stumble about helplessly against the furious red wave, and collapse like a bunch of stoned Eurotrash in wooden shoes. Sweet home Alabama, play that dead team's song.

Will our remarkable prediction streak continue? Wait and see.

WE WILL WADE IN THE TIDES OF THE SUMMER: This summer, in fact. I'm psyched. Others are psyched. (Like Wil, who gets a cheap link for using a lyric as the title of every post for three days.) And here are a few opportunities to get psyched yourself:

"In April, The Pixies will kick-off an 11-city 'warm up' tour of North America"
- Official Site

"They wrote the book on alternative."
- Pitchforkmedia

"major stars for those who no longer believe in R.E.M"
- TrouserPress

"If all goes as planned, the triumphant return of one of the most influential rock bands of the late '80s might also be followed by a new studio album"
- MTV / VH1 / Viacom (Gil Kaufman)

"expanded their reunion to include an expansive 35 dates, up from their originally scheduled 11-date itinerary"
- Pitchforkmediagain

"It only took 3 minutes for an accidentally leaked 'secret' Pixies show to be sold out."
- Dave, on Frank's Site (dates there too)

"Great googly moogly am I ever psyched! . . .is that hyphenated? The google/moogle thing, I mean. . . .yeah? Crap. Hey, what's the html for indentation? You know, like for block quotes? . . . What? . . . Who're you callin' lazy?"
- Phil Throckmorton, on Adam's Site

"'Death To The Pixies' is already available from all good record stores, but the label are keen to cash in on the band's reunion tour this year."
- Some dude on the new upcoming best of and DVD. (Actually, 'Death To The Pixies' is now conveniently out of print, out of stock, and selling used on Amazon for $70. Pretty sneaky, Sis.)

But here's a site that will console you with some great links to interviews and guitar tabs. And why not some snaps, too?

Speaking of snaps -- but, you know, the art-type instead of vacation-type -- here's the guy who did a lot of their cover art, Simon Larbalestier. He seems a good fellow and will even sell you prints of the 4AD stuff if you go to Sales from the main page of his site.

Okay. That's it. I've got nothing. Still psyched though.

EVERYONE'S A CRITIC. Or at least they are once they've been trapped on an overseas flight with Direct TV.

"On Virgin Atlantic, none of the passengers would notice the hijacking. We'd all be sitting there paralyzed and transfixed by the screen. There's something very Brave New World about walking back to the bathroom and looking out over a copse of people sitting bolt upright in their little stations, dull-eyed, slack-jawed, and bathed in a blue glow."

Five quickie movie reviews follow, including

"Gothika: I've been to a woman's prison. And I guarantee there's no prison shrink that looks like Halle Berry, and no inmates that look like Penelope Cruz. File these casting choices with Denise Richards as "Christmas Jones," nuclear physicist."

So peep Cousin Gene, before he gets back to talking about proletarian revolution and the doctrinally correct trajectory of Telemachus' sneeze and all that.

PUBLIC RADIO FIXES THING THAT IS NOT BROKEN; SUSAN STAMBERG REPORTS: NPR, for no apparent reason other than that it feels like it's time, is firing -- er, reassigning -- longtime Morning Edition host Bob Edwards. Edwards has been hosting Morning Edition -- NPR's ratings leader for years -- since its inception a quarter-century ago. His deep voice is incomparable and his good nature always in danger of bubbling to the surface. If one were inclined to accuse NPR of bias, I imagine that Edwards would at least not be anywhere near the top of the list of NPR offenders (though as a future commentator, instead of a news host, he may be ready to climb). This is one of those baffling decisions that makes one wonder how NPR would be run if it were a profit-generating enterprise.

"HERE, STAY. HERE, STAY." I may not need to recap American Idol 3, or even watch it, if Daniel Fienberg's recaps remain as good as last night's.

Via Sawyer's World.

FROM THE HOME OFFICE: Unmade sequels to Tom Hanks movies:

Bigger
You've Got More Mail
The Man With Another Red Shoe
Forrest Gump 2: Even Gumpier
Splashed
The Road Back From Perdition
Apollo 14
Cast Further Away
Catch Me Again If You Still Can
That Thing You Already Did!
Joe Versus The Volcano 2: Second Eruption
Still Less In Common
King of Prussia
The Money Pit 2: Electric Boogaloo

More?

YO, BABY: So Cosmo got it wrong, and I got it wrong, but Dabney got it right: Yoanna House is America's Next Next Top Model.

Shandi may have had a better character arc, and Mercedes was our sassy fave, but, hey, you can't argue against how Yoanna comes off in photographs. Just look at this shot from the final episode. Wow.

As big as Shandi's transformation was this season, it wasn't the biggest. No, that would belong to judge Janice Dickinson, who started where she left off last season, as America's favorite she's-a-man-baby-uberbitch, and ended up displaying a heart of gold as Mercedes' biggest champion.

My only suggestion for America's Top Model After The First Two? Pad it a little: let's have a few episodes showing how the final twelve were selected. But beyond that, change nothing: don't let viewers vote, don't change the structure of the thing. The show just works.

Thank you, Miss Tyra.