The Austin Aztex final preseason game is this Friday night, hosting the Puerto Rico Islanders in their lone preseason test against a team in their own division. April 3, 7:30pm, at Nelson Field. $18-22. The Islanders head from here to Mexico City, where they try to defend a 2-0 first-leg lead over Mexican giants Cruz Azul, in a CONCACAF Champions League semifinal (Tuesday, April 7, 9pm, live on FSC). The title winner goes to the Club World Cup to face the top teams from the other continents. In high school playoff action, three CenTex teams advanced to this weekend's regional finals. In 5A, the Bowie girls upset Westlake, 1-0, on Tuesday – the first goal Westlake had given up in 15 games – to advance to San Antonio. The Pflugerville Connally boys will be there as well; in each case, the competition is S.A. Reagan, and two schools from the Valley. In 4A, the Dripping Springs girls beat Lake Travis, 2-1, then edged Steele in a penalty-kick shootout; they're in Corpus Christi Friday. On the boys side, Lake Travis, Dripping Springs, Elgin, and Del Valle all lost in the fourth round. Below: World Cup Qualifying results

Tuesday, March 2 wasn't like every other day at Robert's Lafitte, the self proclaimed oldest gay bar in Texas, that operates on Avenue Q in Galveston. It's known for it's drag reviews, hometown feel, and now as the site of a senseless gay bashing. Gay customers were the perpetrator's stated targets of several large stones hurled through the bar door leaving one man with 12 staples in his head and another man struck in the jaw. The accused – 3 males aged 17, 18, 20 and all related – now face five to 99 years in prison if convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime enhancement (big ups to towleroad.com). This is only the second time the Galveston County District Attorney's Office has pursued this enhancement, and good for them. Anyone who is dumb enough to open the door to any establishment and hurl rocks at the patrons deserves a stupidity enhancement as well, if you ask me.

Tonight Logo and MTV air Pedro, a scripted narrative about the San Francisco incarnation of the Real World. If you remember, this was the season that featured Pedro Zamora, a Cuban-born AIDS activist. It's a made-for-TV movie that looks like a reality show… inspired by an actual reality show! Ow, my head. I know that MTV has posted clips from the San Francisco show online, but come on MTV/Logo/Viacom conglomerate! At least have the ovaries to show the actual season on actual TV! How cool would it be to watch Pedro, and then see the episodes that are the reason for the season? Show these kids today that the Real World wasn't always about semen-laden hottubs, three-ways, and vom-vom. The radical thing about the San Francisco season of the Real World was that Pedro, Judd, Pam, Puck, Rachel, Cory, and Mohammed were actually dealing with some real queer shit…. Making a movie about that social experiment just seems… wrong! Am I alone on this one? Although, I'll be the first to admit that I'm excited about seeing something else that Milk screenwriter and San Antonio homeboy Dustin Lance Black has written. And even though I'm complaining, it's still on DVR!

While the Senate waited to take up the budget, the House this morning sped ahead by passing House Bill 670, a journalism shield law, 146-2. Seems the press may need a shield, what with Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, taking pot-shots. The actual bill as passed is not that strong (as arguably shown by the prosecutors for Bexar, Brazoria and Collin counties switching from "against" to "for.") It provides qualified protection, subject to judicial review, and journalists still have to come forward with evidence about felonies. It's really a whistle-blower protection (which is arguably the key purpose of such a law) and interestingly does add protections for bloggers that derive a substantial proportion of their income from news-gathering. That it's a prosecutor-friendly compromise wasn't enough to placate Riddle, (along with freshman Rep. Randy Weber, R-Pearland, the sole nay votes on the bill) who complained that journalists would have more legal protection than the pope. She then said that she and her voters were concerned about "how they consider journalists and their veracity, giving them a special privilege that would go over and above other well-respected people in the community." Well, at least she said that we're well-respected.

Well hopefully all of you have had a little time to relax and unwind after one hell of a SXSW. Did you get some rest? Good, because this week we are hitting the ground running. First up, tonight (Weds, Apr 1) we are heading to 80's Night at Speakeasy where LC Rocks will be rocking the best of the 80's. Break out the spandex and the Aquanet and let's just hope that nobody's hair catches on fire. (ps.... a little birdy told me that if you get there early, like 8pm, there may be free Miller Light and free Maker's Mark). Saturday, we're getting our grub on at The Louisiana Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival held at the corner of MLK & Congress Ave near the Bob Bullock Museum. Crawfish kind of creep me out because they look like little insects but you know that they taste damn good and nothing washes down one of those little buggers like the cold beer that is sure to be on hand. Mix that with cajun & Zydeco music and you'll think you were in the bayou. Sunday, we return to MLK & Congress like some sort of bizarro flashback from the previous day. This time, instead of crawfish, the place will be swarming with the most extreme athletes you've ever seen. That's right, it's The Grind Extreme Sports & Music Festival. Witness live extreme sports like trick wakeboarding and skateboarding all set to a background of great live music (including one of my personal favorites The Black & White Years. We are giving away tickets to the Crawfish & Extreme Sports Fests through our online contest page (www.austinchronicle.com/contests) otherwise you can purchase them at www.roadwayevents.com.

Big day for Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, tomorrow. "I'm going to be the second freshman to get the hazing treatment," said our neighbor to the north. Yes, she'll be laying out her first bill on the floor in the morning (nah, she won't be the House's first lawmaking virgin this session: That honor already went to Rep. Chris Turner, D-Burleson.) House Bill 1332 is her clean-up language on school text books: Currently, if a student loses a book, they have to replace it, but that doesn't apply to electronic equipment like textbooks on CD or laptop computers. Her bill will close that loophole, and provide waivers for poor families. Before she gets to that, she'll be laying out HB 2806 (tackling seniority issues for police and firefighters returning after an excused absence to serve in the military) before Defense & Veterans' Affairs and HB 1789 (restricting use of municipal hotel occupancy tax to conference and tourism facility enhancement) before Ways and Means. And, yes, she's still happy she won her election.

Discs titled Greatest Hits or The Best Of are not typical fodder for critics, but such collections serve their purpose, sometimes splendidly, other times laughably. At times, they can be the best introduction to an artist or band. We’re in the time of the 99 cent download, so albums are nearly extinct, but record companies still release Greatest Hits. Maybe they’re chasing the Eagles, whose Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) – with sales of 42 million worldwide – is the best selling album of all time. This came to mind when two discs hit my mailbox recently: Quiet Please ... The New Best of Nick Lowe (Yep Roc) and Filter’s The Very Best Things (1995-2008) (Rhino). Quiet Please aims to replace the now out of print Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe (Sony), a single disc collection released in 1989. Basher is a desert island disc for me, 25 tracks of the best power pop ever, full of wit and effervescent guitar jangle. If you only know “Cruel to Be Kind,” it’ll open your ears to some of the best Brit-pop of the 1970s and 80s. Twenty years later, Quiet Please brings Lowe’s career into fuller focus, from his pub rock days with Brinsley Schwarz to his latest incarnation as an aging crooner, and does so by doubling the amount of songs. It even comes in a deluxe version with a DVD of early videos and a concert from 2007. It’s a nice update, and the songs still ring true, but I’ll still take my copy of Basher with me wherever I go.

This year’s event takes a bit of a hit in the professional ranks, as USA Track & Field voted to cut its elite relay program; nonetheless, the 82nd running of this venerable meet with be superstar-level in the collegiate and high school ranks, so head down to catch some current and future Olympians. Wed.-Sat., April 1-4, all day. Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium, 707 Clyde Littlefield Dr. For info on the afterparties, see www.texasrelays.com. For more on the event, see www.texassports.com.

Your friendly neighborhood Gay Place has gone national again, this time with a piece appearing on 365gay.com about online dating giant eHarmony's new Compatible Partners, their new gay-match sister site. The new site was launched yesterday as part of a 2008 settlement with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General to dismiss a discrimination suit. Back in November, when news of the settlement hit, I was a bit taken aback by the ensuing blog hysteria. Not just from queers, but from conservatives who once admired the homosexually challenged dating service. People on all sides of the political spectrum were really pissed about the "forced" creation of Compatible Partners. Like my divorce mediator said (OK, this was a lifetime ago…), "If both sides are pissed by the end of this, I've done my job." It's the nature of compromise, no? I thought, Oh, for Christssakes, it's not like eHarmony is being forced to play Twister in a leper colony. I mean, it's just us; gays are everywhere. What's the big deal? Plus, the company actively negotiated the settlement, nothing was forced on anyone. If they really didn't want to enter this new market, I wondered, why didn't they fight? Anyway, I was offered an exclusive interview with the CEO and took it. I would be so honored if you'd check it out.