The war to control the questioning continues on Parliament Hill. About two dozen reporters walked away from a scrum opportunity on Tuesday after the PMO insisted on taking names from a list.

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks started flapping their wings tonight, but the Edmonton Oilers hung on for a 5-4 win and 3-0 hammerlock on the series, with Game 4 set for Thursday in Edmonton.

That, I would note, is a day off for me, so I can actually watch the game and drink beer like a (not-so) civilized human being. :)

The third period was pretty wild. After 40 minutes of 1-0 hockey, the two teams scored eight goals in the final 20 minutes.

Fernando Pesani of the Oilers managed to extend the lead to two goals (5-3) when he scored off a face-off with almost six minutes left.

However, Teemu Selanne, the Ducks' scoring leader over the playoffs, potted one with 1:45 left to narrow the deficit once again.

Trite as it may seem, the bottom line is the Oilers didn't blow it, even though the Ducks poured it on.

Right now, it's up to Anaheim whether this series continues to Game 5. Can the Ducks motivate themselves to play the way they did in the third, or have they decided in their own minds that they aren't the better team?

I'm looking forward to see how much the critic-battered The Da Vinci Code's numbers drop from the May 20-21 weekend (although next weekend is a holiday in the U.S.).

In North America, the opening weekend box office was $77 million US, which is far from a record.

Worldwide, the number was $224 million US, which according to an AP story on CTV.ca, is second only to Star Wars: Episode III.

The two big countries for non-U.S. box office? Italy (home of the Vatican) and Spain (land of the Inquisition). It was a smash hit in Poland too (Hmmm: Any notable Catholics come from there? :^) )

One co-worker who saw it said it was, and I quote, "pretty bad." Some scenes that were supposed to be very tense triggered involuntary yucks in the audience, he said -- something I've never viewed as a good thing.

Just to put a wild guess on the record, I predict that The Da Vinci Code will pull in about $35 million US next weekend.

As an aside, Harper's Magazine once had a "forum" with movie marketers to talk about their dark craft. They all agreed the penultimate achievement is to make a bad movie open at number one. The only thing better is to have it open at number one, then see it drop like a stone the next weekend as word-of-mouth takes hold.

Right now, I suspect The Da Vinci Code marketing team is dreaming about a place of honour in the Movie Marketer's Hall of Fame. :)

Here's the link.

If you come across any cool World Cup links, please either drop me a line (the link's at top right) or leave a comment on this post.