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Friday
 · Music round-up: Veruca Salt at the Viper Room; The King Cheetah at Spaceland; Jon Brion at Largo.
· Maya Angelou, a poet with whom even illiterate mouth-breathers like ourselves are familiar, lectures at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. [via flavorpill]
· Naive socialites! Eccentric aristocrats! A duffel bag containing a million dollars in cash! Check out "Noblesse Oblige," running all weekend at the Stages Theatre.
Saturday
 · More music: Mia Doi Todd at the Smell; Gwendolyn & the Good Time Gang at Amoeba; Too $hort at the Viper Room.
· Swap Meet! Swap Meet? "Swap Meet is a monthly gathering where you can come with your favorite music files and trade them with other physical human people. Then, holler along with the dulcet tones of handcrafted MIDI karaoke. It's like the Internet, but with people and beer." Yup, we're sold, as our internets are too often lacking for both. At Betalevel.
Sunday
 · You can't escape the 79th Annual Academy Awards, so why even try? We'll see you here for the liveblogging. Be drunk, unless your substance abuse recovery program specifically frowns upon such behavior. And even then, consider a relapse. It's not gonna be easy to get through all four-plus hours without the help of some 80-proof demons.