In case you were wondering how the recording process is going in the Garbage camp, we feel we can tell you that it's going spectacularly well. Why else would lead vixen Shirley Manson take a break and hop on a plane to go back to Edinburgh, Scotland, for two weeks to see her sculptor husband, only to spend long romantic spring evenings with him drinking at the town's fabled Witchery tavern? Well, I guess we could think of a couple of reasons.

But her Garbage compatriots seemed similarly at ease this past weekend. Butch Vig took part in the 10th annual Hack 'n Slash golf tournament in Madison, WI. But the award-winning producer was not only a participant, he was a benefactor. Smart Sound, the studio he and Steve Marker own, sponsored this year's Four-Ball Scrample tournament and are donating the money to a charity that purchases musical instruments for needy children.

This year's tournament was organized by Vig's younger brother, Chris "The Stick" Vig, but if you think he's the small guy who's as mellow as his brother, you're sorely mistaken. This is the guy who not only made hatwear compulsory (for the tournament, he wore a gold hat emblazoned with a golf ball and two crossed golf clubs), but he also forced all 36 teams to sing musical rounds as they worked their way over the golf links.

Despite the abject fascism (or because of it), Butch Vig's team managed to come in third. As for the record, the rest of Garbage are ensconced in Smart Sound's upstairs studio, still in the preliminary stages of recording. They have laid down some stuff but according to their publicist, "It's still very early in the game." The release date has yet to be set.