A lot of people are compiling their lists of favorite albums, bands, movies, television shows or whatever of the decade.  I decided it would be fun to try to get a list together for my favorite albums of the decade.  I was initially optimistic about the list, but I quickly realized how lame the past decade has been.  Anyway, these are my personal albums of the decade.  I’m sure most of you will either hate the bands or albums.   A lot of these are sort of sentimental picks.  Many these albums got me through some tough times.  Others were my introduction into whole new genres.  Some are bands that grew on me and have left a huge impression.  I encourage you all to make your own lists.  I would love to read them.

The List

1. Between the Buried and Me – Colors (2007) link
2. At the Drive-In – Relationship of Command (2000) link
3. The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) link
4. Coheed and Cambria – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: III (2003) link
5. Circle Takes the Square – As the Roots Undo (2004) link
6. Muse – Absolution (2003) link
7. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (2001) link
8. La Dispute – Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between Vega And Altair (2008) link
9. Thursday – Full Collapse (2001) link
10. The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas (2002) link
11. The Number Twelve Looks Like You – Mongrel (2007) link
12. The Fall of Troy – Manipulator (2007) link
13. Café Tacvba – Cuatro Caminos (2003) link
14. The Postal Service – Give Up (2003) link
15. Three 6 Mafia – The Most Known Unknowns (2005) link
16. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (2002) link
17. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Hearts of Oak (2003) link
18. The Blood Brothers – Young Machetes (2006) link
19. Rodrigo y Gabriela – Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006) link
20. mewithoutYou – [A-->B] Life (2002) link
21. Tenacious D - Tenacious D (2001) link
22. Paramore – Riot (2007) link
23. Taking Back Sunday – Tell All Your Friends (2002) link
24. The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower – Dissertation, Honey (2003) link
25. System of a Down – Toxicity (2001) link

Honorable Mention

• Alkaline Trio – From Here to Infirmary (2001) link
• Strike Anywhere – Change is a Sound (2001) link
• Blink-182 – Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) link
• NOFX – War on Errorism (2004) link
• Job For a Cowboy – Doom EP (2005) link
• At All Cost – It’s Time to Decide (2006) link
• The Smashing Pumpkins – Machina and the Machines of God (2000) link
• Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (2005) link
• Cursive - Mama, I’m Swollen (2009) link
• See You Next Tuesday – Parasite (2007) link
• Protest the Hero – Kezia (2005) link
• The Darkness – Permission to Land (2003) link

Thank you, Between the Buried and Me.

…………………….The Alkaline Trio, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, March 14, 2000 (Asian Man Records)

Official Website

Buy Maybe I’ll Catch Fire

Watch a live performance of “Radio”

Murder City Devils, In Name and Blood, June 6, 2000 (Sub Pop Records)

Official Website

Buy In Name and Blood

Watch a live performance of “Press Gang”

Queens of the Stone Age, Rated R, June 6, 2000, Interscope Records

Official Website

Buy Rated R

Watch a live performance of “Quick and to the Pointless” (with Dave Grohl drumming!)

Modest Mouse, The Moon and Antarctica, June 13, 2000, Epic Records

Official Website

Buy The Moon and Antarctica

Watch a live performance of “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”

Jurassic 5, Quality Control, June 20, 2000, Epic

Official Website

Buy Quality Control

Watch a live performance of “Quality Control”

At the Drive In, Relationship of Command, September 12, 2000, Virgin

Official Website

Buy Relationship of Command

Watch a live performance of “One Armed Scissor”

The Hives, Veni Vidi Vicious, September 12, 2000, Burning Heart

Official Website

Buy Veni Vidi Vicious

Watch a live performance of “Main Offender”

Atmosphere, Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs, February 1, 2001, Rhymesayers

Official Website

Buy Lucy Ford

Watch a live performance of “The Woman With the Tattooed Hands”

The Bouncing Souls, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, May 22, 2001, Epitaph

Official Website

Buy How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Watch a live performance of “True Believers”

Scared of Chaka, Crossing With Switchblades, June 26, 2001, Hopeless Records

Official Website

Buy Crossing With Switchblades

Watch live video of Scared of Chaka

We hope you enjoyed. Don’t forget to buy something if you dig it and to check back tomorrow for a brand new playlist and our next 10 favorite albums!

Our copies of Alkaline Trio’s Crimson reissue came in Friday night. This is a couple photos from our personal copy. All our copies are numbered between 300 – 500 (or so it appeared) and are supposed to only be on white.

These will be shipping out tomorrow morning to all pre-orders!

As the winter blues begin to set in and the memories of summer seem like they were decades away, it’s nice to wrap up in front of the fire and listen to a bit of New Found Glory or Blink-182. The pop-punk genre is well known for its bouncy lyrics and frivolous videos that always seem to bring a smile to your face, so without further ado, I bring you my top ten pop-punk videos. In the words of Bowling for Soup: “I think rock n’ roll is really funny when it’s serious.”

10. Angels and Airwaves – ‘The Adventure’

9. New Found Glory – ‘Dressed to Kill’

8. Sum 41 – ‘In Too Deep’

7. Paramore – ‘Brick by Boring Brick’

6. Alien Ant Farm -’Movies’

5. Green Day – ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’

4. Blink-182 – ‘M+Ms’

3. Alkaline Trio – ‘Stupid Kid’

2. New Found Glory – ‘All Downhill from Here’

1. Blink-182 – ‘First Date’

Alkaline Trio announced that This Addiction will be released February 23rd via Epitaph Records. In support of the release, the band will go on tour with Cursive – dates for the tour have yet to be announced, but if there’s no Boston date I will be severely disappointed.

Alkaline Trio is working on their seventh album entitled “This Addiction”.  I don’t care if it’s call “Murder Puppy Scrotum”, I’m buying it, listening to it, going to their show, and destroying the crowd.  Cursive is also good.

Here’s some Blockhead design I’m working on.  It’s not done yet, so don’t judge me.

This still has a bit of ways to go, but I think I like the layout.  I may add in some baby toys around the blocks.  Or re-do the blocks because I have a really shitty grasp on perspective when I’m just making it up.  Lots of changes will be made, but this is basically it.  Here are the two drawings separate.

The letters will probably be replaced for a cleaner looking machine made font.  WHAT A METAPHOR.

http://www.myspace.com/blockheadpunk

http://www.myspace.com/blockheadpunk

http://www.myspace.com/blockheadpunk

Find a video of a new song that might make Alkaline Trio’s upcoming album ‘This Addiction’, after the break.

Alkaline Trio’s new album set for an early 2010 release shall be titled ‘This Addiction’. After the break is a short statement from Matt Skiba on it all.

It is the first song on the record and the title of our new album. The song takes heroin addiction as a metaphor for love. The whole record is really personal, all three of us have been through quite a bit since our last album and it is all expressed through this, all the songs are about the relationships we’ve been in and so the record has a constant theme.

Been on a musical tear lately and one song in particular has caught my interest. Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit. Immediately singer Scott Hutchison’s soft scottish voice takes grasp over a repetitively slow beat. What’s not right away apparent is how ugly this song will get. A fast decent into depravity and desperation that leaves you feeling ashamed as if you’ve just witnessed a violent crime unfold and done nothing. So now I have been caught in a mood musical self destruction and depression have decided to share a mini mixtape of songs that fit the bill. Feel free to remind me of those I forgot or neglected.
Frightened Rabbit – Keep Yourself Warm

While there are plenty of songs about alcoholism out there I think the family centric mood of this song is what really drives it through.
Cold War Kids – We Used To Vacation

This band has written the book on mutilation, more than once. It was tough to pick out just one song but being this is my favorite Trio song and the “bathroom surgery” seals it for me.
Alkaline Trio – Queen Of Pain

In my opinion one of the most underrated writers/rappers out there.
Atmosphere – Fuck You Lucy

Possibly more than any other this song exemplifies the tone “self inflicted pain”
Cursive – Art Is Hard

Probably the popiest song about drugs and depression out there.
Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse

Another band that comes to mind with the idea of gore and mutilation. Definitely one of the most violent songs written in the last 10 years. Angry and bloody Saves the Day at (in my opinion) their peak.
Saves The Day – Rocks Tonic Juice Magic

Alkaline Trio – Crimson (Vinyl)

The often delayed repressing of Alkaline Trio’s 2005 effort, Crimson, appears to finally be on course for release this December. This colored double LP pressing features a full color, double-sided 12″x12″ insert and…um…huh – nada. Couldn’t even add the bonus tracks ala Good Mourning’s double LP release? Whatever, not gonna stop these Trio collectors from gobbling up one of each color. Shit.

First, a note about the direction of CKTK. We will be posting our end-0f-the-decade thoughts soon. Also, our top albums of 2009 lists will drop in mid-to-late-December. To lead up to those, we will be posting our top ten albums of the year lists from 2005-2008, sans commentary. We will, of course, link to places online where that commentary is posted if it’s floating out there somewhere. We will also be creating new content, so that the site doesn’t just turn into “Listapalooza 2009″.

These lists will appear unchanged from when we originally wrote them toward the end of each year. This should show you a little bit about what to expect from each author, and hopefully, it will inspire you to go back and listen to some of those great albums that you’ve forgotten from those years.

Without further ado, let’s start it off with ck’s top ten albums of 2005:

1. Sufjan Stevens – Come On, Feel the Illinoise!
2. Alkaline Trio – Crimson
3. Junior Senior – Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
4. Beck – Guero
5. Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams
6. Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork Tree
7. The Rocket Summer – Hello Good Friend
8. The Decemberists – Picaresque
9. PANIC! at the Disco – A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
10. Sigur Ros – Takk

It’s been 11 years since Alkaline Trio released their first full-length album, ‘Goddamnit.’ In that time, they’ve been signed to three different labels and expanded their sound beyond their original straight-ahead punk style, incorporating more melody and production. Now, with the pending release of their seventh album on their newly formed Heart & Skull label — a joint venture with Epitaph — the Chicago rockers are heading back to their roots.

“This record is a rock record but our punk rock upbringing definitely shines through, more so than our last few records,” singer/guitarist Matt Skiba tells Spinner. “The vibe is similar to our humble beginnings. It’s a step forward but I also think it has glimmers of our past in it.”

To recapture the sound of the early days, Skiba says the band took a simpler approach to recording the album, which will feature 11 tracks and be released in February. While Skiba says there’s a little bit of synth on the record and one trumpet solo in the style of Neutral Milk Hotel, not ska-punk, the band mainly kept things straightforward. “We went with a less-is-more approach on this record. A lot of it is just one guitar rather than overdubs or three or four guitars,” he says. “We wanted a record that we could easily play live. For the most part, it’s pretty bare bones while still sounding full and big.”

But that’s not the only way Alkaline Trio is getting back to their origins. “Another thing that makes it resemble our earlier records, especially our first record, is that it’s really personal,” Skiba says. “A couple of us have gone through some pretty serious life changes. We had a good friend of ours pass away since the last record. There’s a song on the record, ‘Dorothy,’ that was really influenced by the film ‘Blue Velvet’ but it’s a metaphor for someone and something else. Everything on the record is stuff that definitely hits close to home for us and we tried to communicate that in the songs.”

That said, Skiba also takes on politics, though it’s still within the traditional dark themes of Alkaline’s best work. “There is a song on the record called ‘The American Scream’ that is political,” he says. “For a long time we were afraid to write overtly political songs but I read this article about a US soldier that came back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and blew his head off on his mother’s grave and I wrote a song about that.”

Skiba is currently approving the final artwork for the album — the title of which is still being kept under wraps — and says he can’t wait for fans to hear it. “We’re really excited to get back on the road and see everybody. We’ve been playing some of these songs live but most of them nobody’s heard so we’re really excited,” he says. “We’re very, very proud of the record and we hope that everybody digs it.”

Alkaline Trio front-man Matt Skiba will be releasing a solo album on Asian Man records in Feb 2010. The album will be called ‘Demos’.

I hear one of my favorite bands is recording a new album, Alkaline Trio. I have heard various rumors about release dates and I think it won’t be until early 2010. Although, things might be weird, I have also heard that frontman Matt Skiba will be releasing a solo album early next year as well, and with the band members playing an increasing amount of solo shows who can tell what will happen?

Here is a sloppy video of a potential new song from the upcoming (maybe) album…

Interview: Kyp Malone

Topics: Man Chins, Pangaea Beer, Smokey and The Bandit, Shuttered Businesses, Haggling, Car Buying Tips, Scary Movie Trivia, Russ Gets Trapped in a Cave!

Playlist: The Lawrence Arms, The Swimmers, TV on the Radio, Rain Machine and Alkaline Trio.

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast68.mp3

iTunes: Download, Listen and Subscribe

Related Links:

• Innis & Gunn
• Allagash
• Pangaea Beer
• Smokey and The Bandit
• PRIMER
• ThunderCats
• Langhorne Slim
• Morphine “At Your Service”
• Tegan and Sara
• Until The Light Takes Us
• uStream.tv

_So last week The Digital Scene turned 2. We are now in the terrible twos, and to kick it off, The Sexretary and I spent the week celebrating. Yes, for a whole week, culminating in a very sloppy Halloween.

_And now that we’ve recovered (for the most part), it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming.

_So today on Mixtape Mondays, it’s time we talk about something that we have come to know a great deal about over the past week: hangovers.

_That’s right. There’s nothing worse than waking up with that head-crushing, stomach-churning, “I’m never drinking again” feeling after a wonderful night. So even though it hurts to hear loud noises when you’re hanging like a demon, we here at The Scene have put together a few songs that will sum up your hangover experiences.

_The Morning After Playlist
_ _Alkaline Trio – “Crawl” This song is perfect for those days that you wake up and, as the lyrics say “zero in on medicine.” Perfect for those days where it hurts to even open your eyes.
_ _Dave Matthews Band – “Grace Is Gone” Sure it’s a bit old, but this song is perfect for those lucky days when you wake still a little loopy from the night before and can grab a drink to take the edge off before pounding the water and coffee.
_ _The Dandy Warhols – “Sleep” This one goes out to everyone that has ever had to work early in the morning with a hangover and spends the entire day thinking “oh I could sleep forever.”
_ _Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody” A perfect, mellow, non-abrasive, but awesome and cute song to play with your significant other while on the way to get breakfast when you wake up at two in the afternoon, both still half comatose from the night before.

_If you didn’t know about those songs and their curative properties, you do now. Enjoy our playlist and as always, feel free to send us yours.

_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.

- Kid

I volunteered myself as the DD since I wasn’t feeling well and really had no intention of drinking anyway. It’s still very annoying to be stone sober in a car with (very) drunk people. Plus GF’s friend was pretty stupid to begin with so she was by far the most obnoxious person on Earth by the end of the night. Oh well. It wasn’t that bad.

We were dead people. If GF looks less than enthused it’s because this was the ninth picture and the only usable one at that. Parents don’t mix with technology.

Here’s the Alkaline Trio pumpkin I carved. I was going to do the Misfits skull but I’m not about to spend 5 hours carving a pumpkin.

It’s been two days and I still feel like shit. Not anything serious but feeling eternally hung over is getting old.

This week, on the ChicagoVerseUniteD Audio Podcast: It’s the Debonair Three-Year Anniversary Special! Featuring interviews with Derek Grant (Alkaline Trio) and Greg Corner (KIll Hannah) discussing their new Chicago-scene supergroup, Them Crooked Vulvas/A Perfect Circus/A Perfect Cervix, as well as DJ Akira Smith and Le Fonz talking about their group Perfect Kiss‘ debut album and a Halloween party the group is playing at tonight!

PLUS: BBU, an act that blew up the Chicago hip-hop scene in 2009, talk about their recent shows at CMJ and the fact that a group called Bin Laden Blowing Up could get press from The New York Times.

ChicagoVerseUniteD Episode Ten: The Debonair Three-Year Anniversary Special (Imeem Link – Click To Be Taken To Streaming Player)

And Click Here for The Full Season Of CVU So Far!!

BBU blowin’ it up.

This is a special Halloween mixtape, feel free to download it if you want. I threw it together this afternoon in the midst of a hangover. Apologies for the quality of the track “Dragula”. The bitrate was really low and i only realised halfway through the mix. I would have left the track out if i’d known but i recorded the mix all in one go and made the mistake of not checking the quality of the tracks first. Like i said i was hungover and it was a last minute thing. I just had a quick browse through some of my music files and took the songs i thought to be most apt for a Halloween mix.

Something Wicked This Way Comes Tracklist
——————————————–

1. Intro
2. Queens of the Stone Age – Burn The Witch
3. Smashing Pumpkins – Ava Adore
4. Rob Zombie – Living Dead Girl
5. Eagles of Death Metal – Chase The Devil
6. Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Puppy Dog Snails
7. Pixies – Dead
8.Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
9. The Cramps – Human Fly
10. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – I Put A Spell On You
11. Prodigy – Voodoo People
12. John Carpenter – Halloween Theme Tune
13. Michael Jackson – Thriller (Remix)
14. Zombie Nation – Forza (Fukkk Off Remix)
15. Zombie Nation – Kernkraft 400
16. Designer Drugs – Zombies!
17. Rob Zombie – Dragula (Hot Rod Herman Remix)
18. NiKiT – Sudden Death
19. Bobby Pickett – The Monster Mash
20. ToToM – Ghostbusters Theme vs Smashing Pumpkins vs Ram Jam
21. Max Romeo and The Upsetters – I Chase The Devil
22. Imogen Heap – Getting Scared
23. Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy (Intro only)

MP3: Someone’s In The Wolf – Something Wicked This Way Comes Mixtape

Here’s some songs that i considered for the mix but to keep it under 80 minutes i decided to leave them out…

MP3’s

Band of Horses – Is There A Ghost?

The Cranberries – Zombie

Ladytron – Ghosts

Sneaker Pimps – Small Town Witch

Aereogramme – Thriller (Michael Jackson cover)

And a few videos…

Unicorn Kid – Wee Monsters

Alkaline Trio – Halloween

Happy Halloween

S.I.T Wolf X

Screeching Weasel and Alkaline Trio, my two all-time favorite midwestern bands, sharing a stage on their home turf of Chicago, Illinois…and it happens to fall on Tony Shaddock’s birthday. Clearly, this event was constructed from the ground up with us in mind. After ordering five tickets, only three of which were claimed, Tony, Yetti and I set off on an epic pilgrimage, one that would reunite us with old pal, Doug “L’il Fart” McLaren…and change the course of history forever.

The astonishing photography and masterfullly composed captions and anecdotes herein chronicle our expedition.

Now let’s enjoy the Miami of Canada—Chicago!

October 10th
10:23 am
On a spiritual journey to the Windy City with Yetti & Tony Shaddock.

10:58 am
Three guys in a car…and I’m breathin’ on Easy Street? Someone needs to spark up this roadtrip with a wet hot fart.

11:18 am
“You boys ain’t from around here…you have no business o’er at Joncy gorge. Take yer city haircuts n’ go on, git!”

1:18 pm
Sleeping like a baby…particularly one of the dead babies in that sack he’s resting his head on.

5:46 pm
Who goes over my travel route before every roadtrip & makes sure to redirect me on a Dunkin Donutsless path? Whoever you are, go get raped.

8:23 pm
We crossed time zones unscathed. Hey, 7 o’clock, we have a second chance together…try not to fuck it up this time.

9:39 pm
Chicago arrival. First on the agenda? SUH FUCKEN REAL DEEP DISH CHICAGUH PIZZUH.

11:21 pm
Sippin’ on a 312 Urban Wheat Ale at some Korean dive bar. L’il Fart ordered a “hot sucky” and all he got was some lousy drink in a ceramic flask. If Asian fellatio is this hard to come by (pun intended, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!) in the Big Onion, I’m not impressed. On the bright side—according to this coaster, my Survival Kit is almost half completed…

Two down, three to go. Baby just needs a new pair of shoes, a designer purse…and flashin’ my juicy tits for some fancy beads should be easy enough in this toddlin’ town. Bring on the night!

October 11th
Happy birthday, baby Shaddock.

1:51 am
My heart’s telling me this is a Rum n’ Coke in my hand, but my brain’s telling me it’s Roofies n’ NyQuil. I need to flee this crowded bar and get some shut-eye. I know the risk of walking these streets at night with only two-fifths of my Survival Kit…but I simply cannot go on. No rest for the wicked. Mr. McLaren, gimme a firm floor to sleep on.

12:02 pm
Good morning, city cats.

12:28 pm
Not even birthday songs or burger crowns will wake this tiny dancer.

2:10 pm
May I wax philosophical for a moment?

When you’re soaking your meat bone shaft-deep in some poon tang, you’re in a quaint village of physical pleasure the guys and I like to call “Tangtown.”

Likewise, if you and a buddy are forming a “wobbly H” with a gal, you know, having a little ménage à trois, or, in laymen’s terms, tag-teaming the ol’ broad…I’ve just determined that must be a suburb of Tangtown called “Tagtown.”

Now, it all sounds well and fine…however, after pondering this for a while over my morning coffee, I’ve uncovered a paradox.

If “Tagtown” is basically “Tangtown” with an additional person…you gain a friend, yet lose the “n”…

Is it really worth it?

7:24 pm
After standing out in the cold for roughly an hour, desperately asking every passerby: “tickets?” or, when I was feeling articulate: “do you need tickets?”—I finally sold my extra. I lost $10 on it and missed who-knows how many bands while I was out here. Fuck you, Horseheads bums, for not taking it off my hands. “Whoa, ETC…chillax, bro. You know how much I hate awesomeness. Hey, when you get back, can you help me build a shelter incase the Soviets attack the U.S. with rainbow-colored FUN Bombs?”

8:00 pm
A secret Teenage Bottlerocket gig after the show tonight? Free entry? Busing provided? Don’t mind if I do.

8:16 pm
Dude shitting in stall with no door. Tons of dudes walking by. Pants off. T.p. rolled away from him at one point.

8:45 pm
I have waited 14 years for this moment. I’m watching Screeching Weasel. In Chicago. I rule.

10:22 pm
Now I’m watching Alkaline Trio. In Chicago. I’m back to rule again.

No idea what time it is.
I’m actually writing this portion in retrospect, because the battery in my phone died shortly after Alkaline Trio finished their set. This is a blessing in disguise, of course, because at this level of intoxication, I’m liable to drop, throw or trade my iPhone for a cigarette.

Waiting for a shuttle bus to take us across town to the secret Teenage Bottlerocket show.

Speaking of which…if you’re in the Chicago school district and awesome enough to sit in the back of the bus with people of premium-grade superiority…and the seat in front of you has “www.anewlow.net for free pussy” written on it; wreathed with monstrous, cum spurting penises both uncircumcised and snipped (we covered all bases)…know your little pockmarked butt cheeks are sharing a seat once warmed by the chiseled asses of your heroes, Tony Shaddock and Eric Thomas Craven.

Teenage Bottlerocket were pretty rad…

…though, I’ve got to be honest, I want less of this sappy lovey dovey crap and more songs about aliens, zombies and spies. Bring back The Lillingtons.

October 12th (Columbus Day)
Happy Rape, Pillage, Murder and Enslave the Indians day! Fuck you, Chris Columbus.

10:24 am
Interesting postscript to dude shitting in stall with no door:

1:26 pm
The “Zombie”:

That’s three shots of espresso, two cups of coffee, steamed milk and whipped cream topped with chocolate and caramel drizzle…I’ll be walkin’ outta here with Shaddock teeth.

5:27 pm
I got some pussy in Chicago.

5:40 pm
Sightseeing in Logan Square.

6:11 pm
The Sears Tower. Chicago, Illinois.

6:20 pm
Goodbye, Chicago.

7:06 pm
Family reunion in Rolling Prairie, Indiana.‎

7:16 pm
Crossed back into good ol’ Eastern Standard Time. 6pm October 12, 2009, it’s a shame we never got to know eachother…

October 13th

2:55 am
Back in New York. Made the 911 call on this l’il number—car in a ditch off the interstate. We were really hoping to see a dead body…but she was fine.

3:40 am
Yetti got caught pissin’ in public. Amateur. Then allowed them to search his car? Amateur. I’m just glad they didn’t look under my seat. That’s right, I’m bad. Real bad. Michael Jackson.

5:28 am
Alright, gang, you can rest easy now…we’ve landed back in Horseheads, safe n’ sound.

However, before I go and wrap this up, I’d like to address a pretty big concern of mine…

While in Chicago, we hopped a train downtown and went to Millenium Park…only to be told by the officer on duty that the park closes at night.

Rape is already a pretty challenging sport…we don’t need the level of difficulty raised. Are we honestly expected to abduct some broad OUTSIDE the park, sneak her in past security and just use the park grounds for some sort of exotic effect? Parks are good for prowling. The rape itself isn’t performed within the perimeters of a park for atmosphere, but for the convenience of supplying victim(s), isolation, and, in the event that you take things too far, providing a satisfactory plot for interment.

Way to take the fun out of nightlife in the big city, Chicago.

Furthermore, I’ve done some research…and apparently Chicago doesn’t report its statistics for rape. Check out this city crime comparison from 2006.

I’ll tell you why Chicago’s rape statistics aren’t available: NO ONE GETS RAPED IN CHICAGO.

What kind of city has the rape record of a happy suburban cul-de-sac out of the 1950’s with a “neighborhood watch” program ? Not a very good one, I’ll tell you that right now.

Hey Chicago, go get raped.

Greetings ladies and germs, I hope everyone is ready for Halloween! I am almost ready to leave town on Friday for New Orleans — for work, but I am hoping to spend a few hours out Halloween night!!

I’ve got some good grabs and stabs to share, so let’s get to the listing of things.

Grabby:

• First, get schooled on Halloween via Wikipedia.

• Slutty Halloween Girls save a life. (work safe)

• A different sort of costume…for the boudoir (wink!!), from Dollhouse Bettie. (thanks Kelly!)

• Alkaline Trio’s cover of The Misfits Halloween…with a crazy stick man “video”. Perhaps ignore the video and just enjoy the music, mmmkay?

• Boots. I am still thinking about them. A lot.

• Cupcakes. These are really good. Make them and share.

• Russell Brand interviews Dita Von Teese, and it’s just kind of cute. Surprisingly, he actually doesn’t say anything that off color to her.

• New Raveonettes album. Pretty good stuff. Wacky video. Ricky be warned, there are birds — but it’s worth it.

• Sarah Haskins reports why women love vampires.

Stabby:

• The vampire/Twilight obsession extends to adult women stealing life size cut outs of Twilight star Robert Pattinson from Nordstrom, where the cut outs promote a line of Twilight clothing. Yeah…something is sucking the life out of me, and I think it’s all the hype over Twilight.

• Parking tickets.

• My Macbook Pro speakers randomly switching to headphone mode while I am sitting here writing this. Yay.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!