An intruder!

A man's house should be his castle, his undisturbed sanctum. At most times, Chateau Bagot is a most commodious homestead. But tonight, our keep was breached by a most vile and unwanted intruder: A cat!

A feral cat, ridden with mange, hissing and clawing, almost certainly afflicted with rabies. Having through its feline cunning devised a way to enter through the back door, it trespassed inside, looking for scraps of food and probably scheming to convert our cozy apartment into a personal litter-box or a repository for its multitudnous fleas.

Thankfully, with speed and agility, Optimuscrime Kingston lept into action, repelling the devilish intruder and sending it back into the night. We were certain to close and bolt the door to prevent another intrusion.

(Optimuscrime Kingston has a slightly different take on the situation.)

Happy Devil's Night, babies! Today, we join the ranks of last-minute pumpkin and candy-shoppers, as we prepare to respond to the trick-or-treat demands of the neighbourhood kids.

Except, uh, we're not sure that there are kids in our neighbourhood, with the exception of the red-haired 'tween menace that terrorizes the local fauna with his pebble-throwing.

But let's not get hung up on trick-or-treaters. It's important to remember the reason for the season: Halloween mix tapes!

This year, our compilation includes ghosts, vampires and zombies, bookended by two excellent covers of the Misfits' classic, 'Halloween'.

1. AFI, Halloween (MP3)
2. The Hidden Cameras, Fear Is On (MP3)
3. The Planet Smashers, My Girlfriend is a Vampire (MP3)
4. New York Dolls, Frankenstein (iTunes)
5. The Ramones, Pet Cemetary (iTunes)
6. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, I'm A Ghost (iTunes)
7. Modest Mouse, This Devil's Workday (iTunes)
8. Sufjan Stevens, They Are Night Zombies! They Are Neighbours!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh! (MP3)
9. Lou Reed, Halloween Parade (iTunes)
10. Reggie and the Full Effect, Raining Blood (MP3)
11. Outkast (ft. Kelis), Dracula's Wedding (iTunes)
12. Michael Jackson, Thriller (iTunes)
13. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Halloween (iTunes)
14. B.A. Johnston, Horror Movie Girls (MP3)
15. The Unicorns, Ghost Mountain (MP3)
16. Wolf Parade, Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts (iTunes)
17. Tilly and the Wall, Nights of the Living Dead (iTunes)
18. North American Halloween Prevention Initiative, Do They Know It's Halloween? (A&C)
19. The Raveonettes, Attack of the Ghost Riders (iTunes)
20. Alkaline Trio, Halloween (MP3)

Attention Kingston:

Pan Chancho Bakery currently has pumpkinseed bread. And it. Is. AMAZING.

That is all.

"As I breathe on it
I know I've caught the bug
I can teach a whole army
to breathe alright"

We're weary, pretties. It takes a lot to go to bed at two AM and then look presentable the next morning before nine. There's only so much a few drops of Visine can do to reduce one's bleary eyes. Primpin' ain't easy, as they say.

But Lesbians on Ecstacy and the Hidden Cameras were well, well worth it. We've seen and been slightly bored by the former in the past (there's only so much heavy vocal distortion electro we can take), but last night they exploded onto the stage in corpse paint and skeleton gloves, fueled by pulverizing basslines, grabbed hold of the crowd and shook it like a colicky baby.

And then, the Hidden Cameras. The Hidden Cameras, how we adore you. All.. what, nine of you? Spilling off the miniscule Grad Club stage and into the crowd, the band played an enthusiastic show, introducing a great deal of frenetically boppy new material and riling up the sold-out crowd with fan favourites and group dance numbers. Alas, no speedo-clad balaclavaed dancers this time -- but their absence was more than made up for by the return of Maggie MacDonald and Reg Vermue from their other projects to the Hidden Cams' touring lineup.

We're honoured and privledged to have one of our first pieces of Optimuscrime Hate Mail!

"I sure am glad I'm not from Kingston. Sounds like you retards have nothing better to do than blog blog blog and suck each other's cocks. Try going outside once in a while you pathetic tits."

-- Anonymous

Go outside? Why, with all the blogging and cock-sucking we have planned, we simply haven't the time!

But speaking of going outside, we're happy to present our monthly Kingston show roundup. As always, full show listings are at Stillepost.ca, which now has a splendiferous and prismatic logo designed by the mad geniuses of Montreal's Serigraphe Populaire.

First, tonight: The Hidden Cameras with Lesbians on Ecstacy at the Grad Club.

November third is a toughie: Golden Dogs and Pelt at the Elixir? Or Controller Controller with Magneta Lane at the Grad Club? We're totally torn.

November fifth wins the Wierd Venue of the Month award: It's Haligonian crooner and occasional sea-captain-hat wearer Joel Plaskett at... (record-scratching-to-a-halt sound) Dunning Hall Auditorium. We'll be there nonetheless. Comfy chairs at shows? Hellllls yes. (That is the old age speaking).

November eighth, Jill Barber brings the fragile singer-songwriter noiiiiiize to the Grad Club.

November eleventh, we listen to Luther Wright belt out some y'allternative with an implausibly southern accent.

November twelfth, having prayed and repented sins and the like, we hope the Sydenham Street United Church will let us in so we can see Sarah Slean take the stage.

November sixteenth, Wintersleep returns. These guys rock socks, so attendence is mandatory (if only to make up for their totally unattended summer show).

November eighteenth, Kids On TV bring keyboard party-rap about activism and gay hustlers to the Grad Club, and Dandi Wind promises to both frighten and delight with her possessed aerobic routine.

November twenty-fifth, if we can scrape together thirty bones (ouch!) we may go see local heroine Sarah Harmer at the Sydenham Street church.

That is, if we can fit it into our oral sex/blogging schedule, of course.