Well, it looks like fall is here. I recently took a trip to Central Illinois and the trees are starting to turn and you certainly have noticed a certain nip in the air.

The first item i have is a new couple of chicks that I find really cool, The Ditty Bops. You may have seen their video on LOGO, "Wishful Thinking". Well, they will be at the Vic Theater on 10/26/05 at 7:00 pm. I highly recommend seeing them. for more info on them, just go to www.the dittybops.com or watch BOI for an exclusive interview!

Silver Label from Tommy Boy announces the release of the Brand New Allegria CD by DJ Abel featuring hard-to-find productions by Tony Moran and Warren Rigg, Peter Presta, Martin Fry and Ralphi Rosario. This collection gives us new singles by powerhouse divas Inaya Day and Jeanie Tracy and includes the official Rosabel single "Rhythm Intoxication".

Divided into two sets, "The midnight Session" and AM: PM Session"' the album showcases Abels evolving musical penchant toward UK beats. This CD is available in record stores October 25th.

And now for something completely different; rock meets opera with the exhilarating and adventurous music of the East Village Opera Company. Direct from the East Village in NYC, the East Village Opera Company is a unique 11-person band that reinvents classic opera arias into bona fide rock anthems. The group is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Peter Kiesewalter and dynamic lead vocalist Tyley Ross, backed by both a rhythm and string section. There is also a sampler DVD that was sent out but I think it was just for lucky reviewers! If you are in the mood for something really cool and different this would be it.

This month Depeche Mode will release their first album since 2001. Playing the Angel is an astonishing fresh, exuberant release from the band that have, over the past 25 years sold over 50 million records worldwide and amassed a staggering 38 hit singles in the UK and no fewer than 13 top 10 albums. And yet they sound like a new group. Playing the Angel marks an impressive 11th studio album for Depeche Mode. Just listen to Precious, the first single on the album and hear the synthetic electronic pop sound that made Depeche Mode famous and proves that they are still the leading group of this genre.

"UNSHAVEN!" is coming to Chicago, November 2nd through the 13th, at the Bailiwick Studio Theatre. Micah McCain, who first achieved national fame in 2003's the AMC Project: Gay Hollywood and whose Drag Persona Bridgette of Madison County is a West Coast Legend, is bringing his latest one man show "Unshaven!" to Chicago. But Unshaven reveals the man behind the legend, in a delightful deconstruction of good drag gone bad. Unshaven will run for two weeks only at the Bailiwick. Tickets are $20.00, so don't you dare miss this hilarious performance!

Reeling 2005: The 24th Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival presents 67 programs from 16 different countries November 3-12 at the Music Box Theatre, Landmark's Century Centre Cinema, Film Row Cinema at Columbia College, and Chicago Filmmakers. Films in this year1s lineup include Chicago celebrity Miss Foozie in Bowser Makes a Movie; Desperate Housewives's fabulous Felicity Huffman in Transamerica; Say Uncle, the directorial debut of Queer as Folk's Peter Paige; the hilarious comedy about a gay man's lackluster love life, The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green; porn stars in various stages of undress in eXposed and OpenCam; and Night Watch, Good Boys, and Eighteen. Guys go for the gold medal in sports films like Guys and Balls and flee from psycho killers in horror flicks like Scab. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.reelingfilmfestival.org or call the festival hotline (312) 458-9691.