You may remember that in October I was a judge for their awesome old time radio competition, Deathscribe. Well now they’re putting on a production of William Blatty’s Legion (the sequel to The Exorcist) and the horror nerd in me could not be more excited.

Check it out:

And he asked him, “What is thy name?”
And he answered, saying,
” My name is Legion: for we are many.”
(Mark 5:9)

How fucking metal is that? But before the show hits the stage (3/15) we are raising funds for this little gem of a theater company to help make it all possible. My friend Lisa from Brass Knuckle Brownies and I will be sharing a bake sale table packed with her “so good, they’re bad” brownies and my vegan cookies and cupcakes. (And I do plan on having one non-vegan flavor – Death by Chocolate, of course.) And as if tasty treats from your favorite creeps weren’t enough, check out all the other hotness going down this Saturday:

FEATURED ARTISTS
Watch top illustrators create horror art, live, as they draw the night away, choosing from a bevy of sexy models and graphic scenes throughout the venue. Bring your sketchbooks and laptops and join the asylum.

Featuring these top artists working live:
- Dave Dorman (Aliens/Star Wars/Batman)
- Tony Akins (Jack of Fables/House of Mystery)
- J Anthony Kosar (Avatar/Buckaroo Bonzai)
- Ray Frenden (Burton Snowboards /Wired/The Misfits)
- Alex Wald (Ultraman/Shoalin Cowboy)
- Jessica Joy (smART Show)
- Charlie Athanas (WildClaw Posters)

PLUS:
A special guest appearance by Michelle L’Amour’s internationally acclaimed burlesque beauties, the Chicago Starlets.

Tunes for the asylum provided by:
- dj white russian
- DJ Vapor Eyes
- DJ Miles Beyond
- DJ Chas Vrba
- The Ordeal

Plus, you can get “possessed” by the team of professional makeup artists for just $5!)  Emergency exorcisms will be available from a priest at the end of the bar.

Dancing, cupcakes and naked ladies! I mean… what kind of a douche doesn’t want to go to this? So come on out, this Saturday, February 20th 9:30pm – 2:30am and dance your face off at The Viaduct Theatre (3111 N. Western Avenue, Chicago). It’s $20 at the door, or $15 in advance – costumes encouraged!

Hope to see you (and feed you) there!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2AryOzoPY

As a vegetarian, and an Italian-American I’m not exactly fond of Thanksgiving in its historical context. There are, however, a few undeniably awesome things about this holiday: eating until you fall asleep, not going to work, and Black Friday sales. This year I’m giving you three more reasons to get pumped for Thanksgiving -- my 3rd Annual Gift Guide, the BIGGEST giveaway in Bake and Destroy history and my own Black Friday sale.

Tune in on November 26th to see my picks for cool holiday gifts, for a chance to win a different awesome, indy prize every day for 12 days straight AND to find out more about the great Bake and Destroy Black Friday Sale.

Until then, check out my recipes for Stuffin’ Muffins and Vegan Sweet Potato Cupcakes and check out this week’s issue of Time Out Chicago for a few more of my Thanksgiving recipes. (I’ll post a link when it’s live on their site.)

Buy this rad shirt!

You guys may remember that a few posts ago I mentioned that my beloved Melisser and her crew of baking bandits were well on their way to opening San Francisco’s first vegan bakery, Sugar Beat Sweets .

Well D-Day is coming, and the “d” stands for “delicious.” Meanwhile, Sugar Beat Sweets has teamed up with Herbivore clothing to bring you this awesome fundraising t-shirt. Proceeds go to help get the bakery off the ground – which is a really important project because not only is SF in desperate need of an all-vegan bakery, but the girls behind the bakery actually spend a lot of time volunteering for various animal rights groups in the area and abroad. They give their time, their money and they even donate their sweets to raise funds and awareness about the tragic plight of animals used for food.

I just pre-ordered my shirt and I cannot wait to rock it to show my support for what is sure to be an amazing bakery.

Mushy disclaimer: Melisser, girl, you know I love you. I’m so stoked about your company and so proud of you for your dedication to animal rights and to the environment. I can’t wait to see you on my birthday and I can’t wait to come visit you and explore your bakery!

Anyway you describe it, I have brand-new blue and orange and red and black Bake and Destroy shirts just for you! I’ve also done a small run of Bears-colors hoodies and of course, a whole new batch of black and white for those of you who have washed your one too many times now. (Or in my case, if you have “graduated” to a bigger size!) Visit my shop to check out shipping specials and all the rad new merch.

Chicago Bears Bake and Destroy t-shirt

Bears-style Bake and Destroy hoodie

Red & black attack

Some of you might remember when Bonnie of Model Citizen did her Bake and Destroy Tiger Lady t-shirt – heck, some of you might even own one! Well Sublime Stitching decided it was so rad that they made it into an embroider-ific tote bag! I should have them available for sale in my shop shortly, and until then they’re giving one away on their blog.

Until TOMORROW I should say!

So get over there, read about how fabulous Bonnie and I are and comment for your chance to win a free tote plus other goodies from the two of us! If you don’t win check back in my shop to pick up a tote of your own. Good luck! (You’re welcome to comment here as well, but those comments will not enter you for a chance to win the tote. I’ll do a giveaway here when I have the bags in stock!)

Bake and Destroy shirts are back – and I’m having a pre-heating sale (thanks for the idea, Andy!) to get the ball rolling! Click “The Shop” above to pre-order yours for a few bucks cheaper than they’ll be in a few days!

Men’s and women’s – come and get ‘em.

Remnants – 21 Undeniable Accounts of Life as We Know It – available now.

Check out Chris reading the intro here.

Update: the party has been moved to Wed., August 5th!

I decided to make this more than just a “leave a comment and maybe you’ll win” type contest. This contest requires knowledge, skill and nerves of steel. Are you up for it?

Ok. I want you to think for a moment about a battle. An epic battle. A death match, if you will. In one corner, a glorious viking. In the other, an honorable samurai. Their gazes meet, only for a second, and the battle begins. Who wins?

This is your mission. Leave a comment with your option. Who wins? Viking or samurai. We will find out the answer this Tuesday night on Deadliest Warrior, my new favorite show of all time. You have between today and airtime to cast your vote via comment.** Of the correct answers, I will randomly choose a winner. That person, and that person alone shall receive the bag.

There can be only one.

**Voting is now closed! Not comments left after samandryan’s comment will be considered in the prize drawing! In just over an hour we’ll know how many of you had the correct answer. Tomorrow I will announce the winner of the random drawing of those who chose correctly! For the record, I think samurais will win, but I’m rooting for vikings anyway. I already saw my peeps go down last week in gladiators vs Apache knife fighters so I’m hoping my Nordic brothers will pull this one out!

I’m so excited about this collaboration- I’m in a state of total girlfriend bliss right now. I think you should all make shirts of me from now on, keep me in a good mood.