First of all, the rally was extraordinary. I'm usually a major hater, but while I rolled down here expecting to find little more than shameless sideline advocacy and the sort of mixed messages that are all too typical when lefties congregate, I'll be leaving with a smile. As it turns out, while I happen to be an extremist, most people aren't.

Outlined in chalk along a strip of sidewalk on Newbury and Dartmouth Street, it read ARTBUS (just like that, in a classic yellow). The approach whimisical and the aesthetic minimalist, the chalked declaration's purpose was actually informative. This is where on the first Saturday (although this was the second) of every month (not counting this past summer) from 12-4, a "bus" would shuttle art enthusiasts from Newbury galleries to its South End brethren.

One surefire way to rile activists is to beat a teenager in plain sight, and tell witnesses that they can't record the free-for-all. Needless to say, more than a few folks are furious in the wake of news that Boston Police Department officers jabbed and kicked a 16-year-old inside a Roxbury Community College building this past Friday.

WFNX 1990 Prom | Dress in your finest 1990s garb and party to a live performance from Fast Times | October 28 @ 8 pm | Ned Devine's, 250 Quincy Market Bldg, Boston | wfnx.net

Future Islands | Post-wave | Brandeis University, Chum's Coffeehouse, 415 South St, Waltham | October 28 @ 9 pm | 781.736.5065

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Dorothy's Boutique
Nikki Depasquale Hansen

What are you being for Halloween this year?
If you're a gamer, especially if you're into Japanese games, you'll get it. I don't know if you've ever played Beautiful Katamari

If you've ever wondered what it's like to peek in on a Klan meeting, look no further than the Boston Herald comment boards. With an election days away, the tabloid is throwing buckets of red meat at their lowliest readers. Needless to say, this latest series about the cost of illegal immigrant healthcare to taxpayers is like a fresh delivery from Omaha Steaks.

Watching Law & Order UK is like walking into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that you heartily praise before realizing that it's part of a chain. But that doesn't undermine its quality (completely), right? Anyway, Law & Order UK is already in its 3rd season across the pond, and even though it started airing on BBC America only a few weeks ago, a review is a bit tardy, no? Here instead are a few reasons why the Brit show manages to be more successful (you know, in terms of content, not longevity, money earned, or other series spawned, like the one here) than the one we stuck with for 18 seasons (though seriously, cancellation? Fo' real NBC, girl still had a few more gos in her, at least).

No wonder Ms. Swift's cheeks are imbued with such a natural tint of red: from her own admissions on her next album, it seems Goldilocks has been sampling plenty of... porridge - and getting burned quite swiftly (aha!) with each... spoonful.

Her Joe Jonas heartbreak was well documented and her public(ity) relationship with teen-werewolf/name double Taylor Lautner even had a SNL shout-out.

Despite the helpful FAQ page that Comedy Central posted on its web site, most folks, including those of us from the Phoenix who are heading to Washington, are confused about exactly what might go down at Saturday's Rally to Restore Sanity/March to Keep Fear Alive. Will Bon Jovi be there? How about Gallagher? Will it be funnier than Glenn Beck's recent carnival and the militia rally we hit a few months ago? Who knows? Perhaps it's just an opportunity to prove that Comedy Central viewers make better signs than their Fox counterparts.

It's pretty safe to say that no one makes monsters quite like director Guillermo Del Toro makes monsters. I mean, not only did the dude's imagination spit out the gorgeously grotesque fairy tale Pan's Labyrinth, it was also responsible for the creepy crawly creatures of Mimic and the motley crew of do-gooders in the Hellboy movies

As some of you may have recently seen in the Boston Herald - under the headlines "Grime Wave" and the in-depth follow-up "Judges crack down on spray-paint vandals" - the combination task force between the BPD, Transit Police, and authorities from damn near every surrounding municipality is gunning hard for repeat graf offenders - a group that probably includes more than a few heads who are reading this right now.

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Commonwealth Chiropractic
Kaitlin Maud

So, why does your back hurt?
I was in a car accident a year ago.

Shouldn't that be plenty of time to recover?
This is why I started going to a chiropractor.

Allan Sekula's War Without Bodies

"The Image in Question: War - Media - Art" | Exhibition exploring the artistic representation of war, with works by Jean-Luc Goddard, Allan Sekula, and more | Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge | October 21-December 23; panel and reception October 21: 6 pm | ves.

Unlike our fashion-savvy friends over at Stuff, we here at the Phoenix are sort of....clueless. We don't know our Gucci from our Pucci from our Susan Lucci, is what we're saying. But that doesn't stop us from straddling our high horses and judging, judging, judging right along with our tastemaking peers.