Hi, all, I'm back briefly to bring you this little Listessa Land post!

	Well, it's that time of year, when the ghosts of Gish and the freaks 
and ghouls come out to play.  At this, of all times of the year, I couldn't
resist opening Listessa Land up for a glimpse of the holiday.  What? You
say that it's still almost 3 weeks till Halloween? Well, I'm doing it
early.  If Wal-Mart can do it, so can I!

	October 31st in Listessa Land is a national holiday.  It is the day 
set by King Karl himself for all to celebrate the lives and music of the Great
Ones.  Now, it seems, one of the Great Ones has been replaced, and, while
the loss of Jimmy the Great One saddens us all, we know that the Pumpkin
King himself, Billy, would not do us the dishonor of replacing him with a
less than worthy drummer.  

	But there are happy times ahead.  Halloween is coming soon.  And all 
the little goblins of Listessa Land will celebrate the day by going
door-to-door, collecting candy from the other Listessans, by going to
parties where they will celebrate by listening to Smashing Pumpkins music. 
They will carve pumkins to look like ghouls and to look like the Great
Ones--those that have the talent to do so, anyway.  And those pumpkins will
be smashed on the day after Halloween, not as a sacrifice, but as a ritual
celebration.  There are contests, with prizes for the pumpkins that hold up
the best, for the pumpkins that splat farthest, for the pumpkin made to
look most like the great ones.  And there will be stories told...stories
that tell of the coming of the Great Ones, without which there would be no
Listessa Land. 

	Once upon a time in Listessa Land, there were no Pumpkins.  There were
Pearl Jams, and there were Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in her Chains, and
Red Hot Chili Peppers.  But the Land itself was desolate, and there were no
people.  The Land would not become populated until the Coming of the Great
ones.  It was dark, without the wonder of awesome music to light its
farthest corners.  But then, one day, a man by the name of William Patrick
Corgan picked up a guitar.  And with the first notes he strummed came the
first lights of Listessa Land.  He found other Great Ones: D'arcy, James,
and Jimmy, who would help him spread the music.  After much decision and
thought, this band was called The Smashing Pumpkins.  In the beginning,
there were few lovers of the music, and no more than thirty-three people
thought a band with such a silly band could make it.  But there were
others, the Believers, who were in the land that would later be called
Listessa Land.  And they had a dream.  This dream was that everyone who
loved the Pumpkins would have a place to go to talk about the Pumpkins, to
meet each other, to talk about the band that was so special to them.  One
man made this come true, but his name is forgotten and lies somewhere
amongst the tall trees.  Now, the task of ruling over and maintaining
Listessa Land is given to a person who we all call King Karl.  He has seen
the growth in population of Listessa Land from about 200 to almost 1500
people.  It is possibly the fastest growing country in the world.  

	The Smashing Pumpkins took a lot of ribbing about their name; people 
asked them silly questions like whether there were actually pumpkins harmed in
the making of their albums and what they did on Halloween.  So King Karl
decided to make the day more pleasant for the Great Ones by declaring it a
national holiday in Listessa Land.

	On Halloween day, no one in Listessa Land goes to work.  They all stay
home and dress up in ghost and goblin outfits.  They dress as witches and
as movie stars.  But the most popular costumes are, of course, masks of the
Great Ones.  Second only to them are Pumpkin costumes.  At night, everyone
gathers around a bonfire, dressed in their costumes and singing Pumpkins
songs "We only come out at night!" is heard more often than anything.  And
"The world is a vampire!" and "She hung down with the freaks and ghouls."  

	It's a great day, and the Great Ones must certainly appreciate the
celebration, since they have begun to write those songs to fit it.  What
will come from them in the future? There's no way to tell, but rest assured
that Listessans will sing their Halloween songs for years to come


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