A confession: I don't particularly enjoy the year-end list season, where every publication, TV station, podcast, and blog submits their best- and worst-ofs for the year that was. I find it sort of arbitrary and not particularly useful -- after all, the only way to decide if anything will be long-lasting is to look at it a few years down the line.

Thanksgiving brought me home to Connecticut, where I attended a football game, pitting the University of Connecticut against the University of Cincinnati. The Huskies lost by a field goal in the closing seconds of the game in a heartbreaker, a loss I pin entirely on UConn's terrible kicker, who shanked an extra point that probably was the difference in the game.

It's at this time every year that Americans give thanks for family, health, faith, and whatever else they are happy about (in my family, we're typically thankful for Johnny Walker and the NCAA basketball tournament). So in this very special edition of A-D, allow me to present what I give thanks for.

I've been tied up for a few weeks -- did I miss anything? For both of you who have been clamoring for it, here's the balance of my enlightening interview with Dani Filth, frontman for English spook-metallers Cradle of Filth -- on tour and coming to a haunt a city near you!

I've been gone for two weeks, but that's only because I've been planning a very special two-part Halloween edition of A-D. I happen to be a big metal fan, and I got the opportunity to speak to Dani Filth, frontman of longtime black metal stalwarts Cradle of Filth, who just released their new album, Thornography.

In last week's column, I made a passing comment about how much I hate U2, which garnered a couple of message board posts and several e-mails. I had intended on spending this entry talking about exactly why I hate U2, but then I considered my argument. As it happens, it turns out I don't hate U2 outright; it's more complicated than that.