This year I’m driving up to Oklahoma City to see my favoritest band in the whole wide world (that’d be The Flaming Lips) perform on my seventh-favoritest holiday on the whole wide calendar (behind Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and the other one that’s like Memorial Day where it's about soldiers and you get a day off you almost always forget was coming). I’ve made this trek a couple of times before, even ending up as an extra in their live DVD, UFOs At The Zoo (track eight, awkwardly standing behind my friends as they talk to the camera). Seeing the Flaming Lips live is glorious - the analogy I always make is it's like the biggest happiest birthday party ever, and everyone in the room is turning six.

Ignore the reviews of their recent song-for-song cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (uh, except for this one right here by 29-95’s own Ramon Medina). The tribute, perplexingly released via iTunes when a giveaway would’ve been much more appropriate (I guess those publishing rights don't come cheap), is really more of a companion piece for the show tomorrow evening, when the Lips plan to cover the album live. It’s weird that I’m as excited about this as I am: I hate Pink Floyd and this album never did anything for me. I’m reminded of an old Neil Hamburger joke – “Why did the Taliban burn ten thousand copies of Dark Side of the Moon in a public square? Because it’s a terrible album.”

But it will be a spectacle, and the Flaming Lips are all about spectacles, and so am I. Thanks to the kindness of my traveling companions and their laptops and iPhones, I will be documenting the highlights and lowlights of my trip (no pun intended or provided – though it seems like they’re practically BEGGING people to take drugs at this show, I’m staying as sober as a guy who just drinks a bunch on holidays. My brain’s a mess without psychedelics, other than the kind you listen to).

I think we can all agree, aside from a few bright spots here and there, it's been a pretty dreadful decade. Here's hoping the next one turns out a bit better. I intend to break mine in in the best way I know how.

Update 1:
In the car

Update 2:
Wheelchair dude

Update 3:
At the motel

Update 4:
Breakfast and blood

Update 5:
Handsy

Update 6:
Free shirt

Update 7:
Bring me a burger

Update 8:
Special pass

Update 9:<?b>
Balloons everywhere

Update 10:
So fucking good

Update 11:
Post-game wrap-up