Tonight's moon was just right - bright, nearly full and with plenty of spooky clouds scudding by. Matthew I. captured the scene over the Back Bay.

Copyright Matthew I. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Swamp Thing awaits next victim trick-or-treater on Glendower Rd.

Even on Halloween, it's kind of weird talking to a guy who looks like he just climbed out of a fetid swamp, surrounded by body parts and giant vampire bats. He said it took him about a week to get ready for tonight. As I was leaving, he gave me a wave, as much as his condition allowed, and muttered "Have a good Halloween!"

He was holding a guitar, but in the short time I listened to him at Downtown Crossing, Fester didn't actually play. Instead, he sang "Yesterday" to a karaoke CD.

In the "kids today" department, as I was walking up to the Forest Hills side from the Oak Grove side, these two teen girls in front of me were talking about Halloween, when one blurted out, "I wanna be a WHORE!" You go, girl!

Here's what happens when you let people who use scalpels and other sharp implements on a daily basis near pumpkins.

Bill would only affect public workers in Suffolk County (question: And Somerville?).

Via David Guarino.

Today was the annual Columbus Day parade through the North End. Lots of marching bands, of course, along with a float of clowns throwing clown noses into the crowds. One lady put hers on:

One high school's uniforms were kind of unsettling:

Ugh.

As Adam pointed out earlier today, Lowe's in Dedham has started hawking the Christmas schlock in freakin' September. I'm sure there are others gearing up to similarly assault us.

Since they've started so early, I've begun my annual Quixotic (perhaps even Sisyphusian) attempt at curtailing the madness. If you feel like banging your head against a brick wall in concert with me, please feel free to join in.

THANKSGIVING COMES FIRST

As he now does every year, the Food Monkey plans to break his Yom Kippur fast tomorrow evening by attempting to down a Godzilla Burger at Eagle's Deli in Cleveland Circle - that's one pound of meat and a matching pound of fries, starting at 6 p.m.

Thanskgiving comes first? How about Halloween? Jody posts a photo of a shocking display at her local Target.

We took a break from our usual Shaw's/Roche Bros. shopping routine today and went down to the Super-Mega-Humongo Stop & Shop in Dedham to take advantage of the 5% one-time discount you get when you sign your life away to Stop & Shop so they can data-mine your purchases to hell and back and bombard you with endless promotions (i.e., you register your new 'n' improved see-through Stop & Shop card).

They have so much room at this Colossus of a store that the deli department was able to devote an entire display case to a Thanksgiving diorama featuring two Pilgrim dolls giving thanks for nature's bounty, in the form of cold cuts, cheeses, olives and pumpkins. Don't worry, a few aisles away, they had a complete selection of Halloween candy.

Not the best cell-phone photo I've ever taken, but you get the idea: