UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: The winner is Cheri Beasley. Congratulations!

ORIGINAL POST: As promised, we've got a pair of tickets for one lucky Beehive reader to attend the Fresno Fall Home Improvement Show this weekend.

The SIXTH commenter on this post will win the tickets. Tickets will have to be picked up at The Fresno Bee. A few notes: No repeat comments. You're ineligible if you've won something in the past 30 days. We won't post any comments until we have a winner. Complete rules after the jump. Winner will be notified in an e-mail.

UPCOMING BEEHIVE GIVEAWAYS
Friday: The Fresno Met's Dr. Seuss exhibit.

Remember way back in the 1980s when Dee Snider testified before Congress because the PMRC targeted his band Twisted Sister and their songs -- along with 15 other metal bands -- as obscene? That's how we ended up with those "parental advisory" stickers on our CDs.

I wonder if Tipper Gore is watching the ultra family-friendly "Dancing With The Stars?"

Last night Aaron Carter and partner Karina Smirnoff jived to Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," drawing massive applause from the audience and judges.

The challenge for me on Halloween each year is to come up with a new costume idea. It can be hard to come up with something that's fun and not uncomfortable. Over the years, I've definitely had my hits and misses (why did I ever want to wear a genie outfit?).

For a party last weekend, I made these "Lucky 7" dice costumes for my husband and I, which we had fun in, even though we must have rammed or bumped every person at the party we attended.

The year before, I waited too long, and at the last minute tossed together Beavis and Butt-Head outfits for us to wear to a couple of parties, which was easy and fun.

So what about you, what are the best and worst costume ideas you've had? Anyone have a good costume planned for Saturday?

The news that Bentley's is closing didn't really surprise me. Joan had reported that the bistro closed and speculated about the future of the store.

Things seemed pretty shaky to me about a month ago when I visited Zen Spa, where I get my hair done, and realized only four stylists were left working there. It was kind of sad. I really noticed that foot traffic was way down in the center and there were a lot of empty parking spaces.

So, what happened? How did the RiverView shopping center go from the hot spot to this slow demise. Is it just the economy? With the former Flamenco restaurant space still vacant and Bentley's getting out, it makes me wonder if the other stores and restaurants can make it. (I hear the Red Door may be out too? Anyone know for sure? The phone is disconnected.)

I brain-stormed today, trying to think what business could possibly fill the Bentley's anchor spot in the center. All I can think of is Trader Joe's, and I have a hard time believing they would add a third store in the area. It took what seemed like eons for the Clovis store to open. Anyone have a guess? Or a wish?

If I had to push for something different, maybe someone could open one of these restaurant/movie theater places.

UPDATE: The winner is Laura Patricia. Congratulations!

ORIGINAL POST: The Fresno Philharmonic is back for a pair of concerts this weekend. The orchestra will play selections from Mozart, Brahms and Dvorak. The concert features guest pianist Meng-Chieh Liu, a soloist and chamber musician who serves on the piano faculty of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

I have TWO orchestra tickets (row L) to give away to the 8 p.m. Saturday concert at the Saroyan Theatre. I'll give them to the FOURTH commenter on this post. You have to pick up the tickets at the Bee's front lobby by 5 p.m. today. Please remember: No multiple entries are allowed. We won't publish comments until we have a winner. Rules are on the jump.

Here's another one of those lists ranking cities -- one that Fresno is not on. Totalbeatuy.com ranked the cities with the ugliest guys, using stats like erotica sales and gym memberships as part of the criteria. No cities on the West Coast are listed.

So Fresno may have been named the dumbest city, but apparently it's men are prettier than men in some big cities (I was surprised Miami was No. 3).

I thought this was interesting, that Heidi Klum is considered the "queen of Halloween" because she creates elaborate costumes for an annual party. She offers these ideas.

Call me crazy, but these don't seem too original, though they are certainly done with more flair than one usually sees.

Anyone have more creative ideas for Halloween costumes? Most of the ideas I've seen are pretty standard or sluty.

"American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert's new single, which will be in the disaster movie "2012", is drawing comparisons to Aerosmith's disaster-movie song "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

I don't really think it sounds like Aerosmith, but I can see why people are making the comparison. Aerosmith's song is a lot better. I'm an Adam Lambert fan, and I thought he should have won American Idol last season, but after a couple listens of this song, all I can think is it is over-produced and drowns out his vocals. Maybe it will grow on me more. When the album comes out Nov. 24,- I hope there is more depth than this song.

So what do you think? Hit or miss?

Here at the Beehive, we decided to waste time today on the Create your own "Simpsons" character tool at the "Simpsons" movie page (you can also role the dice to make random characters).

So here's what happens when the Beehive meets the "Simpsons:"

Kathy:

Heather:

So I''ve been a little slow getting back into the swing of things after vegging out last week on vacation (aka drinking lots of beer and eating too much). The week started off with a trip to Denver to see my brother and his family, including a stop at the Denver-Dallas NFL game, and ended by feeding my "Star Wars" addiction.

So here are a few pictures from my trek to Arco Arena for the "Star Wars in Concert" tour, which included an exhibit of props/characters/scenes from the movies. It the whole thing was really cool. The orchestra was fun, and really into it (a lot less stuffy than your typical orchestra experience), plus there are lots of movie montages that retold the story, narration from C3P0 and pyrotechnics. They even played an encore, giving Vader a little more love. I highly recommend catching this show. I hope it comes to Fresno down to road.