Dear INSERT YOUR NAME HERE

By the time you read this, the 2004 Dallas Observer Music Awards ceremony will be over. So I'd like to use this space to offer an apology.

Dear INSERT YOUR NAME HERE,

I'm sorry I...

a) spilled your drink.

b) dissed your band.

c) ashed on your baby's head.

I swear, after last night, I'm never going to...

a) wing it again.

b) let the Burden Brothers pour.

c) take the sound guy literally when he tells me, "This stuff'll make you fly." I was sort of nervous, you see, because it was my first time hosting the awards. I know I'm no Billy Crystal. Truth is, I'm no Billy Baldwin. I'm more like Daniel Baldwin, the Baldwin no one knows, who always shows up at celebrity pool tournaments with people like Chad Lowe. Anyway, I hope you had fun. The bands turned out to be...

a) incredible.

b) slackers who skipped sound check and drained the open bar.

c) both, which is fine.

So we'll see you at the next celebration! I promise next year not to...

a) slip and fall off the stage.

b) get arrested.

c) rock so damn hard.

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They said it couldn't be done. They said it wouldn't last. But this Friday represents the fourth anniversary of Final Fridays, the monthly hip-hop showcase at the Gypsy Tea Room. Presented by the A-Teem Alumni, aka Brian "Viz" Walker and Jonathan "Fatz" Dangerfield, this Friday's show will feature appearances by K-Otix, Dow Jones, Nekky Devero and DJ Whiz-T. Tickets cost $10.

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Hand stamps: The elegant and oh-so-pregnant Erykah Badu performs at Gilley's Dallas on Thursday at 8 p.m, with Roy Ayers. The Fry Street Fair will consume most of downtown this weekend, with 100 bands on 10 stages. Highlights include Bowling for Soup, Brutal Juice, Chomsky and the Vanished, whose single "My Favorite Scar" is getting more play than an NBA star at a sorority party. Spoonfed Tribe kicks things off on Saturday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. See www.frontgatetickets.com.

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This is a new, weekly feature called Something I Just Made Up: This week, I'm giving away the massive, hulking six-CD boxed set from Depeche Mode to one lucky reader. I like Depeche Mode--kind of--but not that much. Just e-mail me at sarah.hepola@dallasobserver.com and tell me why you deserve this commemorative set of singles. Otherwise, it's going straight to CD World. Those boys need the beer money.