You've been reading about Noise for the Needy on Slog since last Thursday, when the folks behind the annual charity music fest commenced a week of Slog privileges purchased in the Strangercrombie Holiday Auction.

Over the years, Noise for the Needy has been one of the great supporters/exploiters of Strangercrombie. In 2007, the group bought Last Days, and I spent the week tagging along with various board members as they went about their lives. (Among the highlights: drunken karaoke at the (old) Bus Stop with Jeff Henry; a non-drunken obstetrician appointment with Rich and Amy Green, where I got to hear the in-utero heartbeat of the now almost three-year-old Lucy; and a lovely dinner with the full NFTN board at Blackbird Bistro (RIP).)

That same year, Noise for the Needy also purchased the Strangercrombie package that granted the winner a one-page Stranger story on the topic of their choice by the Stranger writer of their choice, and they had me write a profile of Rise n' Shine, the local charity devoted to helping kids affected by HIV/AIDS and the beneficiary of Noise for the Needy's 2007 fest.

The next year, Noise for the Needy did it again—buying me to write about their 2008 charity beneficiary Urban Rest Stop, and purchasing the annotated home screening of Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls, which they had me do not in someone's home but at the Triple Door, where the Urban Rest Stop-benefitting screening served as a boob-drenched kick off to the 2008 Noise for the Needy fest.

Last year, they left me alone in Strangercrombie and just invited me to come have fun at the fest—which I did, getting to introduce my beloved Art Brut at Neumo's.

Which brings us to the 2010 Noise for the Needy fest—five days in June that will be packed with a ton of great music (to be determined) for a great cause (to be determined). Stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to beg Noise for the Needy to force Los Campesinos! to play this year's fest.

Please please please. Thank you.