Do you live in the UK? Lucky u! My Chemical Romance is giving away a limited edition Vest and USB to one lucky fan in the UK, to celebrate the release of "¡VENGANZA!".

The package includes:
- 9 videos from encore set from 10/7/07 Mexico City show on USB
- Exclusive photos of the band from the show on USB
- A brand new custom-designed ¡Venganza! vest

To enter the competition you only have to enter your e-mail on this page.

Good luck!

I've never been really satisfied with the name International mcr fansite, but I never felt like changing it into a new, cooler name. But now I though it was about time to think of a new name. I browsed through some MCR-lyrics, and when I read "Welcome to the black parade", the new name, the new site, was born. From now on we are:

Decimated Dreams

You can still use both url's now, but in a few months internationalmcr.nl will be removed. From then, u can only find us on www.decimateddreams.nl.

So, add the new link to your favourites, and tell everyone about it!

(...)

While still in school in 2002, Eliza met someone who would dominate her life for the next 4-5 years. In her own words, “It started hard and it ended hard.” She met Gerard Way at one of My Chemical Romance's first shows. They began to met up at different shows and venues and eventually became friends. The very first time they met, Eliza was at the merchandise table, looking over the t-shirts, and Gerard came up to her and was talking about the designs on the shirts because she thought that he might have designed some of them. He was drinking back then, was pretty intoxicated and really needed some deodorant and a shower. At the time, Eliza says she didn't have much use for him – he was kind of funny and it was like if he wasn't a hot drunken sweaty mess he might have been almost okay. They usually saw each other because she was working and doing his hair, but Eliza did so many other bands' hair on different tours that its now a blur to remember it with absolute clarity. She was living in the Quad cities at this time, and even though it sounds easy, it was challenging because to get anywhere was hard. She was a full time student, didn't have a lot of money and wasn't making a lot of money. She found that the bands liked having her around. In her own words, “They could have gone to a salon or stylist and booked an appointment that suited them, but instead, they chose to have me stay with them to do their hair cuts and colors. I would make sure it was right, and that can take time.”

Eliza wrote a story called “Commit Me Already”, which she wrote for one reason only - she needed to get it out of herself so that she could move on with her life. She posted it to her My Space page in the first half of 2008. When I asked her about the negative side to the Internet in terms of gossip about her and Gerard, she doesn't know why people said and wrote such nasty things about her. Why people were so angry that they would write those vicious threads and posts about her she still doesn't know. She tells me that what people don't know is that in writing those things, it not only hurt her, it also took a toll on Gerard as well. Internet gossip goes a long way especially if its trashy and/or negative. Eliza does admit that in looking back there are some things that she could have done differently, but overall and given the circumstances, she feels confident that she did the best she could. She doesn't speak negatively about Gerard, and in fact, this is the first time she has spoken publicly about her former fiancée. Eliza says that for over a year his name never came up in any conversations she had with the people who were around her at the time. They would speak as if that period of her life didn't exist. It's only been recently that she and her friends can talk about that period of time.

Eliza says that their relationship was very tumultuous. She felt that there were 2 different people inside her, and that the girl Gerard knew in the beginning just became smaller and smaller until one day she just disappeared. Her own persona because less and less. She was there for him, but wasn't fully there. She had no hopes and no dreams of her own and didn't want to live. Eliza found that in trying to protect things that are now so insignificant, she lost herself completely to that situation. Ultimately, the end came hard and fast. Eliza says that she had just gotten out of the hospital in late June 2007, and Gerard was finishing a tour in the UK. She tells me that she never saw it coming, and that even today, she still has that shock factor when she looks back on it all. When all is said and done, she is grateful it did happen. It was both fortunate and unfortunate. Eliza did learn a lesson from this, and more importantly, she found herself again. When she reflects on it now, she isn't sure who Gerard did the bigger favor for. What she does know is that she wouldn't be alive today had he not cut ties because when Gerard made that decision, it was the only thing that kept her alive. And in many ways, they both knew that. There are so many things about this relationship that people just don't know. One thing that stood out for me was when she described herself as “living her life for another person”. It began to consume her totally. She was living another person's life, living their dreams, their hopes, their goals, their wants and helping them to get there. And when that was finally removed, all she had left was herself. One day, she woke up and realized that she was Eliza again.

When Gerard and her split up, she left LA and tried to find a place where she wasn't as likely to bump into any of people that she had known. She actively searched for an urban commune and did service work. She got herself up and out of the fog that had consumed her for years. She also wanted to stop making poor decisions. In working at this commune, she saw for the first time how gritty and grim life really can be on the streets. Eliza admits that she had never seen this side of life. No one in this commune knew who Gerard Way or My Chemical Romance was. They didn't care about the scene that she had come from. They were just trying to give people a warm place to sleep, food in their bellies and to help the elderly. She eventually got herself through this, and in the process, she realized how good she really does have it. She is very grateful and humble now because she is in a good place. One final note to this that I find interesting is that Eliza has had high profile relationships with men before and after Gerard, but it is that one relationship that people remember her by.

(...)

To read the whole interview with Eliza Cuts, click here.