Ah,

Heh, I don't doubt the likelihood of colder winters in the middle of America! I used to live near the Rocky Mountains, so I'm quite familiar with -40 degree(celsius) winters with several feet of snow. That's cool that you're within driving distance of a major city, as you still get a chance to catch tours by major artists.

Yeah, festivals in general can be pretty exhausting, even when they're filled with awesome acts. I went to Bumbershoot in September and by the time I got to see the main event of Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse, I was ready to fall asleep. They managed to wake me up though.

If you're referring specifically to Vancouver, it's a great city for the most part! The current fall and expected winter weather of rather frequent rain and cloud makes things a bit dreary, but there's still plenty to do. You're on the West Coast, right?

I like sweets for occasional treats, but as a regular food staple...not so much.

Yeah, most album releases are the same for the US and Canada, although occasionally release dates drift. For example, Rammstein's latest album came out in the States a week before the Canadian release.

Good ideas? Those are awesome gifts! Especially with the Lucky Charms to top it off! My only concern would be whether the cereal can be imported without incident, since some countries have restrictions on various foods. I'm guessing it'll be fine though, since you can't grow Lucky Charms in the wild.

Taste-wise, Canada is pretty similar to the US from what I can tell, especially since US companies market heavily here. I don't know what the most popular cereal is though. I prefer "old person cereals" like Raisin Bran personally.

Wow, only now did it occur to me that your username was "mortal" forwards and backwards! I guess last.fm has their "taste matching" technology where they give you recommendations based on what you listen to, kind of like Amazon.com Recommendations. Hmmm...It might be worth signing up for something like that.

I wasn't aware that there was a secret santa going on! Has there been one previously? I can only imagine what forum users would send others if they don't really know them.

In the case of Patrick Watson and Matthew Good, they're products of Canada who are generally only known there. The Editors are usually more rock-ish, but yeah, they decided to get a bit experimental with their latest record, which is where that song came from. Matthew Good is one of my absolute favourite musicians, due to his lyrical abilities and melodies.

I don't have a Last.fm account, as most of the time, I listen to my music via my media player, or in CD/vinyl form. I take it you have one? I like to look at Last.fm pages to see what's taking up most of people's music playback time.

After listening to the three videos, here are my thoughts:

Black Label Society - The guitarist/lead singer's shredding ability is pretty awesome, but the tempo of the shredding has a way of being detrimental to the slow melody being played by the rest of the band.

Stone Sour - I liked their track and the video was rather impressive. It's strange seeing a Slipknot member without a mask.

Bullet for my Valentine - It didn't do much for me in general.

As for myself, I'm currently listening to the Editors(

Yeah, given the amount of new material, I'd bet on a new Thom Yorke album next year. I haven't had a chance to listen to any of the concert recordings yet, as I've been occupied with other music. I think Ed O'Brien mentioned in an interview that Radiohead will be back in the studio by the end of this year if they aren't already. Oh man...a Radiohead/Thom Yorke double whammy in 2010 would be so awesome!

Hehe, if I could only choose between the two, I guess I like to party. At the moment, I'm a university student studying Computer Science. I'm currently in the middle of my final semester though, so some job seeking for January is in order. How about yourself?

I apparently wrote on my own visitor wall.

Hah! I see where you're coming from with regards to how the songs typically progress on The Resistance. I liked it overall myself. The symphonic suite at the end seems a bit unnecessary, in that we'll likely never see it live and thus, perhaps it should have been part of an EP instead of a full fledged album. Granted, I liked all of the song, The Resistance, but it seems like everyone else hated the chorus portion.

I treat The Eraser as a non-Radiohead product, in that's kind a situation where Thom Yorke is letting out all of his electronic musical urges, thus resulting in In Rainbows for the full band. Have you heard Thom Yorke's new stuff that he recently released, alongside his performances in LA with what I guess is the "Thom Yorke Band"?

That's why sites like eBay are a godsend! Well...except for the bootleggers and people that overcharge on shipping. Alternatively, CDUniverse is pretty good with bulk orders and overall pricing.

In the case of my Muse and Radiohead collection, I have all their albums and EPs, except for Hullaballoo and Radiohead's Drill EP. I wish Muse would release some remastered versions of Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations, but that's another topic altogether.

Street Spirit is one of my favourites too! It's an amazing track and the video is great to boot.

I've seen them live twice, during their HTTT and In Rainbows tours. The last time was great in terms of their performance, but it was pouring rain and a surprising number of people taller than 6 feet kept going in front of me. I take it you've seen them in concert more than once?

Ah, a dedicated Radiohead fan! What's your favourite album/s? In Rainbows is up there for me, alongside The Bends and Kid A.

Aye, it's one of my favourites on In Rainbows. Have you seen them perform it live? It's amazing!