Christmas Presents

Yesterday was black friday so the big shopping season has begun. My wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I answered with the same answer that I give every year and that is "socks". Yes, socks are the perfect present because I always need them, yet I probably won't go out and by them for myself. However they aren't exactly fun so my wife always asks me what else I want and I am sure that I can think of something. As for buying gifts, I am not that good at buying for my wife. My daughter is easy because toys are fun to look at and pick out. I have always been of the opinion that the two greatest gift related inventions are the gift card and the gift bag. The gift card allows the recipient to get anything they want as long as it doesn't exceed the amount on the card and where would I be without gift bags? Wasting far too much time trying to wrap presents with paper, that's where. Anyway I actually have maybe 70% of my Christmas shopping done so far which puts way ahead of where I normally am at this point. I don't like to fight the crowds so I normally just do most of my shopping on my way home from work at like 9:30 when the stores aren't so bad. Usually my wife and I just don't know what to buy each other so we me up list of possibilities. My list normally gives a few dvds so wife my can pick one from the list so I am sure that I will get one that I want. I actually made a list of metal cds this year as well. Honestly I would probably just be content with the socks, but I won't argue with a dvd and cd either.
Oh, please don't think that I completely forgotten the subject of metal, oh, no I certainly have not. My gift for anyone who actually reads my ramblings or was unfortunate enough to end up here by mistake is coming up next week in fact. An early gift of sorts for those like me who can't wait until Christmas to get a presents. Starting December 1st, I will begin my top ten countdown of the top ten hard rock/ metal albums of 1985. I know I have announced this before, but I have finally narrowed them down, I am sticking to this list and I will start posting it on the 1st. This is the first time I have done this, but I hope to do it every year. First I make a list of the contenders for the top ten list so I must pick at least 20 albums and no more than 25 metal/hard rock albums from 1985. Then the competition starts as I begin listening, comparing and narrowing down until I have my top ten. I started doing this in August and I actually just finished ranking the list last week. Now for my entries, I intend to justify why this album deserves a spot in my top ten. I don't want to give too much away, but I think I can safely say that 1985 was a year when lesser known bands excelled and it was a big year for speed and thrash debuts. This was the year when Megadeth, Exodus, Overkill, Possessed, Kreator, Agent Steel and Dark Angel all released their debuts. I can safely say that my current 1985 list looks a lot different than it did back in 1985. Comparing albums by listening to one after the other gave me a different perspective than listening to one album and then say waiting a day or so before listening to the other. Also in December I will be listing the best and worst album covers of 1985 as well as the golden turd award. The golden turd award is for an an album that is first of all bad, but also an album that is disappointing either because the artist did something good in the past or the album had a lot of hype, but failed to deliver. I actually was unable to find a recipient for 1984 because it was such a good year, but I certainly found a winner for 1985.
Well, happy hunting in the stores and as you are shopping, remember the slogan I once saw on a sticker on an 80's album that said "Give the gift of metal!".