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VC Secret Santa 2018


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Signup for this year is closed

 

I think VCecret Santa is a funnier title, but it looks awful written out. Still had to say it.

Not my intention to stage a coup or anything, but I was the one creeping around so I guess I'll be heading off this year's version of Secret Santa, which I am very happy to do. Depending how many people enlist I may have to ask for a hand wrangling all the elves but I think I can handle it for the time being. 

We've gotten a late start on it this year, which is OK, however I still want to make sure everyone gets their gifts (ostensibly) before Christmas. Therefore I am instituting a couple different rules. 

  • DO NOT PARTICIPATE IF YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR GIFT SHIPPED BY DECEMBER 7. NO EXCEPTIONS. This gives us three weeks to conjure up and purchase the perfect presents, as well as three weeks to get it through the holiday mayhem to your giftee.
  • YOU MUST HAVE YOUR 'ABOUT ME' WRITTEN IN THIS THREAD BY END OF DAY NOVEMBER 11 OR YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED AND CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS YEARS EXCHANGE. NO EXCEPTIONS. This allows me to send out matches November 12 so we have 3 full weeks to go gift hunting. 

I feel the bolded, no exception rules really highlight the fun and joy this event should bring to us all.

Other than that, the rules are simple:

  1. Your match must receive gifts amounting to no less than $25 worth. There is no cap on what you can spend, so go crazy if you want.
  2. All packages must be sent with a tracking number. 
  3. You must post an 'about me' after you sign up.
  4. You must have a tradelist. It's impossible to know what nifty new stuff to get you if we don't know what you already have. 
  5. NO NAUGHTY ELVES! You must say thank you and post pictures/video of whatever you received.

 

Please use the following information as a return address when you send your gift out so you aren't revealed before your gift is even open. 

Secret Santa 

5702 E. 31st St.

Tucson, AZ 85711

 

I think the new rules are fair considering the time constraints we are working under, however this is not a dictatorship and I am welcome to any revisions or suggestions if you all see necessary. 

 

List of elves:

ozfacter

Reshiram

Youinreverse

Sasan

Dunc

swb

Daegor

Edited by backpackoat
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58 minutes ago, backpackoat said:
  1. You must not spend less than $25 on your match. There is no cap on what you can spend, so go crazy I guess. 

In!

 

 

I wanted to comment on this rule.  I think this is probably your intent, but you are not saying you have to SPEND $25, correct?  I've definitely had years where I'm poor and just send a bunch of stuff from my collection, spending literally nothing.  But what I sent was worth well over $25.

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21 minutes ago, daegor said:

In!

 

 

I wanted to comment on this rule.  I think this is probably your intent, but you are not saying you have to SPEND $25, correct?  I've definitely had years where I'm poor and just send a bunch of stuff from my collection, spending literally nothing.  But what I sent was worth well over $25.

That's correct, and a good point. I'll clarify!

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15 minutes ago, Dunc said:

Is posTing a link to our discogs account sufficient for the tradelist?

That's what I always do, but I have a detailed and up to date collection and wantlist.  There is a debate every year about whether or not it's okay to have one and not the other, or have it not be up to date, etc.

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  • jhulud pinned this topic

I'm out this year, unfortunately. I just moved to a new city and don't really have the time or energy to organize or even participate. After running and participating in this for many years, i've also seen a dramatic decrease of participants the last couple times to the point where it just doesn't seem as fun or worthwhile to stress myself out organizing it, especially having it so late already this year. I hope y'all have fun and hopefully enough people decide they want to do it. 

 

And I appreciate those of you who actually reached out to me about this. 

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2 hours ago, daegor said:

That's what I always do, but I have a detailed and up to date collection and wantlist.  There is a debate every year about whether or not it's okay to have one and not the other, or have it not be up to date, etc.

Perfect. I do too. I am definitely in and if it works out to be an odd number I am down to take on two. 

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I'll make my debut this year. :)

My name is Rich and I'm a married 32 year old dude with 2 cats living in Los Angeles, CA.

When I was 8, my uncle gave me his beat up Dookie cassette and I officially started my music collecting addiction. When I was 13, I built my first website, a music review page called "Cheap CD Reviews", and I ended up on the CD promo list for Sub Pop, Tooth and Nail, Hush, Barsuk, Drive Thru, and about a half dozen other indie labels. In college, I started collecting records exclusively. I started with grunge and alt-rock (Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Third Eye Blind), moved to pop punk and ska (Reel Big Fish, Aquabats, Lagwagon), then transitioned into indie rock (John Vanderslice, The National, Kind of Like Spitting), which has been my main genre of choice over the last 15+ years.

I am the only member of my family who isn't musically skilled. My 18 year old brother plays lead guitar for Maximum Bob's new band, my other younger brother is the archetypal singer-songwriter with albums of unreleased material on his hard drive, and my sister writes the occasional song. The best I can do is collect records and tapes. :P My biggest sub-collection is R.E.M. bootlegs from the 80s and 90s. I have over 40 of them, as well as every R.E.M. official album and live album and 95% of their 12" and 7" singles.

Outside of music, I've been improvising and performing comedy in Los Angeles for over 12 years, off and on. I gave up on the SNL dream early on, in exchange for being employed and being able to afford to be a happy adult. I still enjoy performing and taking the occasional improv class without any professional ambitions. This summer, I started a pin company and am launching officially sometime this month.

I've been a member of VC off and on for a while under various random usernames that I lightly used and then abandoned. I did a Secret Santa for another vinyl forum last year and I had a great time coming up with a high concept theme for the packaging and bonus material. I'm excited to participate in the VC Secret Santa for the first time. I hope this was long enough and filled with the right amount of extraneous detail.

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16 hours ago, Dunc said:

Perfect. I do too. I am definitely in and if it works out to be an odd number I am down to take on two. 

An odd number of people shouldn't matter, since A>C  B>A  C>B for instance, but that is a very generous offer. 

@Dunc @tokimedo @jhulud I'm not trying to pester so take your time, but I just want to make sure you know since I've updated the thread since you posted. Please sign up via this link some time this week if you'd like to participate. https://goo.gl/forms/JI3XPB7gynpZTlvu2

I also need some people willing to send out of the US or our good friend daegor will be SOL. I already matched with him last year, as much as I like the guy.

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17 minutes ago, backpackoat said:

I also need some people willing to send out of the US or our good friend daegor will be SOL. I already matched with him last year, as much as I like the guy.

Haha!  All of us up here are understanding that shipping eats into the cost, I definitely don't expect to receive as much giving the shipping costs.

 

 

OH, and I can totally use my US shipping address again.  Honestly it's even cheaper for another Canadian to ship to a US address than to another Canadian address, so dumb.

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37 year old male living in the California sierra foothills. I have been listening to vinyl off and on since I was about 12. More steadily the last few years. I mostly listen to hardcore and punk but enjoy all genres outside of newer country and newer R&B. I am married with a 17 year old and spend most of my free time going to concerts and doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I have done secret Santa on a MMA forum for the last 15 or so years but this will be my first on here. Sad note: the closest record store to me is one hour away and the closest good store is almost double that. I also like listening to cassettes on my sweet boom box.

I also buy and sell records as a hobby and end up with a ton of junk so if anyone on your secret santa list is itching for some Hawaiian, pipe organ or Pavarotti I got you covered.

 

White Whale record: Cadillac Tramps Drivin clear variant. Been looking for years. One of only two bands that I have collected all variants 

 

https://www.discogs.com/mywantlist

Edited by Dunc
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I'm in (like last year)! Was fun!

Here's my "about me" from last year (adjusted some stuff)...

Quote

 

I'm Sasan, 33  34 years old, from a country far far away. Married to my wonderful wife for 2 3 years now and we have a two beautiful boys who turn 2 on November, 10  (that day last year was easily the best day of my life [+ 2nd best on June, 14 2018]...regardless of the ridiculous election result somewhere across the ocean) and 1/2 on December, 14. I'm a consultant for one of the biggest IT-companies in the world for almost over 5 years now; although I have studied marketing and don't have a clue about the technology. Well, could be worse... :)

 

I love playing guitar, setting up/changing my gear, playing around with effect pedals and (lately) soldering & creating my own effects. Unfortunately, band-wise I don't play with other musicians since I moved 3 years ago...it seems everybody in this city is only doing worldmusic, singer/songwriter, folk or rap stuff, which I can't stand. I'm rather looking to start something in the prog-rock/art-rock/post-rock/doom direction...maybe with some psychodelic elements...

 

My favorite bands: Porcupine Tree (or anything Steven Wilson related; I just love almost all the stuff he does; biggest part of my collection is anything SW-related...PT, Bass Communion, Continuum, Blackfield, I.E.M., solo, ), Karnivool, Oceansize, Russian Circles, ISIS, Tool, APC, The Cinematic Orchestra, Opeth (older stuff until Watershed), Soen, Agent Fresco....probably mostly stuff you haven't heard before...

My album of the year has (surprisingly) not been released by Steven Wilson, but by a band I've never heard before: ELDER - Reflections of a Floating World! That record is so ridiculously good that I can't put it in words! I love it and probably listen to it 5x a week! My album of the year is probably APC's "Eat an Elephant". Haven't heard too much new music this year... :/

 

What I don't like musically: I can't stand anything that has to do with HipHop, EDM, Folk, Punk, any Core, Alternative or Emo...

 

Miscellaneous: Have been a huge movie fan, but lately (basically since the birth of our first son) I rarely switch on the TV. I'm probably the only person who doesn't use (or understand) Instagram and Twitter...I don't get this shit :D Further, I have a crazy passion for the football club (it's football, not soccer...) FC BARCELONA since I've seen Romario play for them when I was a child!

 

Collection/Tradelist should be found in my signature...

 

 

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ABOUT ME

My name is Jesiah, I'm 33, my wife and I just bought a house and are settling in.  My son is six now and is starting to get into music a little, right now mostly via movies/TV.  He loves songs from Moana, Scooby Doo, Nightmare Before Christmas, StoryBots, etc.

I have super weird selective taste in everything, especially music. Here is my collection: https://www.discogs.com/user/Daegor/collection?sort_by=artists_sort and my wantlist: https://www.discogs.com/wantlist?user=Daegor. I am not a variant collector. I rarely listen to the radio, so chances are if it isn't on my want/have list then I probably haven't heard them before, but I am always eager to consume more music.  All genres are game, though I would be impressed if you found any Country I liked.

Some staples I dig from various genres:

  • Alexisonfire
  • Battle Tapes
  • Big Black Delta
  • Birds In Row
  • The Black Queen
  • Celldweller / Circle of Dust / Argyle Park / etc
  • The Chariot / '68
  • Chelsea Wolfe
  • Childish Gambino
  • clipping.
  • Death Grips
  • Deftones
  • The Dillinger Escape Plan
  • Every Time I Die
  • FKA Twigs
  • Gallows / Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  • Haedes
  • Junius
  • Massive Attack
  • mewithoutYou
  • Neverending White Lights
  • Nine Inch Nails / How to Destroy Angels / etc
  • Norma Jean
  • O'Brother
  • Rosetta
  • Saul Williams
  • Sir Sly
  • Starflyer 59
  • Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker
  • Youth Code
  • Zao

I like TV shows like Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Brooklyn 99, Bojack Horseman, X-Files, Rick & Morty, Game of Thrones, and movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fight Club, and other such mind trip movies, but really will like nearly any movie for one reason or another (Pixar movies and gems like How to Train Your Dragon, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, etc).

I love microbreweries, GOOD liquor, etc.

I like to read, mostly sci-fi stuff like Philip K Dick, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert.

Top wants and incoming orders in my signature.

Edited by daegor
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Last call for sign ups! If you're wanting to participate in this, remember to sign up via link before end of day tomorrow, Sunday Nov. 11!

 

Important for everyone else who has signed up but has not written about themselves yet, it MUST be done by end of day tomorrow as well or you will be crossed off the list and will not be able to participate. I'm not trying to be an ass but we're very short on gift-buying time this year so there is no time to be wrangling any stragglers. Thank you!

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Here's my about me, updated from last year's thread

 

My name is Jared. I'm 27 and I live in Salt Lake City. 

 

I'm into all sorts of music. I love 90s indie (labels like Elephant 6, UP, etc), shoegaze, stoner/doom metal, folk/americana (especially with female vocals),  post rock, ambient, Electronic, post-punk, jazz, and everything in between. Some of my favorite bands are Pavement, Built to Spill, The Radio Dept., Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Mogwai, Low, Radiohead, Ty Segall, The Microphones/Mount Eerie,  Melvins, Jason Isbell, Eagle Twin, LCD Soundsystem,  Wilco, Guided by Voices, Earth, Neil Young, and many more. Here's my Discogs page for reference

 

As for other activities, I'm a big car/motorcycle guy. I love anything vintage European and Japanese. Someday, I'd love to restore a BMW 2002 and build a custom cafe racer style bike (out of an old BMW airhead or Honda CB). It's just a pipe dream for now though. I go to a lot of car meets/cruises/shows with my brother in his 78 Classic Mini (the link isn't his car, but you get the idea). I also help friends work on their cars. It's a fun hobby. I haven't been buying many records lately because all my money is going toward building a sleeper BMW M3 sedan. Here's a link documenting the build, if you're into cars and want to give it a read.

 

I haven't been a lot in the last few years, but I love snowboarding in the winter. I'm hoping to make it up the mountain a lot more in the coming months. I go to a ton of shows. I average about two or three a week. I love traveling for shows when I can. I try to make a trip over to Red Rocks every summer. I'm hoping to travel more often.  Whenever I'm somewhere new, I try and stop by a record store and ask the clerk for some local band recommendations. I love buying cool local music. Maybe you could include some of your favorite local bands or maybe your band if you're in one. 

 

Like any other young adult, play video games (PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch) and watch a lot of movies/TV. Some favorite shows are Arrested Development, Orphan Black, The Good Place, The IT Crowd, Danger 5, 30 Rock, Stranger Things, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Silicon Valley, etc. 

 

I'm not super picky, so I'm sure I'll love whatever I'm given. Thanks!

 

Here's my Instagram if it helps.

Edited by Youinreverse
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Sorry for the late response, I was at a festival the last 2 days. Here's an updated version of last years.

 

My name is Hiram and I've been on VC for almost 3 years now. I'm a graduate of The Los Angeles Film School and a graduate of Muisician's Institute. My life pretty much revolves around music and I'm boring and have little interests outside of music, lol. I love an array of music styles but I grew up on Punk and Metal and lately it's been mostly Hip-Hop. I also love 90s alternative, emo, old school house, early 2000s pop and a bunch of random shit. I'm also a huge Pokémon fan and another on and off hobby is collecting Pokémon cards. Lastly, I'm hipster as fuck and enjoy craft beers, I'll drink anything not a stout.

 

Artists I really like: System of a Down, Tool, Type O Negative, Vince Staples, Kanye West, Mastodon, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Kendrick Lamar, Deftones, Daft Punk, Portishead, and bunch more. 

 

My up-to-date Discogs is in my bio. I'm also pretty open to anything so if someone wants to send me something completely different from what's in my collection, by all means do it. I love learning about new music.

 

Had a lot of fun last year, so I'm excited to do it again!

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Copy and pasted from last year, still holds true...

 

my name is andrew and i live outside philadelphia. some of my favorite bands are the loved ones/dave hause, gaslight anthem/horrible crowes/brian fallon, holy mess, bouncing souls, alkaline trio, kid dynamite, unwritten law,  the lawrence arms/falcon, tim barry/avail, the menzingers, red city radio,  . im a huge fan of pop punk, raspy vocals, 90s skate punk and "woahs". i love onyx's first album and similar rap from the early to mid 90's.

i work in a restaurant so by the time i get home i rarely feel like doing anything. my nights are usually watching the shows my girlfriend wants to watch and then its usually espn or random sitcoms while im on the computer.

i listen to music all day while im at work and am always looking for something new to add to the rotation.

 

Heres most of my collection for reference: https://www.discogs.com/user/ozfacter/collection

 thats all i can think of at the moment. if you want to know anything just have some one ask.

Edited by ozfacter
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Alright my friends, the matches are all sent. I tried to wait a few extra days for the last couple people to post about themselves but it didn't happen. Sorry to those, but we had to get going. 

The date for shipping your gifts has been extended to December 6th to compensate for getting your matches late. This is three full weeks to shop and ship, as agreed upon. PLEASE keep me apprised if something ends up delaying you. The goal is to get everyone their gift by Christmas. 

Since the group is so small, I have recused myself from this year's exchange in order to keep things fair and make sure things run smoothly given the truncated time we have.

 

It is a very small group this year so please be kind to each other and give gifts as you would like to receive! 

Edited by backpackoat
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