About 4 years ago, I was checking out where my ancestors were from in Vienna, and I noticed one thing: Austrians sure know how to do Christmas. There are Weihnachtsmärkte on practically every sidewalk, and each park seemed to be filled with booths selling Christmas trinkets and giving children meat-on-a-stick (clearly a festive gesture). Here in Montreal, we've come pretty close with Noël dans le parc, a festive square of pine trees, candy canes, warm cider, a fireplace replete with marshmallows, and (probably my favourite part of it) music in a box.

The holiday season is upon us in full swing, and nowhere is it more curiously amusing than at Cabot Square. It's the Bubble Boy brought to a new height: small ensembles entertained park-goers and pigeons alike with their festive and upbeat music. The catch, of course, is that they're - wait for it - inside a big ol' plastic bubble!

Have you ever been to a party where you're pretty sure you're the only one not on drugs? In those cases, I always wonder what kind of magical music everyone else is hearing -- I'm thinking unicorns playing cricket or something equally fabulous. Irregardless of what we saw (or didn't see), Tasseomancy, Young Galaxy, and Austra played last night to a sold out crowd at Cabaret Mile End, and everyone's ears were as packed with great tunes as was the venue with sweaty, dancing bodies.

Call & Response is a series of Q&As with bands, artists and random people we dig that live in Montreal, visit here, or have some dubious connection to the city.

In a very special two-in-one-day feature, MP is both Calling and Responding with Jon Davis prior to his show this week, being put on with musical pal Ainsley McNeaney, mangomango, and a surprise guest (who's it going to be?!)! Read on to learn more about Jon's love-hate relationship with cheese curds and mosquitoes.

What? We're celebrating the birthday of a crown corporation? Do we have nothing better to talk about (like, perhaps, the fact that Justin Bieber might have reproduced!). We here at Midnight Poutine are far too low on the media totem pole to weigh in on the big-guy rivalry going on, but since the airwaves are buzzing with Peter Gzowski-esque enthusiasm today, we figured that - just maybe - it was worth mentioning.

On a scale from 1 to 10, where do you think this weighs in as important?

As a faithful member of the Midnight Poutine readership, you could be the lucky winner of a pair of tickets to this week's book launch and conversation with authors Daniel Clowes and Seth, who are launching their books The Death-Ray (Clowes) and The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists (Seth) through Drawn and Quarterly.