JCC People offended by Christmas decorations

Yes, I am offended by Christmas music too, Wocky!

 

this Starbucks outrage is the most pointless thing ever

 

Easy.

Best: None
Worst: All

 

i like the charlie brown christmas album. i saw the vinyl at narnes and bobbles but i didn't pick it up. i'm very tempted to, though.

 

Nothing says Christmas like Jose Feliciano singing Feliz Navidad from Daryl Hall's home. I declare this thread the official Christmas thread. Let's get the party going.

 

I have no problem with Christmas decorations...as long as they're up no sooner than Black Friday. Putting them up on November 1st is waaaaaayyyy too early.

 

Bing Crosby White Christmas and Nat King Cole Christmas Album or The Magic of Christmas are timeless classics.

 

As much as I'm a Christmas grinch, I don't go that far when it comes to the music; there's some rather great ones out there.

 

Best.

 

Don't worry, I'm certain the Christmas shoes kid doesn't have a dying mother. He's a street rat out to scam suckers.

 

WHAM!

 

It's bad enough Juliet is back, SSP.

 

Walmart has had Xmas decorations up since end of September. Very bizarre.

 

Some not-entirely-random thoughts I've been collecting over the past few days:

I'm a practicing Catholic, as are my wife and daughters, and go to Church probably 8-10 times a year. I would say I'm a person of faith, but that's faith, not knowledge, and a significant part of that faith is questioning and even doubting at times.

If there is one day a year I definitely go to mass, it's Christmas Eve, which is the "high point" of Christmas (exchanging gifts, etc) in Germanic countries like Austria and the children's mass includes a Christmas play. It's generally my favorite time of year, though Christmas Day itself usually leaves me pretty grumpy due to family in-fighting. I love being in Salzburg, where the whole inner city is decorated starting in mid to late November, when the Christkindlmärkte open here and in surrounding towns. How can you not love Glühwein and Punsch? We put up lights both in and and outside the house, though we keep it modest. If someone wants to go all out, that's their choice, same goes for anyone who doesn't.

Do I think Christmas is under attack? Certainly, but not by the stores putting up decorations on 1 November or opening on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but those standing on line at the stores at midnight on Black Friday. Who I'm pretty sure are the ones crying "They're killing Christmas" the loudest afterwards (once they've taken a nap, I assume).

I'm not offended by the Starbucks cup, but I am offended by that idiot posting youtube videos and whining about it. Seriously, it's a cup. Protest the crap coffee served in the cup.

I am somewhat annoyed by the chain of shopping malls that put up spaceship decorations for that Santa picture area, which included Roosevelt Field mall, which is near where I grew up and went shopping often. Mainly because of the stupidity. Maybe it was just an aesthetic choice, in which case they have incredibly poor taste, and, moreover, completely missed that the key ingredient in the whole spiel is tradition. nothing traditional about Space Alien Santa.Or they really were doing it because they thought having trees would be offensive to some; why would trees be more offensive than Santa, a tradition that has far more of a religious basis (at least until Coca-Cola came along). Morons.

Best Christmas songs? Among the traditional, religious ones I'd go with O Come All Ye Faithful and a German/Austrian one called "Es wird scho glei dumpa". On the pop side, well, nothing beats The Pogues "A Fairytale of New York". "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a brilliant standard, but hang anything on the highest bough and I will have no choice but to beat you senseless with said bough.

And lastly, Ender Sai fails yet again, Krampus pwns Zwarte Piet, everyone knows that.

EDIT A pretty good rendition of Es wird scho glei dumpa by Hubert von Goisern, an Austrian folk musician who actually played South-by-southwest several years ago

 

Also, I'm from Queens, NY, so this will always have a special place in my heart

 

the weirdest thing for me is that now people who were whining about starbucks are celebrating the release of a dunken donuts cup that says "joy" and has a wreath. how is that any more christian than a red cup? red is a commercial christmas color; a wreath and the word "joy" are commercial christmas motifs as well. its not like they draped it in crosses. how ****ing stupid are these people?

 

Joy is shorthand for the biblical "Joy to the World."
The wreath symbolizes Jesus being tortured apparently.

But none of that changes the fact that people are pretty ****ing stupid.