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Ben X

Crikey, It's Christmas (2014)!

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Actually, I decided not to take your word for it, Badfinger, and went and checked: the first thing said in that Halloween thread was "it's Halloween". So I've changed my thread title back.

 

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVERYONE WOOOO!

 

I just meant the thread title.  :P

 

We could compromise with Dishonored Christmas.

 

 

Like I said, I didn't read the thread to determine if someone asserted if it actually was Halloween because it was much to early for it to be Halloween.

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So as long as I don't say it in the thread title it's okay to state that it's Christmas this early?

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This is the ideal time to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, by the way: when the Halloween stuff is coming down and the Christmas stuff is going up.

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The implicit assumption that everyone celebrates Thanksgiving is way less offensive than the assumption that people celebrate Christmas, because the latter takes for granted that you're part of some kooky co-opted solstice whereas the former does you the honor and privilege of including you in the trademark holiday of the Capital of Earth.

Does that include being shot at university by a delusional gunman

 

Does America measure its body counts in pounds as well or do they have some other stupid-ass measurement system for that

 

(I think I'm judging the offensiveness level appropriately here)

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Oddly, body count is the only thing that Americans measure by the metric system. Hectares are the preferred unit.

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Does that include being shot at university by a delusional gunman

 

Does America measure its body counts in pounds as well or do they have some other stupid-ass measurement system for that

 

(I think I'm judging the offensiveness level appropriately here)

 

I'm, uh, I'm sorry? I didn't actually mean to offend anyone. I thought there was a general tone of levity in this thread about Christmas.

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As a non-believer in both religion and capitalism, Christmas can piss off. Having said that, people finding genuine happiness and empathy for others is great, I just wish people actively made an effort to do that more often than one day of the year.

 

My "Christmas" ritual includes listening to 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine, and 'Christmas' by Jesu (so bloody perfect haha).

 

Favourite "Christmas" movies are Tokyo Godfathers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (or any Shane Black movie), Die Hard, and Frozen (I can't help it).

 

Anyone want to help me build a snowm- I mean list, of good Christmas-y movies?

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As a non-believer in both religion and capitalism, Christmas can piss off.

 

What about Halloween?

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My wife and I love the Bright Eyes Christmas CD. The Pink Martini one is pretty good as well. I'm also a fan of Goldfrapp's Winter Wonderland and XTC's stupidly cheesy Thanks for Christmas. But in general, almost all 80s and on Christmas music can go fuck itself.

 

Also I hate giving presents because ultimately I feel like I'm wasting a bunch of money on myself because of the nature of gift exchange. Money I never seem to feel good about parting with.

 

I would probably like Christmas more if it got significantly colder in Texas sometimes. I remember being much colder when I was younger.

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What about Halloween?

 

Halloween doesn't seem to be as big a deal in Australia as it is in the States. Getting costumed up on the cheap and watching horror movies is pretty fun when i've done it though, so Halloween gets thumbs up from me. Does that make me a hypocrite or something?

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Where were you lot when the Halloween thread got started six weeks early?

I don't care in the slightest about Halloween. People can dilute that as much as they like.

As a non-believer in both religion and capitalism, Christmas can piss off. Having said that, people finding genuine happiness and empathy for others is great, I just wish people actively made an effort to do that more often than one day of the year.

For me it's always been more about spending quality time with family, some of whom I might not see any other time that year. The traditions of Christmas also give me a pleasant nostalgia for my childhood, which is sentimental nonsense but fuck you I like it.

I guess Americans get a lot of that stuff from Thanksgiving, but we don't have that, obviously.

It's still not Christmas. It's barely even cold.

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Halloween doesn't seem to be as big a deal in Australia as it is in the States. Getting costumed up on the cheap and watching horror movies is pretty fun when i've done it though, so Halloween gets thumbs up from me. Does that make me a hypocrite or something?

 

Definitely.

 

I don't care in the slightest about Halloween. People can dilute that as much as they like.

For me it's always been more about spending quality time with family, some of whom I might not see any other time that year. The traditions of Christmas also give me a pleasant nostalgia for my childhood, which is sentimental nonsense but fuck you I like it.

I guess Americans get a lot of that stuff from Thanksgiving, but we don't have that, obviously.

It's still not Christmas. It's barely even cold.

 

Ah, so it's more of a selfish thing than a principled stand? Well, you don't need to come into the thread, then!

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I object to your characterising me as selfish (should I speak up about all the things I have no investment in before any of the things I do?), but whatever. Enjoy your thread.

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I'm a bit later than previous years but I did start making Christmas puddings this weekend. Made me feel festive for about half an hour.

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I like those traditions of spending time with loved ones as well, just always thought it was a shame that it seems to be relegated to a single day. But maybe that's just me being cynical about a glass being half full/empty. I don't know much about the history of Halloween, so my attitude is born from ignorance. I haven't noticed any kind of religion/paranoia based movement to 'reclaim' or 'defend' Halloween as there has been for Christmas, so that's another reason why i'm cool with it.

 

(*Just did a little searching and it looks like there is a "War on Halloween", but it's conservative fundamentalists attacking Halloween rather than some secular bogeyman trying to abolish it)

 

Also I don't actually do anything different on those days, nor do most of the people I know.

 

Realising now how boring that sounds :P

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I object to your characterising me as selfish (should I speak up about all the things I have no investment in before any of the things I do?), but whatever. Enjoy your thread.

 

I didn't characterise him as selfish, I asked if his position on early Christmas threads was selfish.

 

Boy, what a grinch!

 

tumblr_md1r2cwt4S1ri87b4o1_1280.jpg

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I like those traditions of spending time with loved ones as well, just always thought it was a shame that it seems to be relegated to a single day. But maybe that's just me being cynical about a glass being half full/empty.

I think the main issue with this is the logistics of organising a day. I have a large immediate family (2 parents, 10 children, 8 spouses and 6 grandchildren) so we have to do our best to co-ordinate a time when we can all gather. Christmas is a good way to obligate the less sociable of us to do so. And even then, we usually designate a day that's a weekend before Christmas, so people can be with their other families on the 25th of December.

 

Actually, on that. Are there nationalities here that celebrate Christmas on a different day? I found out that it's the 24th in Sweden and it seemed weird that it would be different by just that one day. So I'm curious if anyone else defies the western developed english speaking country norm.

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I'm a bit later than previous years but I did start making Christmas puddings this weekend. Made me feel festive for about half an hour.

 

I've seen people stocking up on their pudding ingredients over the weekend!

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I think the main issue with this is the logistics of organising a day. I have a large immediate family (2 parents, 10 children, 8 spouses and 6 grandchildren) so we have to do our best to co-ordinate a time when we can all gather. Christmas is a good way to obligate the less sociable of us to do so. And even then, we usually designate a day that's a weekend before Christmas, so people can be with their other families on the 25th of December.

 

This is usually what its about.  In theory I agree with the idea that people should spend time with their families more often, but the reality is you just can't do that without a ton of spare time from all parties.  Christmas is when its socially understood that you're supposed to gather with family so schedules tend to work around that goal.  Whatever the motive is, Christmas usually becomes the default gathering time because its convenient.

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Christmas is the worst now that I have in-laws, it creates a tension where I feel like my biological family perceives that I'm making a judgment about which part of my family I like more. My family has this tendency towards introversion that I didn't even notice until my girlfriend and now wife started attending family functions. Basically, we all just exist in the same space but nobody feels motivated to actually spend time with each other. It's not uncommon to go to my parents house for a weekend and only eat two meals with them. When I inevitably leave early, they act like they're sad to see me going but there's a good chance they hadn't actually even seen me that day to begin with.

 

But yeah I'm going to Sweden for Christmas woooo!

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Christmas is all about the good times, which is why the Christmas thread is nothing but people arguing with each other.

 

 

(I always get lonely at Christmas, personally)

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(I always get lonely at Christmas, personally)

Me too.

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