|
|
Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Nov 25, 2015 19:49:10 GMT -5
a bunch of lovable turkeys  |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Nov 25, 2015 20:18:58 GMT -5
As a Canadian, I must say that ours is most definitely not an imitation and is in fact older than American Thanksgiving. Ours is traced back to the Europeans settling here around 1578 (compared to early 1600's I believe in the US) and is actually more accurate time wise. They held feasts at the prime harvest time (October) as opposed to November an that is what it grew from. If anything, US Thanksgiving is a slight embarrassment as it seems to have turned into the unholy shopping terror of Black Friday. But bottom line, be thankful every day folks! I always have loved Thanksgiving for many reasons, but the best one was that the money-grubbers really never figured out how to commercialize it much past getting us to buy large quantities of food. NO "Tommy Turkey" visiting children placing drumsticks and cranberries in their stockings, no colossal Turkey in the mall on whose lap children sit to beg for mashed potatoes, no " 'TwasNight Before Thanksgiving" poem to read to the kiddies, etc. The helots never could quite get their grubby fingers on it. So they destroyed it, or have tried to, by minimizing it, reducing it to the appetizer before the main event, which is, of course, selling junk to the Legions of the Base, who for whatever sordid reasons, are willing to leave their families and homes on a day allegedly set aside to honor both in order to stampede into shopping malls as early as possible to buy this year's version of Tickle Me Elmo to show someone in the family how much they love him or her. Huh? There are some signs this isn't as popular as it has been, but (a) I remain to be convinced; and (b) until everyone, worker and consumer, refuses to participate in this travesty, Black Friday, now creeping deep into Thursday will continue to be a blight on the cultural landscape. Ebola's got nothing on consumerism for causing short- and long-term damage. At least most of us want to eradicate ebola. |
|
|
|
Post by benday-dot on Nov 25, 2015 20:35:08 GMT -5
As a Canadian, I must say that ours is most definitely not an imitation and is in fact older than American Thanksgiving. Ours is traced back to the Europeans settling here around 1578 (compared to early 1600's I believe in the US) and is actually more accurate time wise. They held feasts at the prime harvest time (October) as opposed to November an that is what it grew from. If anything, US Thanksgiving is a slight embarrassment as it seems to have turned into the unholy shopping terror of Black Friday. But bottom line, be thankful every day folks! I always have loved Thanksgiving for many reasons, but the best one was that the money-grubbers really never figured out how to commercialize it much past getting us to buy large quantities of food. NO "Tommy Turkey" visiting children placing drumsticks and cranberries in their stockings, no colossal Turkey in the mall on whose lap children sit to beg for mashed potatoes, no " 'TwasNight Before Thanksgiving" poem to read to the kiddies, etc. The helots never could quite get their grubby fingers on it. So they destroyed it, or have tried to, by minimizing it, reducing it to the appetizer before the main event, which is, of course, selling junk to the Legions of the Base, who for whatever sordid reasons, are willing to leave their families and homes on a day allegedly set aside to honor both in order to stampede into shopping malls as early as possible to buy this year's version of Tickle Me Elmo to show someone in the family how much they love him or her. Huh? There are some signs this isn't as popular as it has been, but (a) I remain to be convinced; and (b) until everyone, worker and consumer, refuses to participate in this travesty, Black Friday, now creeping deep into Thursday will continue to be a blight on the cultural landscape. Ebola's got nothing on consumerism for causing short- and long-term damage. At least most of us want to eradicate ebola. Damn fine post Prince Hal. Sadly, the Black Friday travesty has definitely been exported north of the border. A lot of Canadians especially those from just north of the border have traditionally, and in my neck of the woods (Nova Scotia), headed south to Maine, New Hampshire or your own state in search of deals. Canadian retailers have tried to stem the consumer migration by having their own Black Friday deals. It's an odious spiral of greed for sure. |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Nov 25, 2015 23:45:09 GMT -5
I always have loved Thanksgiving for many reasons, but the best one was that the money-grubbers really never figured out how to commercialize it much past getting us to buy large quantities of food. NO "Tommy Turkey" visiting children placing drumsticks and cranberries in their stockings, no colossal Turkey in the mall on whose lap children sit to beg for mashed potatoes, no " 'TwasNight Before Thanksgiving" poem to read to the kiddies, etc. The helots never could quite get their grubby fingers on it. So they destroyed it, or have tried to, by minimizing it, reducing it to the appetizer before the main event, which is, of course, selling junk to the Legions of the Base, who for whatever sordid reasons, are willing to leave their families and homes on a day allegedly set aside to honor both in order to stampede into shopping malls as early as possible to buy this year's version of Tickle Me Elmo to show someone in the family how much they love him or her. Huh? There are some signs this isn't as popular as it has been, but (a) I remain to be convinced; and (b) until everyone, worker and consumer, refuses to participate in this travesty, Black Friday, now creeping deep into Thursday will continue to be a blight on the cultural landscape. Ebola's got nothing on consumerism for causing short- and long-term damage. At least most of us want to eradicate ebola. Damn fine post Prince Hal. Sadly, the Black Friday travesty has definitely been exported north of the border. A lot of Canadians especially those from just north of the border have traditionally, and in my neck of the woods (Nova Scotia), headed south to Maine, New Hampshire or your own state in search of deals. Canadian retailers have tried to stem the consumer migration by having their own Black Friday deals. It's an odious spiral of greed for sure. Thank you, b-d. God, it's like the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with the contagion spreading beyond the borders of our jaded population. The better analogy is of course, zombies, and the guy who had the whole zombie/consumer analogy nailed was Romero in Dawn of the Dead, back in whatever, 1977 or'78, when the zombies all go to the mall and one of the characters explains it by saying that "It's their instinct taking over," or words to that effect. Add electronic devices to the mix, and you have our modern zombies, the mindless, relentless shoppers of America. |
|
|
|
Post by dupersuper on Nov 26, 2015 0:03:24 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Nov 26, 2015 8:35:54 GMT -5
Too bad Superbly couldn't bring them a bigger turkey for dinner. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 9:48:50 GMT -5
The better analogy is of course, zombies, and the guy who had the whole zombie/consumer analogy nailed was Romero in Dawn of the Dead, back in whatever, 1977 or'78, when the zombies all go to the mall and one of the characters explains it by saying that "It's their instinct taking over," or words to that effect. Add electronic devices to the mix, and you have our modern zombies, the mindless, relentless shoppers of America. Here's that Dawn quote One of my all-time favorite movies of all time. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 9:51:33 GMT -5
I guess you don't subscribe to the saying " history is written by the winners"? -Henry Ford in the New York Times Oct. 28, 1921 -The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -Goebbels -Napoleon So just because history is written by the "winners" doesn't make it true. Or valid. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Nov 26, 2015 10:15:19 GMT -5
Every country on the planet earth was founded on some level of aggression. Live with it. I'm not gonna keep crying about the past.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 10:18:48 GMT -5
Every country on the planet earth was founded on some level of aggression. Live with it. I'm not gonna keep crying about the past. Santayana. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Nov 26, 2015 10:21:57 GMT -5
Every country on the planet earth was founded on some level of aggression. Live with it. I'm not gonna keep crying about the past. Santayana. -M Why do you think that we the human race will ever advance past their nature? We are born with original sin and ,although we can control it at times, we will seek out our comfort at the expense of others. The Past is always being repeated. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 10:24:13 GMT -5
Why do you think that we the human race will ever advance past their nature? We are born with original sin and ,although we can control it at times, we will seek out our comfort at the expense of others. The Past is always being repeated.  Because we forget the lessons of the past, we do not understand the present, so we make poor decisions about the future. It's not our nature, it's our arrogance and apathy that we let define us. We are the product of hubris defined by our choices and our choices are usually poorly informed because we don't understand the truth of our past, and keep making the same mistakes. -M |
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Nov 26, 2015 10:34:09 GMT -5
Human arrogance will always lead to the "it won't happen to me" attitude.
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Nov 26, 2015 10:37:26 GMT -5
Every country on the planet earth was founded on some level of aggression. Live with it. I'm not gonna keep crying about the past. Nobody wants anybody crying about it; it's denying it that's the problem. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 11:31:58 GMT -5
The better analogy is of course, zombies, and the guy who had the whole zombie/consumer analogy nailed was Romero in Dawn of the Dead, back in whatever, 1977 or'78, when the zombies all go to the mall and one of the characters explains it by saying that "It's their instinct taking over," or words to that effect. Add electronic devices to the mix, and you have our modern zombies, the mindless, relentless shoppers of America. Here's that Dawn quote One of my all-time favorite movies of all time. This and the underrated Day of the Dead are in my Top 5 zombie movies of all time. The zombie makeup and special effects in Day are some of the best ever. Simply amazing. I just love Bub. |
|
