shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,740
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Post by shaxper on Nov 11, 2016 14:15:31 GMT -5
I am all about the Christmas spirit beginning November 25th. I don't mind and even enjoy the secularization of it all -- the songs, the decorations, etc etc, but the rabid consumerism really brings me down.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 11, 2016 14:55:27 GMT -5
I am all about the Christmas spirit beginning November 25th. I don't mind and even enjoy the secularization of it all -- the songs, the decorations, etc etc, but the rabid consumerism really brings me down. Yeah... I used to go crazy over Christmas as a kid (and even a young adult), but having it turned into a seven week long shopping spree sort of killed the mood. I particularly hate how cheap a lot of it has become. I thoroughly despise the plastic inflatable snowmen tied down with yellow cables that my neigbours seem to have such a bizarre fondness for. Even as a child I wouldn't have found much magic in that stuff. I thought the idea behind Christmas decorations is that they would be decorative, but those sorry half-deflated snowmen drooping under the autumn rain are more like a monument to depression than to Yuletide cheer. Side note: one of my neighbours installed, very early in autumn, a laser projector that projects green "stars" on a weeping willow between our two houses. My wife and I were puzzled for a good twenty minutes when we first saw them, not believing that so many fireflies could be found in one spot!
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,059
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Post by Confessor on Nov 11, 2016 16:09:19 GMT -5
I am all about the Christmas spirit beginning November 25th. I don't mind and even enjoy the secularization of it all -- the songs, the decorations, etc etc, but the rabid consumerism really brings me down. Speaking of which, whatcha gettin' me this year?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 17:24:53 GMT -5
I am all about the Christmas spirit beginning November 25th. I don't mind and even enjoy the secularization of it all -- the songs, the decorations, etc etc, but the rabid consumerism really brings me down. I don't mind the rabbid consumerism but then again, I am a capitalist pig. I've got a pretty hefty shipment of bath & bodyworks and victoria's secret coming in. It's that time of year when gift sets sell well. I can't wait till Nov 25...putting decorations up early lets me enjoy them for a whopping 60 days. I'll be back in the mall tomorrow.
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Post by Spike-X on Nov 11, 2016 18:39:09 GMT -5
It's Veteran's Day and if you and your loved ones see one today - Just say "Thank You" for their service and move on ... it's will makes them feel good! Maybe even drop a quarter into their begging bowl if you can spare it!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 11, 2016 19:27:09 GMT -5
It's Veteran's Day and if you and your loved ones see one today - Just say "Thank You" for their service and move on ... it's will makes them feel good! Maybe even drop a quarter into their begging bowl if you can spare it! Ooooh, that was worthy of Cyanide & Happiness's depressing comic week! Well played, sir!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 11:52:46 GMT -5
Mall later, more shopping, then I take the kids to see Trolls. Actually, I'm the one who wants to see it, but use them for cover.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Nov 12, 2016 14:36:47 GMT -5
Did we just add a new post count title? Or did I reach another landmark? Just noticed I'm not an "old curmudgeon" anymore. I mean I am but the title changed.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 14:38:38 GMT -5
Did we just add a new post count title? Or did I reach another landmark? Just noticed I'm not an "old curmudgeon" anymore. I mean I am but the title changed. See the help forum for an explanation-Shaxper modified some titles... -M
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 12, 2016 17:44:41 GMT -5
Just came back from seeing The Arrival, and it's every bit as good as the critics say. Villeneuve did it again!
I laughed twice during the film, out of sheer giddiness at what we were seeing. I cried three times (in a manly manner, of course), one out of joy and two out of emotional overload. Which is kind of surprising, because the film isn't melodramatic at all and doesn't go for thrills; it builds slowly on every plane until it delivers the punch. (Punches, even). It's a bit like Neil Gaiman's Sandman run, in that way; the sheer beauty of the whole thing is greater than the sum of its parts.
No action, by the way. This is a film with scientists in it, and I can vouch that these people actually play the part correctly. So it's a lot of data gathering and slow analysis. No pulling a magical solution out of anyone's a$$ at a critical moment.
Amy Adams, Forrest Whitaker and Jeremy Renner all nail it with believable and sympathetic interpretations. Whitaker is particularly noticeable, since his role could easily have been turned into a cliché... which it was not. Great acting job there, but Adams and Renner also shine.
Can't wait for my wife to see it too.
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Post by Mormel on Nov 13, 2016 2:36:42 GMT -5
^I also really liked Arrival, Double R. I was particularly intrigued by the design of the spaceships and the aliens themselves; which I won't spoil, but it was very original. Amy Adams turned in a terrific performance, and Jeremy Renner was an excellent foil. And visually it was gorgeous. I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. As someone with a passing interest in linguistics, I was fascinated by how they handled the language learning aspect in this film. There was one gripe I had, though: I don't think China would be so clumsy in their attempts to communicate with the aliens. As one of few countries sustaining a logographic writing system, it would probably be quicker to piece together a language that has little correlation between the written and the spoken word. Also, although China doesn't shy away from flexing its military muscle, it would explore possibilities of trade before resorting to warfare.
That's the only thing that threw me off.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 13, 2016 8:00:31 GMT -5
^I also really liked Arrival, Double R. I was particularly intrigued by the design of the spaceships and the aliens themselves; which I won't spoil, but it was very original. Amy Adams turned in a terrific performance, and Jeremy Renner was an excellent foil. And visually it was gorgeous. I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. As someone with a passing interest in linguistics, I was fascinated by how they handled the language learning aspect in this film. There was one gripe I had, though: I don't think China would be so clumsy in their attempts to communicate with the aliens. As one of few countries sustaining a logographic writing system, it would probably be quicker to piece together a language that has little correlation between the written and the spoken word. Also, although China doesn't shy away from flexing its military muscle, it would explore possibilities of trade before resorting to warfare.
That's the only thing that threw me off.
I thought the same {Spoiler: Click to show}until we learned that the Chinese had progressed farther than the Americans in their communication attempt and had come up with the phrase "use weapon", which had prompted them to see the aliens as an immediate threat. That reconciled me with their not going even faster, as well as with their early role as "bad guys" in the film -a role that is reversed at the end.
My own gripe was the inclusion of Sean Hannity-watching extremists who almost screw everything up; while it was fitting, it almost sounded like a political message given the current climate.
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 14, 2016 17:24:38 GMT -5
I am all about the Christmas spirit beginning November 25th. I don't mind and even enjoy the secularization of it all -- the songs, the decorations, etc etc, but the rabid consumerism really brings me down. Yeah... I used to go crazy over Christmas as a kid (and even a young adult), but having it turned into a seven week long shopping spree sort of killed the mood. I particularly hate how cheap a lot of it has become. I thoroughly despise the plastic inflatable snowmen tied down with yellow cables that my neigbours seem to have such a bizarre fondness for. Even as a child I wouldn't have found much magic in that stuff. I thought the idea behind Christmas decorations is that they would be decorative, but those sorry half-deflated snowmen drooping under the autumn rain are more like a monument to depression than to Yuletide cheer. Side note: one of my neighbours installed, very early in autumn, a laser projector that projects green "stars" on a weeping willow between our two houses. My wife and I were puzzled for a good twenty minutes when we first saw them, not believing that so many fireflies could be found in one spot! Christmas is for kids.
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Post by Phil Maurice on Nov 14, 2016 20:11:22 GMT -5
Indeed it is, and according to The Velvet Fog, the age range is one to ninety-two.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,740
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Post by shaxper on Nov 14, 2016 21:28:21 GMT -5
Mall later, more shopping, then I take the kids to see Trolls. Actually, I'm the one who wants to see it, but use them for cover. I was very much not excited for Trolls, but I gotta say that I LOVED it. The beginning dragged quite a bit, but I adore where it ended up going.
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