Yeah, but someone thought of that story. They thought, “hey, I know what’s good, a story about grooming a kid to love you. But, you know, in a good way!”
I realise I’m just going off the summary so I could be way off, but it’s the same sort of thing with About Time. It’s supposed to teach you that actually just living in the moment is best. Fine, whatever, but the way he decided to do it was, “hey, what if men could manipulate women into loving them (only men can time travel) and/or secretly fix their personalities, but they learn that actually that’s bad!”
I agree with that. All of these things being logical extensions of a fictional world elide the fact that everything you see in the book is a decision the author made. It didn’t have to include any of this stuff.
Mammoth got one storm a couple weeks ago, and they’ve been making snow every day since. we went up on Thanksgiving and it was VERY hard and fast. Not east-coast levels of hard pack, but close. Also, the lift lines take forever because they can’t force smaller groups to quad up…so singles get their own chair, etc.
They are limiting capacity by requiring non-passholders to make reservations for tickets…there are no in-person ticket sales at the windows. Those were completely sold out weeks before Thanksgiving, so while there were fewer people on the mountain, lines were taking longer.
I like all of these best. It is super problematic, but I am able to compartmentalize and still love the movie. Same with Lloyd stalking Diane in Say Anything. I don’t know what else to say. It’s a hot take, not a lukewarm one.
Oh, speaking of melancholy songs - “Same Old Lang Syne” is great. Not exactly a banger, though.
One thing we did this year that was good and will probably become a tradition of sorts is to “adopt” a family with a child suffering from cancer. We got to buy them stuff from a list coordinated by a cancer charity. That felt good.
Also, this thread needs gift and stocking stuffer ideas. (Or I should say, I need gift and stocking stuffer ideas.) Title edited.
Yeah. I feel bad in that most of the time I think authorial intention is boring, and reading fiction as a way to puzzle that out is one of the worst ways to approach it. But then you watch About Time.
I also feel bad that I have no proper content for this thread. I looked up the Christmas Day TV schedules for British TV in the 80s a few months back, like you do, and decided that 1987 BBC1 was the absolute GOAT day of TV, but not sure that’s a crowdpleaser hot take.
I feel like every year at Christmas I am tempted to buy my wife a pasta attachment for our Kitchenaid mixer. And then I decide (probably correctly) that we wouldn’t use it enough to make it worthwhile, plus there’s the risk of a gift that implies that I view my wife as the family cook.
I’ve already gone through that process this year. So it’s now officially a tradition, I guess.
We had a real tree tradition when I was growing up. When I was around 13 we got our Christmas tree like usual and put it up in the house. A few days in we noticed what seemed like hundreds of little baby spiders crawling away from the tree. It was nightmarish. That was the last year we ever had a real tree.
South American christmas is weird. Usually hotter than Hades.
BBQ either a whole cordero (lamb) or lechón (suckling pig) on the evening of the 24th.
As soon as midnight hits everyone literally lights money on fire (fireworks) then opens their presents. 25th is for general mooching/eating leftovers. Thankfully the whole affair is far less commercial than UK/USA etc.
But Top of the Pops, Porridge, Temple of Doom, Two Ronnies, the best Only Fools & Horses Christmas Special of all time, a new Miss Marple. It was basically wall-to-wall gold.
Usually one extended family party a week or so before Christmas, and one on Christmas Eve. Both cancelled this year, I don’t think there will be any Zoom calls or anything, but we’ll see.
Would always spend Christmas at my parents’ place, that won’t be happening because my mom has doctors appointments a few days before Christmas and thus they cannot quarantine. If it’s warm enough, we’ll do outdoor stuff around a fire pit for as long as we can. If not, I plan to surprise them by dropping off presents and waving and saying Merry Christmas from a little ways away. Slight concern they have the same idea and we essentially drive past each other on the highway without realizing it lol…
I usually play the piano for one family party to do some caroling, and play a bunch of Christmas songs for my parents - I took lessons for five years and I’m still pretty good at knocking off the rust for all the Christmas songs with about an hour of practice. I don’t have a piano here so I won’t get to do that at all. The “big three” that I play the best (with lots of added jazzy creativity) are I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting).
I once surprised my parents with gifts from “Santa” and didn’t admit they were from me. I had stayed over 12/24 into 12/25, and I just left them on the doorstep after they went to bed so that it looked like maybe somebody dropped them off. I knew they weren’t getting each other gifts that year because they had been under a lot of stress with health problems, so they each bought their own gifts and wrapped them lol… I figured it would be fun for them to open something they didn’t already know and it went over well. They kept asking each other if they did it, and finally figured it out and I fessed up before they started calling their brothers and sisters to ask who did it.
I’m thinking of doing something like that for a couple friends with anonymous gifts on their doorstep that I drop off late at night on Christmas Eve. I have a couple of friends and family members who have had a really bad year (I’m sure we all do), and giving them something nice without them feeling any obligation to anyone to return the favor would be fun. It would also be fun to drive around doing that on Christmas Eve instead of being sad I can’t see my family. It’d be 3-4 hours of driving start to finish, as they’re scattered around the area, and I could just listen to Christmas music while I do it. I’m thinking this could be a new tradition going forward - pick one or two people who really deserve it to give an anonymous gift to.
White lights are waaaaaaay better than multi-color lights, I changed my mind by the time I graduated college and that’s just the way it is
Most of the Christmas movies on streaming platforms totally suck and follow the exact same storyline with the exact same key plot points, yet I like most of them anyway because I’m a huge sucker for Christmas. Props to one for making a somewhat subtle jab at the formulaic nature of them, I mean it was blatantly obvious but I’m sure 90% of people still missed it lol
Best Christmas Songs (no particular order): I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Sleigh Ride, Winter Wonderland, Let it Snow, Baby It’s Cold Outside, All I Want for Christmas is You, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Christmas Song (Chestnut’s Roasting)
Best Christmas Song (Religious/Traditional): Oh Holy Night
Best Christmas Song (New), Sia - Santa’s Coming for Us, because she’s super talented and it reminds me of being a kid
I had never tried egg nog until last year and liked it quite a bit, but I was a little drunk. Got some via Instacart today, excited to try it before being drunk and see if I like it
Best Christmas Special: the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Giving gifts is better than receiving, probably not a hot take here. This is really frustrating me right now though, because my Mom’s big dream has always been to go to the Grand Canyon. For years I considered it as a Christmas gift, but she had health issues and I didn’t think she could make it work. She got better early this year so I gave her a trip there for her birthday in February, planned to take it in the spring/summer. COVID ruined that, and now her health took a turn. I don’t know what to get her that won’t pale in comparison and/or make her sad about it.
Giving gifts when nobody knows you gave them is even more fun then giving gifts in general
This whole “Merry Christmas” vs “Happy Holidays” thing is really stupid in my opinion. If I don’t know which holiday someone celebrates, I guess and go for it. If I’m wrong, they correct me and I apologize and wish them a happy _______ (whatever they celebrate). You know how many people in real life have ever been upset or offended by this? Zero, unless they’re hiding it really well. Like this is mostly family/friends/acquaintances/friends of friends so it’s easy enough to guess. I’m not saying I go around guessing with total strangers. On the other hand, anyone who gets offended by “Happy Holidays” should get run over by a reindeer. Just be happy, tis the season, etc.
I believe I’ve aired enough of those on this forum for one holiday season, so I have none. Except covid. Fuck COVID.
Did they put it on the shaker thing? When I was a kid and we got real trees we’d go cut them down (I loved it) and then they put it upside down on a thing that shakes it back and forth super fast, I assume to knock the bugs off, or the spider eggs as the case may be.
I feel comfortable admitting this to everyone in this thread.
As I sit here eating a late-night snack of Jimmy Dean regular label breakfast sausage, I remember that in the early days of the pandemic, there were occasional fears that meat plants would be shut down. I felt a great sadness that I might have to go a while without this savory treat.
Maybe make a little “mailbox” and move it with the elf somewhere and start moving the elf around? Or have the elf write her that he likes playing hide and seek and he’ll be in new places? Or figure out how to get her to show you the letters when she writes them, then you already know what you need to respond to.
Alternatively, wait a day to respond each time and blame it on Louis DeJoy.
