Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.
A gracious and merry time to us all, for Christmas and all concurrent holidays.
Wow, so you retweet the following on your Twitter account and yet you remove my posts because they’re somehow unkind and offensive? Maybe I should have used the “f” word — that would havce been kinder and gentler than what I did post I suppose.
And btw, it’s extra fucking insulting when filthy fucking rich people complain about “purity tests” and “unrealistic” stances. What they are saying is that you or me dying is not a deal breaker for them.
As for the term “Merry Christmas,” it’s been so manipulated and exploited politically, it no longer has any meaning or relevance for me. In fact, I see it as a taunt now versus a good will gesture. I don’t like to say it to people anymore and I don’t like having to respond to it when people say it to me because I feel in the least they really don’t mean it and couldn’t possibly mean it and at worst it’s a taunting political gesture by Trump-supporting scumbags who want to shove their mutilated Christ down the planet’s throat.
One day doesn’t make a difference. One day doesn’t change any of what we talk about here and make it go away. In fact, celebrating this one day, what it really means or has come to mean, is an insult. It’s not a wonderful life for many who inhabit this planet and it never will be for them no matter how many times the delusional watch that silly iconic movie and believe its message is anything more than a far-flung fantasy.
Okay, no “bile.” What’s your favorite Christmas movie? My favorite is, hands down, the John Hughes’ classic, Home Alone. We watched it as a family last night and it still makes me laugh every time. Not the sequels which are garbage. Fyi, John Hughes managed to make Home Alone without the interference of Hollywood as was his wont with most of his work. He’d make it and they would pick it up or fund it but give him a great deal of autonomy. It says a lot about Hollywood, doesn’t it? It’s why there aren’t that many good memorable Christmas movies. Also fyi, Warner Brothers dropped Home Alone because Hughes went over budget. 20th Century Fox picked it up and the rest is history. The buffoons at Warner Brothers didn’t even realize a great movie that was right in front of their faces.
I like them all, but outside of December, not so much.
Vastly overplayed but still good in the background (or as holiday sleeping pills): A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation.
Good old campy kid nostalgia: Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas, Grinch, Muppet Christmas Carol.
Less for the milking of lucrative formulas but more the little nuggets: Home Alone 2 for Central Park in December, the John Williams score, and the flaming head scene.
Restore your faith in humanity: It’s a wonderful life, A Christmas Carol, Scrooged.
The better version of the Christmas Carol I like (the Patrick Stewart one I think is closest to the book, the one if the 1930s diverges drastically from the book, the 1951 one is ok, the Mr. McGoo one (hard to catch) isn’t bad).
“A Wonderful Life” I like but I find eerily and depressingly reminiscent of our current troubles–Republicans see the American “Bedford Falls” as turning into Pottersville but think the solution is to elect *Mr Potter* as mayor, while Democrats dislike it too but think the solution is to elect Mrs Potter, or to elect Mr Potter’s black friend, or to elect Mr. Potter’s gay son mayor. No one suggests that the Potters running the town is the root of the problem
This is not bile, it’s information. The CBC, once again, edited out Donald Trump’s cameo scene in Home Alone 2. Trump’s supporters and defenders took to social media to announce how offended they were by this act of censorship. They claim the CBC is “triggered” by Trump. Maybe, instead, it’s that most everyone doesn’t want to see his grotesque caricature everywhere they look. Fyi, the reason Trump has a cameo in the crappy Home Alone sequel is because he insists that when anyone uses any of his properties for a film, they have to include him in a cameo role. The guy is a classic self-promoting publicity hound narcissist and apparently evangelicals believe this is Christ-like behavior to be emulated and rewarded.
Been mildly entertained by the recent Christianity Today Trump hoohaw. Trump of course, instead of just shrugging it off as somebody else’s opinion like any other sane person, went on the offensive and called Christianity Today a “far left publication” backed by Soros.
CT claims to have gained more few subscribers than they’ve lost. It’s good to see everyday Christians debating again (such as the debate is) over public morality.
With family I’ve been going to my sisters evangelical megachurch Christmas extravaganza for years. In previous years it’s always been packed. But this year the service I went to was only half full, with the production scaled down. The weather was decent. An anomaly? I’ve been warning those people about the risk of siding with the Mr. Potters of the world…
Die Hard; The Towering Inferno. Thousand foot tall buildings on fire, multiple explosions top to bottom from helicopters (airplanes) crashing into them, foundations compromised, elevators rockets to the moon … in the end they’re still standing. King Kong. Whowouldathunkit.
Hugh
Joyeux Noël. Meilleurs vœux de la saison à toutes et à tous.
Ten Bears
YULE!
Joan
Merry Christmas!
nihil obstet
A gracious and merry time to us all, for Christmas and all concurrent holidays.
Kris
Merry Christmas to all!
450.org
Wow, so you retweet the following on your Twitter account and yet you remove my posts because they’re somehow unkind and offensive? Maybe I should have used the “f” word — that would havce been kinder and gentler than what I did post I suppose.
450.org
As for the term “Merry Christmas,” it’s been so manipulated and exploited politically, it no longer has any meaning or relevance for me. In fact, I see it as a taunt now versus a good will gesture. I don’t like to say it to people anymore and I don’t like having to respond to it when people say it to me because I feel in the least they really don’t mean it and couldn’t possibly mean it and at worst it’s a taunting political gesture by Trump-supporting scumbags who want to shove their mutilated Christ down the planet’s throat.
One day doesn’t make a difference. One day doesn’t change any of what we talk about here and make it go away. In fact, celebrating this one day, what it really means or has come to mean, is an insult. It’s not a wonderful life for many who inhabit this planet and it never will be for them no matter how many times the delusional watch that silly iconic movie and believe its message is anything more than a far-flung fantasy.
Ian Welsh
My twitter account isn’t this comment thread. Keep the bile down, or put it another comment thread.
Ché Pasa
Merrymerry, hohoho!
450.org
Okay, no “bile.” What’s your favorite Christmas movie? My favorite is, hands down, the John Hughes’ classic, Home Alone. We watched it as a family last night and it still makes me laugh every time. Not the sequels which are garbage. Fyi, John Hughes managed to make Home Alone without the interference of Hollywood as was his wont with most of his work. He’d make it and they would pick it up or fund it but give him a great deal of autonomy. It says a lot about Hollywood, doesn’t it? It’s why there aren’t that many good memorable Christmas movies. Also fyi, Warner Brothers dropped Home Alone because Hughes went over budget. 20th Century Fox picked it up and the rest is history. The buffoons at Warner Brothers didn’t even realize a great movie that was right in front of their faces.
nihil obstet
Toss up between Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather and Tim Burton’s Nightmare before Christmas.
Willy
I like them all, but outside of December, not so much.
Vastly overplayed but still good in the background (or as holiday sleeping pills): A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation.
Good old campy kid nostalgia: Rudolph, Charlie Brown Christmas, Grinch, Muppet Christmas Carol.
Less for the milking of lucrative formulas but more the little nuggets: Home Alone 2 for Central Park in December, the John Williams score, and the flaming head scene.
Restore your faith in humanity: It’s a wonderful life, A Christmas Carol, Scrooged.
sbt42
Saw “It’s a Wonderful Life” on the big screen at a local old-skool (as in, non-multiplex) cinema, and enjoyed nearly every minute of it.
Hope you all make the most of this time of year.
StewartM
The better version of the Christmas Carol I like (the Patrick Stewart one I think is closest to the book, the one if the 1930s diverges drastically from the book, the 1951 one is ok, the Mr. McGoo one (hard to catch) isn’t bad).
“A Wonderful Life” I like but I find eerily and depressingly reminiscent of our current troubles–Republicans see the American “Bedford Falls” as turning into Pottersville but think the solution is to elect *Mr Potter* as mayor, while Democrats dislike it too but think the solution is to elect Mrs Potter, or to elect Mr Potter’s black friend, or to elect Mr. Potter’s gay son mayor. No one suggests that the Potters running the town is the root of the problem
450.org
This is not bile, it’s information. The CBC, once again, edited out Donald Trump’s cameo scene in Home Alone 2. Trump’s supporters and defenders took to social media to announce how offended they were by this act of censorship. They claim the CBC is “triggered” by Trump. Maybe, instead, it’s that most everyone doesn’t want to see his grotesque caricature everywhere they look. Fyi, the reason Trump has a cameo in the crappy Home Alone sequel is because he insists that when anyone uses any of his properties for a film, they have to include him in a cameo role. The guy is a classic self-promoting publicity hound narcissist and apparently evangelicals believe this is Christ-like behavior to be emulated and rewarded.
Willy
Been mildly entertained by the recent Christianity Today Trump hoohaw. Trump of course, instead of just shrugging it off as somebody else’s opinion like any other sane person, went on the offensive and called Christianity Today a “far left publication” backed by Soros.
CT claims to have gained more few subscribers than they’ve lost. It’s good to see everyday Christians debating again (such as the debate is) over public morality.
With family I’ve been going to my sisters evangelical megachurch Christmas extravaganza for years. In previous years it’s always been packed. But this year the service I went to was only half full, with the production scaled down. The weather was decent. An anomaly? I’ve been warning those people about the risk of siding with the Mr. Potters of the world…
Mark Pontin
Favorite Christmas movie?
Well, I like BAD SANTA a lot.
Ten Bears
Die Hard; The Towering Inferno. Thousand foot tall buildings on fire, multiple explosions top to bottom from helicopters (airplanes) crashing into them, foundations compromised, elevators rockets to the moon … in the end they’re still standing. King Kong. Whowouldathunkit.