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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 12, 2017 13:20:23 GMT
Perhaps you can enlighten us on the good reasons to dislike Christmas. I suppose you can apply this to each and every holiday of every religion since they all engage in holiday decorations, gifts and excess food.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 12, 2017 14:40:11 GMT
I have no interest in doing so. I was reacting to something not very nice you said about those who don't necessarily embrace compulsory mirth. It was NOT a criticism of threads about ornaments or decorations.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2017 15:07:51 GMT
My personal disdain for Christmas is the seemingly forced cheeriness and merriment.
Along the lines of what Questa posted I think about all the money spent on these extravagant displays and all the worthy causes it could go to. Also, I think more recyclable items could be incorporated into displays. (I have seen some very well done creative use of recyclables and in the French Quarter there is a contest for the most creative and innovative uses of recycled materials. I saw one last night that was positively brilliant. And then, there's the excessive use of energy with all those lights. Too much excess all the way round in my opinion. I could go on but, I think I made my point.
(your photos are excellent Kerouac and seem to be appreciated by enough people on here to enjoy.)
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 12, 2017 15:27:39 GMT
And then, there's the excessive use of energy with all those lights.
You certainly must have read that energy use has gone down 80% in lighting displays since our youth, due to LED technology.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2017 15:43:02 GMT
Good to know, thanks for "illuminating"me.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 12, 2017 17:54:09 GMT
Good grief! As far as the disadvantaged and Christmas department store displays go ~
Department store windows are filled all year round with things the poor cannot have. Hell, they're filled with things all of us here can't have unless we've taken leave of our senses about cost.
At Christmas time the department store windows are filled with magical fantasies of light and whimsy, all there for anyone to see. It's all free and usually isn't even promoting anything the store sells. People throng to see them and little kids have the thrill of doing something completely out of the ordinary, including the novelty of bundling up and going out into the night.
I can well remember the look of joyful wonder on my son's face the first time he was old enough to go see the Christmas displays on Canal Street. I was not enthusiastic about being out in the cold looking at something that had lost its luster for me. But seeing all the children's faces raptly taking it all in put that luster back.
Finally, those big department stores pay taxes on the money they rake in and apparently (you can look it up), all of them donate generously to charity.
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Post by lugg on Dec 12, 2017 18:55:53 GMT
Love your latest additions K2 and particularly enjoyed the videos. Thank you .
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Post by questa on Dec 13, 2017 6:36:08 GMT
Though on the other hand, lots of people (even in the wealthier countries) have good reasons to dislike Christmas, and it doesn't make them Scrooges. Scrooge's "sin" was a love of lucre and lack of generosity, not an aversion to gaudy decorations. There simply weren't many of those a century and a half ago. Too much excess all the way round in my opinion. Both of you have said, more eloquently than I could, what I dislike about the Yuletide season. Even the Christmas story of a baby born in impoverished circumstances fails to encourage simplicity and restraint in the celebrations. Going back to the original Solstice festivities which became Christmas, the emphasis was on gratefulness that another dark winter was going and the Sun and its life-giving warmth was returning. Families and communities shared food and goodwill but in moderation, not bloated excess. The over-the-top culture that has grown around these special days totally misses the reason for the celebration in itself. That is the pity, more than what could have been done for the poor etc. The hijacking of simple festive seasons and turning them into extravagances of artificial glee is the aspect I dislike. Happy Saturnalia...only 14 days to shop go !
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Post by tod2 on Dec 13, 2017 10:36:45 GMT
Thank you once again for taking the trouble to bring us those magical displays from Paris' two top stores. It's all for the kids, big or small. We all have a wonderful time spotting the little features the designers have cooked up to entertain the many who come every year, just to see if this year's display tops the last one.
Thank you for mentioning we need worry no more about the zillion lights leaving an unforgivable carbon footprint. Nowadays you can't have a discussion about energy efficient lights without mentioning LED's. However, most people don't know what LED's are and what they stand for. In short, the term LED stands for light-emitting diode. LEDs are composed of a semiconductor light source. Very few people use the old power sucking light bulbs these days as that is just throwing money down the drain.
We all support good causes and give what we can to charity whether it be our time or our money. But there comes a responsibility to ourselves and our families too. The people who work for the stores and yearly decorate lavishly all need a job and the beautiful windows encourage spending at these stores who then pay them a salary. The same goes for Christmas Cards - I don't feel guilty not buying Charity cards as the printing of conventional cards also supports people who need a job. Each to his own, as the saying goes.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 13, 2017 10:48:50 GMT
Christmas cards have practically disappeared around here (in favour of electronic greetings). About the only time I see cards is when people in an office or other group are celebrating someone's special occasion.
However the postal services are busy because so many people shop online - and often return the purchases because they don't fit or are otherwise unsuitable.
Of course Tod and Questa are celebrating the Summer Solstice. A close friend has just left for her native Argentina. It is a hell of a long flight - many people don't realize how far it is because it is all in the Americas, but it is really almost from one end to the other, except for very cold places at each end. My friend hates the flight because she is a smoker, and it is hard to get a smoke even when changing planes nowadays (for her, usually in CDMX, but sometimes again in Brazil or Chile). But she'll be thrilled to arrive in austral summertime.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 13, 2017 10:59:00 GMT
I think the main misunderstanding that some people are having about Christmas is that they consider it to be a religious holiday. That is not at all the case in France, the second least religious country in the world (after Czechia) except for a tiny minority, and the holiday is shared with people of all origins here. The children of Muslim and Chinese families are far from the last hoping for a visit from Santa Claus and a shower of gifts. Most ordinary people here have a rather frugal lifestyle most of the year, and December is the time when they can finally let go. I am happy to see them enjoying themselves rather than dressing in burlap and throwing ashes on their head out of guilt.
One advantage that we might have in France over some other countries is that we have an extremely small amount of Christmas music, which is absolutely the #1 thing that drives me up the wall in a lot of other countries.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 13, 2017 11:03:58 GMT
I've spent Christmas seasons in France and it is indeed mercifully low-key, and generally just a time for good food and company.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 13, 2017 11:16:57 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 13, 2017 12:04:26 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 13, 2017 12:08:22 GMT
I rather like the sound and sight of Christmas in Paris.
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Post by mossie on Dec 13, 2017 16:15:47 GMT
Thanks for another session of Christmas decorations.
It is easy to go "Bah, Humbug", but the children get a lot of pleasure out of it. Don't forget it is a hangover from a B.C. celebration of the Winter Solstice, when people knew that the days would now start to lengthen and eventually it would warm up again. It was also an occasion for feasting to use up stored food which would soon go bad, electricity and cold stores were yet to be invented, or long distance transport from warmer climes.
Just go and get gently pissed and enjoy it, and spare a thought for those less well off.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 13, 2017 16:25:47 GMT
That's the spirit, Mossie! I desperately want a light ball for my patio. I'd leave it up all year!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 13, 2017 19:32:26 GMT
Beautiful photographs Kerouac. Paris looks magical.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 14, 2017 12:38:17 GMT
I love rue Daguerre, even without those lovely Xmas lights. I'm curious to know bit more about Tour Montparnasse...Are they removing the cladding or building onto it?
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 14, 2017 23:38:20 GMT
I'm curious to know bit more about Tour Montparnasse...Are they removing the cladding or building onto it? They are supposed to empty out the tower by 2019 and change just about everything -- the façade will be greyish/invisible, and there will be an intermediate garden around the 14th floor and a huge garden on the roof. But we will have to wait until 2024 to see the project completed in time for the Olympic games. Energy use will drop by about 90%. The transformation will cost 300 million euros.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 15, 2017 6:20:34 GMT
Thank you Kerouac! What a wonderful transformation. I'm sure that may bring more tourists to the area just to experience the open-air look and feel of the new building. I for one, barely consider staying in the shadow of that black monster of a building - have scaled it's heights twice for the view but found it totally boring otherwise.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 18, 2017 13:06:52 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 18, 2017 15:35:05 GMT
It is pretty, but doesn't hold an LED to the other displays.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 18, 2017 18:34:25 GMT
Friends got married at that Mairie... I've been out of touch with them for some years - wonder if they are still married?
Bixa, I think the decorations are deliberately more muted in that area.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 23, 2017 5:13:24 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 23, 2017 8:47:41 GMT
I have a love-hate relationship with Christmas and the associated excesses On the one hand your beautiful atmospheric photos of festive produce gives me a frisson of excitement, but the Bah humbug! in me is thinking that the festival just allows businesses to rip us off big time. In the end tho...I remember the excitement and thrill I felt in the build up to Christmas when I was a child and that over-rules everything. Deep down I'm a very shallow person
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Post by mossie on Dec 24, 2017 8:08:25 GMT
It is all for the children, but the over commercialisation does spoil it. When I was a kid (really too long ago to remember), it was a thrill to find that stocking; with an orange in pretty paper in the toe, some geegaw present in the foot, an apple in the heel, and an exercise book, the type with the times table printed on the back and lined pages for your writing, with maybe some coloured or plain pencils, as filler. Then breakfast, then off to church, before that all important Christmas dinner when one was allowed a small glass of sherry.
I WANT one of those pink piggies.
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Post by tod2 on Dec 25, 2017 8:53:20 GMT
Mossie it seems long term memory never really fades completely,....it's remembering where the heck you last saw your cellphone! Most parents have absolutely no clue that many many things are absorbed by a child's memory that may seem insignificant at the time. After the war our family went through some hard times and money was tight. Bless my dear old mum, she would never allow my sister and I to wake up on Xmas morning without a little gift. I remember so clearly receiving a little doll made entirely out of wool. It must have taken her hours to put it together while we slept.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 25, 2017 12:17:59 GMT
Tod, were you living in ZA at the time, or Britain?
My mum often made presents, because we were poor, but also because she was a frustrated artist. She knew that what I liked most wasn't human dolls, but stuffed cats and other felines. She made me a velveteen Siamese one year; I had it until I was far too old to play with dolls, but think I gave it to another little girl who loved animals too.
I wish I was in Paris now, but not mostly because we have an "old-fashioned" i.e. cold temperature now, but to see some old friends I miss there. I can't really go anywhere now though because I'm translating a book and have a deadline to meet on some sample chapters for grants. So I'm immersed in Italian, but am waiting for the sales on panettone starting tomorrow! I don't like sweet sweets, but rich buttery slightly-sweet brioche, yes to that. The largest Italian supermarket in the neighbourhood is named Milano, but the owners are actually from gli Abruzzi...
An old friend - literally old, over 90 now - used to live near rue Montorgeuil and indeed I found the little shops there expensive. There always seemed to be a very wide difference in prices from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 25, 2017 13:31:01 GMT
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