'Tis the season. Already.

oneweb

Just under three months away.

In case you haven't noticed the TV ads for hampers, kids toys and such and such, the marketing phenomenon that Christmas has become is on its merry way.

I felt physically sick when I caught sight of Christmas decorations on sale in Pennys earlier today. Whatever about ppl wanting to 'buy early' and 'be prepared' - I think that's BS. Last year we had loads of ppl buying all their kids' pressies in September. I tried to keep any Christmas-related activities until the first of December last year. Which was a bit of a mistake 'cos many shops had sold out of decorations et al around the first week of the month :rolleyes:

But really, I've found Christmas has turned into a long, slow, painful build up to the day compared to a short sharp burst of giddiness around those few days.

Someone had to post it

What do you think?

sceptre

Can't but agree with the above.

Mind you, last year I diplomatically decided not to put up the Christmas tree at all as the year before I didn't take it down till May. Someone wasn't impressed with that, oh, she wasn't impressed at all.

Pushing the adverts now and selling decorations now is rather silly. Obviously it works for sales but I like to keep my seasons compartmentalised and thinking of yuletide isn't done until at least after the leaves start committing hari-kari en masse.

daveg

For anyone with Sky (Kids channels) it's Christmas all year round. They have adds for toys all the time.... It's bloody annoying.. All I ever hear is buy me that, buy me that.. So I say "Daragh don't say that say I really like that toy, perhaps Santa might get it for Xmas". I make him say it a few times and leave the room. 2 mins later "but me that, buy me that" :rolleyes: :f33r: <--- WTF is that meant to be?

Kone

Bah humbug!

Divine

Isi'nt that the face off odlums flour?

IgnatiusJRiley

The first sign of Christmas every year is them annoying gits that complain about Christmas advertising starting earlier every year :mad:

Borzoi

Originally posted by oneweb
In case you haven't noticed the TV ads for hampers, kids toys and such and such, the marketing phenomenon that Christmas has become is on its merry way.

I
What do you think?

Get back in your box, I'll be ignoring it untill after Halloween

lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala

woosaysdan

there is a toy shop where i live and it has a sign in the window counting down the weeks to christmas and it started with 20 weeks to go join our XMAS club! anyway why does santa have such a big sack??? you would too if you only came once a year!!!:D

rymus

no christmas, no! away away vile fiend! Come back in a couple of months when were better prepared for crap crimbo songs on the radio all day & night (even the inevitable 20 plays of "Fairytale of New York" per day).

Paddy20

Its CHRISTMAS; all year round in my place. The tree which is an interactive artificial one. Jumps to life when you clap your hands!.

Flashing lights, two doors open revealing a magical village scene,with a steam train moving, snow falling, skaters skating on the village pond and Santa flying with his reindeers in circles above it all, as one of 20 different tunes plays merrily away. Totally fascinating.

Then again, I always was a gadget freak, who never really grew up, lazy as well. So it stays where it is year in and year out. I think its magic.

Merry Xmas. To one and all.:)

Paddy,;)

catspring

Originally posted by oneweb

But really, I've found Christmas has turned into a long, slow, painful build up to the day compared to a short sharp burst of giddiness around those few days.

deffinately agree with this oneweb.
it's just so drawn out that by the time december comes round i've had enough christmas songs to do me til next year.
though, i guess this might partly be due to the fact that christmas is just a whole lot less fun and excitement when you're not wee anymore



and the pub's not even open!!!

IgnatiusJRiley

Originally posted by catspring
deffinately agree with this oneweb.
it's just so drawn out that by the time december comes round i've had enough christmas songs to do me til next year.

And why is it drawn out???? Because people keep whingin about it that's why!!

woosaysdan

why is santa always so happy???

he knows where all the naughty girls live!!!:D

elexes

once halloween goes ( 4 weeks ) there will be a instant rush among the general population . but i always enjoy the hyp its a nice buz going around esp in dublin . always seems nice . tho i was slightly amaized that there is already x-mass shops fully open already

hedgetrimmer

apparently in places like the Philippines, they put up there trees in September. Indeed, here in Belgium, I have seen a family of Philippino origin with Xmas decorations in their shop...

:rolleyes:

BuffyBot

I don't understand why people don't ignore it - saw the slightest piece of tinsel in the "Christmas" aisle in the supermarket last weekend and I steered right around it!

K2

Buffybot is right, don't let it get under your skin and just ignore all the ads and marketing until you are ready to deal with it. And I don't believe you have to be young to enjoy it. We get little enough holidays as it is, so enjoy the time off, its the one time of year you don't need an excuse to eat, drink and be merry.

:f33r: yes it does look like a bag of flour, there may be a copyright infringment here!

Bard

Originally posted by IgnatiusJRiley
The first sign of Christmas every year is them annoying gits that complain about Christmas advertising starting earlier every year :mad:

Brilliantly put. I agree completely.

oneweb

Originally posted by IgnatiusJRiley
The first sign of Christmas every year is them annoying gits that complain about Christmas advertising starting earlier every year :mad:

Well, someone was bound to do it at some stage At least I can get it off my chest now and forget about it in the months till then

Originally posted by Borzoi
lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala<snip>

lol, that's exactly what I did when I saw Dale Winton in front of a Christmas tree and hampers and all. (The camp-ometer blew up immediately ) Closed my eyes and covered my ears too. Family thought I was a spare. Actually, that's nothin new.

Having said that, I wanna make it clear that I do love the two weeks or so around Christmas - I'm not a scrooge

Mossy Monk

anyone else make the same mistake as me every year and leave presents till the last minute

irishgeo

they drag it out so much by the time it comes i am already tired of it. all i want is a white christmas.


and i hate buying presents.

oneweb

Originally posted by Mossy Monk
anyone else make the same mistake as me every year and leave presents till the last minute

Christmas Eve. Last three/four years in a row*. :rolleyes: And every year I swear to myself I won't do it again.
One year in particular there were hailstones, freezy gales and general peltingness coming home on the bike with my last-minute buys (which weren't too great).

*'in the hope that I can find the people who say 'anything at all' something nice in the four weeks beforehand. Never works. This year I'll get them something crap weeks beforehand. No doubt cursing myself that it's cheaper or there's something better a few days later.

BoB_BoT

lol, hit the summer sales and keep all the stuff in your attic until christmas I like the build up and have a funny (well i think it is)
analogy that i'm not going to use

BuffyBot

Originally posted by Borzoi

lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala...

...tis the season to be jolly?

Eppie

Christmas is great, but it's going to be especially great this year because guess who's back? teenage mutant ninja turtles, teenage mutant ninja turtles, teenage mutant minja turtles, heroes in a halfshell, turtle power!

K2

oneweb, I too was that soldier. If, this xmas eve you find yourself at 3pm and presentless don't sweat it. The answer lies in ............ARGOS. The q's are a killer though;)

oneweb

Originally posted by K2
oneweb, I too was that soldier. If, this xmas eve you find yourself at 3pm and presentless don't sweat it. The answer lies in ............ARGOS. The q's are a killer though;)

Remarkably, it's exceptionally quiet in there on Christmas Eve! But beware!, as with most other shops (except Dunnes it seems :rolleyes:), they close early. And almost immediately after closing ,once the tidy up is complete, call the temp staff into the office, one by one, like Turkeys heading to slaughter, to tell them "Thanks for your participation but we won't be needing you any more. B'bye." Heh, my neck was OK though

embee

You damn right xmas is fast approaching!!!

I absolutely LOVE christmas.... when I saw the christmas shop springing up in penneys two weeks ago I nearly had a coniption fit....

Its a lovely time of year..... I cant wait for it!!!!!

I was in a net cafe last week and I heard "Im dreaming of a White Christmas"....

Its begun!!!

MrPinK

Season of peace on earth, goodwill towards men. What's not to like about it?

Buying your presents on Christmas Eve is a bit of a cliché now though, if you really want to be cutting edge do your Christmas shopping after Christmas Day. Nowadays the shops don't bother waiting till January to start their sales, they do it right after Christmas. All you gotta do is stall for time on the day. When visiting ppl, wrap up something belonging to yourself and claim to have brought the wrong present by mistake and left theirs at home, or if it's someone your living with, say you left their present at work. Head into town the next day and pick up some great gifts at sale price. Don't be a cheap bastard and pocket the difference tho, spend as much as you would have before, but on something bigger and better.

Kalina

I love Christmas and everything that goes with it. It's toug on people who work in retail though, the 45 minute loop of the cheesiest Christams songs is a killer. I know- I worked in Dunnes Stores for 4 Christmas seasons, it's great craic in there and a great atmosphere but the music is the killer!!

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

my brother as ye all might remember as smoke me a kipper is now living in an apartment in town. around the 24 - 25 of july he decided to be wierd and strange and hold a christmas party.

he had a disco ball, christmas tree, christmas lights, drinks, crackers, christmas songs blaring from 9pm to 3am across from the guards barracks. he invited about 20 people and about 15 showed up. i went for a quick drink and it was actually like christmas! if you had been there you would have actually gone away thinking santa was coming that night or something. he made it soo real.

the worst part about it was people actually bought gifts for each other!!

ITS INSANE!

and now ive relised christmas is getting started much earlier in the year for the past 10 - 15 years.

soon i reckon when im in my middle 20 - 30's i guarantee people will be running around shopping before the summer for the coming christmas.

further to add, while i was working in xtravision, around feb - march we had several people booking playstation 2's, games and even gift vouchers for 9 - 10 months time for christmas!!! its just insane and nuts now.

christmas isnt even arond the corner now! and people have been shopping for months!

every year i take the whole month of december to go gift LOOKING and once ive picked everything out then around the 15 - 20th of december i go buy the stuff. and in 5 years ive nenver had a problem with "out of stock" or "resuppying stock in a few days" from anywhere! i have always been able to get what i want where ever i want. even on christmas eve.....

Sarky

For the love of Random Fluctuations In The Space-Time Continuum, Halloween is still a month away!

Bloody commercialisation, I preferred it more when I was younger. Much more family-togetherness orientated then.

oneweb

Originally posted by Kalina
it's great craic in there and a great atmosphere but the music is the killer!!

I have to agree The buzz that you can feel in the week or two before Christmas in there is fantastic. Whereas the in-store music wasn't terrible, the Disney Christmas videos were just so cheery and bright and naff that you just had to hum along

Hmmm, Christmas...yummy...
It means I can have B52's again having stayed off them since last New years eve.
Hmmm yummy:D
/man closes eyes and pretends it xmas while drinking copious quantities of B52......

mm

LoneGunM@n

I love christmas .... with the presents, turkey, chitty chitty bang bang, bangers, beer, wine ....

and to finish it all off the drunken row with a member of the family that always ends in tears!!

I used to work in Maccers & christmas was a killer .... even so, the crack was mighty [as they might say in Supermacs ]

mike65

Forget Xmas the bangers were starting to go off round here last week 5 weeks before Halloween! :mad:

Mike.

Sarky

If we're really lucky, the pyromaniac fools will be all tuckered out by the end of October.

Or they'll all be dead or in casualty. Either way...

BEAT

forfuksakes!
I was shopping today and heard x-mas music playing in the store! I felt sick at once and felt a whole buring into my wallet, bah humbug. X-mas isnt any fun anymore, just causes stress to millions who cant afford to go broke buying loads of non-sense gifts. Why do we feel the need to break the bank every x-mas, we should be showering our loved ones with enough affection and love and realise that we get enough gifts throughout the year and that xmas should be a time to be around the one's we love not a time to kill ourselves with grief over what to get who and how much should i spend on the bills and rent verses presents for my family, friends and co-workers.
blah blah blah, you know the routine.
:f33r:

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by BEAT
Why do we feel the need to break the bank every x-mas

in this house we pick a name out of the hat and have €40 to spend. better that way because you wont be stressing over what to buy

oneweb

I completely agree with BEAT. Some ppl I know take out such a loan just for Christmas that they're paying it off for the next 50 weeks. Which, IMO, is just dumb. Christmas is about being happy with what you have - family and friends - not about what you don't.

Originally posted by Mossy Monk
in this house we pick a name out of the hat and have €40 to spend. better that way because you wont be stressing over what to buy

We did that for the first time last year and it was a great idea. Instead of getting loads of little presents for and from everybody, we did the name-in-the-hat thing. Everbody was given the same price limit, and the result was everyone was a heck of a lot happier

We'll be doing that every year now!

Crash

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!

i still got hallowe'en to get hyped over