Just Saying: Merry Xmas

Just Saying Merry Xmas edition.  Merry Xmas from Payless merry Xmas (every time, good job ad execs in the 80s/90s). 

Christmas: A Contrived Holiday

I was thinking that Christmas is such a contrived holiday.  No, i'm not talking about X-mas, which is awesome. i'm talking about the "religious" holiday.   Even though the word "holiday" comes from words meaning holy day. 

First off, Christmas was almost super-imposed on top of Winter Solstice (the real holiday).  They did the same thing with Eostre.  For some reason, Christians liked to use holidays as a form of subjugation.  They tried to replace the pagan (and much more fun) holidays with their manufactured religious ones.  Most of the things associated with Christmas (like a tree, mistletoe, holly, etc) were pagan in origin. 

Secondly: the Christ "origin story" is kind of ridiculous.  This seems like someone wrote an origin story after the fact (assuming a Christ existed, which I have my doubts).  They have to make him divinity somehow.  The Greeks, Romans, and probably even the Norse never had the god having children with humans - sarcasm.  Many nations at the time claimed a divine reason for rulership. 

A virgin birth, nope I don't buy it.  Well, a technical virgin birth is possible.  I wonder how many females have tried to use that as a reason. 

The time it would have taken people to see a star (or comet) would have this story happening over years (months at the earliest).  One night in a stable, inconceivable.  Then again, the bible is full of metaphors, allusions, coded messages. 

Thirdly: timing.  This whole Christ origin story wouldn't have happened near what is now considered Christmas, it would have been closer to Eostre. 

So,
* taking parts from other (pagan) cultures and giving them some pseudo-Christian meaning,
* placing a holiday, which even if it did happen, months away from when it would have happened
Christmas is a truly contrived holiday 

Xmas 2015 The Interior Decorating

Usually, i start decorating for Xmas near/on Halloween.  Last year, i didn't decorate at all.  i was a little slow this year (by a half a week or so), but i have a couple of things up.  Apparently, i don't have all the right pictures yet

There are a few things i would like to add and some lights that i need to figure out how to use.  If i could ever win the lottery (with a decent net amount and collect), even the Griswolds would freak out at how over the top i would go.

Miscellaneous Xmas Pics

So, for no good reason here are some miscellaneous Xmas pictures (though it didn't really feel like Xmas at all this year)....

Xmas 2013: The Loot

I would like to say that Santa Claus came and got me everything on my list, but I don't think that exactly happened (though i'll give him credit if I won/win the lottery). 

This Place... Now .004 Griswold

So what exactly does this mean? 

Xmas Candy: Life Savers Sweet Story Book

How times have changed... A few years ago when I was a younger kid than I am now, I would occasionally get Lifesavers Sweet Storybooks for Xmas.  This maybe a slightly fuzzy recollection, but I remember them different than the one I have sitting in front of me today.  The one I have sitting in front of me is a mere shadow of the awesomeness of the one I grew up with. 

First of all, I vaguely remember there being more rolls than the 6 there are now. I thought there used to be 8, it might have been 10. 

I remember there being:
* 5 Flavor
* (Wild or was it) Black Cherry
* Butter Rum - my favorite, I miss Butter Rum Life Savers.  I haven't seen these anywhere in years.  These are getting really, really hard to find - is it time to be evil???

Ok, maybe I was evil, or maybe I was just feeling oddly nostalgic, or maybe I did nothing. 
 I'm not sure if they had Pep-o-mint or Wint-o-green back then, I think they did.  Yeah, I seem to remember that Wint-o-Green Life Savers spark in the dark. 

Xmas 2013

I'm dreaming of a Green Xmas (or maybe just an Xmas with a decent number of zeroes after the decimal point, not leading zeroes either). 

So how does my bigger space this year look... see for yourself.  I am curious why the "Merry Christmas lights always appear blurry.  All kinds of weird flash stuff too.  I would have really liked to have a 3'+ tall electric fireplace heater thing in the second picture, rather than the Santa Claus, but that would probably have been $500+.  That would have been awesome.

If you are wondering... I added one little thing outside too (though it might work inside to the left of Santa tree topper too).  It was a LED Philips 6 icicle cascading lights thing.  If I had the money, the Griswold house might look dim. 

Bonus Picture: A real, surprisingly non-aromatic Xmas tree for someone I am acquainted with

Xmas: Exterior Illumination My First Attempt

I'm obviously no Clark W Griswold (I can't even afford to be an elf).  Well anyway, I went to Target a couple of days ago for some Xmas shopping and decided that if it cost less than $20, I would put some lights up where I am currently staying.  I got two sets of Philips C9 LSD lights.  Did Target sell used lights as new, I have my suspicions?  Then I put them up on existing nails - I couldn't figure out the gutter clips (or reach them).  Here are the horrible results (hopefully)

My Crappy Xmas Decorating Job 2012

Here are some bad pictures.  i wish the page would stay the way i want it to, oh well.  Why can i upload with Google Chrome but not IE 10 today?  

My Top X Xmas Songs

So, i have been seeing lists popping up reecntly decrying the worst Xmas songs of all time.  Yes, some of them are awful/depressing - like "Christmas Shoes".  Here is a list of songs that i kind of like (unfortunately, my collection of Xmas songs wasn't on my flash drive).  You think i would have a better list considering the radio statio i listen to has changed to all Xmas music.  i'm sure i left a bunch out. 

Under My Tree, A Blu Xmas

So, here is what under my tree looks like... It is less impressive than it looks. 

Basically, there are several relatively cheap discs of some type under my tree.  There are a few video games (like the 3 i got at Wal-Mart on Black Friday).  Yes, i might have gone overboard on some purchases (quantity, not so much price).  Many of these questionable purchases are Blu-Ray discs that were on sale (several under $10).  i don't have cable in my room, i have to do something (especially with a hit-or-miss internet connection). 

Much of this stuff i bought for myself - yes that is kind of pathetic.  Why not, this could be my last Xmas?  The world is going to end in 2012 anyway...
 

Without the Stuff i got Myself

The Morning After (Some of the Stuff)



Xmas 2: More Bad Pictures of "My" Room

Ready for more slightly blurry pictures of my room.  i made a couple changes since the first picture.  No, this is not perfect (d'oh), but it is probably as close as i can get.

My Crappy Xmas Decorating Job 2011

So, i decided to put up a fake tree in my room again.  This one is kind of a cast-off, as it is the old tree of the person i am currently staying with.  It kind of annoys me that the tree seems so off balance (at least in the branch department (and there is at least one branch missing).  Maybe there will be a second post at a later date. 

Xmas Decorations 2010

In a previous post, i showed a disturbing picture of a tree in its full arborial glory.  This time i decided to show pictures of the tree fully clothed in 140 glass ball decoration things, maybe even one of the tree after dark (though my windowless Bumble cave is usually dark).  Last year i had 10+ strings of lights in my room, this year i have a paltry 11 (that is with 2 trees, though i probably have another 3-4 on the stairs leading up from my cave).

Now for a picture of my real tree after dark

It is not silicone, but it is my fake tree (which i didn't take down last year)

Now, since you've had about all the tree you can hanlde (and more)
Here is some hardcore Xmas pop culture

Have you ever seen complete sets of the small CVS Rudolph Stuffins from 1998 and 1999.  You have now

A set of Frosty the Snowman CVS Stuffins set agains the tragic background of my CD shelf and my two stockings (i have had the dog with the furry ears one for a looong time). 

Now to wrap things up, some Santa Claus is Coming to Town action figures and Stuffins set against the chilling backdrop of one of my TV on DVD shelves.  They actually did a pretty good job on the action figures.

My First Xmas Tree

So this year i decided to pick up my first real Xmas tree. 

i know i didn't chose the best available tree, but i did have a price limit of about $30 with taxes.  One of the reasons i got this particular tree was convenience, it was the only one there bundled up with twine (for easier transporting).  The tree is a 5'6" tall Douglas Fir (psuedotsuga - my original Xbox 360 gamertag) that i bought at Rite-Aid.  This is my first real Xmas tree in a really long time (the last one was before 1995), but i guess that is what you get when you live in apartments.  So, i guess i don't have to break out the oozers or the spritzers this year (though i never took my fake tree down last year).  Hopefully this tree can last the 2-3 weeks it needs to.   

Having a real tree is a little more work than i remembered.  As a smaller, younger version of myself, i didn't recognize how much work there was.  First you have to transport the tree.  Then you have to prune some of the lower extraneous branches so that it will fit in the Xmas tree stand.  Luckily for me, the stand didn't give me any problems (i remember in the past that might have been an issue with those old metal stands).  After that you have to go through the delicate process of making sure the tree is straight (or close enough).  If you do things right, there should be a ton of needles on the ground (not a real ton, but not far from it). You will get sap on your hands.  Then comes the hard work of putting the lights on the tree (which i will try to outsource to alleged relatives).  This year i decided to go with LED lights, they don't produce as much heat, are brighter and tend to last longer (or they have so far).  Next after the lights is the dreaded string the popcorn on the tree (so it won't showcase how few ornmanets i have left).  This is really time consuming, my alleged mother helped me with it (meaning did most of the work) last year.     

Segue into the wavy lines flashback.  When i was growing up, we would always have a real tree in the house.  Nothing beats the aromatic bouquet of a real Xmas tree at Xmas time.  So many muffled and partially obscured memories. We would usually go to this place called Mitchell's tree farm and cut down a tree and then fasten it to the Subaru (or whatever car my alleged dad had) with bungie cords and drive it home to set it up in the living room.  We mostly got noble and grand firs (i don't remember having a Douglas fir, though they were all over the place outside).