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Post by Bazzy on Dec 23, 2007 4:34:01 GMT -5
What do you love/hate about the christmas holidays ?
Love = Been off work /// presents /// christmas songs /// PDC Darts tournament /// Santa /// Mince pies /// Scourge - Bah Humbug (He was right)
Hate = crowded shops (Where is everyone in the summer ?) /// relatives (who never been in touch all year . But get in touch at christmas) /// cold weather (I'm cold in the summer) /// Political correctness at christmas (like calling it christmas is offensive) /// Working in a supermarket . Trying to fill the shelves up and customers in the way
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Post by Shon Maxx on Dec 23, 2007 6:15:06 GMT -5
I agree with most of what you wrote, Bazzy. My only difference really is that I love the cold weather.
I also love surprising my fiancee on Christmas day. One year I told her I got her, 'a little something under the tree.' That year, we had only a little 1 foot tall tree. Well she walked out, and under the tree And the table the tree was on was an electronic keyboard. That made her day.
Once again, I agree with Bazzy with most of his hates, but I'll also add that I hate hearing the music over and over and over again at work. Any easy way to kill your spirit is to hear Rudolph song by 20 different singers in a single day. After hearing Frosty for the 17th time in one night, I wrote a poem called, "Die Frosty Die." I'll post it if anyone's interested and feels the same.
Our store is doing the political correctness B.S. All the signs say, "Happy Holidays," and there seems to be a silent rule about not saying Merry Christmas. I think that's stupid. I don't get offended when people say Happy Hanukkah. The funny thing is, a lot of the songs being played are about Christ. Okay, so we can't say Merry Christmas, but we can play music about Jesus nonstop. (For the record, I'll take the Christian music over Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa any day.)
I hope everyone has a Happy...I mean...Merry Christmas.
Take care,
Jay
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Post by rawhide on Dec 23, 2007 6:29:47 GMT -5
hate the stupid music played over and over again.makes me glad i have cds at home so i dont have to listen to the radio.  also have to hear it at work. like people wishing me a happy holiday and other stuff. also having the day off.  and the holiday pay. |
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Post by JimSteel on Dec 23, 2007 19:02:07 GMT -5
LOVE
The Day off and Presents
Overtime Pay
Since I have been working in retail for 20 years
I HATE
Same song playing over and over
Rude customers geting upset at you for being out of what they want
Cold Weather
Oh and Bah Humbug
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Post by Trent Lawless on Dec 23, 2007 20:34:34 GMT -5
Love Christmas light displays
Love watching my kids' sense of wonder about things I take for granted
Love getting cards, especially with family pictures
Love the food!
Hate overcommercialization
Hate that it's colder outside
Hate freaking Mannheim Steamroller butcherings of Christmas songs (this coming from a keyboardist, don't forget)
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Post by Bazzy on Dec 23, 2007 21:18:11 GMT -5
Why I hate the cold weather ? . I have a thyroid problem and am always cold . All my doctor says is "Well it is cold outside" . My hands and feet , are always cold .
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Post by Matt on Dec 23, 2007 22:49:30 GMT -5
LOVE- the time off, presents (both giving and receiving), snow, lights, food
HATE- shopping on Dec 23 with 8 trillion other schmucks who were too lazy to shop earlier....
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Post by Trent Lawless on Dec 24, 2007 13:08:56 GMT -5
HATE- shopping on Dec 23 with 8 trillion other schmucks who were too lazy to shop earlier.... Get married, man. Wives are great for dealing with that crap. The downside is they spend way more than you would! |
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Post by gatekeeper on Dec 24, 2007 13:46:29 GMT -5
Hate freaking Mannheim Steamroller butcherings of Christmas songs (this coming from a keyboardist, don't forget) i thought you were a trumpet player. You're right though, Mannheim Steamroller sucks! |
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Post by Trent Lawless on Dec 24, 2007 14:16:19 GMT -5
Mostly low brass these days (I might be trying the tuba in our community band this summer -- we'll see), though I did start out on and still own a trumpet.
Now if you ask me about Mannheim Steamroller's other stuff, like the Fresh Aire series, it's not bad. But the Christmas music, especially that damn minor 7th in "Deck the Halls" is enough to make me want to kick my radio across the room anytime I hear it.
(Okay, maybe the minor 7th reference was a little esoteric, but hopefully Payback will know what I'm talking about!)
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Post by gatekeeper on Dec 24, 2007 17:06:22 GMT -5
Mostly low brass these days (I might be trying the tuba in our community band this summer -- we'll see), though I did start out on and still own a trumpet. Now if you ask me about Mannheim Steamroller's other stuff, like the Fresh Aire series, it's not bad. But the Christmas music, especially that damn minor 7th in "Deck the Halls" is enough to make me want to kick my radio across the room anytime I hear it. (Okay, maybe the minor 7th reference was a little esoteric, but hopefully Payback will know what I'm talking about!) Yeah, I understand. MS is the epitome of white suckiness (well them and Pat Boone). |
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Post by Swarm on Dec 24, 2007 19:16:21 GMT -5
I love everything about Christmas. I love the weather here in MI...the lights...the music...the look on peoples face when they open the gifts I have given them...the time off from work...the food...the movies...seeing people you haven't seen all year or longer (as in old friends in for the holiday)...I love taking my annual long drive and reminiscing of the year gone by...everything. I love Christmas.
I'm smart about shopping...I don't fight the crowds to save a buck...so the crowds are nothing but others people's stories to me...I could never get sick of traditional X-Mass music...
I guess if it's one thing I *hate* about Christmas it's the PC people who want to take Santa and X-Mass out of schools, but those bastards complain about stupid crap like that all year, not just during the Holiday, so I'm not sure if that counts.
Christmas is awesome.
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Post by Chewey on Dec 24, 2007 20:00:47 GMT -5
(Okay, maybe the minor 7th reference was a little esoteric, but hopefully Payback will know what I'm talking about!) Excuse me for being ignorant, but when I think of a minor seventh, I think of the opening interval for "Somewhere" in West Side Story, or the jingle "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" - neither of which I hear in Deck the Halls. Please enlighten a confused soul! |
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Post by Chewey on Dec 24, 2007 20:10:05 GMT -5
Love being with family and loved ones.
Love seeing the joy on the face of little kids.
Love Christmas pageants when I go to church, even though I haven't been a Christian in years.
Hate the superficiality of the holidays.
Hate the commercialization of the holidays.
Hate how gift-giving during Christmas because they sometimes seem like a chore instead of something that you really want to do for someone/some people, which to me makes it less meaningful.
Always remember those who are less fortunate than I when I go to the supermarket and pass by the bell-ringer for the Salvation Army. I really don't mind the bells, and am in fact thankful for those bell-ringers that remind me to think of others during a time when it is common to only think about yourself and your own circle.
There are definitely pluses to Christmas, but I fled to China this year partly to avoid Christmas in America! ;D
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Post by Trent Lawless on Dec 24, 2007 20:54:53 GMT -5
Excuse me for being ignorant, but when I think of a minor seventh, I think of the opening interval for "Somewhere" in West Side Story, or the jingle "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" - neither of which I hear in Deck the Halls. Please enlighten a confused soul! Exactly. You're supposed to hear a major seventh the way the song normally is on the red note. Fa-la-la-la-la la-la- la-la. Mannheim Steamroller takes that down to a flatted (minor seventh) note behind that boodalee beedalee bubbling accompaniment. My blood pressure is rising thinking about it. So it's not the interval between notes. It's the note in the scale being a minor seventh instead of a major. Argh. Merry Mannheim Steamroller-less Christmas. |
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Post by Chewey on Dec 24, 2007 21:14:54 GMT -5
Excuse me for being ignorant, but when I think of a minor seventh, I think of the opening interval for "Somewhere" in West Side Story, or the jingle "Have you driven a Ford, lately?" - neither of which I hear in Deck the Halls. Please enlighten a confused soul! Exactly. You're supposed to hear a major seventh the way the song normally is on the red note. Fa-la-la-la-la la-la- la-la. Mannheim Steamroller takes that down to a flatted (minor seventh) note behind that boodalee beedalee bubbling accompaniment. My blood pressure is rising thinking about it. So it's not the interval between notes. It's the note in the scale being a minor seventh instead of a major. Gotcha. Lack of leading tone wizzes me off too. But now that we're on the topic of music and 7th notes, I have been meaning to ask Payback this question for a long time as I haven't gotten a satisfactory answer from people I've asked yet... If you were playing Heart and Soul in a minor key (which actually sounds pretty swank), how would you deal with the leading tone? Say, in the key of C Major, the melody would go C-C-C... C-B-A-B-C-D E-E-E... Some people would suggest C-C-C... C-B-Ab-B-C-D-Eb-Eb-Eb... but that augmented second in the harmonic minor progression bugs the hell out of me. C-Bb-Ab-Bb-C-D-Eb-Eb-Eb also doesn't work because there is no leading tone, and the second Bb is dissonant with the bassline, which includes a Major V chord with a B-natural in it. I personally prefer the typical C-B-A-B-C-D-Eb-Eb-Eb and call the A-natural in the melody a "neighbor tone," even while it clashes with the Ab in the bass pretty harshly. So... Mark, Payback, anyone else... what is the best solution to this dilemma? [/music dork mode] |
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Post by gatekeeper on Dec 25, 2007 0:19:25 GMT -5
It depends on which of the 3 minor scales you want to use. The Bb is the natural minor, the Ab - B natural is the harmonic minor. The melodic minor would actually have Bb -Ab on the way down, then just regular A - B on the way up. All would have Eb. (Sorry you non-music people for this discussion - LOL)
Heart and Soul is regarded with disdain in the band director's world.
I refuse to let my students play it.
Anyone with 1 finger can play it. So simple and aggravating. ;D
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Post by Splattercat on Dec 25, 2007 11:21:51 GMT -5
Hehe...Thanks for your concern Payback, the music speak is way beyond me, so I'll not comment...  I'm a big Christmas fan...Swarm's right, taking the spirit out of Christmas by making it Politically Correct (which by the way, it HAS been politically correct up until the powers that be redefined the term) is sickening...I loath people like that, especially since I seriously doubt even ONE of them actually stopped or changed the way they celebrate Christmas because they thought other people would be offended by how they did it... But like I said, huge Christmas fan...The giving, the sharing, the fact that it's the one day of year where most people are on the same page about everything...Everyone is good hearted (until the loaded 'Nog kicks in  ) and people are always at least kinder than normal... I actually wanted to work last night, but they wouldn't let me...Head office decided to close the store to cut costs, so if I'd kept the store open I'd have not been paid for it at all...Considering how much I slag the Tim Horton's across the street for closing, I felt bad telling people we wouldn't be open this year...I've been there for 5 of the last 7 Christmas' and people were shocked that we wouldn't be open...As small a deal it is, I actually felt that I let people down...The only store open for, well, anywhere really, and I felt it was important to be there for them...That's a Christmas thing I enjoy too...Being the only one there for everyone is a big deal to me... Anyway, big long post over....Enjoy your Christmas all... |
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also have to hear it at work.
and the holiday pay.
) and people are always at least kinder than normal...