primitives discuss Christmas

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018907153

Oh my.

IrishEyes (1,239 posts)     Tue Nov 29, 2016, 04:42 PM

Christmas

I'm starting to get in the Christmas spirit. What are your favorite Christmas songs and films?

My favorite Christmas songs include
1. Santa Baby
2. Jing Bell Rock
3. Last Christmas

My favorite Christmas films include
1. The Apartment
2. Shop Around the Corner
3. Miracle on 34th Street

Oh, I dunno.  I never saw it, but I imagine franksolich's favorite Christmas film would be that story by Truman Capote about a Depression-era Christmas when he was a young lad and he had a simple-minded elderly femme relative who reminded one very much of Sherlock Judy grasswire.

Insofar as anything secular's concerned.

trof (48,702 posts)     Tue Nov 29, 2016, 06:14 PM

2. Bah. Humbug.

^^^a primitive who's as old as the hills.

The Velveteen Ocelot (47,171 posts)     Tue Nov 29, 2016, 06:18 PM

3. None of them.

Most commercial Christmas music and movies are too sentimental for my taste. I do love choral music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods composed for Christmas for the church, even though I'm not religious. But "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"? Yuk. Ptui.

Oh.

My.

God.

A primitive who's in complete concordance with franksolich.

[franksolich]

I feel a compelling need to tell something, to get it off my chest.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I was in Omaha, and one afternoon the femme with me suggested we sit down and watch her favorite Christmas movie.

I’m deaf; I can hear music only with great difficulty using special technology and a lot of physical energy and concentration, but as music does something for me, inspires the soul, the heart, the intellect, my goodwill towards all people and all things, it’s worth it to me to put up with all that work even though really it’s like laboring a mountain to bring forth a mouse.

Movies are easier for me to “get,” to understand, but at the same time they leave me feeling nothing in particular at all.  I’ve always lived very well without television and movies.

But because she was who she was, and because I wasn’t doing anything else at the moment, I said yeah, sure, I’ll watch the movie with you.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fortunately the specific details of the movie escape me; it was from the late 1940s, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and a couple of blonde chicks in a winter wonderland, apparently in Vermont.

By the way, I once read that the famous Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn didn’t care much for his money-making star Danny Kaye because he thought the actor looked “too Semitic.”  This was the first time I paid any attention to Danny Kaye, but he looked pretty goy, pretty standard, to me.   His nose wasn’t even that big.

While watching it, I was appalled; this was no La Revolution francaise (1989) or Waterloo (1970) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962), the greatest movies ever made.  Not even close.

I found it had no plot, and the dialogue, whatever I grasped of it, seemed unreal, preposterous, superficial, and shallow.  It was trite, it was silly, it was ridiculous.

Much to my surprise, the femme informed me that in its time, it’d been one of the most popular movies ever made.

That?

I suppose I can see where it might turn on people with no class, no taste, people who think kitsch is aesthetic, people like Attila Marc the Hun on Skins’s island, but man, it’s an insult to anyone with any cultural sensitivities and manners.

It’s been about a week now, but I still cringe when I think of it.   

[Carl]

I am sure at one time or another Marc met Bing Crosby.

[Movie buff- The Sequel]

Going along with the DUmmy's sentiment, that's actually something I'm really into, because I love Christmas and all that goes into it.
To that end,
Favorite Christmas songs (In no particular order):
1. The Little Drummer Boy, with my favorite renditions of it being the Bing Crosby/ David Bowie duet of it and Jessie Daniels's contemporary cover of it.
2. Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
3. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. One version of it I particularly like is the Casting Crowns cover, I honestly tear up a little every time I hear it.
4. Where are You, Christmas? (Faith Hill)

Favorite Christmas movies, again in no particular order (Not counting TV specials):
1. It's a Wonderful Life.
2. Home Alone.
3. Pretty much any of the versions of 'A Christmas Carol,' especially 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' and the 2009 Disney version of it (The one with Jim Carrey voicing Scrooge).
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

[Karin]

Frank, I'm glad you can hear some music, even if it's a lot of work to do so. 

Irisheyes DUmmie has terrible taste!  Ugh.

My favorite song is "O Come all ye Faithful." 

[FunkyZero]

When my rural, uneducated self was in college, I brought with me an old AM radio with alarm clock in it. For whatever reason, i could only get one radio station in that town and I kid you not, they played Christmas music nearly year-round.
My first year I was housed in the dorms with another freshman and the radio normally didn't wake us up right away... we would be woken by the neighbors banging on the walls, yelling at us to turn that insufferable radio off.
Meh... I can't stomach Christmas music at all now.

[Big Dog]

No post from Ol' Stumpy? His favorite Christmas song is something he wrote, and it goes like this:

**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers.
AAAARGH!

[Big Dog]

I am sure at one time or another Marc met Bing Crosby.

I am sure that the Blubbering Buffalo of Bellevue (who is dying) ate  Bing Crosby.

[Big Dog]

Bravenak has a secret. A deep, dark secret.

Her favorite Christmas movie is...

[BadCat]

I feel a compelling need to tell something, to get it off my chest.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I was in Omaha, and one afternoon the femme with me suggested we sit down and watch her favorite Christmas movie.

I’m deaf; I can hear music only with great difficulty using special technology and a lot of physical energy and concentration, but as music does something for me, inspires the soul, the heart, the intellect, my goodwill towards all people and all things, it’s worth it to me to put up with all that work even though really it’s like laboring a mountain to bring forth a mouse.

Movies are easier for me to “get,” to understand, but at the same time they leave me feeling nothing in particular at all.  I’ve always lived very well without television and movies.

But because she was who she was, and because I wasn’t doing anything else at the moment, I said yeah, sure, I’ll watch the movie with you.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fortunately the specific details of the movie escape me; it was from the late 1940s, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and a couple of blonde chicks in a winter wonderland, apparently in Vermont.

By the way, I once read that the famous Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn didn’t care much for his money-making star Danny Kaye because he thought the actor looked “too Semitic.”  This was the first time I paid any attention to Danny Kaye, but he looked pretty goy, pretty standard, to me.   His nose wasn’t even that big.

While watching it, I was appalled; this was no La Revolution francaise (1989) or Waterloo (1970) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962), the greatest movies ever made.  Not even close.

I found it had no plot, and the dialogue, whatever I grasped of it, seemed unreal, preposterous, superficial, and shallow.  It was trite, it was silly, it was ridiculous.

Much to my surprise, the femme informed me that in its time, it’d been one of the most popular movies ever made.

That?

I suppose I can see where it might turn on people with no class, no taste, people who think kitsch is aesthetic, people like Attila Marc the Hun on Skins’s island, but man, it’s an insult to anyone with any cultural sensitivities and manners.

It’s been about a week now, but I still cringe when I think of it.

The movie was "White Christmas", not one of the best, but in the ranks of "classics" these days.

[franksolich]

The movie was "White Christmas", not one of the best, but in the ranks of "classics" these days.

I got the impression it was originally black-and-white, and later "colorized" for today's tastes, as the colors weren't at all that sharp.

I really dislike it when people tamper with black-and-white; black-and-white's an art form, and shouldn't be altered, any more than Beethoven's Ninth should be re-written.

[BadCat]

I got the impression it was originally black-and-white, and later "colorized" for today's tastes, as the colors weren't at all that sharp.

I really dislike it when people tamper with black-and-white; black-and-white's an art form, and shouldn't be altered, any more than Beethoven's Ninth should be re-written.

Actually Frank, it was filmed in color.  What you saw was a very early version of "Technicolor", and was the first film to use Paramount's "Vista Vision".  It was also nominated for an Oscar for:

Best Music, Original Song
Irving Berlin
For the song "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep"

[franksolich]

Well, I finally looked it up.

It was made in 1954, and filmed in "Technicolor."

One could've fooled me; the colors looked muddy, as if someone had painted them in.

But on the other hand, I never claimed to be an expert on movies; probably the "average" person's seen more movies the past three or four months than I have my whole entire life.

The two blonde chicks were Rosemary Clooney, of whom I've heard, and Vera-Ellen, of whom I've never heard.

[franksolich]

Okay, it's now become clearer to me.

There was a movie similar to White Christmas, which came out in 1942, twelve years before this one, starring Bing Crosby but not Danny Kaye, featuring that one song, and filmed in black-and-white.

[Mary Ann]

The two blonde chicks were Rosemary Clooney, of whom I've heard, and Vera-Ellen, of whom I've never heard.

I like to watch the movie just to marvel at Vera-Ellen's dancing. Amazing.

I have read that she was anorexic, and had such a bad case of turkey neck that all of her costumes in the movie had to have high necks to hide it.

[SVPete]

No post from Ol' Stumpy? His favorite Christmas song is something he wrote, and it goes like this:

**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers,
**** you, Goppers.
AAAARGH!

Yep! Ebeneezer bringing Christmas cheer, every year, and telling DU what he wants to do to the surplus population he calls goppers.

[ChuckJ]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018907153

Oh my.

Oh, I dunno.  I never saw it, but I imagine franksolich's favorite Christmas film would be that story by Truman Capote about a Depression-era Christmas when he was a young lad and he had a simple-minded elderly femme relative who reminded one very much of Sherlock Judy grasswire.

Insofar as anything secular's concerned.

^^^a primitive who's as old as the hills.

Oh.

My.

God.

A primitive who's in complete concordance with franksolich.

It's probably a trick coach. Remember the difficulty they have with the truth.

[I_B_Perky]

I would have to say my favorite Christmas songs are:

1. O Come O Come Emmanuel.
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Handel's Messiah Hallelujah Chorus (not necessarily a Christmas song per se... but it is sung around Christmas time and I like it so I included it)

[DUmpsterDiver]

I'm planning a White Privilege Christmas and handing out Hams to any islamic I run across. 

[Skul]

I'm planning a White Privilege Christmas and handing out Hams to any islamic I run across.

you are soooo kind, generous and thoughtful Dd.
Here, have a   



Fixed it DD. 

[franksolich]

I would have to say my favorite Christmas songs are:

1. O Come O Come Emmanuel.
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Handel's Messiah Hallelujah Chorus (not necessarily a Christmas song per se... but it is sung around Christmas time and I like it so I included it)

We're in reasonable agreement there, but decent and civilized people tend to be that way.

By the way, I just ordered The Messiah as performed by the choir of King's College, Cambridge, during Easter 2009; when it arrives, it'll become my 21st copy of a performance of The Messiah by this, the greatest choir ever.  I hope to collect them all, every single one ever made by this choir.

http://shop.kings.cam.ac.uk/product-p/dvdkin0049.htm

^^^when at link, go to ".....an excerpt from the DVD" about halfway down the page; it's well worth hearing, and only four minutes.

[diesel driver]

you are soooo kind, generous and thoughtful DD.
Here, have a   

Hey, I thought I was DD?

 

[I_B_Perky]

We're in reasonable agreement there, but decent and civilized people tend to be that way.

By the way, I just ordered The Messiah as performed by the choir of King's College, Cambridge, during Easter 2009; when it arrives, it'll become my 21st copy of a performance of The Messiah by this, the greatest choir ever.  I hope to collect them all, every single one ever made by this choir.

http://shop.kings.cam.ac.uk/product-p/dvdkin0049.htm

^^^when at link, go to ".....an excerpt from the DVD" about halfway down the page; it's well worth hearing, and only four minutes.

 

I am kinda partial to the Mormon Tabernacle choir version of the Chorus and O Come O Come Emmanual performed back in the mid 70's.  Liked Good King Wenscelas as well.  Saw them with Dad up north somewhere... he was from New York and we was up there visiting his family over Christmas.  They did all the Christmas songs from around the world.  That was one hell of a concert.  Had some big live orchestra playing with them. Philharmonic may be their name?  Dunno.  It was in this big concert hall and the place was packed.  We had to dress up to go to it.

Man that was a long time ago. I was like 10. Dad bought the 8 track he liked it so much.

I ain't necessarily fond of the Mormons... they leave me alone and I leave them alone so no real problem with them..but damn their choir could freaking sing back in the late seventies!

<<<< got a voice that sounds like gravel in a cement mixer

[I_B_Perky]

Hey, I thought I was DD?

 

So you got a sock puppet on this board now?   

 

[Ralph Wiggum]

Christmas movies?

Hmm, I'll pick in no particular order:

Scrooged
Die Hard
Bad Santa

Yes, I like some of the heartwarming ones too.

HBO used to run "Rich Little's Christmas Carol during the holidays.  He played every character as a famous movie/TV star.  Bought my Dad & Mom a VHS copy, later on a DVD.  Mom, brother & I still watch it around Christmas time together.