Christmas lighting (rant)

[Avelorn]

I think the christmas lighting has gone crazy here in Sweden this year. I look up my block and there is like twice as much as last year. Stringers, twinkle bulbs, blue neon lights etc. etc. I think it\'s nice.. if it\'s done modestly.. with some sort of good taste. My nightmare is something like this site Oh I admit a small disneypart of me goes all wide eyed at those pictures. But I\'m trying to suffocate it slowly.

I have a question for the American forum goers as I think we have adopted it from your country: Do you think it will escalate from here?

Just to get my message through I advice you to look at this (not for children) EDIT: It is the \"stealing the spotlight\" episode if your popup stopper closes the window.

 

[Ritual]

In one of the neighbouring buildings from where I live there is someone who has a HUGE, glowing snowman on their balcony. It is probably over 2 metres tall and over 1 meter wide and it is lit from within so that it glows with a bright white light! It is placed so that it looks out over the neighbourhood from the balcony. It\'s likely the most tasteless thing I\'ve ever seen...

... and I have to see it every single day!! :|~

 

[freakinacage]

people are stupid. why must they go too far? if done well, houses can look really nice. surely they don\'t think it looks good?! also, it must cost a bomb. to buy them, the electricity bill...

 

[Avelorn]

I think the funniest part of that planetchristmas site is the comments to the pictures:

\"This is my small semi detached house, it took me five years to get this far, collecting for cancer and to cheer people up...\"

If you want to collect for cancer.. SELL THE LIGHTS!!

\"...including Christmas music playing all night.\"

WTF is up with that? Just imagine Jinglebells all 24h rounds. As if it\'s not bad enough hearing it all round town when you go shopping for christmas.

@Ritual: Ouch! I feel with you probably the most ugly things are the glowing santas and glowing snowman.. and just generally plastic things that glow! And they all carry that same happy expression of a lobotomized frog! Why is it so popular?

 

[Ritual]

Luckily there\'s a building between that demonic snowman and my appartment, but I see it every time I need to go somewhere...

 

[Avelorn]

Originally posted by Ritual
Luckily there\'s a building between that demonic snowman and my appartment, but I see it every time I need to go somewhere...

I imagine it looks like the eye of Sauron.. lol

 

[Orb]

well over in the UK it\'s reached insane proportions - I\'m with you, in moderation, taste, it\'s fine. We have competitons now - one or two houses drain the national grid in every street it seems with obsessive house decorations:

I\'m dreaming of a chav christmas:

lovely lovely lights

more yummy lights

 

[bayrodney]

What Annoys Me Is They Have The Money To Do it!

Imagine the Bills

 

[Avelorn]

I don\'t believe it. Weren\'t people talking about an energy crisis some while ago? Well now we know who\'s to blame!!

 

[MarkusTay]

I have to laugh at this...

Those houses on that site look like every street in my area. There are some roads where it looks as though neighbors are in competition over who can put up the gaudiest display, and can probably be seen from space!

There are a MYRIAD of competitions here in New York, and up until last year I was a PROFESSIONAL Holiday decorator for three months out of the year (putting them up in Dec and Nov and taking them down in Feb) during the construction off-season.

The village of Port Jefferson, a 400 hundred year old historic town, has a $1000 prize for best display. I have spent as much as three weeks on ONE BUILDING, putting over TEN THOUSAND LIGHTS on the roof alone!!! By the time I was done I HATED CHRISTMAS, so the whole thing ruined the holiday for me. Much to my customer\'s chagrin, I told them I WOULD NOT be doing any lights THIS year, and my holiday was much more relaxing for it.

Do you know what it is like to get a phone call at 11PM on Christmas Eve \"Mark, I got a strand of lights out on the roof and it looks like crap, can you come here RIGHT NOW and fix it? Thanks\". BTW - One of MY buildings won first place EVERY YEAR, so I guess artistic talent applies across multiple areas, even ones as diverse as decorating and mini-painting.*

This year I didn\'t even put lights on my own house, or set up my Christmas Village (a full day event). Just a tree for me, and OH HOW I\'M LOVING IT.

* not that I have much, but what little I have must help.

 

[Avelorn]

@MarkusTay: *shudder* Well.. I understand that you kept it simple this year. Do you think that it could happen here as well? I have started to see some tendency that the neighbors have started to compete with each other.

Well nice to hear from a professional anyway. Can you show us any house you\'ve made?

 

[Ritual]

I have noted that in areas where some people are heavily into exterior decoration others tend to follow... In the neighbourhood I live the decorations seem to get more extensive each year and I think people spur each other... The snowman I mentioned wasn\'t there last year, but others had smaller glowing santas on their balconies. I bet these people wanted to do something bigger, better, brighter than everybody else...

I\'m quite happy though that we haven\'t reached the level of lunacy that Markus described... yet!

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I think its like we are about miniatures. Once you start you can\'t stop.

But what drive the decorators is that the neighbours might out do them. You can\'t let the Jones family show more Christmas Spirit. And who knows.You might get on the six o\'clock news.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

My uncle does an uber light show and the electricity bill is in the many hundereds of dollars.

As to all these over done light shows, a quote from my old art teacher: \"a good artist knows what to leave out\".