Sepiatone Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Sounds like a good idea. For lazy people, stores should sell already-decorated Christmas trees, as well as already-wrapped gifts for Junior. Well, they DO sell artificial trees with LIGHTS attached already. THAT'S not so bad an idea. And many stores, a now defunct J.C.PENNEY store in my city, provide and/or provided GIFT WRAPPING services for their customers. A very old friend of my EX used to do that in the aforementioned Penney's store. When you consider that MY gift wrapping usually looks as if done by a drunken ape with ten thumbs, paying a small fee to have it wrapped "professionally" isn't such a bad thing! Sepiatone Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Link to post Share on other sites
jamesjazzguitar Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Well, they DO sell artificial trees with LIGHTS attached already. THAT'S not so bad an idea. And many stores, a now defunct J.C.PENNEY store in my city, provide and/or provided GIFT WRAPPING services for their customers. A very old friend of my EX used to do that in the aforementioned Penney's store. When you consider that MY gift wrapping usually looks as if done by a drunken ape with ten thumbs, paying a small fee to have it wrapped "professionally" isn't such a bad thing! Sepiatone My gift wrapping also was weak. But the kids really loved it. When they saw that ugly looking gift they knew it was from Uncle James. One year I had the gifts professionally wraped and the kids all told me to wrap them myself since I used a lot of tape (as well as paper upon paper to cover up holes!), so it was more fun to open up a package done the uncle James way. Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Some preparations go quite smoothly while others... Link to post Share on other sites
Notan Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Some preparations go quite smoothly while others... It's hard to tell from this angle, but it looks like either Donner or Blitzen is having a hard time getting in the holiday spirit! Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Link to post Share on other sites
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Some preparations go quite smoothly while others... Picturing Edmund Gwenn as this particular Santa is making me cringe. Link to post Share on other sites
Dargo Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 Yeah, well, I just wanna say that I think our friend Sans sometimes displays a rather macabre sense of humor around here! (...and I LOVE it!!!) Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 That did remind me.... My wife said once that when she was a kid, her older sister Anita told her there WAS no Santa Claus because......... "He died in a PLANE CRASH!" Sepiatone Link to post Share on other sites
Dargo Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 That did remind me.... My wife said once that when she was a kid, her older sister Anita told her there WAS no Santa Claus because......... "He died in a PLANE CRASH!" Sepiatone And which has been diagnosed as being the fundamental cause for her acute Aviophobia, right Sepia?! (...well, they DO say these kind of things can all be traced back to some childhood trauma, ya know) Link to post Share on other sites
wouldbestar Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 That did remind me.... My wife said once that when she was a kid, her older sister Anita told her there WAS no Santa Claus because......... "He died in a PLANE CRASH!" Sepiatone My grandfather-the original Archie Bunker-told my aunt and mother that "Santa Claus shot himself". Of course they cried thinking all the presents were kaput for that year. I grew up in a small house-seven people in five rooms-and when I was six I caught my folks pulling presents out of a closet. Somehow I was more impressed with the fact that they bought the presents than some strange guy. After that my folks stopped wrapping the gifts to save money, just putting the packages under the tree. Link to post Share on other sites
Dargo Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 David Letterman last night: "You people remember when you were first told there wasn't any Santa Claus, don't you?! Well, when I was told this, I was SO upset that I ALMOST didn't come out on this stage here tonight!" Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCZL4K6E1jc Link to post Share on other sites
Notan Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Thanks, SF! That's a interesting film. I had never seen or heard of it before. The detail of the coat blowing in the wind was particularly impressive. I had no idea that stop motion was used that far back. After doing a bit of research, it appears that stop motion was in use in film at least as far back as 1897. Thanks again. Link to post Share on other sites
Dargo Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Sans, would you know if the accompanied music to that animated short might have been some piece by Tchaikovsky? (...I thought it sounded as if it might have been anyway, as a few of the movements in it sounded a little "Nutcracker-ish" to me) Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 would you know if the accompanied music to that animated short might have been some piece by Tchaikovsky? I am sorry to say that I do not recognize the music. I do not know also which music was recommended to be performed to accompany it in theatres or if music used in this video was what director recommended. I truly wish that I could be of help but I do not know how to begin to research such a thing. Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 That's a interesting film. I had never seen or heard of it before. The detail of the coat blowing in the wind was particularly impressive. It makes me happy that you found it to be of interest. I find its sense of innocence quite touching. Animation in its various forms has long and rich history. The creator of that movie made many wonderful movies using stop-motion. Some of them are available for viewing on YouTube. Link to post Share on other sites
Sepiatone Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 That's amazing stop-motion animation considering WHEN it was made. All I can find out is that the film maker/animator was a Russian born Pole, and can't find any info on the music used for the film as shown in the clip. As it was made during the silent era, I doubt the music in the clip was original to the film. But, in spite of it's Russian vibe, the music's composer COULD have been Polish, and it also sounds sort of a Mussorgsky/Prokofiev hybrid to me....too contemporary for the times to be Tchaikowsky----IMHO AND, in a way, reminiscent of Borodin's Prince Igor-Polovtsian Dances. Hard call to make---- Sepiatone Link to post Share on other sites
Notan Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 It makes me happy that you found it to be of interest. I find its sense of innocence quite touching. ... I've never heard a Father Christmas story involving insects, before. Do you get the sense that the story was written just for the film? Or was it a pre-existing story? It's interesting that Father Christmas taps the rocks (or perhaps ice) to call forth the insects. I wonder if that is a significant element of the story, or if it is indicative of how some insects make it through the winter in that climate. Thanks again for posting the film. Link to post Share on other sites
hamradio Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 This is episode 3 of "Masha and the Bear". Santa is using a hand car instead of reindeer. (3:43 into the video) Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 But, in spite of it's Russian vibe, the music's composer COULD have been Polish, I believe that it is difficult to definitively separate nationalities during that time. A person born and reared within geographical Poland might be taught by Germans in schools financed and administered by Russians. Artistic education was in particular blended by having easy access to works produced in all of Europe and much of Asia and having teachers from wide variety of countries. All of these influenced students and shaped their later works. Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 I've never heard a Father Christmas story involving insects, before. Do you get the sense that the story was written just for the film? Or was it a pre-existing story? Father Frost comes to all. I do not know of tale specific for this movie but Insects are in many tales. An example of this is the story of the spider in the Christmas tree. Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 This is episode 3 of "Masha and the Bear". Santa is using a hand car instead of reindeer. (3:43 into the video) I thank you for posting that! It is one of my most favorite videos because it is such wonderful innocence. It shows also many differences between Father Frost and Santa Claus. Father Frost is best known for striding across the land. It is fitting whimsy that he would use railroad truck in areas where deliveries are far between. It is also that presents come from his hand and are not left semi-anonymously. His staff is very important. Link to post Share on other sites
Notan Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I'm really sorry; I know this is not holiday or Christmas related, but consider this Masha and the Bear episode an early present: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSlon_3VBn4 Humor being able to transcend language is one of the few things that sustains what little hope I have left for humanity. (Thanks for introducing me to Masha, SansFin.) Link to post Share on other sites
Notan Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Father Frost comes to all. I do not know of tale specific for this movie but Insects are in many tales. An example of this is the story of the spider in the Christmas tree. The spider in the Christmas tree is such a good story! I'm so glad you shared it with us! Link to post Share on other sites
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