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Post by kds on Dec 18, 2020 19:48:05 GMT
Alright, we're one week away from Christmas. It's hard to believe. So, what shall I rant about for this most festive holiday? .........ah....The War on Christmas, it's (puts on radio hears Christmas music, looks around the stores and sees Christmas stuff, puts on TV and sees Christmas specials and movie)...ok, that's all bullshit. But, they took A Charlie Brown Christmas off television.....wait? It was on PBS? Oh. Alright. Jeez, I'm starting to feel like Scrooge after the ghostly visits. Nothing to rant and rave about. Maybe I'll just have a beer. AH HA!!!! That's it. Every December, I greatly look forward to Christmas / Winter seasonal beers. Few do it better than Sam Adams....at least, that used to be the case. Sam Adams thought it was a good idea to fuck with the formula of one of their best seasonal beers - Winter Lager. They've made it "crisper and brighter" with more of an orange flavor. The baffling thing is that Sam Adams makes about, I don't know, 867 different beers. Why not just call it Merry Crispmas or Merry and Brighter or some bullshit, and leave Winter Lager alone? www.brewbound.com/news/boston-beer-reformulates-samuel-adams-winter-lager/I went to a liquor chain store called Total Wine that sells seasonals in singles, so I bought one of the new Winter Lagers. It bared little resemblance to the Winter Lager I know and love. It was like watching A Christmas Carol, and finding out Scrooge's revelation was not in time to save Tiny Tim. Well, maybe Sam Adams would redeem themselves with their Winter Sampler pack. Sure, it would be nice to crack open some bottles of White Christmas or Old Fizziweg Ale. NOPE!! Neither of those are represented. Replaced by Sam '76, which is in EVERY season sampler - spring, summer, fall, and winter - for some reason or some overly hoppy IPA, which is all the rage these days. Goddamn, you fucked up my Winter Lager, then fucked up my Winter Sampler. I feel like Clark Griswold, reading his membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. Maybe this is all part of a new Coke type strategy to re-release Winter Lager Classic in 2021 to have it fly off the shelves, but for Christmas 2020, there are about 10,318 craft breweries in Maryland alone, all with a vast selection of Christmas and Winter beers. Since Sam Adams is now in the same league as The Grinch, Scrooge, and Mariah Carey, I'll give the smaller breweries the money I should be saving or spending on my family. I hope Krampus pays you a visit next week!!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 19, 2020 13:41:30 GMT
Yeah, kds, to quote Mr. Sinatra...Whatever happened to Christmas? There have been so many changes with Christmas in my lifetime, but I'll zero in on one, and that's the shopping season. Now, first I'll admit that I absolutely hate Christmas shopping. Either I have no idea what to buy someone, or they will give me a list and I cannot find what it is on their list - and I really, really want to get EXACTLY what it is on their list. We all know what it's like to get something that we can't really...use.
OK, here's the problem. The shopping season starts way too early, and by the time I'm "ready" to join in, everything is picked out! Now, I have to say that I love the Christmas season, from the music to the TV specials to the religious aspect to the family gatherings to just, to quote the song, THAT CHRISTMAS FEELING. I don't mind starting the Christmas season early in most areas, just not the shopping. We all know that certain Christmas merchandise is displayed in the stores before the summer is over. Yep, Christmas shopping in September. Most stores have big sales BEFORE Thanksgiving. And, then we see what happens on the day after Thanksgiving. Well, I'm not ready yet. It's not even December 1st yet. I see the cars increasing in the store/mall parking lots. The early birds are out. They've been out for two months already!
When I am ready, usually the first week of December, the search begins, and the frustration starts. I'll sometimes travel to five or six stores just to find one little odd item that somebody has on their list. I have to find it! Sometimes I'll ultimately come up short, and then have to use my imagination or creativity and buy something that I HOPE they like. Then you hold your breath when you give it to them and look for their (faked?) expression. Why am I going through this exercise? Christmas is supposed to purely happy.
Hey, I'd pay for someone to do my Christmas shopping. Any takers? OK, rant over. Merry Christmas.
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Post by B.E. on Dec 19, 2020 18:01:49 GMT
SJS, my family started using Giftster years ago, and it's made Christmas (and Birthday) shopping SO much easier. Everyone's lists are on the same website, links can be provided for each item, you can mark an item "reserved" or "purchased" so that others (but NOT the list owner) can see that someone else is getting it, and you can even "suggest" items to other people's lists (meaning, if you have a good idea for someone you can add it to their list for others to see (but, again, not the list owner). Personally, I like to order as much online as I can, and like you I'm more interested in getting useful gifts and getting exactly what they want. That said, I like to mix it up, too, and occasionally get surprise gifts. I try to balance it out a little. But, Giftster is just such a useful tool (Does everyone use it? I have no idea how popular it is.) It really cuts down on playing phone tag and trying to figure out what people want, what exactly they want, did someone else already get it, where is it sold, is it in stock, etc.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 20, 2020 14:28:12 GMT
SJS, my family started using Giftster years ago, and it's made Christmas (and Birthday) shopping SO much easier. Everyone's lists are on the same website, links can be provided for each item, you can mark an item "reserved" or "purchased" so that others (but NOT the list owner) can see that someone else is getting it, and you can even "suggest" items to other people's lists (meaning, if you have a good idea for someone you can add it to their list for others to see (but, again, not the list owner). Personally, I like to order as much online as I can, and like you I'm more interested in getting useful gifts and getting exactly what they want. That said, I like to mix it up, too, and occasionally get surprise gifts. I try to balance it out a little. But, Giftster is just such a useful tool (Does everyone use it? I have no idea how popular it is.) It really cuts down on playing phone tag and trying to figure out what people want, what exactly they want, did someone else already get it, where is it sold, is it in stock, etc. Yeah, our family tried something like that this year. We exchange names across (my three sisters') families and this year we tried something called Elfster. It was easier, and, yes, I proceeded to order things right off the internet. But, then there was a stray item or two which led me to store hopping!
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Post by kds on Dec 21, 2020 13:28:48 GMT
I can't really say I've run into issues with stores not having a gift in stock, but I've also done about 95% of my shopping online over the last five years or so.
I will say that I love the convenience, and it does open up my December weekends for more festive stuff like going to train gardens or looking at lights, but there's a part of me that misses the hustle and bustle. I have fond memories of running around with my parents on December Saturdays running to stores and malls, grabbing lunch at a pizza place in the mall or from the Boy Scouts selling hot dogs outside of a store. Many of the stores we frequented are long gone - Best, Caldor, Kiddie City, Toys R Us, Suncoast, Hecht's, Montgomery Ward, etc. Even one of the malls we used to go to has been gone near 20 years now.
There was a certain charm to it that we've lost to convenience. Running into Target the Saturday before Christmas doesn't have the same feel.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 21, 2020 14:18:53 GMT
This all just reaffirms how satisfied I am with my family's decision some years back to do away with inter-family gift-giving, other than for the little kids (who now have all aged out, themselves). Instead we've had one family member select a charity: everyone puts their money in a can, and then on Christmas, the charity is revealed. (After the money is in and counted so nobody can say "oh, I don't like such-and-such charity, I'm not donating.")
Especially because we're all grown, we're all employed, we can all get ourselves anything we want or need (within reason) ... I know it isn't as romantic as gift-giving, but it sure relieves stress associated with running around town or ordering this and that in time for the gatherings--at which point the opening of gifts among adults was almost always underwhelming. On one hand, you have the surprise gifts, which 9 times out of 10 are not quite what the person wants, or something he already has, or something; on the other, you have the giving of something specifically requested, and thus entirely lacking surprise.
This is my "get off my lawn" moment, but I think part of the problem is that we (my immediate family anyway, and I think probably a lot of middle-class and above society) have gotten spoiled to the point that receiving gifts isn't as big a deal as it has been. For kids who get toys every time they want them, or every time they tag along with mom or dad to the store, what's the big deal about unwrapping another one (especially if it was specifically requested)? It turns gratitude into something uglier. Expectation? Entitlement? My family was poorer when I was younger, and we really only got toys on our birthdays and Christmas. That made it a really big deal even to get little things. And with fewer trends coming every three months, the odds of it being some "outdated" toy were much lower.
The part of Christmas I really enjoy now is just the cozy gathering. Food, conversation, laziness, contentedness. The gifts are fun with little ones.
Sincerely, Your Friendly Message Board Grinch.
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Post by kds on Dec 21, 2020 14:36:47 GMT
My family did something similar a few years ago, and we'd just do a Secret Santa or White Elephant, or both some years.
This year won't be the case, as it'll be a small gathering.
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Post by kds on Dec 21, 2020 19:13:48 GMT
Here's something ridiculous that I saw at the grocery store the other day.
We all know that the stores love putting Christmas stuff out very early, sometimes as early as summertime.
But, I happened to be in my local Giant Food on Thursday, December 17. I went into the seasonal aisle, and saw Valentine's Day candy. Goddamn!! I've seen V-Day stuff out before New Year's, but never over a week before Christmas.
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Post by kds on Nov 15, 2021 14:13:57 GMT
I decided to bump this thread as I was ranting about the Sam Adams Winter Pack last year.
Well, it seems Sam Adams has seen the light, and Old Fezziwig and White Christmas Ale (repurposed as Winter White Ale) are back, and they've finally stopped forcing Sam '76 into every seasonal pack. From what I hear, they did not revert back to the classic Winter Lager formula, but at least they're moving in the right direction.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 22, 2022 14:49:07 GMT
This one's for you, KDS:
This morning at Target, I saw three or four aisle-end displays and a decent amount of connected shelf space loaded with Christmas decorations. It was in the housewares kind of sections, by the home decor, throw pillows, lamps, etc., and it was those sorts of items, but Christmas themed.
So a week before Halloween, it's the Christmas advertising season.
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Post by kds on Oct 23, 2022 2:09:26 GMT
This one's for you, KDS:
This morning at Target, I saw three or four aisle-end displays and a decent amount of connected shelf space loaded with Christmas decorations. It was in the housewares kind of sections, by the home decor, throw pillows, lamps, etc., and it was those sorts of items, but Christmas themed.
So a week before Halloween, it's the Christmas advertising season.
I went to Kohl's a few days ago to get myself new shoes for work, and to get my son a Halloween tee shirt. No Halloween shirts to be found, but plenty of Christmas ones. I've gotten to the point in recent years where I've softened on my no Christmas before Thanksgiving stance. But, no, Halloween is a line in the sand for me. I've already seen Christmas beers sneaking into the seasonal beer section.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 28, 2022 14:48:02 GMT
It seems much of the neighborhood took the Thanksgiving weekend to put up their Christmas decorations ... and I'm pleasantly surprised. After the gaudy Halloween, I was afraid for what was to come with Christmas, but most people kept it really tasteful. No shortage of lights, but only a few houses had the giant inflatable Santas, reindeer, and snowmen, or similar plastic atrocities.
Having been out before sunrise, it was actually really pretty, for the most part.
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Post by kds on Nov 28, 2022 14:55:18 GMT
Every December, I greatly look forward to Christmas / Winter seasonal beers. Few do it better than Sam Adams....at least, that used to be the case. Sam Adams thought it was a good idea to fuck with the formula of one of their best seasonal beers - Winter Lager. They've made it "crisper and brighter" with more of an orange flavor. The baffling thing is that Sam Adams makes about, I don't know, 867 different beers. Why not just call it Merry Crispmas or Merry and Brighter or some bullshit, and leave Winter Lager alone? www.brewbound.com/news/boston-beer-reformulates-samuel-adams-winter-lager/I went to a liquor chain store called Total Wine that sells seasonals in singles, so I bought one of the new Winter Lagers. It bared little resemblance to the Winter Lager I know and love. It was like watching A Christmas Carol, and finding out Scrooge's revelation was not in time to save Tiny Tim. Well, maybe Sam Adams would redeem themselves with their Winter Sampler pack. Sure, it would be nice to crack open some bottles of White Christmas or Old Fizziweg Ale. NOPE!! Neither of those are represented. Replaced by Sam '76, which is in EVERY season sampler - spring, summer, fall, and winter - for some reason or some overly hoppy IPA, which is all the rage these days. Goddamn, you fucked up my Winter Lager, then fucked up my Winter Sampler. I feel like Clark Griswold, reading his membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. Maybe this is all part of a new Coke type strategy to re-release Winter Lager Classic in 2021 to have it fly off the shelves, but for Christmas 2020, there are about 10,318 craft breweries in Maryland alone, all with a vast selection of Christmas and Winter beers. Since Sam Adams is now in the same league as The Grinch, Scrooge, and Mariah Carey, I'll give the smaller breweries the money I should be saving or spending on my family. I hope Krampus pays you a visit next week!! I'm bumping my rant from December 2020. This past Friday night, while out at dinner, I decided to order a Sam Adams Winter Lager since they had it on draft. I can't be certain if they went back to the original formula, but it definitely tastes better than the Winter Lager they've sold the last two years, which was pretty heavy on citrus (which seems to be a trend of Christmas beers to be quite fruity lately). Coupled with last year's return of Old Fezziwig Ale in the Winter Sampler Pack, I know what I'll be drinking when I'm outside on Christmas Eve grilling dinner.
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