Against the grain

[AndyC]

Side note on my early "Money Pit" list.  Do you notice how 1-4 kind of all relate to one another.  Odd...hmmmm...

Oh, no doubt about that. When love and social obligations get mixed up with business, prices go way up. Don`t come home empty-handed on Valentine`s day (kind of a bizarre holiday right there). If you really want to make her happy, you`ll spend two months pay on a diamond engagement ring. You only get engaged once and it has to be special. That line gets you right through to the wedding and beyond. If you love each other, and you want to show it, and you want it all to be magical and perfect, you have to pay for it. For that very reason, the price of anything for a wedding is automatically jacked up, and they make you feel like a cheap bastard if you say anything about it.

My wife and I planned our own wedding. We made the invitations, we made the decorations, we bought the food and asked relatives to cook it, and we had the reception at the local Legion hall. And we put as much planning into the church service as we did the reception, rather than it being a formality on the way to the party. It was a beautiful wedding, and including the wedding dress (we bought the fabric and paid a lady to sew it), simple 10K gold rings, tuxedo rental, all the food for 100 people, party favours and gifts for the wedding party (soaps and scented candles we also made), hiring a coworker from the newspaper as photographer, and a wedding night at a local B&B, it was under $5,000. We more than made up for it in wedding gifts. I had a buddy who spent twice that on his reception alone - just the hall and the food and the booze (plus a lot of ridiculous surcharges added to the advertised price). It was a nice reception, and I took full advantage of the free bar, but come on.

[Trevor]

My wife and I planned our own wedding. We made the invitations, we made the decorations, we bought the food and asked relatives to cook it, and we had the reception at the local Legion hall. And we put as much planning into the church service as we did the reception, rather than it being a formality on the way to the party. It was a beautiful wedding, and including the wedding dress (we bought the fabric and paid a lady to sew it), simple 10K gold rings, tuxedo rental, all the food for 100 people, party favours and gifts for the wedding party (soaps and scented candles we also made), hiring a coworker from the newspaper as photographer, and a wedding night at a local B&B, it was under $5,000. We more than made up for it in wedding gifts.

Sounds like it was a great event ~ where was my invite, though?  

[Mr. DS]

Ok I'm going to get ripped for this one but I have to be honest.  I can't stand punk rock or ska.  Granted I self admittingly like way less talented music/artists but I just never cared for the music.    I also find the punk rock argument of "you sold out to a major record label" to be silly. 

[Psycho Circus]

Ok I'm going to get ripped for this one but I have to be honest.  I can't stand punk rock or ska.

Here's something that'll make you cringe DS: At bowling last night, this girl asked me what my t-shirt was, I replied "It's a vintage 1988 Ratt Reach For The Sky concert shirt. She then said "Is that some sort of ska band?" - I then died slightly inside and that's when I started drinking again....

[Mr. DS]

Ok I'm going to get ripped for this one but I have to be honest.  I can't stand punk rock or ska.

Here's something that'll make you cringe DS: At bowling last night, this girl asked me what my t-shirt was, I replied "It's a vintage 1988 Ratt Reach For The Sky concert shirt. She then said "Is that some sort of ska band?" - I then died slightly inside and that's when I started drinking again....

Well I give up faith for the future.  But at least we have you representing Circus so it isn't all bad.   

Side note, I should point out that the "you sold out" argument doesn't make sense in any form of entertainment.  Like when wrestlers in ECW were leaving for a multimillion dollar contract for WCW/WWE and the fans flipped.  Lets see...playing bingo halls for pennies OR arenas with a fat paycheck. 

[Psycho Circus]

Everybody has their price, everyone eventually "sells out" in one way or another and everything goes mainstream.

[Mr. DS]

Oh and one for the parents out there.  Nick Jr has gone from good to sh*t in less than a few months for children's programming.   What value does Yo Gabba Gabba have for anyone watching?  I've switched back to the Sprout network personally.

[Mr. DS]

Everybody has their price, everyone eventually "sells out" in one way or another and everything goes mainstream.

I sell out every day for something.    Like yesterday I helped my neighbor lug in 10 cases of soda for a  free 12 pack of pepsi and a pizza.

[3mnkids]

Diamond- It's friggen Carbon!

4.) Flowers - Spending 40 plus dollars on a bouquet of roses that will die in seven days or less.

 

I have always told my husband never get me flowers! To me its like someone giving me a sick puppy and saying here, enjoy it for the next 7-10 days.    I dont want something that is dying!

[Newt]

I didn't get a diamond ring and it does not matter to me one bit.  The fact that he wanted to marry me was enough! 

We got married at City Hall and had a family get-together at my Aunt's house.  Didn't have a honeymoon either. 

And we do not take vacations that we would have to borrow money for. I would not be able to sleep at night if we spent that kind of money just for fun.

My husband does buy me flowers. We live one road over from major greenhouses that ship to the city, so flowers are relatively cheap and it makes him happy to give them to me:  he grew up in a very frugal family and flower-giving is a very sweet and important emotional gesture for him. I would never take that away from him.  He has, however, learned that he does not have to buy me jewellry.

[Trevor]

I think your husband knows what we've all known for a while here, Newt - you are a rare jewel indeed.

[Leah]

TV there's nothing ever on! 

[KYGOTC]

Oh and one for the parents out there.  Nick Jr has gone from good to sh*t in less than a few months for children's programming.   What value does Yo Gabba Gabba have for anyone watching?  I've switched back to the Sprout network personally.

My 2 cents on Yo Gabba Gabba:
For a toddler, its cool. But for what ever reason, I go to school, and I see people in their late teens and early 20's running around with keychains and t shirts with the featured charecters on them. I went into Hot Topic one time, (please dont ask why) and they are FULL of Yo Gabba Gabba junk! So i went home and thought, "hmm, perhaps its one of those kids shows that has a little bit of adult humor in it. Like Rocko's Modern Life or Spoungebob." So i watched it.....and i realized that THE SHOW IS COMPLETELY TARGETED TOWARD TODLERS!! I dont GET it! I know that every once inna while, cool bands will play on there that might apply to an older audience like The Aquabats!, The Aggrolites, Shiny Toy Guns, and Biz Markie, but thats not enough to make me develop fandom for it! Its like a BARNEY show!!......I just dont get it.

[JaseSF]

I've never truly liked Heavy Metal, even when it was popular. Sure there are a few bands/songs I do enjoy here and there (mostly the Hair bands of the 80s [my fave: Twisted Sister] which to me sound closer to Rock 'n' Roll) but overall I've never been drawn to it all that much. Never owned any Megadeath or Metallica and never really cared that much for them for example.

[Psycho Circus]

I think 24 and CSI (and all its 3 billion incarnations) are boring.