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Feb 11, 2008 12:25

What's the big deal about Valentine's Day? Seriously, why do some single people froth at the mouth over it? This article by Charlie Brooker just strikes me as preposterous ( Read more... )

argh, ranty, linkies

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moveslikegiallo February 11 2008, 12:48:24 UTC
Ha, I had exactly the same reaction reading that column earlier. I know it's Charlie Brooker, but, if anything, that makes it a bit more disappointing - couldn't he come up with anything more original? Has he just been recycling that column every February for the last 10 years? I don't get it. And I don't get my coworkers, either; they're all in relationships, and they moan about Valentine's Day because it's, apparently, "a man-trap".

*froths*

Some of the best Valentine's Days I've ever had have involved cake and alcohol with friends. I just... I don't get it. It's like - if you don't want to celebrate, don't. Problem solved.

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sushidog February 11 2008, 13:13:07 UTC
Well, yes, of course, but it's fairly hard to avoid the saturation of adverts on TV and on the papers, and the barrage of email spam about it; once can't entirely opt out, however much one might want to.

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moveslikegiallo February 11 2008, 13:16:17 UTC
I must be really oblivious, then, 'cause I've barely seen anything! Then again, we don't have TV reception.

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sushidog February 11 2008, 13:18:23 UTC
Really? I feel positively stalked by it, it's all over everything at the moment!

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kixie February 11 2008, 13:20:43 UTC
I keep feeling a bit surprised when I see Valentine's Day stuff cause I keep forgetting it's coming. Maybe 'cause I don't watch telly...Ok, I walked into Paperchase and everything was bright red and kind of eyeball melting, and I've gotten one or two spam emails, but other that, nothing at all.

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kixie February 11 2008, 13:17:01 UTC
Meh, one can't entirely avoid anything they might want to in this world. People hate football and bitch and moan about the European cup or the World Cup but quite honestly, who cares? Just ignore it. Do something else.

I'm getting spam from some florists I use to send flowers on all sorts of 'naughty' Valentine's Day flowers (I think they're reaching just a leeeetle bit there) and mostly it's just kind of amusing. Hit delete, forget about it.

Also, the Valentine's Day merchandise is getting sillier and sillier. Those mugs - Valentine's Day mugs!? What? Why? Some of the stuff they're doing with chocolate is interesting, but overall it's just kind of ridiculous.

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sushidog February 11 2008, 13:21:27 UTC
See, I manage to avoid football pretty much entirely; no-one sends me spam about it, the ads are limited to a few TV channels, and I don't go to the sort of pubs that have football on anyway, so it really just passes me by.
On the other hand, for the last month, I've been getting emails from every company I've ever bought anything from, telling me to buy underwear, flowers, clothes, champagne, chocolates, food, love songs, heart-shaped frying pans, and god knows what else "for my loved one", plus paper-based spam with the same exhortations, plus half the ads on TV on every commercial channel say the same thing, plus every shop window is full of it. So yeah, it's hard to ignore,a nd it pisses me off.

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moveslikegiallo February 11 2008, 13:23:28 UTC
Actually, you might be right about e-mail spam. But I just delete every e-mail Amazon/eBay/whoever else sends me about special offers anyway so it didn't register. :\

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kixie February 11 2008, 13:29:48 UTC
Same here! I delete spam that manages to get through or from companies I've ordered from so automatically that I don't register what it says. I only noticed the florist one because it was banging on about 'naughty' flowers and I kept imagining a red rose in tiny lingerie.

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kixie February 11 2008, 13:25:46 UTC
How on earth do you manage to avoid the football? PErhaps you notice it less than you do the Valentine's Day crap? I mean, when it's the World Cup especially, every pub - bar the Dev perhaps, although now it's changed hands who knows? - seems to have England flags out, game times on, special 'meal deals' for pub grub, M&S is full of England flag shirts and undies and socks and hair barettes - as is Clarie's Accessories (I got little footballs for my hair last time!) and it's everywhere.

Maybe you can set up a filter that deletes everything whose subject line containes 'Valentine's Day' or something? I know OUtlook does stuff like that. Might help.

Come to the movies on Thursday! That might cheer you up. Johnny Depp always does.. ;)

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sushidog February 11 2008, 13:27:24 UTC
I don't shop in M&S much, nor Claire's Accessories, and I don't go to pubs much, except ones that don't do football.

And thanks, but I have plans for Thursday already!

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steer February 11 2008, 15:20:41 UTC
We must be reading different newspapers and watching different TV.

Then again, this is probably true, you wouldn't believe how little Dave and Kerrang TV cover St Vals day.

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kixie February 11 2008, 15:26:45 UTC
Chuh! You'd think Kerrang TV could help get people in the mood by playing 10 minute long rock ballads all week or something.

I haven't seen anything in any papers regarding Valentine's Day either, but then I'm not exactly the most observant person alive and I also avoid papers I don't like like the plague (actually, I like the plague, I'm far more likely to be interested in it than the Evening Standard).

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childeric February 11 2008, 15:44:01 UTC
Just what I was thinking. I don't think I've seen anything about it anywhere apart from a few Facebook applications. And if it's reached the stage where I measure out my life in Facebook apps, then I would like to resign from my membership of the human race with immediate effect.

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kixie February 11 2008, 13:19:22 UTC
I remember one Valentine's Day that was really fun where a bunch of us who shared a flat just watched telly and had takeaway and were silly. It was nice. If something isnt' going well, then change it around to make it more fun or interesting.

A man trap? What? How...how does that work? Do they sell giant red bear trap type things with stenciled hearts on them? ;)

And yes, if you don't want to celebrate, then don't. Same goes for Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, etc. And yes, there's always going to be people around you who want to celebrate and companies who want to capitalise off these things, but just ignore them.

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moveslikegiallo February 11 2008, 13:22:34 UTC
Well, exactly. Any excuse for a party, that's my take on... well, everything, because I like celebrating.

I think it's supposedly a "man trap" because us evil women force the menfolk into buying us stuff and then punish them if they don't/it's not good enough/something. Because everyone lives in Charlie Brooker's universe where people don't talk to one another, especially if they're in relationships, and the only thing that means anything is spending money. Blech.

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