# OTT outdoor Xmas lights



## SarahMc (22 Dec 2007)

Am I a scrooge for hating OTT outdoor Christmas lights?  I think they are garish, tacky, antisocial, environmentally unfriendly and harmful to birds.

I think they are representative of the worst excesses of the celtic tiger.  Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits, but I really think the offenders should be shamed rather than lauded.


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## ClubMan (22 Dec 2007)

SarahMc said:


> and harmful to birds.


Are they? How?


> Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits


I've never seen such collection buckets myself.


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## room305 (23 Dec 2007)

SarahMc said:


> I think they are representative of the worst excesses of the celtic tiger. Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits, but I really think the offenders should be shamed rather than lauded.


 
I really can't imagine you're seeing the worst offenders if you believe they have charity buckets outside - have a stroll around South Finglas one of these nights ;-)


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## GeneralZod (23 Dec 2007)

Santas climbing up rope ladders seems to be a new thing this year.


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## Caveat (23 Dec 2007)

> should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits


 
Have neither seen nor heard of this before?!


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## rmelly (23 Dec 2007)

> Santas climbing up rope ladders seems to be a new thing this year.


 
These have been around 2 or 3 years.



> Have neither seen nor heard of this before?!


 
Me neither, I would imagine the money raised (if any) is used to pay for the electricity or to cover the cost rather than for charity.


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## RMCF (23 Dec 2007)

I used to like it when you had the odd house here and there decorated.

There used to be a couple of really good ones locally about 7 or 8 years ago, and all the children from over the area used to love going to see 'Santas house'.

Now they are everywhere, but not done with the same class of course.

I think it is now just an indication of how crass and tacky our society has become. Plus the whole 'im better than you' factor. People in verysocially deprived areas with their houses lit up like a bonfire for 7 or 8 weeks - I would not like to be paying their bills in January!! But perhaps they just stall some of their payments.

The Daily Star/Big Brother/Hollyoaks/FHM generation, eh?


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## stir crazy (23 Dec 2007)

SarahMc said:


> inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits,



Never heard of this before honestly. It never occurred to me to turn my house into a well lit begging bowl... hmmm sounds like a good idea 






GeneralZod said:


> Santas climbing up rope ladders seems to be a new thing this year.



I've seen these around for a few years.



RMCF said:


> I think it is now just an indication of how crass and tacky our society has become. Plus the whole 'im better than you' factor. People in verysocially deprived areas with their houses lit up like a bonfire for 7 or 8 weeks - I would not like to be paying their bills in January!!



Isn't   'crass' and 'tacky' all a matter of opinion ? Also at which point in our history have we ever had a perfect society? The economic boom didnt bring snobbery with it. Snobbery was always around. I remember when employers would bin your resume, without reading it, if your address had the wrong post code.
I'm not saying its' you but  I've heard a lot of, maybe too much nostalgia for the hair shirts of 'the good old days' with the  Celtic Tiger always being to blame for some perceived ill.


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## Buddyboy (23 Dec 2007)

SarahMc said:


> .  Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits,




Yes, in Carrigaline there is one that has been doing this for years, with a charity bowl at the roadside wall.

(Maybe they just don't put charity bowls in the houses in Dublin   )

We do an annual trip in Cork, going around to the various estates and gawking at the best examples.  One estate in particualar springs to mind.  It's out the Ballyvolane road, after the Dunnes Stores shopping centre, and then next estate on the left.  There seems to have been an annual competition as to who could have the most reindeer pulling the lifesized sleigh in the front garden (as well as santa climbing up the whole outside wall to the chimney).

Bah Humbug.


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## Crunchie (23 Dec 2007)

ClubMan said:


> I've never seen such collection buckets myself.



A few of them do have collection boxes for charities (usually children's) but I think they are now the minority.


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## ninsaga (23 Dec 2007)

SarahMc said:


> Am I a scrooge for hating OTT outdoor Christmas lights?  I think they are garish, tacky, antisocial, environmentally unfriendly and harmful to birds.
> 
> I think they are representative of the worst excesses of the celtic tiger.  Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits, but I really think the offenders should be shamed rather than lauded.



Think what you like, but when I am driving with the children they think that it is brilliant! That's what I like about it the most.


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## Sue Ellen (23 Dec 2007)

ninsaga said:


> Think what you like, but when I am driving with the children they think that it is brilliant! That's what I like about it the most.



I would have to agree with this point of view to a certain extent.

There is a guy living in our estate who has decorated his house for many years now.  He collects money and donates a cheque each year to his chosen charity.

He has started to get some work out of it as people get him to hang their outdoor decorations.

On Christmas Eve or day when people are finished at mass they proceed to drive by the house and all the kids love this part of the festivities.  His neighbours might not be too keen on the trail of cars driving by but the look of delight on the kids faces is something else.


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## daithi (23 Dec 2007)

apparently Galway Airport had to ask one home owner in Roscam in Galway to tone down the lights as they were interfering with landing planes


daithi


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## SarahMc (23 Dec 2007)

Harmful to birds

See [broken link removed], and that is just run of the mill artificial lighting, imagine how freaked out wildlife is by some of the illuminated houses.

Charity buckets
These are very common where I live.  


"Think what you like, but when I am driving with the children they think that it is brilliant! That's what I like about it the most. "

Children also think fireworks and bangers at hallowe'en are brilliant, that doesn't necessarily mean we need to import that custom.


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## RMCF (24 Dec 2007)

I have always wondered why you see so many of these massive light shows in social housing estates, yet relatively few in what would be considered the more 'well to do' areas.


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## r2d2 (24 Dec 2007)

We have relatively new next door neighbours. They have small kids so having seen what they did at Halloween I was expecting a fair splash of flashing lights outside their house for Christmas. By the end of November the switch was flicked and on went every set of lights that it's possible to purchase in the two Euro shop!

It's a little bit like this.... http://farm1.static.flickr.com/108/316682138_a677cf83fe.jpg


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## contemporary (24 Dec 2007)

in the good old days you had to go into peoples houses to see they had no taste, now you can see it for yourself at xmas


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## rabbit (24 Dec 2007)

RMCF said:


> I have always wondered why you see so many of these massive light shows in social housing estates, yet relatively few in what would be considered the more 'well to do' areas.


 
Nothing to do with who pays for it at the end of the day of course. lol



Those gaudy outdoor Christmas lights , all over the country , send over 19,000 tons of CO2 over the few weeks of Christmas this year.   Shame on those who damage the environment unnecessarily - our children and grandchildren will not thank our generation when they look back at our damaged planet in a generation or two.

If everyone put up a few more lights, lets burn more fossil fuel to power them and raise sea levels another little bit.


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## DrMoriarty (24 Dec 2007)

Remember this?


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## RMCF (24 Dec 2007)

r2d2 said:


> We have relatively new next door neighbours. They have small kids so having seen what they did at Halloween I was expecting a fair splash of flashing lights outside their house for Christmas. By the end of November the switch was flicked and on went every set of lights that it's possible to purchase in the two Euro shop!
> 
> It's a little bit like this.... http://farm1.static.flickr.com/108/316682138_a677cf83fe.jpg



Yeah thats the kind of tackiness I am chatting about. That is pure awful, but looks like so many of the ones I see locally.

I am a great believer in 'less is more' when it comes to things like Xmas displays.


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## Vanilla (24 Dec 2007)

Personally love these OTT outdoor christmas lights and think they should be highly encouraged possibly in the form of a government grant or a subsidy on the electric bill. These people havent lost that childlike wonder or innocence that many of us have. They are celebrating all that is honest and good and happy and hopeful about this time of year.


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## sherib (24 Dec 2007)

> Originally Posted by _Vanilla_
> _These people havent lost that childlike wonder or innocence that many of us have._


Couldn't agree more. We're in danger of becoming too too proper and losing the charm and enthusiasm we once had. And the people who do that kind of lighting probably can't afford it. Maybe they know better how to celebrate than some of us who need to appear restrained and not risk a little bit of OTT-ness. Anything that brings wonder into a child's eyes, even once a year, should be valued and children's faces were the happiest I saw in recent days. The parents looked exhausted. Hope they and everyone here have a very Happy Christmas.


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## rmelly (26 Dec 2007)

[broken link removed]


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## ClubMan (26 Dec 2007)

RMCF said:


> I have always wondered why you see so many of these massive light shows in social housing estates, yet relatively few in what would be considered the more 'well to do' areas.


Not sure what you mean by "social housing estates" but I have certainly seen plenty of these displays on privately owned houses.

_Vanilla's _comment above is interesting - I would have paid little heed to these displays alone but having a two year old in tow for whom everything is new and exciting brings a different perspective to it! Free (to me anyway) _Xmas _entertainment for young kids - what's not to like about that?  

Going back to the original post and echoing some earlier comments...


SarahMc said:


> Am I a scrooge for hating OTT outdoor Christmas lights? I think they are garish, tacky, antisocial, environmentally unfriendly and harmful to birds.
> 
> I think they are representative of the worst excesses of the celtic tiger. Perhaps I am taking it too seriously, and should chuck some money in the inevitable charity bucket outside the worst culprits, but I really think the offenders should be shamed rather than lauded.


Whether or not they are garish or tacky is presumably a subjective value judgement? Whether or not they are antisocial depends on the situation? I guess one must accept that unnecessary electricity usage is environmentally unfriendly although aren't at least some of the newer _LED _based setups pretty efficient and use marginal amounts of electricity? I guess the larger displays are harmful to birds/wildlife?


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