Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

***The Official Friday Silliness Thread****

Posted on 12/12/2008 4:48:53 AM PST by Lucky9teen


Get ready to send out those Christmas cards (and letters)....

The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir John Callcott Horsley in London, 1843, and featured an illustration by Henry Cole. The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd.


Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials.

The production of Christmas cards was, throughout the 20th century, a profitable business for many stationery manufacturers, with the design of cards continually evolving with changing tastes and printing techniques. The World Wars brought cards with patriotic themes. Idiosyncratic "studio cards" with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s. Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious images have continued in popularity, and, in the 21st century, reproductions of Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain. Modern Christmas cards can be bought individually but are also sold in packs of the same or varied designs.


In recent decades changes in technology may be responsible for the decline of the Christmas card. The estimated number of cards received by American households dropped from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004.[1] Email and telephones allow for more frequent contact and are easier for generations raised without handwritten letters - especially given the availability of websites offering free email Christmas cards. Despite the decline, 1.9 billion cards were sent in the U.S. in 2005 alone. [2] Some card manufacters, such as Hallmark, now provide E-cards.



TOPICS: Humor
KEYWORDS: christmascard; ofst; silliness
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last
To: Lucky9teen; lilycicero; RedRover

61 posted on 12/12/2008 7:44:00 AM PST by Girlene (Blues Brothers!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen
What is your favorite movie chase scene (preferably pre-CGI) - car or foot?

The Bank Dick I couldn't find a clip. Here's the movie for your evening's entertainment. "The resale value of thes car is going to be nil."

The car chase from Bullitt

62 posted on 12/12/2008 7:46:49 AM PST by Bertram3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

The Mustang Ranch and The $750 billion bail-out

Back in 1990, the Federal Government seized The Mustang Ranch Brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it.

They failed and it CLOSED! Now, we are trusting the economy of our country and $850+ Billion Dollars to a pack of nit-wits who couldn’t make money running a whore house and selling booze.

Now, if that don’t make you nervous, what does?


63 posted on 12/12/2008 8:00:38 AM PST by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

64 posted on 12/12/2008 8:02:25 AM PST by red-dawg (Bend over for CHANGE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: red-dawg

65 posted on 12/12/2008 8:03:56 AM PST by red-dawg (Bend over for CHANGE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen
Bullitt still wins hands down. Oddly, with all the progress in technology since then, nothing has come close, and in fact all the CGI tricks have lead filmmakers to generate stuff that is less realistic than before - essentially cartoonish. The chase in The Seven-Ups was also not bad, and entirely realistic.
66 posted on 12/12/2008 8:04:22 AM PST by Wally_Kalbacken
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: fredhead

The foot chase that opens Casino Royale is the best part of the movie.


67 posted on 12/12/2008 8:05:09 AM PST by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Chandler
Best Car Chase Ever
68 posted on 12/12/2008 8:20:52 AM PST by Jeff Chandler (You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body. -C.S. Lewis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen
What is your favorite movie chase scene (preferably pre-CGI) - car or foot?

I must say that the stunt scenes in It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World play out great on a big screen if you ever get a chance to catch it in a movie theater. It really is a big movie.

You can also use a video projector at home (beam it on a big wall or on the back of your house).

The last 30 minutes or so of Jackie Chan's Police Story 3 (aka Supercop) is a non-stop chase as well. I think it was even trimmed for the US release but that may just be me (I saw the original HK theatrical release in America before the big push to dub, rescore, and edit down Jackie's films).

Bullit has a good chase on the streets of San Francisco.

69 posted on 12/12/2008 8:25:49 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: exile

I think it is a generic card. There is no snow on the ground and no sweaters even (for a Chicago boy?).

He can send it out all year round “Happy Holidays”. I wonder if he bought in bulk.


70 posted on 12/12/2008 8:27:09 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen
Favorite movie chase scene?

It's a toss-up between THE FRENCH CONNECTION and BULLITT.

71 posted on 12/12/2008 8:30:56 AM PST by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 4yearlurker
They used to have flea circuses in New York City. My dad tells me that the fleas are trained by walking them through a straw (they don't "jump" so much).

http://www.fleacircus.co.uk/History.htm

About the only advice I have in vaudeville is don't let the dog act FOLLOW the flea act.

72 posted on 12/12/2008 8:31:54 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

Favorite Chase in a movie (pre-CGI): French Connection


73 posted on 12/12/2008 8:32:15 AM PST by kevinm13 (John 8:32: "And you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: fredhead
If we are going to talk about horseback movie chases, none are more thrilling than The Terror Of Tiny Town (an all midget western):


74 posted on 12/12/2008 8:34:35 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Oatka

Colonel Parker was Elvis’s manager.

Colonel Sanders has fried a few chickens.


75 posted on 12/12/2008 8:37:14 AM PST by CFIIIMEIATP737
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: Wally_Kalbacken
"..filmmakers to generate stuff that is less realistic.."

LOL!

Like the fireball explosions. How many times have you seen an explosion that is supposed to be "high explosive", like C-4, and the explosion looks like a giant fireball! LOL! What a crock of crap!

And it seems like every car that crashes must have been carrying about 25 gallons of gasoline in glass jars.

How many people think it is real?

76 posted on 12/12/2008 8:40:14 AM PST by Designer (We are SO scrood!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: cyborg

77 posted on 12/12/2008 8:52:40 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: crusty old prospector
So, did she beat the rap?

I think she rapped the beat.

78 posted on 12/12/2008 8:56:53 AM PST by weegee (Sec. of State Clinton. What kind of change is it to keep the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Oligarchy?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

I dont know if this really qualifies as a “car chase” but the scene from 9 Months when they are trying to get her to the hospital is one of the funniest car scenes I’ve ever seen.


79 posted on 12/12/2008 9:03:42 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

One of the WORST chase scenes ever. This was filmed near my house when I was a teen by a B-movie maker named Earl Owensby.
From the movie Death Driver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oVQiN764Xs

80 posted on 12/12/2008 9:18:27 AM PST by neal1960 (This space for rent.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-123 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson