Hornby DCC in December eh?

Remind me please. At the end of which month does Xmas fall?

(kim)

On 04/10/2006 18:29, kim said,

Judging by some of the shops, it must be end of October, isn't it? :-)

"Paul Boyd" wrote

Seen two Christmas trees up & decorated already - one in a local house near here has been up & ulluminated since August, and a pub we visit occasionally had a tree in situ last month.

Whatever happened to the tradition of decorating the tree on Christmas Eve?

John.

On 04/10/2006 19:22, John Turner said,

Whatever happened to the tradition of celebrating Christmas at Christmas?

Bah - humbug :-(

...point is that I suspect many people who may have been interested in the Hornby DCC system will now wait and see what the new Bachmann system is like. Long term the battle will not be for the Xmas market!

And have we even the slightest detail re the new Botchmann system (more 2 digit only decoders?) ? Seems likely it's a spoiler for Hornby sales while they see what's in it before they announce (and produce) their 'new improved' system. Also, if usual form is followed, they haven't announced which January! The words "used, car, this man, would you buy" spring to mind ;-)

Yep my feeling exactly. I dont buy Hornby cos of the name, more cos of experience with thier products and service. My opinion of Bachmann is based on same criteria. Unless Bachmann suprise with something special - price/features/confidence on delivery then recon am sticking with hornby. Have to take into account that as soon as you buy electronic goods something better/cheaper almost always comes out eventually. But if keep waiting then will never buy anything. Cheers, Simon

Oddly enough we have a tradition in the low countries of celebrating Christmas in early December!

Sinterklasse (Santa Claus) Eve is December 5th.

Quite so. When we lived further south it seemed that the larger shops believed that Christmas started sometime around this time of year. I doubt whether any of them are aware of (or care about) the difference between Advent, Christmas and Epiphany!

Surely all they care about is their profit and loss account, with the accent on the "profit".

But I wonder if the staff (and some shoppers) in these places need counselling after listening to Christmas music for over 3 months. The usual "muzak" is bad enough!

"Paul Boyd" wrote

Remind me please. At the end of which month does Xmas fall?

Judging by some of the shops, it must be end of October, isn't it? :-)

Seen two Christmas trees up & decorated already - one in a local house near here has been up & ulluminated since August, and a pub we visit occasionally had a tree in situ last month.

Whatever happened to the tradition of decorating the tree on Christmas Eve?

Never mind it will soon be Easter !

One of these days I'm gonna stick that little boy's drum where the sun don't shine! Pa rum pum pum pum!

Yes. I once queried a member of staff as to why she was discussing the _exact_ wording of the verses in "The 12 Days of Xmas". She told me that song was driving all the staff crazy and they found unless they sang along in time with the lyrics they couldn't concentrate on their job. Over the New Year period the same store was playing Abba's Greatest Hits repeatedly and although I have no particular dislike of Abba I never want to hear them again after that. By the way it's illegal to play commercial music releases over a store's public address system which is why they have to purchase muzak.

(kim)

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com...

she was discussing the

Which is just an MCPS licensed version of the commercial release. Otherwise how do they play Abba?

I can still recite Donovan's Mellow Yellow almost wod perfect after it was played repeatedly in a DIY shed I worked in almost 30 years ago.

MBQ

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com...

writes

to why she was discussing the

It was illegal. After a court case they were forced to substitute the generic equivalent of muzak.

(kim)

"kim" wrote

Why would it be illegal? Surely they would just require a performing rights licence?

John.

Possibly cost. I think the license to play original recordings is far higher than for muzak.

(kim)

Yes, but for a large organisation it's a lot more expensive to buy the relevent PRS and PPL licences in order to be able to play "ordinary" music than it is to buy Muzak which needs no additional licencing (as the licence cost is included in the price).

Incidentally, "Muzak" is a trademark and refers specifically to a product sold for playing over public address systems, etc, without needing additional licences.

Mark