the 90 days of christmas

is it just me or is christmas starting earlier every year? i wouldn't mind if it was just the festive spirit that was awoken early ... but it isn't, instead we have the commercial onslaught that is the christmas shoppping season. why? marketing departments around the uk say that it is to "supply consumer demand" and is inline with "market factors". personally i think that christmas has lost all it's magic due to this one oblivious act of capitalism, forgive me for being nostalgic, but christmas for me is the dark nights, cold weather, mince pies and gathering of friends and family around a cosy fire at home, pub, etc. the capitalists would have us shopping on christmas day if they could, indeed our local outlet of "next" opens at about 4am on boxing day to throngs of shoppers who are probably still recovering from their huge meal on christmas day. well, i'm boycotting christmas here and going to new zealand instead, there has to be somewhere in the world that doesn't put a price on christmas.