Day 24: It's a Wonderful Life

At some point in It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey begins to resemble one of the many men Thoreau foresaw leading lives of "quiet desperation". There are so many reasons why this is a great Christmas movie, but what's always stood out for me is the honesty of George's desperation.

Many of us know what it's like to pine for better opportunities and are one medical illness away from financial ruin. What the movie does so well is remind us to keep perspective, and remember our family and friends and all the things we have instead of what we don't.

This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 23: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is of course one of the most celebrated and timeless Christmas stories of all time. The redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge -- in both the original text and movie sources -- is one of those moments that transcends its material and is truly timeless.

Everybody has a favorite, of course, and I'm no different. I prefer reading the original Dickens novella and watching the 1984 George C. Scott film version. Every year I try and read the novella or watch the movie.

I love the story. It's a tale of hope with a stirring message that it's never too late to change. Perhaps Scrooge's nephew, Fred, says it best:

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people . . . as if they were fellow-passengers. . . .

This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 22: Do They Know It's Christmas?

Do They Know It's Christmas? is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Those of you who are my age surely remember this recording, when a young Bono and Sting sang side by side for a cause. Sadly, while it's now been 25 years since the original recording, we still have a long way to go to eradicate poverty, malnourishment, and disease.

If it's been a while since you've heard this, or if the song is new to you, have a listen:



Link to video on YouTube

This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 21: Bad Santa

Now we're talking.

Bad Santa is crude, lewd, and utterly irreverent. But it's also hilarious and, in my opinion, the best Christmas comedy of them all.

This movie works and is funny in so many ways that a lesser film like Scrooged is not because it starts with a bad, drunken Santa (played by Billie Bob Thornton) premise and carries it through for the whole movie. It doesn't compromise or cheat to a happy ending. Yes, there is a lonely uncool kid who attaches himself to Santa. But instead of the redemption arc, where the kid helps the bad Santa become a better person, it's Santa who helps the kid become a little bad and less of a loser.

Of course this film isn't for everyone. My wife, for one, detests the movie, and refuses to watch it with me. But for people who know that sometimes a movie is very funny and "not about what it is about" [1] , Bad Santa is a holiday gem.

[1] Roger Ebert, Review of "Bad Santa"


This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 20: Rob

Rob is a non-fiction column I wrote a few years ago in remembrance of my cousin.

Though in the strictest terms it's not a Christmas piece, I am inclined to include it here, as I invariably think of Rob during the holidays.

I've reproduced the piece in its entirety below and also linked to an audio clip that features me reading the column for a local radio station.

##

Rob
by Frank Gullo

Our current mythology views ghosts as wayward, incomplete, or even destructive spirits. Films and horror fiction typically depict ghosts as vengeful entities, lingering to haunt or mete punishment for forgotten victims and wrongs that have not been brought to justice. Often, ghosts characterized in this fashion act as they do because they cannot pass on to a higher state until some unfinished matter on the earthly plane is resolved.

Sometimes, though, ghosts are not apparitions that linger because they are trapped by their past earthly life. Instead, ghosts are more often memorials shading through our mind, that serve to remind us of fallen friends and kin, and that encourage us to treasure our life and make the best of it, and ask at the end of each day, "Was that all you wanted?" [1]

Such is the case with my cousin Rob. Rob Borman passed on August 2, 1999 from diabetic-related complications. At the time of his death, Rob was in his 20s and living in Arizona. Memorial services were held in Buffalo, NY, Rob's city of birth. As a member of Rob's extended family, I attended the memorial services. I remember at the time feeling chilled at the news of his death. Even though Rob and I were not that close and had not spoken for many years, I was struck that someone about the same age as me was gone. For so long, I had viewed life as an endless vista, boundless in possibility, and with time enough for everything. Rob's death suddenly and completely shattered that naive perspective. As I mourned with Rob's family and friends, I came to realize how precious and fragile life is, and that everyday is the rest of your life.

After the memorial service, the mourners went back to their lives; Rob's family left Buffalo and returned to their adopted states of residence out west. As a distant relative, I did not have much contact with Rob's family, other than the wedding of Rob's sister, Roseanne, and the occasional update passed on by an elder aunt.

However, Rob has remained very much in my memory and life. From time to time, I find myself remembering him and the meaning I tried to attribute to his passing. One evening, while I was driving back to Buffalo from a trip to Maine, I recalled moments from my boyhood, when Rob and I used to see each other at family gatherings. I remembered one such time when Rob's family hosted a party in their Orchard Park home. At some point during the party, Rob and I wandered about, and came to a desk, on which sat a strange machine with a screen. There was a note on the machine, drafted in the authoritarian hand of a parent that read "Do not touch", or something to that effect.

"What's that?" I asked Rob.

"It's a computer," he responded.

It was my first direct experience with a computer of any kind. The fact that I currently make my living working as an information technology consultant may be entirely coincidental to that first impression I had, but part of me believes that Rob has nudged me from time to time into a profession that suits me. At least that's how it felt during that drive back from Maine.

I also remember joking with Rob about his father Rick's occupation. No one in my immediate or extended family knew exactly where Rick worked or what he did, although it was assumed that he was very successful and made a handsome living.

"What does he do? Does he work for the FBI or the CIA?" I would ask.

"Just ask him," Rob would say.

Eventually, it became an inside joke among my cousins and I to speculate about Rick's occupation. Pilot, spy, member of the Free Masons - nothing was too outrageous to suggest. After Rob's passing, the memory served to reinforce the importance of family and personal meanings we build and share through stories, anecdotes, and tall tales.

Baseball caps also bring back Rob to me. I think it was Rick who first made mention of Rob's penchant for always wearing a baseball cap. To be honest, I don't remember how the association formed. What I do know is often when I head out, and don my 15-year old Notre Dame cap, I feel a sign from Rob, not unlike a nod or a two-finger sign from a baseball manager in the dugout.

Finally, I often remember Rob during the holidays. It's not often at a specific time, or on a specific day, but there's always a holiday visit, though Rob would not translate well as a traditional ghost. There are no rattling chains or drops in room temperature. There are no noises in the night and no barely perceived transparent figures walking the halls. Instead, there's simply Rob, the person he was and the life he lived. I am saddened by his visits because they remind me that his time with us was so short, but I am always benefited by his memory, for he has helped me remember to live deep and do the best I can so I can usually say at the end of every day, "Yes, that's all I wanted".

[1] Genne Lentine

Frank Gullo
December, 2004


This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 19: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Of all the Christmas specials for children, in my opinion, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the best.

Funny and ultimately affirming for both kids and adults, A Charlie Brown Christmas achieves what few specials can match: it manages to keep a balanced perspective about Christmas, even admitting to the commercialism of the holiday with a healthy cynicism.

But as it teeters toward becoming something more jaded, the story turns and we learn that one of the reasons Christmas is so special is that it's one of the few days when people really come together, when your nemesis doesn't pull the football away before you can kick it, and when a little love and caring go a long way, to dress up a scraggly looking tree and to comfort and cheer each other.



Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!


This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.

Day 18: When Santa Turned Green

When Santa Turned Green is a timely and urgent holiday story for children that begins with a drop of water falling on Santa's head and him realizing that the North Pole is melting. The book goes on to explain about global warming and introduces the notion of environmental awareness and little things we all can do that make a big difference.

My wife and I are committed to raising our daughter to respect and help preserve the planet, and though she's probably too young for this story this year, I thought it deserved a mention in this Christmas blog series.

One comment for any climate change deniers who may be tempted to impugn the idea of this book and challenge me for including it. Before commenting, first read this post by Scientific American and return only when you've provided peer reviewed evidence that proves that human interference is not impacting the Earth's climate.


This is part of my 25 Days of Christmas blog series.