Long-time readers of this blog (all three of you) may remember that in December I usually include a link to one of my favorite Web sites: the NORAD Santa Tracker. Why didn't I run it?
Blame the Task & Purpose blog, a very interesting Web zine about military matters. This December they ran a very entertaining piece about the Santa Tracker — but it also included this amazing link: a hilarious video about the Czech armed forces mobilizing against the interloper "Santa Claus" because every good Czech child knows that Baby Jesus delivers your Christmas presents.
Why didn't I post one of my traditional entries enlivened with a very funny video from a country I loved visiting? It's complicated.
I am a huge softy about Christmas, so I didn't want to run a post about anybody shooting Santa Claus in the weeks before Christmas. Sorry, I just didn't. "Edgy" takes on Christmas mostly irritate me.
BUT! I also sympathize with whoever made the Czech video. Even though I'm an American I do have concerns about how our media products are replacing authentic traditions around the world. I've occasionally griped about how New England holiday traditions have been parachuted into all parts of the United States — as if the only part of the country that ever banned Christmas somehow has the only "authentic" version.
So the Czech Air Force vs. Santa video did strike a chord with me. If I could, I'd make a film about Louisiana National Guardsmen using Javelin anti-tank missiles to stop trucks trying to bring canned "pumpkin pie" filling across the border in November.
My solution to this dilemma was simply to wait. Christmas is past, so now it can be posted. The Santa Tracker will be back next year.
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