What Christmas Means to Me

Some how, some way, Miller grew up without cable television. He missed, and continues to miss so much: Dirty Jobs, Man v. Wild, ESPN, Nickelodeon, Flavor of Love. The list goes on.

I guess I can imagine a world without cable. If I weren't such a big sports fan, cable TV wouldn't be all that important.

That is, on everyday but Christmas.

The cable TV highlight of the year comes every Christmas, when TBS broadcasts 24 hours of A Christmas Story. Typically over winer break I am in Vermont on a skiing vacation (since I don't celebrate Christmas). Here's how Christmas typically goes:

-Wake up around 6. Watch A Christmas Story as I eat/get dressed.
-Ski from 8-4.
-Come back to the hotel room to clean-up. Watch A Christmas Story as I wait for the shower
to open.
-Eat dinner.
-Watch A Christmas Story while I read the newspaper.
-Watch A Christmas Story while I floss my teeth.
-Watch A Christmas Story until the lights go out.

The schedule varies somewhat from year-to-year, but you can get the general idea--I am a big fan of A Christmas Story. There are so many great scenes: the one when the kid gets his tongue stuck on the flagpole, when Ralphie beats up the town bully, when Randy hides under the sink, where they have Christmas dinner at the Japanese Restaurant...

The movie is perfect for a 24 hour marathon because each scene can stand on its own without explanation. The other 364 days of the year, TBS doesn't do that much for me-they stopped the Saved by the Bell, Family Matters reruns years ago. Yet, for this one day, TBS comes through huge. Tomorrow at 8 the 24 hour marathon commences. Tune in.

Update: I just watched the first hour of the marathon. The movie is even better than I remember. Randy, the little brother, has to be one of the greatest movie characters of all time).