Friday Mailbag - 12/18/20
On Christmas traditions old and new, Batman Returns, and milestones in podcasting
Another Saturday edition of the mailbag. Perhaps I should just call it the “Saturday Mailbag.” Wouldn’t that be crazy? Although we’ve come to the end of the road, still I can’t let go. It’s unnatural. You belong to me. I belong to you.
20 in 20 EPISODE TEN is LIVE!
Kind of a saccharine 10th episode of 20 in 20. Oh, well. It’s that time of year. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. At least I get to talk about Mr. Q Cumber. Here’s the full list of topics. You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout.
This week, I published a scathing indictment of the sneaker industry that has everybody talking. You can read that here. This also year marks the fifth anniversary of my Christmas song, “Drunk in a Manger.” Check that out below.
AND NOW TO THE MAILBAG…
Loyal sister and N.E.H. reader, Courtney, asks:
What are your favorite holiday traditions? Any new ones you would like to try out?
Very interesting question. Nothing like a global pandemic to make you think about–and rethink–holiday traditions.
My family always ate fried shrimp on Christmas Eve. We’d leave church early (hell yeah) to trek to the Korner Shrimp House on Archer Ave., buy a couple pounds of shrimp, french fries, onion rings, and so forth, and stuff ourselves before opening presents. Now, we all know this is a meat-free newsletter. Nevertheless, I cherish that tradition. I can still smell that hole-in-the-wall shrimp house. I think it closed a couple years ago.
As far as new traditions, I think it’d be fun to cut down a tree next year, but I’m attached to the scrappy tree lots that pop up around Chicago every Thanksgiving. Maybe we’ve got enough traditions.
Loyal N.E.H. reader, Charles, asks:
If meme culture has decidedDie Hardis a Christmas movie, why don’t we considerBatman Returnsto be one as well? It’s the same thing: a blockbuster action movie that takes place at Christmas time. Mistletoe and the tree lighting are central to the plot. Thoughts?
Another interesting question. I don’t think people actually cared whether Die Hard was designated a Christmas movie or not. They cared about inserting themselves into the conversation. People just want to be part of the zeitgeist. So until the zeitgeist turns its attention to Batman Returns, you’ll have to be content knowing it’s a Christmas movie to you and you alone. Maybe that’s better.
For the record, I haven’t watched Batman Returns in decades. Should I revisit it?
Got a question? Feel free to comment on this post or e-mail me at newexperimentalhours@gmail.com. Thanks!
One week ‘til Fü¢ⓚ𝔪@$!!! Wēēēēēē