That’s a fair point. My name translated into English means “Little God Is My Strength From Vienna.”
In reality, I’m a 200lb atheist who’s never been anywhere near Austria.
Nor is anyone in my family from anywhere near Vienna. My grandfather’s uncle just thought it sounded cool and prestigious so he changed it when he immigrated to the US. I’m honestly not sure what his original last name means, but my grandfather was born with a last name that means “porter” or “water carrier.” Strength does come into play with those jobs, and I did inherit Grandpa’s broad shoulders and strong barrel chest.
But, as long as I’m talking about my family name, I can throw in a story about my father.
Irrelevant and somewhat immature anecdote
The Vietnam War was on, and Dad’s draft number was coming up. He was in medical school at the time, so he signed up with a program where the government postponed his enlistment and even paid his tuition in exchange for him agreeing to serve as an Army doctor for a few years. A worthwhile investment for them, and a reprieve for him.
Dad is a pacifist. (The only time he’s fired a gun was in basic training. He earned the second highest possible medal for his marksmanship, the rank of Sharpshooter, but refused to take it because he didn’t want to honor his ability to fire a weapon.) He correctly guessed that the war would be over by the time he graduated, and that his (already chosen) specialty in pediatrics would ensure that he was stationed at a domestic base.
But the thing is that Army doctors are automatically officers, and, as long as they don’t get in too much trouble, they’re automatically promoted after a couple of years.
So he went through basic training as Private Wiener, jumped straight to serving as Captain Wiener, and retired as Major Wiener. (We still get calls from a certain company founded to serve military families asking to speak with Major Wiener.)
Out of curiosity (and possible research as I consider writing a book adaptation based on a film the guys riffed on), I’ve been slowly starting into Lou Harry’s adaptation of this film.
The idea of the story, is the events of what actually happened (and were later adapted into an Earth movie), are remembered by Girmar (aka the Martian Girl whom Pia Zadora played).
It’s a bit trying at times, and some of the book has Girmar being a bit snide and snooty at times, though at least the used book comes with a unriffed copy of the film.
My mom and I watched that episode for Christmas last month. Even by the show standards, the segments are just very sweet. Even the part where Gypsy has a Nativity scene in her mouth, and the ending segment when that letter from a Coast Guard officer sending season’s greetings gets Crow, Gypsy, and Tom pretty moist-eyed is just plain adorable.
I still recall watching it with my cousin during our high school years as a small tradition.
Even he liked Gypsy’s contribution, though I sometimes would think of Joel’s talk of the Office Christmas Party. After landing a job in the corporate world, I worked for a company that had both Holiday and Summer parties. I often liked that tone of Joel’s: “and even though this was Christmas…Jesus was nowhere to be found.”
And even outside of Christmas, I do like the film, though much like how I can’t get upset about Jar Jar Binks, I’m not as down on Droppo like some are…maybe it’s because I later learned his actor appeared on Sesame Street, and my friends were surprised when he turned up in Steel Magnolias.
Don’t think this has been added yet. Also, if you haven’t followed The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Rarities Archive on Le Tube yet, why not?
P.S. - Santa v. Devil was the clear winner of Holiday Favorite back in the Club MST3K days. (Y’know, back when there were still only two possible choices.) I myself do not choose sides in this conflict. Per usual.
P.S. - Let’s remember that both of the first two Xmas episodes leave third degree burns which linger in one’s memory long after the season is over. There’s Mike’s horrific caroling mishap in his episode. Whereas this one has:
The moment where one of the funniest people on Earth not only gets in your head, but traverses the boundaries of time and space to get inside the head of your already-mean-and-cynical nine-year-old self two decades prior? Equal parts delightful AND terrifying.
