(Warning! Schweeetness ahead!) Mark my words, during the year there is seldom an effort as big as fighting through the pre-Xmas bustle and hustle into the beautiful serenity of Christmas itself. For me that boundary is crossed at the noon of Christmas Eve, when they will broadcast The Declaration of Christmas Peace from city of Turku via public FM and television.

There are these traditional broadcasts of movies and programs before and during Christmas. The first one I always feed myself into the DVD player since it’s not that ancient tradition but it IS A Christmas Movie, despite the annual arguing about the issue:
I can’t remember when I saw the original ‘Die Hard’ first time, I may have missed it on the silver screen but it has been several years one of the stepping stones towards Christmas, in addition to opening the advent calendar. It shares the #1 position with ‘Terminator 2’ in my action movie list. No need to explain it further, you know that one. But Hans Gruber must leave the building once more.

Living up north near the border as a kid we saw Swedish telly broadcasts and I used to watch a ballet movie based on Beatrix Potter’s tales, it may have been ‘The Tales of Beatrix Potter.’ It was performed in character costumes in an environment which I remember bore some similarity to the Shire in Tolkien adaptations. I don’t exactly know why it came into my list but it marked the day before Christmas.

Once getting in to the Christmas Eve, right before the noon and The Declaration of Christmas Peace there is still ‘The Snowman.’ Raymond Briggs’s drawings come to life and Howard Blake’s ‘Walking in the Air’ tells you that you are almost there, inside the very Christmas.

Then it’s the long landing towards the Christmas dinner and after that there’s Jiminy Cricket’s ‘From All of Us to All of You.’ I’ve been missing it lately due the timing of the dinner and looting the base of the Xmas tree(yes, here we tear the packets already in the evening). Maybe I’ll catch it up this Christmas.

Surviving the heavy night of eating, mulled wine and friendly game of ‘Trivial Pursuit’ it’s time to wake up for the Christmas Day, and wait until noon when ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ starts the blights and joys of George Bailey once again. I always reserve something to drink with it, just to bear the emotional part of the joy. Yes, I always have to dig that something out of the corner of my eye before the end credits roll. I think the people who say they hate that movie just cannot take it, being actually scared to show any emotion. And just a note: James Stewart was a bomber pilot and squadron leader in WWII, flying real missions over Europe and some articles refer to the effects of possible PTSD in his moving performance.

Well, that’s pretty much everything.

Wait, one more but it’s a small book, a novella, which I recommend especially to those prone to all things flying: ‘The Shepherd’ by Frederick Forsyth. I understand it is broadcasted on FM waves in some other countries every Christmas. I really can’t but recommend it, it is one very warm and moving Christmas tale.

With these musings I wish You All Very Merry and Peaceful Christmas and Happy Holidays!