That’s right everyone, I am going to do a Christmas post. Brace yourself for it and all you Grinches, that right now are saying in your head ‘bah humbug’, just try to enjoy it the best you can.

There are a lot of Christmas stories out there. I can’t think of another time of year when such a variety of stories are told, focused on one subject. There are so many different interpretations of Christmas and what influences different interpretations is so varied. It can be geographical location (white Christmas or beach Christmas), religion and beliefs, or even family traditions.

There are the baby Jesus stories told at church, stories that are sung at carols about reindeer with red noses and drummer boys. Books like Dickens’ – A Christmas Carol or the famous The Night before Christmas. Then there are the TV stories with Macaulay Culkin being left Home Alone, Billy Bob Thornton as Bad Santa and Tim Allen in The Santa Clause 1, 2 and 3 (which admittedly I have never seen any of, mostly because I have better things to do).

An interpretation of Christmas that I enjoyed this year was an animated cartoon, made right here in New Zealand. It’s called Preferably Blue. It follows the lonely Easter Bunny, down and depressed, who after a night of vodka and anti-depressants decides to try and murder Santa in a jealous rage. It was a novel experience and a bit of a laugh. If you are interested, have a watch here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8076839/Preferably-Blue-a-Christmas-tale

One interpretation I didn’t enjoy so much this year was watching Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta singing their new Christmas tune, I Think You Might Like It (they were wrong). How did the guy who played Vincent in Pulp Fiction and the Ozzie blonde bombshell from Grease end up producing this? CAUTION – this may cause nausea.

This year my personal interpretation of Christmas will include hanging out with my family, going to the beach and trying not to eat too much food. Hopefully I will get to see my friends, do some surfing and get out on my bike as well.

There have been some great things happening with INNZ this year and I think we all should be proud of our contribution to interpretation in New Zealand. There is certainly some great stuff happening around this country.

Whatever your interpretation of Christmas is this year, I hope you all have a fantastic time. Enjoy it, relax and bring on 2013!