"We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know. "*

No matter what anyone tells you, you are never too old for "A Charlie Brown Christmas".



I have watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" every holiday season for as long as I can remember, and it has never lost its ability to entertain and move me. And also, one time, it totally saved my skin.

The Latin 3 final at the end of fall semester my junior year of college had a HUGE translation section in it. At first glance, I thought I was screwed, but upon closer observation, I realized that this was not just a random Latin passage from some archaic text, but it was actually something I knew. And not just a passing familiarity; it was the beginning of the Gospel of St. Luke, which included the section that Linus quotes when Charlie Brown asks if anyone knows what Christmas is all about!!!!!!!!!

So I took what I knew from Linus van Pelt (Charles Schultz and Bill Melendez notwithstanding) and used it as a basis to come up with my own translation of the Gospel. (My own version might have borne a similarity to the King James translation, but I worked hard to make sure that I showed I understood the tenses and such and wasn't just writing down something I had memorized.) Thanks to the Peanuts, I did really well on the Latin final.

And people think you can't learn anything from cartoons...

*Lucy has the best lines, don't you think?