Merry Christmas from Babble
Words by Megan Thomas
Instead of thinking of a new and interesting way to say what an unprecedented-unusual-unexpected year it has been, we reckon babbler Gary Raymond got it spot on when describing 2020: “Every year you go, This must be the worst year ever and then the New Year goes, Hi guys, I’m here!” Shall we all agree now not to jinx it? Let’s focus on all our favourite things about this time of year instead.
Between the team at Babble and some of our babblers, we’ve compiled all our favourite Christmassy activities that you can enjoy whatever your country’s restrictions. All links included in this article earn Babble a small commission at no extra cost to you.
We feel it’s our duty to say this as early as possible in this post: Gary Raymond does not hate Christmas movies. He loves them, in fact. He just hates Love Actually, and the “mythical status” it has at Christmastime. He loves Christmas as a whole - in the introduction (which reads kind of like a disclaimer) of How Love Actually Ruined Christmas: (Or Colourful Narcotics), Gary tells us how as a child, he would physically tremble with excitement for Christmas Day. Once you know this, it makes a lot more sense that he’d respond to the notion that “it’s not Christmas until you watch Love Actually” with such literary commitment.
Now for the exciting part: what Christmas art does Gary like? Given that he’s a film critic, a presenter on The Review Show for BBC Radio Wales and editor of Wales Arts Review, it’s probably worth taking notes (especially if you agree with his sentiments about Love Actually). In order of preference, Gary’s favourite Christmas movies are: Scrooged, It’s A Wonderful Life, Trading Places, The Holiday and The Family Man. When it comes to which music is filling Gary with cheer, it’s It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby, Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses, Just Like Christmas by Low, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Bruce Springsteen and Black Christmas by Poly Styrene.
Pamela Power might not have written a Christmas book, but that is not to say she doesn’t have plenty to say about this time of year. In her words, “I should not have Googled this as now I cannot choose. And I refuse to give just one. So these are SOME of my faves.” Pamela likes to hear O Holy Night chiming on Christmas (or singing it, whichever is most convenient), one of her favourite movies is How To Survive Christmas, and her late mother in law’s recipe for pecan nut balls are a Christmas menu staple. Not to mention, Pamela makes a mean eggnog.
This is the #GoSeeDoSouthAfrica book tree, a project Pamela and her creative daughter (A.K.A Christmas elf @rubyrayart) put together, and its branches are looking particularly healthy this year - we can spot A Family Affair by babbler Sue Nyathi, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, 2020 Booker shortlister Real Life by Brandon Taylor as well as Reset Rebuild Reignite by Pavlo Phitidis. Why not see how many of them you’ve read, and then read the ones you haven’t?
When Sarah Wragg was on Babble, she was talking mostly about ghosts, given her debut poetry anthology, Ghost Walk, is a collection of spooky stories. But she has happily traded in the ghouls for the reindeer and shared with us some of her all time favourite Christmassy stuff. You won’t find Sarah without a Christmas tree, fairy lights, chestnuts, cheese and wine and though this year might be disrupting her love for Christmas parties, blasting her favourite Christmas songs is well within the rules. Sarah loves Fairytale Of New York by The Pogues, Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade and I Believe In Father Christmas by Greg Lake.
Ghost Walk was published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, and they’ve also been getting into the celebratory spirit by sharing all of the poets and their collections that they have published in 2020. Check out The Year Of The Hog to see the words this small but wonderful press have curated this year.
Lauren’s family in the US aren’t really big drinkers, so you can imagine the fun surprise she had when she had a British Christmas at her ex’s mum’s house where the beloved tradition of champagne at breakfast was in play. Lauren loves having a laugh on Christmas, so she spends time watching Saturday Night Live skits to set that wheel in motion. Her favourite clip of all time is Dysfunctional Family Christmas:
Tim Ewins got us through lockdown by reading us chapters from his book, We Are Animals, which he then does for us in his Babble interview - in the style of Whitney Houston. Yeah, you’re going to want to watch that. His favourite Christmas pastime is watching The Muppets Christmas Carol, listening to One More Sleep by Leona Lewis, and making mince pies to share with people. Tim’s little boy’s favourite Christmas thing is simply the thought of Santa - cute!
At least, those are Tim’s usuals. But he has realised this year that there’s another key factor. He said: “To be honest though, this year really has just shown us that we like seeing people. A large number of my family live on the other side of the country, and we’ll miss them this year a lot.”
The Babble Team
While you’ve met co-founder and presenter Megan Thomas in our various Babble interviews, you won’t have seen the behind-the-scenes team, though we’re sure you know full well that they’re there and how important they are to the smooth running and distribution of our show.
Megan’s all about the Christmas classics when it comes to movies, but she loved 2019’s addition to the festive film mix, Klaus. Megan’s favourite Christmas song is Stop The Cavalry by Jona Lewis, and she only stops eating mince pies and stuffing when it runs out (but not at the same time). She does not share Tim Ewins’ love for sharing them.
Robert Simcox, Babble’s co-founder, sound engineer and audio editor, loves Elf and, like babbler Sarah Wragg, favours Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody. Because a direct quote always says it best: “Gotta love the pigs in blankets!”
Our marketing and brand director Charlotte Ross Stewart loves The Grinch (the Jim Carrey one, of course). She can be found enjoying Christmas in South African style with a beef fillet cooked on the braai (that’s a barbeque or even barbie, depending on where in the world you live).
There are multiple potential outcomes from reading this post, from songs stuck in your head to lengthened to-do-lists, but the main thing we’d like to get across is simple: Merry Christmas, well done for getting through 2020, and see you next year.