http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/Colin%20McEnroe%20Show%2012-01-2011.mp3
Saint Nicholas of Myra was a 4th century Greek bishop from an area that is now Turkey, so it is my position that he was a dark-skinned man, as opposed to the chubby rosy-cheeked walking cardiac time bomb of modern depictions and also as opposed to any kind of Norse, Gandalfian adaptations.
While writing this, I had an "Idiotic Eureka Moment," which occur when you abruptly figure out something everybody else has always known. Even though I've always understood that Santa Claus is derived from St. Nicholas, it never occurred to me until this moment that his name is just an elision or corruption of St. Nicholas.
We may have our own static ideas about Santa, but he also has to be protean, because he has to be what people need him to be.
Today on the show, we'll talk about the whole tradition of dressing up as Santa and interacting with kids and also about whether the Internet is piercing Santa's veil.
Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
