The Devil made Sam Harris’s friends do it » « What would we do if we discovered the world was going to end?

I can hardly wait for next Christmas!

I’ll get to show the grandkids this video to explain why they aren’t getting any presents.

Blame the Czechs!

The Devil made Sam Harris’s friends do it » « What would we do if we discovered the world was going to end?

Comments

  1. says

    Won’t work as an excuse. Here is a translation of the short Endclaimer:

    During the making of this video no reindeer nor Santa was injured.
    After short negotiations, the reindeer were herded in by paratroopers.
    Santa was issued sleigh from state reserve (leftovers after (Russian) Дед Мороз).
    Deployable military force Batallion has escorted the team to the state borders.
    Santa continued on his christmas journey.

  2. brucegee1962 says

    I’m curious about the motivation for making this. Actually from the military just to show off their toys? Cultural nationalism to warn off locals who appropriate foreign customs? Or just a bit of silliness to make fun of the whole Christmas shebang?

  3. angoratrilobite says

    I think its hilarious and kind of justified. Obviously Santa did not get clearance to enter Czech airspace. Dude’s gotta respect sovereignty you know…

  6. lumipuna says

    I thought it was the range safety officer …

    …using a short-range anti-Rangifer missile.

    (Rangifer tarandus = Latin binomial of the reindeer/caribou)

  9. says

    @brucegee1962
    It is hard to know other people’s motivations without them telling it outright, but our military is not particularly jingoistic nor does it boast its “toys” in any way or frequency that one would notice. Cultural nationalism? Maybe, a bit. In the sense that there is a lot of people around here who are more than a little miffed at our traditions being eroded by importing those from the Anglosphere. Not that Slavic traditions are less silly than Germanic ones, but they were less commercialized. The sentiment “keep your Santa, Americans, here gifts delivers baby Jesus” is not uncommon and my personal interpretation of this video is that it is a humorous ride on that sentiment and an ad for our military at the same time.

  10. StevoR says

    @ Reginald Selkirk : “… because gifts here are delivered by the Infant Jesus.

    is it just me or is that taking child labour a bit far?.

    Also time travel I guess given the Infant Jesus kinda famously grew up then died and would now be 2,000.plus years old.

  11. ChrisE84 says

    Well, I guess that for Czechs (like South Germans) the delivery was also 16 to 17 days late, so it’s only appropriate.

  13. =8)-DX says

    Get off our turf, Santa! Funnily enough Czechs also celebrate Saint Nick, but on 5 December – when errant Santas in bishop’s mitres and beards roam the streets, angels and devils in tow to hand out coal and goodies to kids in exchange for a song or poem (this happens by invitation in schools and households, so sinners don’t have to worry about being bagged off the sidewalk by a “čert” or devil).
    That said, both the Saint Nicholas and “ježíšek” = baby Jesus traditions are considered largely secular, practiced by atheists and nonbelievers, with the RCC and other churches organising the religious versions of this in places of worship rather than schools and homes.

    There’s a bonus: children here figuring out that when the bell rings on xmas eve and presents mysteriously appear under the tree was just dad pulling a quick one while mum distracted you, are figuring out that Jesus is just a story for kids and not believing in the magical Jesus child is a sign of maturity.
    =8)-DX
    (The Czech army doing this is kinda bog standard PR for our small, professional army – showing off their toys and emphasizing Czech Republic national pride is how they recruit.)