In recognition of the holiday and as an admirer of Paul Auster’s work, I thought I’d share his modern Christmas fable (filmed as part of the terrific film “Smoke”), Augie Wren’s Christmas Story. And luckily, here’s a site where someone spent the time to type it for you: Augie Wren’s Christmas Story.

In the film, Augie (Harvel Keitel) relates the story to a fictionalized Auster played by William Hurt. The scene plays out much as this short story does, with the added touch that, as Augie tells the story, the camera pulls in closer and closer toward his mouth and finally his slight smile, raising doubt about the story’s veracity. Part of the point: Whether it’s truth or fiction doesn’t matter — in fact, it’s all fiction, and, as usual with Auster, it’s metafiction (fiction about fiction). As a fable, it’s an evocative and unforgettable story about the sometimes incredible generosity of the human spirit. And that’s what every Christmas story should be about.

Christopher Durang be damned, this is a great Christmas story. (And so, in a way, is his dada Christmas, in which he and his mother reinvent the holiday with abandon.) This is from Mark Evanier’s blog, in which he relates (almost) meeting Mel Torme and instigating a very personal rendition of “The Christmas Song.” Here’s the link.

Christopher Durang on the true meaning(s) of the holidays. For him.

Merry Christmas. May the fat man be good to you too.

I’ve never watched enough television that I thought I’d write such a post, but television has gotten so good that even I’ve noticed. Even then I could have given it all up, though, were it not for:

• Prime Suspect 7 — even now that she’s in retirement, I wonder what Jane Tennison is up to
• The Wire, which every week impressed and surprised me with an intricate and involved storyline depicting the overall crumble of a meretricious society. I especially got caught up in the efforts of the new mayor to make something — anything — better. And Reg E. Cathey’s performance as the chief of staff is an utter delight.
• Battlestar Galactica, for its relevance and high moral ambiguities, especially with regard to the character turns and dilemmas of Colonel Tigh (who sacrificed his own beloved wife in his crusade against the conquerors), the equivocating weakling Gaius Baltar (now navigating his survival among both enemy camps), and Kara Thrace (sundered between braggadocio and self-punishment).
• Doctor Who. This season was the highlight of this series’ 43-year history. Endlessly inventive and delightfully silly, as when the Doctor employed cardboard 3D specs to detect interdimensional rift radiation. If you can watch this show without enjoyment you are bereft of humor.

• Pere Ubu providing live soundtrack to “X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes” at UCLA Live
• Knott’s Scary Farm (despite this year’s absence of the 3D killer clown maze, which must return!)
• Debra Ehrhardt’s one-woman show “Jamaica Farewell” (more about that soon)
• “The Car Plays,” Moving Arts at the Steve Allen Theatre (one of the most memorable theatrical events of my life)
• Election Night 2006 (after a 12-year unhappy spell)
• San Diego Comic Con, of course
• Taking my wife to San Francisco for her first visit
• Seeing Thomas Dolby’s first concert in 25 years with good friend Trey
• Taking my kids fishing (two of them for the first time) and everyone catching a fish
• Being a guest star on Orlando’s Joint and not completely embarrassing myself
• The interactive “Marvel Superheroes Science Exhibition” at the California Science Center (and yes, my kids can shriek louder than Banshee)
• “The Bog People” exhibit at the Natural History Museum — and my daughter deciding to replicate it at home in her own museum
• The dada show at Museum of Modern Art in NYC
• The Paul Auster reading and conversation in LA (even though I didn’t like his new book)
• One night in one of my classes demonstrating conclusively that everyone there could write a play if they’d stop thinking so much, and the feeling of joy and abandon in the room when everyone had done so (if you never get a buzz off teaching, you shouldn’t be teaching)
• Putting together an interactive booth at the Western Food Expo featuring the health nightmare that was “Sloppy Joe’s Cafe” and decorating it with fake roaches, spiders, rats, dung, and vomit
• Seeing Mark Chaet on the back of The New Yorker
• The Black Cat Inn with good friends

• Why I Hate Women by Pere Ubu. Robert Wheeler’s synth and theremin playing brings vibrancy and bristle to all the songs, which comprise the strongest set the band has turned in since “The Tenement Year,” almost 20 years ago.
• St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley. I’m just as hooked on “Crazy” as everyone else.

These were really really bad.

• Poseidon. Who knew that the original was an art film? It’s not just improbable — which we expect — it’s unenjoyable.
• Lady in the Water. Somehow or other, even the billboard made it look bad. Just not as bad as it turned out to be. For some reason the alien mermaid chick sits in the shower for long stretches while a wacky cast of characters talks to her from outside the bathroom. Is it over yet?

Of what I saw I loved these:

• Casino Royale
• Borat (if you haven’t seen it, go now — it demands an audience to be enjoyed)
• The Prestige (clever story and acting — especially David Bowie — marred only by the charmless Scarlet Johansson)
• Curious George (snicker if you like; the storytelling, the artwork, and the wonderful soundtrack made it a thoroughly enjoyable and moving experience)
• Snakes on a Plane (best movie of the year? No — best movie ever. As a comedy.)

Comics I loved in 2006:

• Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman: Volume 1 (All Star) mashed postmodern playfulness with 60’s Weisinger-era camp and Kirby’s early 70’s wild inventiveness to make for a wonderfully strange and fun comic
• Speaking of fun, there was no greater comic-book fun than Marvel’s X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl TPB
• DC’s relaunch of Jonah Hex, as in this collection Jonah Hex: Face Full of Violence, combines strong visual storytelling with a newly deepened psychological portrayal of the laconic gunman
• Horror novelist Denise Mina has scripted a return to form for Hellblazer
• I was sad to see Lucifer come to an end
• I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Marvel’s Civil War titles, especially Iron Man under the scripting of the Knauf brothers (whose work on HBO’s Carnivale I did not enjoy).
• Reginald Hudlin’s take on Black Panther reminds us every month that the character is not an urban Daredevil (as he was so often portrayed in the late 60’s and 70’s), but the king of a technologically superior African kingdom. When one roots for the Panther, one is not necessarily rooting for democracies such as our own.
• Finally, if the cover says “Ed Brubaker,” just buy it. Brubaker is writing three titles I rarely cared about (Captain America, Daredevil, and Uncanny X-Men), has made the first two absolutely gripping and is getting there with the third. His Captain America is caught in the shadowy byways of a spy agency war he doesn’t fully understand, while his Daredevil has been exposed and sent to a prison where every con schemes to kill him.

There were many other great comics this year. I’ve been reading comics for almost 40 years, and I don’t think they’ve ever been better.