Oh Shit, It's Caganer Time.

Thanksgiving is done. And between my wife's oven roasted bird and my Hall Of Fame smoked masterpiece we have lots of leftovers. Enough turkey, it seems, to build another turkey.

Of course this can only mean one thing. We are in the homestretch of holidays. With the big one, the Mother of Conspicuous Consumption coming upon us.

Happy Birthday Jesus.

With Christmas season going into full swing, we can all expect to see more Caganers. Well, I guess that's wishful thinking. Because despite my decade-long efforts to popularize the Caganer, it's still a delight only known to those living on the Iberian Peninsula.

Last week, I introduced my art director partner to the whole Caganer concept. At first he was quite reluctant and could not comprehend the idea of The Shitter.

He did not believe me when I said Spaniards and some Frenchmen, would decorate their nativity scenes with a small troll uncoiling some brown man wire. 

Unmoved by my conviction he was ready to pull out a hundred dollar bill and challenge me to prove the existence of this Yule Time Yule Log Cutter.

As you know, when it comes to shit I'm a straight shooter.

He made a beeline for the Google page and starting reading all about the Caganer phenomena. And while reading about this scatalogical oddity was one thing, seeing the pictures --particularly for an art director-- was quite another.

This included the picture posted above. A 25 foot high elf-like bearded Caganer, situated in a busy shopping mall, populated by women, children and grandmothers, nonchalantly dropping his electric blue trow and launching a lifeboat off the SS Assitania. 

It was a mistake showing him this picture because his flabbergasted state made it impossible to get any work done the rest of the afternoon.

And though I've been posting this same picture year after year, it still has the same effect on me. In fact, I'm thinking of getting a high- res version of the photo and running it down to the framing store. This shot, enlarged in all its post-digestive beauty, will be a stunning addition to my newly remodeled bathroom.

I hope my wife will like this year's Hanukah gift.