{"id":7371,"date":"2021-04-08T14:09:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T21:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=7371"},"modified":"2021-05-29T16:50:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T23:50:41","slug":"tickle-me-saint-elmo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2021\/04\/08\/tickle-me-saint-elmo\/","title":{"rendered":"Tickle Me Saint Elmo"},"content":{"rendered":"
POSITION: 41\u00b015’17″N 13\u00b036’24″E<\/a><\/h6>\n

\u201cFate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.\u201d \u2013 Morpheus, The Matrix<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"St.-Elmo's-Fire\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As every cabin boy knows, Saint Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. And St. Elmo\u2019s fire<\/a> is an atmospheric phenomenon that causes spars and rigging to fluoresce, usually just before a lightning strike. Over the centuries, sailors deemed St. Elmo\u2019s fire a good omen. Right up until lightning struck, I guess.<\/p>\n

St. Elmo\u2019s is also the name of a bar in the 1980s Brat Pack hit film, \u2018St. Elmo\u2019s Fire\u2019<\/a>. A film that features a cringeworthy dad-rock hit of the same name. Tickle Me Elmo<\/a> has nothing to do with Gen-X B movies but, for reasons I\u2019ll explain, does have an ironic connection with its saintly namesake.<\/p>\n

Local Heroes<\/h6>\n

Saint Elmo, aka Saint Erasmus<\/a>, was bishop of Formia towards the end of the 3rd<\/sup> century. If you head out our marina and turn right, Formia is about three miles down the road. This discovery reinforced for me Gaeta\u2019s central role in nautical history. Coming as it did on top of finding out that John Cabot<\/a> was born locally, and the world\u2019s last big gaff cutter<\/a> is docked here.<\/p>\n

Old Saint E. was a bishop when being Christian was enough to put you on a lion’s dinner plate. Docletian<\/a>, contemporary Roman Emperor and early technocrat, persecuted Christians with gusto, destroying churches, smashing relics, and eviscerating clerics. Refusing to worship Roman gods, St. Erasmus was arrested, tried, and martyred by having his abdomen slit open and his intestines wound around a windlass. The windlass brings us to sailors and his abdominal misfortune to Tickle Me Elmo.<\/p>\n

Open Sesame<\/h6>\n

I have no idea how Elmo from Sesame Street got his name, but I doubt the marketing wizards at Tyco Toys dug into the history of St. Elmo when it designed his avatar. If you missed the 1990s, Tickle Me Elmo was a bone fide meme. Released in the United States during the summer of 1996, by Thanksgiving people were fighting over and getting arrested for trying to buy one. Scalpers bought and then resold Tickle Me Elmos at vastly inflated prices.<\/p>\n

I never understood the attraction. About 20 inches tall, the little red monster would cry hysterically when its belly was pushed. It\u2019s as well the designers hadn\u2019t read their ancient history. They might have forgone millions in revenue.<\/p>\n

Gaeta Connection<\/h6>\n

For several centuries St. Erasmus\u2019s remains were kept in the Cathedral of Formia. A horde of pesky Saracens sacked the city in 842 and his body was moved to the cathedral in Gaeta, where it rests to this day. At least that\u2019s what I\u2019ve read. The cathedral is closed until further notice.<\/p>\n

Ergo…<\/h6>\n

In summary, St. Elmo was an ancient martyr and patron saint who gave his name to two electrical phenomena, both appreciated by pirates. Such is the irony of fate.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another Elmo worth mentioning, Dr. Elmo Shropshire, composer of that perennial holiday favourite, \u2018Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer\u2019. Enjoy!<\/p>\n