Mountain Clams

Yukon Cornelius Syndrome

Yukon Cornelius is the name of the prospector from the 1964 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Christmas special. Throughout the show, he gets a funny feeling that overcomes him and he just has to stop whatever he is doing, throw his pickaxe into the air with a wild "WAHOO!" and let it land in the snow. He retrieves it and tastes the tip that had landed in the snow. After a few moments of smacking, he concludes: "Nuthin'."

There is a pretty strong parallel here to the addicted way people check their email. (1) That feeling comes over them, like "I know something's going to be waiting for me - someone sent me something and it's important!" and they have to stop whatever they're doing, go to their computer and open their email program or web site. After a few moments of smacking, they conclude: "Nuthin'."

It's a good thing Yukon Cornelius never found Vegas.

Side note: I had no idea that YC was looking for peppermint, not silver and gold as Burl Ives would have us believe. Apparently there is a scene deleted from the end of the oft-broadcast version - the version I know - where Yukon discovers a "peppermint mine" somewhere near Santa's workshop.(2)

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/28/email.addiction explains how checking email is like pulling the handle on a slot machine.
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Cornelius actually redirects to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, where it talks about YC and the deleted scene that validates his existence. Now I'm wondering how long he stayed with the peppermint mine he found. After all, he's a prospector, not just a miner. This is probably why, when the rest of the group comes across him, he's alone. Then again: "Bumbles bounce." That line suddenly sounds sexual.

Labels: funny

posted by Brett @ 1:37 PM