by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Travis Geko

Age: 43

Occupation: "Internet provocateur"

Bio: This delightful Mile-End resident was "sitting around one December day in 1997, seeing all this Xmas shit all over the place, and hearing all this talk in the media about how horrible Christmas was going to be for some people if they didn't get a charity handout," when he realized that "Christmas is definitely not a happy time for everybody." Claiming to have detested everything about Xmas since early adolescence, Travis immediately started researching the issue and set about launching his popular Web site, www.altmtl.ca/antixmas.html, to inform the world of all the many reasons why Xmas is a sham. When not spreading the good word online, Travis works primarily as a homecare worker for the physically disabled.

Why Xmas stinks: For starters, Travis feels there is too much societal pressure on the less fortunate to buy their kids presents and have a nice Xmas dinner and that this pressure forces people into accepting charity they might otherwise be too proud to acknowledge. "I mean, not to say anything bad about Sun Youth, but people have to wait in line, prove they're on welfare, just to get a Xmas basket over there. I mean, it's humiliating. And then there are all these charity beggars, as I like to call them, who use Xmas as a catalyst for fundraising, and then they take a big cut out of the money they get. All these people, like the Salvation Army, the Gazette Christmas fund, they all come out at Xmas. Everyone wants a handout at Xmas. But needy people are needy all year round."

Another Xmas lie: "Jesus of Nazareth wasn't even born on December 25, he was actually born on June 16. So what the fuck's up with that?"

Is all his anti-Xmas enthusiasm just sour grapes because he waited for Santa all night one year just to bring him a nice new pair of plaid slippers but the celebrated jolly one never showed up? No.

Has he ever met Santa and, if so, what's not to like about the guy? "Listen, I've never met the man because he doesn't exist!"

Is he aware that if one fucks with the spelling of Santa one can get the letters to read "Satan," and is this something people should be concerned about? "Well, it tells you something. It's definitely a sign."

Yet another reason why Travis hates Xmas: "Because of that whole dysfunctional family thing. The fighting, the uncle with his hand on your knee, the sadness, the sickness. You know, once a year, everyone gets together, you know, because they have to. Not because they necessarily want to."

What Travis expects to be doing this December 25: Working at his job with the physically disabled.

Something his Web site tends to generate: A lot of hate mail. "You would be amazed at how many people really take this Xmas stuff to heart."

Childhood ambition: To become a psychologist or a writer.

Favourite watering hole: Billy Kun.

A recent film he dug: 21 Grams.

Words of wisdom: "If I really wanted to show off I'd set myself on fire."

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca