Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

Some of the best moments the NFL has had to offer over the last ten years are up here. There is less variety than I had expected; of course some memorable records are featured – the Patriots almost-perfect season springs to mind, in particular – and it starts off with these impressive feats, with records broken and streaks etched in history. But then, as it gets closer to the more prestigious numbers, the ones that score highest are all ones where someone has overcome an emotional hardship, and gone on to perform exceptionally well.

I think the most emotional performance is the one chosen for number 1: the New Orleans Saints, in their first game back in the Superdome after Katrina. For so long, the Saints had been an average team, and the fans branded by it. But here, with this game, with so much loss and devastation around the city, was the first time the Saints truly brought everyone together and gave people something to believe in and support. The fans were rumbling the rafters, and it was absolutely epic.

But there are other moving scenes, too. Right behind the Saints, there is Brett Favre playing so dominantly after his father passed away, for one. And with this in mind, I find it slightly strange that they included Bill Belichick’s decision to go for it on 4th and 2. As one of the top 10 moments of the decade? Why? Were they even watching that game?

The Patriots were up, and they could have either punted the ball, or gone for it on this 4th down. But the fact remains that if they punted, they were giving it back to Peyton Manning with two minutes left. Peyton Manning, possibly the best player to ever play the game; Peyton Manning, who had already driven the field countless times on them and scored with seeming ease. Bill Belichick knew this, so he decided to try and make 2 yards, which would have secured the win. As it is, they didn’t make it, and they lost – but they very probably would have lost anyway. There is always a point in any game where the match is on the line. What makes this one rank up there with Favre, with the Saints’ Superdome win, with all those emotional, moving performances?

Well, mince pies have been eaten, booze guzzled. But most importantly, I’ve spent time with people I haven’t seen for a while. Indeed, some friends I haven’t seen in over a year, because after university everyone followed the road that lead to their ideal job, or at least a job in the vague direction of their ideal job, and more often than not this meant leaving the area and going to a city somewhere. So it has been nice seeing them, exchanging stories, catching up.

Ultimately, Christmas is about family, about spending time with the ones you love, and even if you can only do it briefly in some cases, and not properly in others, it’s nice all the same. So it was especially good to see my grandparents, and my auntie, who is not often in the country.

But one of the main reasons I wanted to write this piece is because I’ve found quite an interesting news story here, on the BBC website. It is about chimps, and is particularly interesting because it comes after an episode of Life, narrated by David Attenborough, which focused on primates, and was really very good. In that, we saw how they use different tools and techniques to break open food.

Here, though, apparently that extends to cleavers: they’re chopping up food into more manageable chunks with blades. I just thought it was quite a charming story. And, after all, why shouldn’t monkeys celebrate at this time of year, too?

I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas wherever you are, if you celebrate it. Here, with my family, it has been wonderful for me – perhaps the best I can remember in recent years. We’ve been playing games, and watching the delights that are put on television especially for this handful of days surrounding the 25th of December.

One delight in particular, I think, will stick with me; one that really struck a cord, that I will remember this Christmas by, and remember it fondly. It was a little animated movie adaptation of The Gruffalo (about 30 minutes long), voiced by an all-star cast that included Helena Bonham-Carter as the narrator. It’s based on a book for children – a picture book, I beliebe – and the animation was wonderful, the characters cute, wide-eyed, and very much alive on the screen. And the voice acting was superb.

I think what was best about it was the simple beauty of the storytelling. It was not a very complicated plot: a mouse walks through the woods, and encounters dangers, and sees them off. But it used rhyme, and it used simple words, and it all came together to tremendous effect. A fantastic fable for Christmas time, with its audience huddled around a crackling fire.

It just brought home that you don’t need to use the widest vocabulary to achieve a powerful or compelling effect; you just need the right words for the right situation. You don’t need endless description; you just need the right words for the right situation. Here, with the Gruffalo, it came together perfectly, and I would recommend watching it on iPlayer if it’s possible for you to do so.

Christmas shopping has to be right up there with the most pleasurable, enjoyable things in the world. For me, at least, I know that shopping for things to give to your friends and your family is a lot of fun. I love the thrill of knowing you are surprising someone, and wondering whether they will like it or not.

A lot of people complain about the process, though. Moan about it, moan about the problems of buying for people. Not huge problems, but worrying over what to get: gifts for women, usually, can be particularly troublesome for men. It seems to me to be the case, anyway. And of course it then follows that if you’re a woman, it is often hard to buy gifts for men.

As a general rule, I just try not to worry about it too much. Isn’t it the thought that counts, more than anything? It is for me, but I suppose often people might not think that way. Personally, I often like something even more because it is something that a friend, or a brother, or a sister has picked out and chosen with me in mind. It’s that, often more so than the gift itself, that means the most.

Of course, if you really are worrying about something, there are guides out there: “Great Presents for Men”, and that sort of thing. And if you go shopping on websites like Amazon, there are tags and sections and labels which help break down every aspect of it.

To begin with, though, the best place is probably Google; from there you can search for anything from Christmas presents for kids, to obscure books, or old video games, to technical presents like USB devices and gifts & gadgets.

And then, once you have got something, you wait, and you wonder, and you hope that they like it. And there’s a magic even in that.