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 December 25, 2005
Guest: FOR THE REST OF US.... In the life-imitates-art category, Seinfeld-inspired Festivus celebrations seem to be catching on in a big way. I haven't done a direct comparison with last year's media reports, but there seems to be more Festivus-related coverage this year. We're dealing with a "holiday" with real growth potential. * Two fairly popular Festivus books are on bookstore shelves: Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us and The Real Festivus: The Handbook for the Rest of Us. * Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) is not only celebrating Festivus, he added a Festivus pole to the holiday decorations at the governor's mansion. "I assume we'll be celebrating the traditional Festivus," Doyle deadpanned in an interview last week. * There's a Festivus wine, Festivus beer, a Miss Festivus pageant, and a Festivus ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. * In Lakeland, Fla., local officials created a "free speech zone" outside the county administration building, allowing local residents to feature holiday displays, leaving no tradition behind. Someone, naturally, placed an aluminum pole with a "Festivus" sign on site. (The sign was defaced and the pole stolen. How soon until "war on Festivus" talk dominates Fox News?) As the New York Times explained last year, Festivus was invented in 1966 by Dan O'Keefe, whose son became a writer on "Seinfeld" and who appropriated the family tradition for the show. It's a good thing; there are apparently a lot of disaffected people looking for an alternative holiday this time of year. It'd likely drive Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson mad, but I'm still waiting for the U.S. Post Office to get in on this. For a business that's perennially short on revenue, Festivus stamps would be a real money-maker. —Steve Benen 1:16 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (41)Comments
Don't forget the WalMart Festivus Parade down 5th Ave. Posted by: Tom F on December 25, 2005 at 1:19 PM | PERMALINKAlthough it strikes me as a shade redundant, the Airing of Grievances has taken off around the blogosphere. Posted by: Tim F on December 25, 2005 at 1:20 PM | PERMALINKAs long as we are on the Airing of Grievances will someone please deliver a ton of coal to the DNC headquarters and ten tons of horse manure to Karl Rove's house for screwing up our country so bad? Posted by: libby on December 25, 2005 at 1:58 PM | PERMALINKMERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!! How many people on here would feel it politically OK to wish someone in Papua New Guinea a Happy (insert the name of a festival they have here), and not for one minute feel that they were being politically incorrect? So, in the US, where people celebrate Christmas, wish them a Merry Christmas. Show some politeness, for Jupiter's sake. And if they don't celebrate Christmas, then dont' wish tme a Merry Christmas. Do whatever. Who cares? Merry ChristmaKwanzaKkah Posted by: Chris on December 25, 2005 at 2:10 PM | PERMALINKI followed your link to the photo of Governor Doyle and his Festivus Pole, and was appalled to see it supported, like a common xmas tree, by crosspieces. Anybody who had actually been brought up in our tradition knows that it should be set in a bucket of cement. It makes me furious to see politicians feigning piety to pander to the masses. Posted by: Rik on December 25, 2005 at 2:19 PM | PERMALINKPandering Politicians? Must be a libero-conservative-cum-christmas-hating-festivusian Posted by: chris on December 25, 2005 at 2:24 PM | PERMALINKAs an "The O.C." fan (what? what? I loves me some Rachel Bilson) I have to confess I've become a big fan of Chrismukkah. Especially those great Chrismukkah carols like "Oy! Tannenbaum," "The Little Drummer Goy," "The First Joel," and "Silverberg" (sung, of course, to the tune of "Silver Bells").... Posted by: Stefan on December 25, 2005 at 2:37 PM | PERMALINKI have never seen an episode of "The O.C." but I may have to watch given the titles of the carols you just mentioned Stefan. Personally, I just call it the Judaeo-Christian-Aetheist-Capitalist Gift Giving Season. Posted by: Global Citizen on December 25, 2005 at 3:10 PM | PERMALINKActually, the carol titles are my own. I can't resist a pun.... Posted by: Stefan on December 25, 2005 at 3:22 PM | PERMALINKArgh! Sucked in by the master! Happy Chrismukkah! Posted by: Global Citizen on December 25, 2005 at 3:23 PM | PERMALINKten tons of horse manure to Karl Rove's house for screwing up our country so bad Aw, it's Christmas -- give him some hope! Tell him there's a pony in there. One good turn deserves another! Posted by: frankly0 on December 25, 2005 at 3:25 PM | PERMALINKSpeaking of puns: Stefan, do you read any Asimov? He created a great pun-master named Wendell Urth in some of his short stories. Posted by: Global Citizen on December 25, 2005 at 3:25 PM | PERMALINKNo, haven't read Asimov since my teens. I'll have to look those stories up. Posted by: Stefan on December 25, 2005 at 3:41 PM | PERMALINKWell, the clock is winding down on my shift. I am going to pass the baton to that Shameless Hussy and go soak up the grandkid, and air the grievances to my own grown children. Then maybe we will all join in and wrestle Major Tom to the ground... Posted by: Global Citizen on December 25, 2005 at 3:47 PM | PERMALINKWell, well, well...In my absence, I still get a Christmas Greeting...Thank you, Stefan. In the new year, I shall try to be more consistent in commenting and sharpening the ole wit! Posted by: Shameless Hussy on December 25, 2005 at 4:24 PM | PERMALINKGlobal Citizen: If we're talking puns, don't forget the famous Ferdinand Feghoot. Posted by: tbrosz on December 25, 2005 at 7:18 PM | PERMALINKThere are at least two websites that allow you to design and print legal postage stamps. Armed with this knowledge, I'm going to get ready for the next season as soon as the new rates take effect. Hell, I'll even spring for the postage to send a "Happy Festivus"-stamped card to Gibson & O'Reilly. Posted by: Zak on December 25, 2005 at 8:03 PM | PERMALINKFestivus was the best role in Gunsmoke, that hillbilly deputy gave me a kick. This was the best Christmas present ever. I knew Danny O'Keefe in college. I can't believe this is his family ritual. And I can't believe he and his family have personally erected the gravest challenge these "war on Christmas" idiots will have to face. This is fabulous. Don't know how I missed the Seinfeld episode though - I thought I'd seen them all. Posted by: brooksfoe on December 25, 2005 at 9:59 PM | PERMALINKIn the spirt of "Festusvis" (circa 1966)let us also celebrate the following, and recognize that a late start is not necessarily an insurmountable handicap to becoming the Word: 1. L. Ron Hubbard proclaims "We are all thetans now" with the publication of Dianetics in 1950, and the Word is writ as tax dodge. Religion reaches the 20th century--and takes on a science fiction meme (take that! you ID'ers!!!). 2. Charles T. Russell finds the word in 1872 and founds what is now known as the Jehovah's Witnesses: "Christ is not God"...who knew? Repeatedly being wrong about the date of the end of the world is no roadblock to theological correctness or institutional success. 3. Joseph Smith finds (and loses?) golden tablets in some god awful place in New York and receives the word from Moroni (that's "moron" with an "i" on the end). True roots of the Word expressed in poligamy, successors found large sugar beet empire in southern Idaho, and have a fairly decent choir. 4. 1530's: Borrowing from Luther's work, Henry VIII expropriates the Church as an institution, a seldom used, but in this instance, a highly effective instance of "class warfare". 4. Martin Luther bypasses doctrinal committee in 1517 and nails his 95 theses on a church door. Doctrine of "we don't need no stinking Pope" finds credence beyond Huns, Mongols, and Moslems, i.e., Germanic princelings. Initiates Protestant doctrinal hairsplitting and 200 years of brutal religious warfare. This barely scratches the surface. It is a long and interesting evolution. May the spirit of Christmas find you warm and comfortable. Give thanks indeed, and revel in your Christian piety. After all, you never know when it will change. Merry Christmas! Posted by: bobbyp on December 25, 2005 at 10:19 PM | PERMALINKMy office held a Festivus party on Wednesday... Posted by: Lis Riba on December 25, 2005 at 10:44 PM | PERMALINKThe NSA Spying Scandal Center has all the latest news, statutes, court cases, DOJ memos and more for the exploding Bus domestic surveillance scandal. Posted by: AvengingAngel on December 25, 2005 at 11:42 PM | PERMALINKIs it perhaps a little drier than Christmas? The red wine gave me a splitting headache tonight. Posted by: Swan on December 25, 2005 at 11:52 PM | PERMALINKSwan: I intend to celebrate Festivus next year, against my wife's wishes, but with my 30-something daughter's approval. However, I won't change my usual Christmas ritual—which calls for a prime rib roast, rare to medium-rare and a good red wine (which takes us to your problem). We had a couple of bottles of a very good Cabernet with dinner. Now, for the headache. Just pop a few beers afterward. That's what I do and I am in fact posting after doing so. I am a German speaker—and lived there for several years—and I know the Germans caution against this particular remedy. In fact, an old German saying has it that: "Bier vor wein, ich rate dir, bier nacht wein ist fuer schwein." English: Beer before wine is OK, beer after wine is for pigs. But what do the Germans know? Based on their advice, I am a pig. And so were a lot of my German friends. Never got the headache of which you complain. Open that beer. You won't go wrong. And if you still get a headache, try aspirin. Before you go to bed. Posted by: Nixon Did It on December 26, 2005 at 12:52 AM | PERMALINKIt'd likely drive Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson mad, Too late. Posted by: craigie on December 26, 2005 at 1:13 AM | PERMALINKMy Godmother tells me (post-headache, unfortunately) that three Excedrin before drinking the red is the way to go. Posted by: Swan on December 26, 2005 at 1:39 AM | PERMALINK北京特价飞机票,北京特价飞机票预定,北京特价飞机票查询 Little boxes on the hillside, Or, more likely, Chinese comment spam. Here's my holiday cheer: my fundamentalist nephew, the only Christian in my unbelieving family (for two or three generations), is reading Sartre and Kierkegaard. The problem I have is that he actually claims to be enjoying Being and Nothingness. I don't know whether to be pleased or alarmed, but I blame his father anyway. HI "How soon until "war on Festivus" talk dominates Fox News?" As soon as someone there completes negotiations on a "war on Festivus" book and has their first advance check. Once they have launch date for the book, they can plan their outrage. Posted by: Jim Ramsey on December 26, 2005 at 7:37 AM | PERMALINKHappy Boxing Day and the opening of Santa Anita. Wonder if the Rumdumb and Hastert families celebrate Festivus together? Imagine the two arm wrestling under the tree. Now, if only the tree was hot wired with 220. Posted by: thethirdPaul on December 26, 2005 at 8:59 AM | PERMALINKThe first festivus decorations i ever saw were in the Canton ohio town square in the 1950's --a giant metal pole with garlands circling it was the town tree -- it was a tribute to the steel producing heritage of the town but they couldn't take the stain of being so ahead of their time and reverted to a more traditional look later in the '60's. Posted by: Katherine Graham Cracker on December 26, 2005 at 9:02 AM | PERMALINKInstead of creating a new festival, we should retake Christmas from the Christians. They usurped a perfectly good holiday and claimed it as their own. We should celebrate all the pagan parts, including trees, lights, and gift-giving at the solstice, and let the Christians celebrate their own in church. It doesn't matter what we call it, and if continuing to call it Christmas while celebrating the pagan aspects makes the Christians angry, so much the better. Posted by: anandine on December 26, 2005 at 9:05 AM | PERMALINK4. Martin Luther bypasses doctrinal committee in 1517 and nails his 95 theses on a church door. I thought it was 95 Thetans that Luther nailed to that church door, the first in a series of long instances of German persecution of Scientologists.... Posted by: Stefan on December 26, 2005 at 9:14 AM | PERMALINKAs the rich get richer, the ancient custom of "Wassailing" should return - Drunken marches by the hoi polloi past security of the gated communities and mansions demanding a lot more than figgy pudding and wanting it right NOW. Also, why aren't liquor stores granted the right to dispense B-12 shots for hangover victims. Down here at the mission, we all have to go to Emergency Rooms for our shots after consuming too much Wild Irish Rose. Oh well, TBrosz will pick up the tab. Posted by: thethirdPaul on December 26, 2005 at 9:41 AM | PERMALINKMy grievances are pointed towards: Major League Baseball: Yes, we in the Washington area are thankful to have a baseball team again, and I saw more than two dozen Nationals' games this past season. Now would you and the D.C. Council put aside your petty differences, get a stadium lease and give us a legitimate owner so we can compete on the same level as the other 29 MLB franchises? The TV networks: Your staple over the past few decades -- the sitcom -- remains in critical condition. Please revive the genre and do it with shows that are well-written and geared for a mass audience, and no, that's not an inherent contradiction. (And sorry, "Arrested Development," but you were too proud for the room. If "Frasier" can film before a live audience, you could have too.) The Democratic party: Focus on economic issues, not the cultural crap that turns off everyone west of Manhattan and east of Hollywood. Realize that there are liberal, progressive people who oppose both the death penalty and abortion (but support contraception and sex education). Finally, nominate someone who can win in 2008 (and no, Hillary, that's not you), even if it's someone who doesn't completely please the Ivy League policy wonks and single-issue blocs. 车| 搬场公司| 搬场 The Democratic Daily celebrated Festivus with an airing of grivances against George Bush at: http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1493 While the grievances won't come as a surprise to readers here, some might find it useful for the links to a variety of articles on a variety of topics documenting the failings of George Bush. Posted by: Ron Chusid on December 27, 2005 at 12:36 AM | PERMALINK"Christ is not God"...who knew? Well, anyone who has looked at the history of the church, for a start --- look at the Arian "heresy" (ie disagreement with the church). http://bochka.dynu.net/dvd-cum-shots-volume.html - dvd cum shots volume http://bochka.dynu.net/dvd-cum-shots-volume.html http://suchka.dynu.net/top-50-bbw.html - top 50 bbw http://suchka.dynu.net/top-50-bbw.html 
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