Thursday, December 22, 2011

Festivus Day


(Google Image) 



By Diane Forrest,

If you are going to your local greeting card shop to pick up a Festivus card, you may be out of luck.  Even though today is Festivus, it is just a made up holiday.  It was conceived by a writer named Dan O'Keefe, who introduced it to his son Daniel, who happened to be a screenwriter on a show named Seinfeld.  Seinfeld, a widely popular comedy, premiered in 1998 staring Jerry Seinfeld.  It was a show about nothing really, just everyday life.  It was on this show that the idea of Festivus was brought to the rest of the country.

(Google Image)

The idea of Festivus, which is celebrated on December 23, is to allow people to celebrate the holiday without all the pressures or commercialism of Christmas.  It is celebrated with a Festivus Tree, which is merely a metal pole on a stand, without decoration.  Then the Festivus Dinner, which may be meatloaf or turkey if you choose, takes place.  Following the dinner, you have the Airing of Grievances, the Feats of Strength and Festivus Miracles.

The Airing of Grievances consists of lashing out at others and the world about how one has been disappointed in the past year.

(Google Image)

In the Feats of Strength, The head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges that person to a wrestling match.  Evidently, the person may decline if they have something else to do, as Kramer did in the episode. Tradition states that Festivus is not over until the head of the household is pinned in a wrestling match.  Failing to pin the head of the household results in Festivus continuing until such requirement is met.

So today, have your own Festivus, or watch some reruns of Seinfeld.  Either way will be a fun way to end the day

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