One of my favorite holidays is Festivus. Probably because it's made-up and you can pretty much do or say anything to make it part of your holiday tradition.
It was back in 2000 when I was working in television that I began celebrating this ficticious day! I was working at a NBC affiliate and they aired the Seinfeld episode "The Strike" that featured Festivus. I still crack up when I hear Frank Costanza explain to Cosmo how Festivus began.
"Frank Costanza: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way.
Cosmo Kramer: What happened to the doll?
Frank Costanza: It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born … a Festivus for the rest of us!
Cosmo Kramer: That must've been some kind of doll.
Frank Costanza: She was."
If you remember in the early 2000's, it was the time when the Politically-Correct-Holiday-Christmas Movement/Debate was going on. Also, thanks to commercialism the Christmas-Holiday Season seems to start earlier and earlier. Festivus was our way of celebrating the season while adding our own sarcastic twist to the crap we were reporting on Television at the time.
It was a Sunday when a couple of co-workers and I saw this episode and we decide that we would throw our own Festivus party. We were planning a get together for the holiday anyway since most of us had to work Christmas Day, and for many of us our families were in a different state (life working in the media). Being away from family and friends; especially, during the holidays can be difficult. Festivus seems to be the perfect distraction as well as a common ground that helps through those home-sick times.
Here's a picture of my Festivus Pole. It has a colored CD on top.
My television friends are big movie buffs and always gave me crap that I worked in TV and didn't know anything about movies. They know everything from Directors, Actors, Location, First Starring Role, Etc. One year I put a CD on top of my friend's Festivus Pole as a statement that I work in Radio. Since then she and a couple of other TV friends took the idea and now balance their favorite movie DVD or Blue-Ray on the pole. Every time they do this they remember me. A tradition has been created!
I wish you a Happy Festivus, for the rest of us!
History about Festivus: Click Here
Since I'm not on the air today, you are welcome to participate in the "Airing of Grievances" below.
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