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December 13, 2006
A Festivus For The Rest of Us
| I kind of like the idea of Festivus. Not
as a replacement for Christmas, but maybe as a way to oppose rampant consumerism. I think everyone agrees that Christmas is too commercial. Even so, we'll all be out shopping soon if we haven't done so already. I remember Christmas with a living nativity scene in the center of town (not Chico, but where I grew up). I remember sitting through family slide shows on Christmas day. I remember those weird cubed shaped flash bulbs that were too hot to touch after being used. Those memories are as important as the recollection of a new skateboard or my first box of Legos. But since those days are long gone I think I'm willing to embrace Festivus as an addition to the Christmas tradition. Replacing tradition with consumerism should be resisted. And before Festivus becomes commercialized it might as well be a vehicle to make that bold stand. As part of my new Festivus tradition I will start with the Airing Of Grievances. 1. I think whoever invented Bratz for little girls should be jailed. Or worse forced to live with Britney Spears for a week since I'm sure people like her are the blueprint for that nonsense. 2. The 49ers have sucked for so long that I don't even think I like football anymore. Somebody should pay for that. I loved football. 3. People should pay their own taxes. No more having the employer collect it and send it in. If people wrote their own checks more of them would give a damn about how the money was spent. 4. Organizations that leave automated messages about things like gas leaks should respond to emails asking whether the leak has been fixed. Or they should leave a phone number so I can call them at home. That's it for now. I feel better. Everyone should air their grievances before Christmas. |
Posted by Lon at December 13, 2006 10:59 PM
Comments
I'd like to see the Festivus "feats of strength" performed in our new city plaza. Maybe we could have new city council members take turns hoisting Scott Gruendl over their head.
We could also issue aluminum poles for a jousting contest done in the fountain.
Posted by: Anthony Watts at December 14, 2006 01:50 PM
I heard the entire city council was involved in a "feats of strength" contest when two of them ripped the tops off the chess tables.
I don't know who did it. But Festivus isn't over until someone pins the mayor!
Lon
Posted by: Lon at December 14, 2006 01:57 PM
As for football, I was in a similar funk all last season, but this year I made the conversion to college ball. Just about every college game, whether you care about the opponents, offers some excellent play, and the top teams in the nation are very exciting to watch.
In general, I root for Cal over everyone else in the Pac 10, Pac 10 teams over every other conference, and Big 12 teams (the conference I grew up in, although it was the Big 8 then) over their opponents if they're not Pac 10. And I tend to root for Big 10 teams over other conferences if their neither Pac 10 nor Big 12.
This last season had a very exciting entry from the Western Athletic Conference; Boise State, which was undefeated. Some would argue that any team that goes undefeated should be considered for the championship, although the byzantine methodology for ranking college teams fails to account for that. The Boise State Broncos will face Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl January 1, and because the've been so exciting, I'll root for them even over the Big 12 Sooners.
A lot of folks thought that Michigan should have had a second shot at Ohio State in the championship, their only loss being to the Buckeyes in their grudge match. But I think that Michigan vs. USC will be an exciting Rose Bowl (which, in my opinion, should always be a Pac 10/Big 10 matchup), and even though I've always been apathetic about the University of Static Cling, I'll be rooting for the Pac 10 representative, as ever.
My countdown is not "ten days until Xmas", but rather "two weeks until the bowl games". And even though the 49ers are showing some signs of life recently, I'm probably over them. College ball is literally the future of the NFL, and I'm enjoying it a lot more because the players' passion is for the game, not the money.
Posted by: Alan Chamberlain at December 16, 2006 07:48 AM
Let the airing of grievance begin. If you have never heard of Festivus check out www.whatisfestivus.com. There is a clip from the Seinfeld episode there.
Happy Festivus!
Posted by: Heather at December 22, 2006 06:32 PM