[HOLIDAY PARTY!] MARCH 26 2020 – MAKE UP YOUR OWN HOLIDAY DAY with Kevin Tit

HAPPY MAKE UP YOUR OWN HOLIDAY DAY! Join us as we celebrate making up even more things to celebrate. Today we’re partying with celebrated friend, celebrated comedian and celebrated music man Kevin Tit!! LET’S PARTY!!

Show Notes

Activities to Celebrate

Playlist

Sources

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Show Notes

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History and definition of the topic

  • History and definition of “holiday”
    • According to Wikipedia, “a holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance. Holidays may be designated by governments, religious institutions, or other groups or organizations. The degree to which normal activities are reduced by a holiday may depend on local laws, customs, the type of job held, or personal choices.”
    • The origin of the word comes from the Old English haligdaeg or “holy day”, meaning both “religious festival” and “day of exemption from labor and recreation”
    • The word ‘holiday’ has differing connotations in different regions. In the US the word is used exclusively to refer to the nationally, religiously, or culturally observed day(s) of rest or celebration, or the events themselves, whereas in the UK and other Commonwealth nations, the word may refer to the period of time where leave from one’s duties has been agreed, and is used as a synonym to the US preferred ‘vacation’.
  • Types of holidays–federal, religious, state, frivolous, etc.
    • Northern Hemisphere winter holidays, such as Christmas and the entire holiday season that surrounds it. This period begins near the start of November and ends with New Year’s Day, though some Christian countries consider the season over after the feast of Epiphany, which celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ and takes place on either January 6th, the first Sunday after January 1, or January 19 for those Eastern Churches that still follow the Julian calendar rather than the most commonly used Gregorian calendar (which have a difference of 13 days)
    • National holidays, on which sovereign nations and territories observe holidays for events significant to their history
      • In the US, there are only 10 annual Federal Holidays: New Year’s Day 1/1; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.–3rd Monday in January; Washington’s Birthday–3rd Monday in February; Memorial Day–last Monday in May; Independence Day 7/4; Labor Day–1st Monday in September; Columbus Day–2nd Monday in October; Veterans Day 11/11; Thanksgiving–4th Thursday in November; Christmas Day 12/25
        • Every 4 years, Inauguration Day is an 11th federal holiday following the presidential election
    • Other secular holidays, which are observed nationally, internationally, and across multi-country regions. The United Nations Calendar of Observances dedicates decades to a specific topic, but also a complete year, month, week, and days. Observances can also be part of the reparation obligation as per UN General Assembly Resolution 60/147 “Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law”
      • According to the UN, International Days “are occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced it as a powerful advocacy tool.”
        • Other examples of such secular holidays include the Lunar New Year, which is celebrated across Asia, Arbor Day, Labor Day, and Earth Day, International Women’s Day, and the International Day of Peace
    • Religious holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Diwali, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah
    • Substitute holidays, which is when a holiday coincides with another holiday or weekend day, so a substitute holiday may be recognized in lieu of the original date. In the UK, their government website states that “if a bank holiday is on a weekend, a ‘substitute’ weekday becomes a bank holiday, normally the following Monday.” 
      • The list of bank holidays for 2020 includes Monday, December 28 as “Boxing Day” as the substitute for the 26th, since December 26th is a Saturday. 
      • The process of moving a holiday from a weekend day to the following Monday is known as Mondayisation in New Zealand
    • And last, but not certainly not least, our favorite type of holiday, unofficial holidays! These are holidays that are not traditionally marked on calendars and are celebrated by various groups and individuals. Some promote a cause, others recognize historical events not officially recognized, and others are “funny” holidays celebrated with humorous intent. Various community organizers, marketers, brands, and idiot podcasters promote odd social media holidays
      • I didn’t use them as sources, but there are A LOT of articles from people who are super pissed about the holidays that are clearly money-grabs and insist that the number of holidays, federally approved or otherwise, dilutes the value of each of them
      • Others speculate that the unrelenting trend of unofficial holiday celebration is because it brings people together, and gives them something to collectively rally around
  • Anecdotes about some holiday origins–From Insider’s “9 holidays around the world with surprisingly dark origins”, Listverse’s “10 Most Shockingly Barbaric Holidays in History”, 10 Amazing Holidays Inspired by Hollywood
    • Labor Day, which was recognized as a national holiday in 1894 and honors the contributions and sacrifices made by the workers of America, was created at a time when the average American worker was working 12-hour days every day of the week. Working conditions were commonly unsanitary and dangerous, often with poor ventilation, no access to bathrooms, and very few restrictions on child labor.
      • Labor Day was established to placate the American Railroad Union, which had organized a nationwide boycott of Pullman railway cars. The strike resulted in riots in which more than a dozen workers died. The holiday was established in an effort to restore the relationship between the government and workers.
    • Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas and became an official federal holiday in 1934, though the celebration of the 1492 arrival dates back to 1792. Let us never forget that Columbus didn’t actually discover America because there were already a bunch of native people already living here. His arrival decimated those populations due to exposure to European diseases, forced conversion to Christianity, and mass enslavement.
      • Columbus’ term as Viceroy and Governor of the Indies saw such incidences of brutality as a man having his ears and nose cut off for stealing corn, followed by being sold into slavery; a woman being ordered to parade naked through the streets and having her tongue cut out for suggesting the Columbus was of lowly birth; a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed, and then parading their dismembered bodies through the streets in a show to quell further rebellion.
      • In one period around 1495, 50,000 natives were killed by Columbus’ troops through a campaign of stealing, killing, raping, and torturing, trying to force the natives to divulge the whereabouts of imagined treasure-houses of gold. Dogs were used to hunt down natives who attempted to flee. Soldiers would use their captives for sword practices, attempting to decapitate them or cut them in half with a single blow
        • Natives who attempted to fight back were hanged or burned to death. Desperation lead to mass suicides and infanticide
        • In just the first two years of Columbus’ leadership, nearly half of the population of Haitian natives was wiped out. The next three decades saw the population reduced from its initial 250-300K numbers to merely a few hundred
      • Columbus died at the age of 54 after suffering from terrible health for at least the last 13 years of his life, including influenza and other fevers, prolonged attacks of either gout or reactive arthritis, temporary blindness, and bleeding from the eyes. Not nearly what he really deserved
      • In recent years, many cities and states have been made the move to rename the holiday to one that acknowledges the true original discoverers of America–such as Discoverers’ Day, Native American Day, and Indigenous People’s Day
    • Valentine’s Day, known now as a day to celebrate love and romance by buying a bunch of pink and red shit for your crush, was actually inspired by three martyrs, all of whom are called St. Valentine.
      • According to the Insider, “The first Valentine was a priest in the time of Emperor Claudius, in 3rd century Rome. Claudius reportedly banned marriage, but Valentine defied him, secretly marrying couples anyway. When he was discovered, he was put to death on February 14th.”
      • The second Valentine “is believed to have helped Christian prisoners escape from harsh Roman prisons” and apparently was also executed on February 14th.
      • The third legend is about an imprisoned Valentine that fell in love with a woman, possibly his jailer’s daughter, and sent her a card signed “From Your Valentine.”
      • None of these stories explain how we got to where we are with the holiday at present day, though 
    • Childermass was a Catholic holiday that coincided with the 12 days of Christmas. It was celebrated on December 28, and represented the killing of newborn boys by King Herod. According to the biblical story, Herod was tricked by the three wise men who, after visiting baby Jesus and gifting Mary some sick swag, returned to their home countries via different routes to ensure King Herod would not find them or Jesus. Herod was enraged when he learned of the deception and subsequently ordered every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two to be killed
      • In the Middle Ages, parents wanted to make sure that their children understood the cruelty of King Herod, so they would severely beat them during Childermass
    • The Aztecs once celebrated an annual holiday during the second month of their Solar Calendar, which is now known as MARCH, in honor of Xipe Totec (sheepeh tohteck) (“Our Lord the Flayed One”), the god of spring and new vegetation and patron of goldsmiths. The festival was called Tlacaxipehualiztli (tla-cawsh-ee-pay-wal-eeezt-li)  or “the flaying of men” and was the biggest of the year for the Aztecs, and comprised of assembling war captives from across the kingdom, then tearing their hearts from their living bodies. 
      • Priests then flayed their bodies and wore the skins of the victims, which were dyed yellow, all while singing holy songs. 
      • They would then engage in mock battles and demanded gifts from the villagers, often carrying the severed heads of the victims.
      • Other victims were fastened to a frame and put to death with arrows, their dripping blood was believed to symbolize the fertile spring rains
      • Blood would be collected from some of the victims, and their bodies cut into pieces. Portions of their flesh were eaten by the priests for religious power
      • This festival took place over the course of several days, after which the skins were stored in a cave
      • According to britannica.com, Xipe Totec would wear the skin of a human victim as a symbol of the new vegetation of spring, or the “new skin” that covered the Earth
      • His statues and stone masks always show him wearing a freshly flayed skin
    • Dies Sanguinis or “Day of Blood” was a Roman holiday celebrated by followers of the Roman war goddess Bellona on March 24. The festival was intended to show their submission to the goddess by cutting open their arms and legs, collecting the blood, and drinking it. 
      • The blood was also ceremoniously sprinkled on images of the gods
      • The lower clergy would follow suit, while dancing, singing, and playing music
      • Some would show their reverence for the severed penis of the Roman god Attis by castrating themselves with flint rocks
      • They would do this while ingesting Bellonaria (Belladonna) seeds, which is a deadly nightshade, and would cause the priests to hallucinate. They would use their hallucinations to make prophetic statements in the name of the goddess
      • A day of rest would then follow on March 26th, today!
    • But to turn this around, I’ll mention Galentine’s Day, which takes place on February 13, and was adopted by many after its inception on Parks and Rec in 2010. The holiday is an opportunity for women to get together to celebrate their friendships
    • There’s also The Perfect Date, on April 25, was created from the answer to an interview question by a beauty pageant contestant in Miss Congeniality in 2000, since the day is “not too hot, not too cold” and “all you need is a light jacket.”
    • And Chrismukkah, thanks to The O.C.’s Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, who created the holiday to bring the Jewish and Christian halves of his family together in a shared holiday. It occurs on either the first night of Hanukkah or Christmas Eve, whichever comes first. In 2020, it will fall on December 10.
  • History, trends, methods of holiday creation–from cnn.com, washingtonpost.com
    • It is very difficult to get a holiday added to the federal calendar. 
      • The first four (NYD, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas) were created in 1870.
      • George Washington’s bday was added in 1880
      • Decoration Day, now Memorial Day, was added in 1888
      • Labor Day in 1894
      • Armistice Day, now Veteran’s Day, in 1938
      • Inauguration Day was added in 1957
      • Columbus Day formally in 1968
      • And MLK Jr day in 1983, though as we learned on National Nothing Day, it wasn’t until 2000 that it was officially celebrated in all 50 states
        • And this was only after Rep. John Conyers Jr., a democrat from Michigan, introduced it during every session of Congress for nearly 15 years following MLK Jr.’s assassination, and 2 years after Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” single was released
          • The song includes the lyrics, “You know it doesn’t make much sense/There ought to be a law against/Anyone who takes offense/At a day in your celebration” and “Why has there never been a holiday, yeah/Where peace is celebrated/All throughout the world”
      • Every year, thousands of people petition the White House’s “We the People” site asking for celebrations to be added to the federal calendar, such as efforts to have federal election days declared as mandatory holidays or for major-league baseball’s Opening Day or the Monday after the Super Bowl to be turned into national holidays
        • Doing this is pointless though, since only Congress has the power to declare a federal holiday
      • Federal holidays are estimated to cost the government at least $200 million, but possibly even higher than $500 million each year, in order to pay the federal employees who are not at work on those days
    • The creation of secular and international  holidays are generally determined by the United Nations General Assembly after proposals from Member States. The General Assembly then decides by consensus whether to adopt the resolution establishing the particular day.
      • The themes of these days “are always linked to the main fields of action of the United Nations, namely the maintenance of international peace and security, the promotion of sustainable development, the protection of human rights, and the guarantee of international law and humanitarian action.”
        • For example, the declaration of May 23 as the International Day for the Eradication of Obstetric Fistula was inspired by the conclusion that “the interlinkages between poverty, malnutrition, lack of or inadequate or inaccessible health-care services, early childbearing, child marriage, violence against young women and girls and gender discrimination as root causes of obstetric fistula, and that poverty remains the main social risk factor.”
    • Literally anyone can create an unofficial holiday. As we discussed, many are invented as PR stunts to drum up interest or revenue, and a good chunk are made up by random people for a variety of reasons or none at all
    • According to CNN, “the semiofficial arbiter of all things holidays is…Chase’s Calendar of Events,” an annual American publication that includes special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries, and more unusual celebratory traditions. It was started in 1957 by brothers William D. Chase and Harrison V. Chase. The first edition was 32 pages with 364 entries, but has since ballooned up to 752 pages long with more than 12K entries
      • Sections include: Astronomical Phenomena; Religious Observances; National and International Observances and Civic Holidays; Special Days, Weeks and Months; Presidential Proclamations; Events and Festivals; Anniversaries; Birthdays Today
      • Most of the submissions come from corporations, advocacy groups, and trade associations, though a fair amount come from the public. They usually receive around 100 submissions a year, accepting about ⅓ of them. The ones that are rejected are either a repeat a holiday already on the books or contain foul language or other “childish”/joke submissions
    • Websites have of course been created to perform the same function that Chase’s does, albeit online and freely accessible. National Day Calendar, for example, was created in 2013 by Marlo Anderson, apparently because he was having trouble finding information on National Popcorn Day (January 19). The site now tracks about 1500 holidays, receives over 20K applications each year, approving around 25 of them
      • Anderson gets his revenue from selling ad space on the site, and hard copies of the calendar, as well as charging $2300-$4000 to add your day if it’s approved
        • You’ll also received a framed proclamation saying that your new day is “official”
      • HIs company, which employs somewhere between 6-15 people, has also created about 150 days
      • The most commonly rejected submissions are generally national days dedicated to a significant other. Anderson says that by the time his team gets around to telling them no, they’ve already broken up anyway
    • A Chicago woman named Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith has billed herself as “America’s Premier Eventologist”, and is responsible for the creation of more than 2500 holidays in 39 categories over the past 30 years, though she calls them #HOLiDATES
      • On her website, she offers services to anyone who may “wish to break into ‘THE SCENE’ that [she has] paved, trailblazed & pioneered” 
        • That word ordered seems kind of the inverse for how roads are actually created, though
      • She told CCN in 2018 that she started creating holidays as something of a form of therapy after she was mugged in the lobby of her apartment building by a robber who smashed her in the face with brass knuckles
        • But she told the Chicago Tribune in 2001 that she traced her “eventology” to a day in July 1990 when she saw a spilled milkshake on the sidewalk. According to that article, “the sight set her to thinking about both the bounties and the blights of modern society compared to primitive society, which inspired her to create a series of one-line “Caveman never…” cartoons. From there, she submitted “Caveman Never Day” to Chases’ Calendar of Events. I was unable to find any reference to the cartoons or the day 
    • Another prolific holiday creator is food blogger John-Bryan Hopkins, who maintains a list of food-related holidays on his Foodimentary blog. The list includes holidays that were already in existence as well as ones that he’s created since 2006. There was no delineation of which are which on his blog or in articles I read, though he apparently started with about 200 that already existed

History of this holiday

  • Created by Thomas and Ruth Roy of Wellcat Holidays and Herbs, as part of what they allegedly called their “Wellness Permission League”. According to WWWH, “Thomas is an actor perhaps best known for his role as a preacher in 12 Monkeys”, a 1995 drama starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, featuring a “future world devastated by disease” in which “ a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population of the planet”
    • The movie was adapted into a Syfy show that spanned four seasons from 2015-2018
    • The movie has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 
    • Thomas Roy can indeed be found in the cast credits under the character title, “Evangelist”
    • This is Thomas Roy’s only IMDB credit, but you can learn a whole bunch about him on his IMDB profile, which is a 392-word autobiography that claims he also worked on SNL, Pete & Pete, The Answer Man, and Night Catches Us.
  • According to a 2013 CNN article, “From Pants to Pot-Plants: How to Make a Holiday Out of Anything,” Roy has invented over 90 holidays over at least the past 33 years.
    • Roy is quoted as saying, “I just started doing it on a lark” after seeing a form in the back of Chase’s Calender of Events inviting readers to submit their own holidays
    • However, according to a 2018 CNN article, Roy no longer creates holidays because “his wife forbids it”
  • You can find a complete list of the Roys’ holidays on their website, wellcat.com, along with brief recommendations on how to celebrate each of them. For Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, the Roys’ simply state, “This is a day you may name for whatever you wish. Reach for the stars! Make up a holiday.”
  • I was unable to figure out exactly when Make Up Your Own Holiday Day was created, but it looks like it’s been “observed” since at least 2003, since I did find a Christian Science Monitor article about the day from that year.

Activities to celebrate

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  • Use the hashtag #MakeUpYourOwnHolidayDay on social media
  • Teacherspayteachers.com has some resources for sale, primarily aimed to give teachers ideas for their students, but include options like Create Your Own Holiday Christmas Bingo cards, a Create Your Own Holiday Graphic Organizer and Presentation Poster, as well as writing projects, power points, and children’s books
  • Education World also offers a lesson plan, wherein “students apply 12 basic elements of traditional holidays to create a unique holiday; they write a persuasive paragraph ‘selling’ the celebration of their holiday.”
    • The plan allows students to discuss traditional holidays, learn about 12 elements associated with holidays, apply those 12 elements to the creation of a new holiday, and use creative thinking and persuasive writing skills to make a case for adoption of the holiday
    • https://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/04-1/lesson020.shtml
    • The 12 elements of holidays are: name; date; colors; symbols; sayings/greetings; songs; foods; traditions; reasons; clothing; smells; and stories
    • This lesson plan could come in handy, since the whole point of this holiday is for you to…
  • Create your own! Chase’s Calendar of Events has a form on its website where people can submit their own holiday ideas. The deadline for submissions for the 2021 edition is April 15th.
    • https://rowman.com/page/ChasesForm
    • Editor-in-Chief Holly McGuire offers a few tips to help getting your entry approved
      • It helps if the holiday is already being celebrated
      • “The more inventive you are and the more you touch on things everybody feels really close to, the more success you’ll have”
    • You can also submit them to National Today https://nationaltoday.com/submit-a-holiday/ or National Day Calendar 
  • MAKE UP YOUR OWN HOLIDAY mixtape
    • Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder
    • DO IT YOURSELF by ILIRA
    • Make it Up by Shura
    • Holiday by Madonna
    • Holidays by Miami Horror featuring Alan Palomo
    • Do What U Want by Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera
    • Creation by Seven Lions featuring Vok
    • Roman Holiday by Halsey
    • DIY by Savoy
    • Do What You Want by OK Go
    • Fake It Til You Make It by Dreamers
    • Do What You Want by The Presets
    • Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
    • Holiday by Vampire Weekend
    • It’s Real by Real Estate
    • It’s Not Real by Hazel English
    • One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket
    • Holiday by Weezer
    • Holiday by The Get Up Kids
    • Holiday by Green Day
    • Happy Holidays, You Bastard by Blink-182
  • And in the words of Stevie Wonder, “So let us all begin/We know that love can win/Let it out don’t hold it in/Sing it loud as you can”

Playlist

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Sources

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