Cthulhu Lives! A Very Scary Solstice. In 1853, and English church warden named John Mason Neale managed to get his hands on a sixteenth-century Swedish collection of medieval Latin songs called Piae Cantione.
He and his partner decided to tinker with the music and write some new lyrics. Their efforts resulted in a catchy little ditty celebrating Christian charity for the holiday season: "Good King Wenceslas. " True to the spirit of Christmas, they took an old tradition and made something new. The fruits of their labors have been enjoyed by millions world-wide. Like Christmas itself, many carols are simply repackaged versions of earlier works. In that true holiday spirit, members of the HPLHS have always enjoyed combining music, holiday cheer, and nihilistic cosmic terror. "Seldom has a collection of music brought such pleasure to me. "Now when I go shopping this holiday, a grin crosses my face when the carols come over the speakers because I'm singing along in my head with the HPLHS versions instead of the traditional ones.
Jeff Buckley for Xmas no 1. Make-a-Flake - A snowflake maker by Barkley Interactive. Chrismukkah. Chrismukkah is a pop-culture portmanteau neologism referring to the merging of the holidays of Christianity's Christmas and Judaism's Hanukkah.
The term was popularized by the TV drama The O.C., wherein character Seth Cohen creates the holiday to signify his upbringing in an interfaith household with a Jewish father and Protestant mother (although the holiday can also be adopted by all-Jewish households who celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday). Chrismukkah is also celebrated as an ironic, alternative holiday, much like the Seinfeld-derived "Festivus". USA Today has described it as "[t]he newest faux holiday that companies are using to make a buck this season".[1] History[edit] Long before "Chrismukkah" entered the popular lexicon in the early 21st century, Christmas and Hanuakkah celebrations have been informally merged with one another.
Chrismukkah was named for the first time, and prominently featured, in the FOX television program The O.C. (2003–2007). Similar holidays[edit] Festivus. The episode refers to it as "a Festivus for the rest of us", referencing its non-commercial aspect.
It has also been described as a "parody holiday festival" and as a form of playful consumer resistance.[3] History[edit] The word Festivus in this sense was coined by O'Keefe, and according to him the name "just popped into my head".[1] The English word festive derives from Latin "festivus", which in turn derives from festus "joyous; holiday, feast day".[6][7][8] Although the first Festivus took place in February 1966, as a celebration of Daniel O'Keefe's first date with his future wife, Deborah,[1] it is now celebrated on December 23, as depicted in a Seinfeld episode written by O'Keefe's son.[2] Seinfeld[edit] Frank Costanza's son, George (Jason Alexander), creates donation cards for a fake charity called The Human Fund (with the slogan "Money For People") in lieu of having to give office Christmas presents.
Customary practices[edit] "Happy Festivus" embroidered on a yarmulke References[edit] Calendar of all legal public holidays, bank holidays and school holidays worldwide, until 2040. DTI Employment Relations - UK Public and Bank Holidays.