A Ban on Valentine’s Day?

When I was in the first, second and third grade, Valentine's Day was a big deal. We brought old shoe boxes to school and decorated them with red construction paper and pink and white hearts. Then we went around the room and stuffed cheaply made, store bought Valentines featuring silly cartoon characters into all the boxes. We had to bring enough for every child in the class so that no one would feel left out. Then we'd have a party, with cupcakes and punch, and got to read all our Valentines. That was over twenty years ago and I remember those days with fondness. But apparently those days are over for future generations, at least in Somerset, England. Peter Turner, the headmaster at Ashcombe Primary School (students aged four to eleven), has banned Valentine's exchanges on campus and any cards found in school will be taken away. Why? As Mr. Turner explains, "We believe that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend." Of course opinions from the parents differ, from approval, to outrage. You can read more about the ban here.

Coney Island

Please note the pinheads on display.

Happy 2010 to One and All

New Year’s Eve Anticipation!

Follies of the Mad Men #80

Nothing says Xmas like....?

The Season for Drunken Elves

Smokes for Xmas

And yet another perfect Xmas present: cancer sticks!

Dreaming Of A Weird Christmas!

Christmas is nearly upon us, so the time is at hand where every mall has a Santa in residence, waiting for America’s boys and girls to sit on his knee and make their demands known. But while our own little angels are of course clean and fragrant, who knows what those grubby urchins in front of you are spreading! So this year several professional Santa associations are calling for hand-sanitizer to be installed at grotto entrances and have asked congress to put “Santa” on the priority list for H1N1 vaccinations. After all, you have to look after your elf (Telegraph).

Not requiring a flu jab, but in need of a facelift, was the 66’ fibreglass Santa that has been the centrepiece of Auckland, New Zealand’s Christmas pageant for nearly 50 years. With a droopy winking eye and a gesturing mechanical finger, the jolly red giant was beginning, in the words of one local, to “look a little creepy.” But not anymore, as NZ$100,000 have been spent refurbishing the big guy ahead of this Sunday’s grand unveiling (Reuters).

Someone definitely not in need of a facelift is the recently announced “Hunky Santa of 2009.” Los Angeles mall the Beverley Center first introduced their hunky Santas nine years ago, swapping abs and pecs for the beard and britches. This year north-pole toting poseur is James Ellis, who hopes to encourage people to live more healthily and wants to be a role model for kids by parading his festive physique in a fur-trimmed red vest (LA Times).

All of which is not the sort of thing you’re likely to see during Raleigh, North Carolina’s Christmas parade. So worried are parade organisers that the little ones might be confused by two people dressed in red that they have banned “Mrs. Claus” from participating in costume. They have even asked attendees not to wear Santa-hats in case it distracts attention from the “real” St. Nick (WXII12).

And further killjoyery (?) this week from the Employers Forum on Belief, which has advised company bosses that to close their office over Christmas might be construed as discriminatory, since non-Christian employees must use annual leave for their religious holidays. Instead of emphasising the holiday’s religious nature, say the EFB, management should focus on the cost-effectiveness of the closure as a majority of staff would be absent anyway (ILM).

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Thanksgivings of Yore

You still have enough time in the next two weeks to rearrange your life so that your holiday mirrors the Eisenhowerian perfection on display here

Happy Halloween!

All original content in posts is Copyright © 2008 by the author of the post, either Alex Boese ("Alex"), Paul Di Filippo ("Paul"), or Chuck Shepherd ("Chuck"). All rights reserved. The banner illustration at the top of this page is Copyright © 2008 by Rick Altergott.