A Festivus for the Rest of Us!

So you don't like all the commercialism and insanity associated with Christmas? Join the small but growing number of people who celebrate Festivus, the alternative winter holiday created by Frank Castanza on the popular on the 90's sitcom "Seinfeld".

The annual celebration takes place every December 23rd. Instead of a Christmas tree, there is a simple aluminum Festivus Pole, because as Frank says, "it has a very high strength to weight ratio" and because he finds tinsel distracting. The Festivus dinner has no special traditional favorites, is open to everyone and involves the Airing of the Grievances and the Feats of Strength.

So let the rest of the world stress out over the perfect gift, the perfect meal, the perfect tree and decorations and all the annoying carolers. Tonight, kick back with some take-out, bitch about your family, wrestle with your friends, then lay down on the couch and stare at your pole.

Happy Festivus, everyone! 

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• A Festivus Miracle (tacticalip.com)
• Festivus In Jail: Inmate Gets Kosher Meals Due To Festivus Belief (huffingtonpost.com)
• 'TIS THE SEASON: Cantor hosts Festivus fundraiser (politico.com)

Viking Zombie Boyfriend, By Jeremy Rizza (12-02-10)

As Holiday Madness takes hold of the world, humanoids everywhere are digging through their CD racks looking for just the right music to create a festive mood. For me, it's the Kinks' "Father Christmas (Give Us Some Money!)".

For Dill, it's the dulcet tones of his favorite Hollywood semi-living legend Osmunda Haines.

Jeremy writes: Hey, I had to show the actual CD cover! I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to draw Osmunda in another horrifying cheesecake pose! (And as you can see by her “extended dance mix,” Osmunda is smart enough to cater to her steadfast gay audience.)

The permanent page for this week’s strip can be found here.

Visit VikingZombieBoyfriend.com for past strips, character back stories and cool merchandise.

Posted with the permission of the artist.

Related articles

• 'Zombieland' Writers To Script 'Cowboy Ninja Viking' Adaptation (screenrant.com)

Halloween Memories

This is one of the few pics I have of my parents together. They've been divorced for about 35 years. They were at a Halloween party in the mid 60's. I remember watching them get ready.

For some reason, I've been thinking about this picture a lot lately, so I thought I'd share it. 

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Related articles

• Your Deepest, Darkest Fears: It's Okay, You Can Tell Us. It's Halloween. (npr.org)
• Halloween! (socyberty.com)
• Sweet nostalgia: Popular Halloween candy throughout the decades (walletpop.com)

Christmas Ice Storm Leaves Rev. in the Dark... AGAIN!!

You might be wondering why the blog hasn't been updated in a few days. Well, mother nature is one twisted sister! An ice storm that started late on Christmas Eve culminated in downed power lines once again. We lost electric service at 10:00 am on Friday, Christmas morning and didn't get it back until 7:30 pm Sunday night.

This latest winter crap-fest came on the heels of last week's 14-inch snowfall, most of which is still with us. As usual we cranked up the generator, which kept the fridge going and allowed us to catch a little TV on a small digital set with digital rabbit ears.

Paul and I -- and the three cats -- made it through unscathed, except for a severe case of cabin fever. After three housebound days, it was getting kind of tense here, mostly between the cats. Now it's time to do laundry and clean up inside and outside the house. Lots of tree limbs down all over the yard. The ducks are the only ones who don't seen to mind so much. The snow from last week has melted enough for them to get to the pond and splash around a bit in the small area that's not frozen over.

Will resume regular updates in the morning. Waiting for the water heater to do it's job so I can enjoy a much-needed shower. Sponge baths aren't as much fun when you have to give them to yourself.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, or whatever you celebrate at this time of year.

Cool Site of the Week: "Sketchy Santas"

In keeping with today's Christmas theme, my choice for this week's Cool Site is SketchySantas.com. If you're like me and have a twisted sense of humor, than there's nothing better to take the edge off your holiday stress, than seeing department store Santas having even more stress.

At Sketchy Santas, you'll find reader-submitted photos of Santas through the generations posed with screaming brats, terrified toddlers and creeped-out kids. In some cases the kiddies are cool, it's the Santas that need some adult supervision.

What's not to love about a mom dressing up her kid in some ridiculous red and green outfit, dragging him/her across town to a crowded shopping mall, waiting for hours in line, then shoving that tired, cranky kid into the lap of a scary old man to pose for a picture?

Check it out at www.sketchysantas.com.