Re: virus: Give me a day, any day, but this one.
Kristee (kjseelna@students.wisc.edu)
Wed, 18 Mar 1998 16:51:14 -0600
Okay, I'll try to clear a few things up. See, I enjoy most
holidays as much as the next person, since holidays and traditions are a
vital part of culture. It wasn't until yesterday that the full impact of
all that silliness truly hit me. I love festivity also, but don't you
think consumerism takes this a bit too far?
I worked in another service industry job before this one, at a
department store. The holidays were less about celebration than marketing
techniques. The main priority is pushing out products with a theme months
before the actual event and selling it before the day is over. This
defeats the purpose of making a day special. Anyhow, along with the
"holiday meme" that's always existed, it seems like these days the
'consumer' meme has become parasitic and fed off of the popularity of
holidays, which keep perpetuating themselves in turn.
The way these things metamorphose and carry on fascinates me. For
example, Valentine's Day. So this particular Saint was beheaded for
marrying couples, correct? So, does the blood shed serve as a connection
between February 14th and red and pink?? I find this funny that an
incident like someone's decapitation and blood being spilled could
eventually be associated with flowers, chocolate candy, pink hearts, and
'Micheal Jordan Valentines' to pass out to classmates. *L* It's like a
game of Telephone; the original idea gets more and more bastardized and
mixed up, and far removed with time. So is that what memetic evolution
is???
See, it wasn't necessarily me scoffing at all holidays yesterday,
but getting a big laugh out of ourselves. And customers because, sorry,
but customers are always dumb. =)
~Kristee
>
>I was under the impression that the Christmas gift giving thing was stolen
>from the
>Roman holiday "Saturnalia"
>Just a little info
>
>I have seen the light and I am it!!!
>Sodom
>
>
>
>Paul Prestopnik wrote:
>
>> Kristee wrote:
>>
>> > This whole affair made me rethink the whole concept of a holiday.
>> > I mean, St. Patrick and St. Valentine have nothing to do with our lives,
>> > much less the colors red and green. Ever wonder how the heck
>>red/green and
>> > a pagan figure like Santa Claus could represent Christmas, a religious
>> > holiday, or how orange/black equals Halloween, or Easter (the resurrection
>> > of Christ) equals pastels, a rabbit and eggs?
>>
>> I can't explain all the holiday insanity, but I'll try to explain some.
>>Easter
>> is like you said, a holiday about resurrection, it occurs in the spring, and
>> neatly took the place of pagan holidays of rebirth. Rabbits and eggs you'll
>> notice are both symbols of fertility. How pastels got mixed in, I
>>dunno. In a
>> similiar vain. Christmas trees don't seem to have much to do with the
>>birth of
>> christ. And they don't. Christmas also replaced a non-christian holiday
>> time. The winter was a time when most plants were dead. In an act of
>>"magick"
>> those plants that were able to stay green in the winter (pine (christmas)
>> trees, holly, mistletoe) were brought inside to lend their life power to the
>> inhabitents. That's why these plants are associated with Christmas.
>> -Paul Prestopnik