Festivus 2007 Postmortem

"Oh, won't somebody please think of the children!?"

NEW! I've uploaded the photos from Festivus, so you can check them out.

So MarxistGopher's annual Festivus party took place last Saturday night (December 8th). I strive to make it the social event of the year, and I hope that I have succeeded. First, I should probably explain, what is Festivus? Well, for a full description of Festivus and its Seinfeld and pre-Seinfeld origins check out the wikipedia entry

I started my annual Festivus celebration last year. Why, you might ask? Well, I was tired of the commercial and religious aspects of Christmas! I don't believe in Jebus. I do my best not to participate in consumer culture(although if you've seen my many collections you know that I often fail). I reject the reverance of the "family." So what I am and others like me supposed to do in December? Are we just supposed to sit alone in our dwellings while the "true believers" gather to celebrate. I say NO! I say we want to have fun too. We want to enjoy ourselves during the Holiday season, but don't want to celebrate Jebus or support an unjust economic system! I say, a Festivus for the rest of us!!!

The 2nd annual Festivus celebration had been in the works for weeks, with invitations going out rediculously early! So finally, at 6pm on Saturday December 8th, a group of heathens and malcontents gathered to celebrate the ultimate anti-holiday!

Now we get to the point where I have to actually break-down the evening and offer a review of my own party. Anyone who was there is encouraged to offer their own reviews and criticisms of Festivus 2007 in the comments section at the end of this post!

FOOD: Festivus (in my incarnation of it) is always a potluck. SO when reviewing and later grading the food Festivus 2007 I will take into account not only the quality of the food, but the variety and amount as well. First, I have to say that all the food was very tasty. I spent most of the night walking between groups of guests and attempting to facilitate activities, and therefore was not able to eat as much as I would have liked. However, one of the benefits of hosting is that you get to eat the leftovers for a few days. So it was on that basis that I was able to review the quality of food. In terms of variety I would say that things worked out very well, in spite of the lack of pre-Festivus coordination. The amount of food was definitely adequate, as I am still eating leftovers. My only criticism in the food area is that not everyone brought something. Damn freeloaders! So, after much consideration....
GRADE: A-

BEVERAGES: This was solely my responsibility. I attempted to provide beverages for the entire party, and I think I was moderately successful. Because of my own niavete in the world of alcohol I may have not provided the selection that my guests would have liked. I had plenty of beer and wine, water, and pop, but in the realm of hard liquor I was empty. Nothing. A couple people did bring some Rum and Egg-Nog, which was much appreciated and helped in the beverages department. Maybe next year I'll have one of the alcoholics help me with the beverage shopping.
GRADE: B-

THUMB WRESTLING: The thumb-wrestling tournament was back for a second year. Only this year, the prizes were much better! This year the top 3 finishers received framed posters from Northland Poster Collective. The winner of the losers bracket (which was new for 2007) received a wonderful stuffed heart with the word “sexy” across the front! A few people chose not to participate and forfitted their matches, but that was to be expected. The only issue was the amount of byes created in the tourney because of opponents arriving too late to participate in the tourney.
GRADE: B+

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES: The airing of grievances did not happen at Festivus 2006. Both because of lack of preparation on my part, and because of a timid guest list. Festivus 2007 was a much different story. The grievances aired that night were amazing! They were funny, sometimes harsh, sometimes sad, but always, always true! A couple people were slightly uncomfortable, but I think everyone enjoyed this part of the evening. My only criticism is that more people needed to participate. This was my favorite part of the evening!
GRADE: A

GIFT EXCHANGE: Another great success of Festivus 2007. The rules for the gift exchange were that you can only give gifts that you wouldn’t want anyone to give you, re-gifting was encouraged, and spending lots of money discouraged. I thought the “white elephant” gift exchange went over really well. The highlight of the night was, of course, mystery gift #2.
GRADE: A-

"FESTIVUS ISN'T OVER UNTIL YOU PIN ME": At the end of the night, I challenged one lucky guest (Butler) to the final feat of strength. Basically it means that Festivus isn't officially over until the person I challenge pins me to the floor. We went at it for about 3 minutes before Butler took me down and officially ended Festivus 2007. It was rediculous and funny, unfortunately most people were gone by this point and didn't get the enjoy the spectacle....oh well, maybe next year.
GRADE: B-

Soooo, that’s about it. I’d like to thank all my friends, comrades and beloved enemies who attended the wonderful Festivus 2007. Please feel free to comment on this post to share your stories, heap praise upon, or air your criticisms of Festivus!

And how was Festivus 2007 overall. I think it was about the same overall as Festivus 2006. I think I had more fun this year, but there was also a little more tension in the group, mainly due to the airing of grievances, in the 2007 incarnation of Festivus. I think Festivus #1 and Festivus#2 were the two best parties I’ve ever hosted and attended.

FINAL OVERALL GRADE FOR FESTIVUS 2007: A-

"The Ideological Cuddle"

You can also check out MarxistGopher's 2007 Festivus mix CD The Ideological Cuddle. If you didn't get a copy and would like one, just let me know. You can also read a review of The Ideological Cuddle from LeftSpot.