Holidays are great. We all look forward to them; they break up the year and give us an extra day here and there to spend time with friends and family, grill some burgers and dogs, or just relax. We have, of course, just emerged from what is, in the Western world, the holiday season, but there is always room for more.
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Not all holidays, however, are created equal. Some holidays — like Memorial Day — are meant to be serious and thought-provoking. Some, like Independence Day, are days when we remember and celebrate great events in our history. And other holidays are, well, a little more light-hearted.
Take today, January 31st, which we would note is National Gorilla Suit Day. Yes, really. The holiday has its origins, of all places, in Mad Magazine.
In 1963, one of “MAD” magazine’s ‘Maddest Artists’, Don Martin, wrote a 56-page comic about a character mocking the then-fictitious Gorilla Suit holiday. This character is then assaulted by gorillas and people in gorilla suits, in trademark “MAD” magazine’s absurdly hilarious style. This paperback was called “Don Martin Bounces Back,” and although the book itself is out of print, the holiday lives on through Don Martin fans. They get together with fans of “MAD” magazine to celebrate this unofficial holiday in memory of the artist and the suits themselves.
I remember that book well — I had a copy of it, the location of which is now sadly unknown. But while National Gorilla Suit Day is surely a great day to commemorate, it has some famous company, not least of which is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate (that is, with a stereotypical West Country accent). It has since been adopted by the Pastafarianism movement.
There are, of course, a host of great national holidays, days in which to reflect on the fine events and traditions that make life worthwhile. Some of those include:
February 12th: National Poop Day. Traditionally scheduled for the day after Super Bowl Sunday, this is a day to deal with all of the hot wings and tacos you ate during the game and celebrate the residue of the digestive process, which is hopefully working as intended.
February 18th: Cow Milked While Flying in an Airplane Day. On this day in 1930, a cow named Nellie Jay, during a flight in a Ford Trimotor airplane, became the first milk cow to ever be milked in flight.
March 15th: Dumbstruck Day. I... uh... Uhm... Wow.
April 4th: National Walk Around Things Day. This shouldn't be taken too literally; on this day, we should recognize that not every problem needs to be dealt with head-on.
June 14th: Monkey Around Day. While this day is presumably intended as a day to remind us that we don't always have to take everything so seriously, it could also have some... other... connotations.
July 7th - 13th: Be Nice to New Jersey Week. While this holiday was created by a publication in Texas to help brighten up the Garden State's image, I still haven't forgiven New Jersey for "Jersey Shore."
August 16th: Hawaiian Shirt Day. While this is the day that Hawaii entered the Union as the 50th State, it's also the day to celebrate those great, long, baggy, colorful shirts so beloved by us big guys — because they fit.
August 17th: National I Love My Feet Day. If your feet hurt, everything hurts. Every old soldier knows how important it is to take care of your walking appendages. On this day, everyone should take note of that.
November 19th: National Have a Bad Day Day. Aimed at the people who work in customer service, who have to smile and be cheerful to the customers, even on the worst day. This is a day for them to let their true feelings show. Let it all hang out!
December 8th: Take It in the Ear Day. Nope. No. Not going there. Nope.
December 12th: National Ding-A-Ling Day: Chuck Berry would like a word.
And finally, December 18th: Wear a Plunger on Your Head Day. Because why not?
Most of us — well, honestly, none of us — are going to get any time off work for any of these holidays. Holidays are more than just time off work, though. As we might remember on Monkey Around Day, it's fun to note these events just to brighten things up. It's important to stop once in a while and just have a good chuckle.
So, happy National Gorilla Suit Day! Take a moment to think of all those great comedy bits that entertain us, make us laugh, and give us those light moments that brighten up our busy lives. That's what Don Martin would have wanted.
This seems appropriate:
Ook ook!
