7 Reasons

Tag: June

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Christmas Should Happen In June

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Christmas Should Happen In June

    We are sure many of you remember with great fondness our attempts at rebranding the 24th December as ‘The Day Of The Sausage’. Sadly – and wrongly – the idea never captured the imagine of the masses. As such we have long been looking for a new festive-based campaign to get behind. And we may have found it in today’s guest post. Over to Sam.

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    I’ve had enough of Christmas in December and reckon it’d be far more fun if it were to occur in June. Here are seven reasons why!

    7 Reasons Why Christmas Should Happen In June

    1.  Christmas Shopping Would Be Fun. I don’t, as a rule, dislike buying my family and friends Christmas gifts. However, I do dislike turning out onto busy, dark, weather-battered streets in search of the perfect pressie. The ensuing festive scrum is just unpleasant. Admittedly moving the event to June wouldn’t lessen the crowds, but I have a theory. Defending oneself from the elements with sweaters, jumpers, coats, scarfs and the rest increases ones size. I, for a while, owned an anorak that was large enough to warrant its own seat on the underground. If Christmas happened in June this wouldn’t be an issue, t-shirts, vest tops, shorts and skirts would give us room to breathe. And it is also worth mentioning it would negate the instant sauna effect every time you enter a store that occurs with our current date arrangement. Imagine the possibilities. It’d be a merry stroll on sunny streets and, when you were done, an ice cream in the park.

    2.  Online Christmas Shopping Would Be Less Fraught With Potential Pitfalls. I’ve not finished with Christmas shopping yet. A counter to point one would be the suggestion that the modern Christmas shopper notices that it’s December 1st and promptly makes a cup of coffee and a cheese toasty, before sitting down at their computer and surfing straight to various gift themed websites. A click here and a click there and your Crimbo shopping is done quicker than you can say, “I am a gift giving god!” And you are – as long as there is no adverse weather forecast. It’s December though, and adverse weather is what December really likes to do. Cue impenetrable blizzards and M5 stranded delivery drivers eating that hamper of chocolates you ordered.

    3.  Santa Would Become A Positive Role Model. Currently Santa is a heart attack waiting to happen. In a world of health awareness holding this fellow aloft as the most important person in a young person’s life alongside Pikachu is surely a bad idea. Christmas in summer would see Santa trim in no time. He’d sweat off those extra 200 pounds he’s carrying in a couple of years, especially having to scoot around the world in half the usual time due to shorter nights.

    4.  Cold Weather Is Rubbish! Having already mentioned the weather in points 1 and 2 does not negate the requirement for an entry on its own merit. Cold weather is miserable. Plus it’s not just the cold; it’s the sideways rain and hip-breaking conditions underfoot. Historically, aside from the Jesus’ birthday deal, it is reckoned the celebration took place in sync with the winter solstice to lift spirits because everyone was miserable due to the short days, crappy weather and that there was little agricultural work to be done. Sensible? Maybe, but sensible never went hand-in-hand with a cracking celebration. Let’s go outside and party like it’s Christmas in June and pushing 100 Fahrenheit. Oh hang on, it is!

    5.  No More Mulled Wine. “Hot wine?! No thanks, you’re mad.” This is the correct response when someone offers you mulled wine, except if it is Christmas when you smile and swallow it down as if hot wine if the norm. It isn’t, but seemingly it is only brought out due to the fact it’s December and we’re all freezing. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather sit outside in June’s summer sun and celebrate my Christmas by reaching in to a bucket of ice for a chilled beer.

    6.  I Wouldn’t Get Combined Birthday And Christmas Presents. I’m not an ungrateful sort, but for the best part of quarter of a century I’ve been the receiver of combined Christmas and birthday presents due to my parents bad planning. Yes, I have an early January birthday. Switching to June would give all those suffering the same fate a taste of two awesome gift receiving occasions that are nicely spaced throughout the year.

    7.  Why Not? Why not indeed? I can’t think of a reason. And as they say, a change is as good as rest. Besides when we switch we’ll be getting two Christmas celebrations within 12 months, how cool is that?! It’ll boost the economy and raise public moral. I know I’ve criticised certain elements of the December-based festivity, but it is the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, are there any negatives to just adding another Christmas in June? If we do that every one’s happy. What could be more Christmas spirited than that?!

    Sam C campaigns by night for the redistribution of national holidays, whilst by day contributing to the e-commerce site, Find Me A Gift.

  • 7 Reasons To Have A Second Birthday.  Today!

    7 Reasons To Have A Second Birthday. Today!

    It turns out that today is the perfect day to have your second birthday.  Here are seven reasons that you should.

    1.  Because You Can.  You might not think you can have a second birthday on June 10th, but you can.  You probably think that only the Queen can have two birthdays, but you’re wrong.  The Queen doesn’t have two birthdays, she has three.  She has her birthday, her official birthday and today, in the Solomon Islands – but nowhere else – it’s the Queen’s official birthday there.  Is it really fair that the Queen should have three times as many birthdays as the rest of us?  Of course not.  No one would mind if you had a second birthday on June 10th, least of all the Queen who’d still be one better than the rest of us.

    2.  Because The Weather’s Right For It.  The date of June 10th falls during the month of June, you may not be surprised to learn.  This means that the weather is guaranteed.  Because on any birthday in June, it will rain.  This will make the weather on your actual birthday – unless that too, falls in June – seem positively glorious in comparison.

    3.  Because It Can Only Improve Your Day.  Today, I was woken at 5:30am by my wife announcing that our son had wet the bed.  “Never mind”, I said, “you can put him in our bed for a couple of hours”.  “I can’t”, she replied, “it’s our bed that he’s wet”.  You need a second birthday to get over that sort of news.  I’m sure that many of you have also woken up to similarly bad news or had unfortunate experiences today (possibly involving rain).  It’s not too late to have a second birthday.  Have it now, you deserve it.

    4.  Because Tomorrow Is World Gin Day.  Tomorrow, in its infinite wisdom, the world – or gin – has decided that it’s World Gin Day.  If you have your second birthday today and request gin, tonic, limes, Angostora bitters, ice and glasses (because receptacles are important), you’ll be perfectly equipped for tomorrow’s festivities.  And you’ll have got the cake-eating out of the way, because if there’s one thing that gin doesn’t go with it’s cake*.  Have your cake today.  And eat it.

    5.  Because Something Good Needs To Happen On June 10th.  Sometimes, when writing about a particular day we do actual research via the medium of Google.  Having researched June 10th, I can confirm that it’s one of the dullest days in history and can disclose that the two events with the most humour potential from this date are that the first public zoo was opened in France in 1794 and Elizabeth Hurley was born in 1965.  It’s not just that you need June 10th for your second birthday.  June 10th needs you.

    6.  Because It’s The Right Time Of Year.  If you have a birthday in February or November, you probably lose out presents-wise because of your special day’s proximity to Christmas.  That’s right, Jesus was born too and he’s far more important than you.  June 10th is almost in the middle of the year and is as far away from Christmas as you can hope to get**.  So, with your second birthday on June 10th, you’ll get better presents and you’ll foil Jesus.  It’s all win.

    7.  Because It’s Jon’s Birthday.  Today, June 10th, is my writing partner Jonathan Lee’s birthday.  If everyone else had a second birthday today then he would age at half the speed of the rest of us (though anyone that saw yesterday’s post might say he’s making rather a good fist of that already***).  We’d all become world-weary and cynical and while, in the Autumn of our lives, our minds had closed to fun, tomfoolery and japery, Jon would still be merrily frolicking away, committing acts of piracy in his garden.  The world’s a much better place for that. Happy birthday Jon.

     

    *If there are two things that gin doesn’t go with they’re cake and cycling.

    **Except for Mecca.

    ***He wrote, in his glass house.