Super Happy Fun Day is an annual event held on Christmas or Christmas Eve by Sarah and Adam Hofstetter to combat the boredom traditionally faced by American Jews on the Christian holiday. RSVPs are typically discouraged, as are traditional gifts such as flowers or wine. Guests tend to come and go throughout the event, and are generally welcome to bring friends and relatives.
History
The first Super Happy Fun Day was a two-day event held in Queens, NY on December 24 and 25, 1998. Due to budget shortfalls the event consisted chiefly of a few board games and a deck of cards.
No Super Happy Fun Day was held in 2001. Rumors of gross financial mismanagement proved to be unfounded, and the event resurfaced in 2002 with great success. That year's invitation summed up the tone of the event as follows:
What better way to avoid watching "It's A Wonderful Life" for the 23rd time than to have your friends over for a playdate, old school style? Yes, that's right, it's the '80s (or '70s, for some of you), we're 8 years old, and you're coming over to my house to play. Well, there are some differences. The video games are much cooler this time around, and there's alcohol. But otherwise it's the same carefree, I-got-next, eat-with-your-hands, wow-that’s-the-biggest-Pez-collection-I've-ever-seen, that-is-SO-a-do-over, play-until-your-parents-come-take-you-home kind of a thing.
In 2003, the Hofstetters were able to capitalize on the popularity of the new live-action movie The Cat in the Hat by retelling the epic saga of the cat in an invitation that included these lines:
“There’s nothing on TV, there’s nowhere to go.
The stores are all closed and the street’s filled with snow.
You’ve got nothing to do and no errands to run.
But this day can be Super, Happy, and Fun!”
“Super Happy Fun Day?” I said to the cat.
“That’s right! I’ll explain…” said the Cat in the Hat.
“Each Christmas, when I’m left with nothing to do,
I e-mail a few of my friends – just a few.
Well, actually, all of them,” we heard the cat say.
“And I ask everyone to come over and play.
“We play games! And we eat! And we have a great time!
I even send out invitations that rhyme.”
Then Sarah and I did not know what to do.
We’d never imagined the cat was a Jew.
“I’ve got an idea,” Sarah said to her spouse.
“Let’s have Super Happy Fun Day at OUR house!
“We’ll play board games, and card games, and even arcade!
I’ve heard that those things are great fun when they’re played.”
“I like how you’re thinking,” I said to my wife.
“I think we can all have the time of our life.
“Air hockey, board games – we’ll feel just like kids!
Who ever thought Christmas could be fun for yids?”
2004's invitation, a rewrite of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," finally addressed the event's main competition: Atlantic City.
And to those of you who have ignored this preamble
Because you’ll be going to AC to gamble:
You should know such abandonment truthfully hurts,
But we’re comforted knowing you’ll all lose your shirts.
Major changes to the event came the following year, as a pool table was added to the facilities and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan held a press conference announcing the event. Roundly mocked for the hackneyed format of the invitation, McClellan appeared flustered but defended the Hofstetters and their Every Child Left Behind policy that bans anyone under the age of 18 from attending the event. McClellan also addressed several other hot-button issues, including torture, allegations of steroid use, the events response to victims of Katrina, but perhaps his most memorable quote was an answer to questions about the Hofstetters' refusal to set a timetable for withdrawal: "We will see the numbers of guests start to dwindle as we get closer to Chanukah, but to say that everybody has to be out by a certain date or time would be irresponsible."
In 2006, celebrities endorsing the event included former NFL star O.J. Simpson, socialite Paris Hilton, international journalist Borat Sagdiyev, and TV Pyschologist Dr. Phil McGraw. Comedian Bill Cosby, however, said it best: "Jell-O pudding. Sweaters. Camille."
History
The first Super Happy Fun Day was a two-day event held in Queens, NY on December 24 and 25, 1998. Due to budget shortfalls the event consisted chiefly of a few board games and a deck of cards.
No Super Happy Fun Day was held in 2001. Rumors of gross financial mismanagement proved to be unfounded, and the event resurfaced in 2002 with great success. That year's invitation summed up the tone of the event as follows:
What better way to avoid watching "It's A Wonderful Life" for the 23rd time than to have your friends over for a playdate, old school style? Yes, that's right, it's the '80s (or '70s, for some of you), we're 8 years old, and you're coming over to my house to play. Well, there are some differences. The video games are much cooler this time around, and there's alcohol. But otherwise it's the same carefree, I-got-next, eat-with-your-hands, wow-that’s-the-biggest-Pez-collection-I've-ever-seen, that-is-SO-a-do-over, play-until-your-parents-come-take-you-home kind of a thing.
In 2003, the Hofstetters were able to capitalize on the popularity of the new live-action movie The Cat in the Hat by retelling the epic saga of the cat in an invitation that included these lines:
“There’s nothing on TV, there’s nowhere to go.
The stores are all closed and the street’s filled with snow.
You’ve got nothing to do and no errands to run.
But this day can be Super, Happy, and Fun!”
“Super Happy Fun Day?” I said to the cat.
“That’s right! I’ll explain…” said the Cat in the Hat.
“Each Christmas, when I’m left with nothing to do,
I e-mail a few of my friends – just a few.
Well, actually, all of them,” we heard the cat say.
“And I ask everyone to come over and play.
“We play games! And we eat! And we have a great time!
I even send out invitations that rhyme.”
Then Sarah and I did not know what to do.
We’d never imagined the cat was a Jew.
“I’ve got an idea,” Sarah said to her spouse.
“Let’s have Super Happy Fun Day at OUR house!
“We’ll play board games, and card games, and even arcade!
I’ve heard that those things are great fun when they’re played.”
“I like how you’re thinking,” I said to my wife.
“I think we can all have the time of our life.
“Air hockey, board games – we’ll feel just like kids!
Who ever thought Christmas could be fun for yids?”
2004's invitation, a rewrite of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," finally addressed the event's main competition: Atlantic City.
And to those of you who have ignored this preamble
Because you’ll be going to AC to gamble:
You should know such abandonment truthfully hurts,
But we’re comforted knowing you’ll all lose your shirts.
Major changes to the event came the following year, as a pool table was added to the facilities and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan held a press conference announcing the event. Roundly mocked for the hackneyed format of the invitation, McClellan appeared flustered but defended the Hofstetters and their Every Child Left Behind policy that bans anyone under the age of 18 from attending the event. McClellan also addressed several other hot-button issues, including torture, allegations of steroid use, the events response to victims of Katrina, but perhaps his most memorable quote was an answer to questions about the Hofstetters' refusal to set a timetable for withdrawal: "We will see the numbers of guests start to dwindle as we get closer to Chanukah, but to say that everybody has to be out by a certain date or time would be irresponsible."
In 2006, celebrities endorsing the event included former NFL star O.J. Simpson, socialite Paris Hilton, international journalist Borat Sagdiyev, and TV Pyschologist Dr. Phil McGraw. Comedian Bill Cosby, however, said it best: "Jell-O pudding. Sweaters. Camille."
The legend of the Chepstow Dragon has been compared to that of the Loch Ness monster. It is a myth based in the small town of Chepstow, South Wales.
The legend goes that two dragons, a vicious green dragon from the south of Wales called Myfunwi and a friendly red dragon from the North called Ffwrwm, took part in a fight many years ago in a battle of national pride. The battle took place in the mountains of Snowdonia, North Wales and the vicious green dragon looked easily likely to defeat the red dragon, who did not particularly want to engage in the fight in the first place. However, the red dragon was resilient and fought off the attacks of the green dragon, and eventually the green dragon grew tired and could fight no more. At this point, the red dragon could have killed the green dragon off. However, he decided to send him to live forever underwater, and legend has it that ever since he has lived at the bottom of the river Wye.
The red dragon of course has gone on to be the symbolic of Wales, but the green dragon remains a source of mystery in the small town of Chepstow.
The legend goes that two dragons, a vicious green dragon from the south of Wales called Myfunwi and a friendly red dragon from the North called Ffwrwm, took part in a fight many years ago in a battle of national pride. The battle took place in the mountains of Snowdonia, North Wales and the vicious green dragon looked easily likely to defeat the red dragon, who did not particularly want to engage in the fight in the first place. However, the red dragon was resilient and fought off the attacks of the green dragon, and eventually the green dragon grew tired and could fight no more. At this point, the red dragon could have killed the green dragon off. However, he decided to send him to live forever underwater, and legend has it that ever since he has lived at the bottom of the river Wye.
The red dragon of course has gone on to be the symbolic of Wales, but the green dragon remains a source of mystery in the small town of Chepstow.
Rat Capone is a fictional character created for The Walt Disney Company who appeared in the late 1980s animated series Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers as a rat crime boss. His name is an homage to Al Capone.
Capone has two henchmen, a heavy-set rat named Arnold Mouseaneggar (a take on Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a lizard named Sugar Ray Lizard (a take on Sugar Ray Leonard). Like Fat Cat's henchmen, Arnold and Sugar Ray are portrayed as not very intelligent.
In his first appearance in the episode "," Capone has engineered the theft of all the city's milk, cornering the market on cheese production. Any mouse wanting cheese is thus forced to pay his extortion prices, or work for him as slave labor. In his second appearance in "," the last episode of season two, Capone is again using slave labor, this time to build for himself an elaborate palace in the sewer. In both instances, but especially in "The S.S. Drainpipe," Capone has shown an attraction to Gadget Hackwrench (calling her his "mall," a play on "gun moll"), a vulnerability which the Rescue Rangers exploit.
A character similar to Capone appeared in "" as the leader of the rodent henchmen of that episode's main villain. It is debatable whether that character and Capone are one and the same.
Capone has two henchmen, a heavy-set rat named Arnold Mouseaneggar (a take on Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a lizard named Sugar Ray Lizard (a take on Sugar Ray Leonard). Like Fat Cat's henchmen, Arnold and Sugar Ray are portrayed as not very intelligent.
In his first appearance in the episode "," Capone has engineered the theft of all the city's milk, cornering the market on cheese production. Any mouse wanting cheese is thus forced to pay his extortion prices, or work for him as slave labor. In his second appearance in "," the last episode of season two, Capone is again using slave labor, this time to build for himself an elaborate palace in the sewer. In both instances, but especially in "The S.S. Drainpipe," Capone has shown an attraction to Gadget Hackwrench (calling her his "mall," a play on "gun moll"), a vulnerability which the Rescue Rangers exploit.
A character similar to Capone appeared in "" as the leader of the rodent henchmen of that episode's main villain. It is debatable whether that character and Capone are one and the same.
Grace M. Taylor Clawson (November 15, 1887 - May 28, 2002) was a supercentenarian who was born in England, but emigrated to Montreal as an infant, and in 1901 to the United States, where she lived in Illinois and later Florida. Clawson is notable as the then "oldest living American", this status having been retroactively recognized following the death of Maude Farris-Luse. If Kamato Hongo was, as has been postulated, a year younger than claimed, then Clawson would have become the world's oldest person at this time, succeeded by fellow immigrant Adelina Domingues upon her own death.
Clawson's age became confused when, for a time, she was given up for adoption. As an adult, she thought she was born in 1889. In 1917, she married Ray Clawson in Chicago. They had has two daughters, five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
In 2001, researchers located the original 1887 birth record of Grace Taylor in London, which was written in 1887, proving that she was in fact two years older.
Clawson's family had planned to apply to the Guinness Book of World Records for recognition of her oldest living American status, but she died before the application documents arrived. Her age was posthumously verified by the Gerontology Research Group, and later accepted as valid by the International Database on Longevity.
Clawson's age became confused when, for a time, she was given up for adoption. As an adult, she thought she was born in 1889. In 1917, she married Ray Clawson in Chicago. They had has two daughters, five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
In 2001, researchers located the original 1887 birth record of Grace Taylor in London, which was written in 1887, proving that she was in fact two years older.
Clawson's family had planned to apply to the Guinness Book of World Records for recognition of her oldest living American status, but she died before the application documents arrived. Her age was posthumously verified by the Gerontology Research Group, and later accepted as valid by the International Database on Longevity.