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May 4 is Star Wars Day

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star wars day

artwork: starwarz.com

Today is Star Wars Day. Its date is a play on words referencing the line, “May the Force be with you.” “May the fourth be with you” has become a rallying cry for fans.

It was inaugurated on May 4, 2011, at the Toronto Underground Cinema in Canada and has quickly spread around the world. Festivities include costume and trivia contests, Internet tributes, mashups, and parodies.

Disney purchased Lucasfilm from its owner (and Star Wars creator) George Lucas in late 2012. Since May 4, 2013, the company has observed the holiday with events at Disney World and Disneyland. Today, Disney’s Star Wars homepage links to numerous purveyors of officially licensed merchandise, from Grogu rings [at presstime, its link is broken, but you can order them at Baublebar] to furniture. Yes, you can cosplay your entire bedroom . . . if you have enough credits, that is.

If you’ve missed today’s celebrations or want to extend them 24 hours, you’re in luck. There is another. A new Star Wars holiday has arisen, this one from the pun “revenge of the fifth.” (By the way, on May 4, 2015, on the International Space Station, astronauts watched Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. That got us thinking: Is there any distance great enough from which Hayden Christensen’s performance looks good?)

But wait, there’s more! In 2007, the Los Angeles City Council declared May 25th Star Wars Day to honor the 30th anniversary of the original movie’s release date. Diehard fans will take any excuse to celebrate. It puts us one day closer to the next installment.

Happy Star Wars Day(s), everybody!

May 3 is National Two Different Colored Shoes Day

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national two different colored shoes day

Today is National Two Different Colored Shoes Day, founded in 2009 by Arlene Kaiser, Ed.D., to encourage everyone to “recognize and celebrate the uniqueness and diversity of humanity.” Wearing different colored shoes is meant to demonstrate the willingness to “take a positive risk” and step outside of your comfort zone.

According to Dr. Kaiser’s biographical information, she worked as a professional actress, appearing in films, television series, and commercials, and still maintains her Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) membership. She spent 25 years as a teacher and has earned B.A., M.A. and doctorate degrees. She’s been a professional speaker since 1979 and reports that she spoke for more than 350 service organizations before that.

She’s written numerous articles and a book used by school districts as a teaching resource. She now works as a life coach after completing a yearlong training program. She helps Scouts earn their national horsemanship-scouting merit badges, helps high-schoolers hone their competitive debate skills, and volunteers for the equestrian park patrol at county parks.

Whew! Dr. Kaiser is clearly a human dynamo. She also takes time to “walk her talk” by wearing mismatched shoes at least twice a week since the 1980s. The breadth of her experience may seem overwhelming, but she’s made her holiday both meaningful and a cinch to put into practice.

Declare your individuality: whisper it with mismatched Converse sneakers or shout it by pairing Doc Martens with a ballet slipper. (Even if they’re the same color, they will get you noticed.) Too much of a statement? That’s okay. Take some time today to tell your friends and loved ones how much you appreciate their unique qualities and gifts. Laugh at a shared memory of silliness. Make a new one.

Happy National Two Different Colored Shoes Day!

No Pants Day – 1st Friday in May

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no pants dayNo Pants Day is a holiday invented in the late 1990s by several University of Texas at Austin students. Calling themselves the Knighthood of Buh, the group claimed to have revived the ancient “contradictory” faith of Discordianism.

According to its Wikia page, “Discordianism recognizes chaos, discord, and dissent as valid and desirable qualities, in contrast with most religions, which idealize harmony and order.” The knights reasoned that the best expression of their belief would be to wear no pants on the first Friday in May.

In 2000, adherents began to spread the word, and No Pants Day quickly became popular on other campuses. It inspired the group ImprovEverywhere to stage its first No Pants Subway Ride in New York City two years later. The first World Naked Bike Ride took place in 2004. (Check here for upcoming clothing-optional rides in your area.)

So is Discordianism for real? The fifth and final commandment is this: “A Discordian is Prohibited from Believing What he reads.” So, yes and no.

Happy No Pants Day!

National Kazoo Day

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national kazoo day

Kazoo patent, 1902

Today is National Kazoo Day, when kazoo players celebrate the long history of the instrument in America.

No one knows the exact date of the kazoo’s invention. A popular story holds that it was designed in the 1840s by an African-American man named Alabama Vest.

German clockmaker Thaddeus Von Clegg constructed a prototype, which Vest introduced at the 1852 Georgia State Fair as the “Down-South Submarine.”

The closest we can get to verifying that account is to confirm that a state fair did occur in Macon, Georgia, in 1852.

The modern metal kazoo was patented by George D. Smith of Buffalo, New York, on May 27, 1902.

We don’t know why it wasn’t mass-produced until a dozen years later. The factory, which became known as the Original Kazoo Company, now operates a museum open to kazoo fans willing to make the pilgrimage to Eden, New York.

Down south? The Kazoo Museum in Beaufort, South Carolina, opened in 2007, and has a “collection of nearly two-hundred unique kazoo-related items.” It’s located in a kazoo factory on 12 John Galt Road, an address sure to delight Ayn Rand fans.

Budding kazooists should keep in mind that the kazoo is a membranophone, which modifies the player’s voice via a vibrating membrane. Players must hum, not blow, into the kazoo, varying pitch and volume to produce different sounds.

Because no advanced musical training is required, a player can become a virtuoso almost immediately. That fact may also be what keeps the kazoo from getting the respect it deserves.

national kazoo dayKazoo virtuoso Barbara Stewart founded the “Keep America Humming Campaign to Make the Kazoo the National Instrument” to change that. As she told kazooamerica.org:

“We have a national bird, a national song, and a national debt. Why not kazoo as a national instrument?”

Why not, indeed?

In 2007, she told CBS Sunday Morning:

“It is said that pigs might be able to learn how, if they could be persuaded to kazoo before they eat it.”

Shortly before she died in 2011, Ms. Stewart broke the Guinness World Record for Largest Kazoo Ensemble when she led an audience of 5,910 at the Royal Albert Hall in a rousing kazoo performance. We wish we could have been there to hear it, even though we imagine we would have needed an aspirin or three afterward.

Have a happy, headache-free National Kazoo Day!