Thursday 3 February 2011

Countdown 26.




Cut to news!

Yesterday - Ground Hog Day.

Not just a good film.

It’s real!

Punxsutawney exists!

I thought it was fiction.

Hope Phil is right.

10 comments:

Mary said...

Great photo. Very Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.

Phil is real -- I've been to Punxsutawney and seen Phil. Sleepy town. Phil [or should I say family of Phils?] live very comfortably. I think he's only right half of the time. Hope he is right this time.

I agree, loved the movie.

Mx

popps said...

I think "his" website gives him a 30 ish percentage - but of the 24 groundhogs who are in the business, 14 of them chose "early" this year.
There was one who was unable to predict because of a blizzard.

Mary said...

LOL -- groundhog 'business'. I guess blizzards come under the heading of 'occupational hazards'.

Mx

Anne said...

Phil XII did well, maybe Phil XIII will be even better.
So what do you Brits have for the weather? In Germany it's frogs.

Anne said...

Mary, you're in Canada, right? Do Canadians do Groundhog Day?

popps said...

Anne - do you mean which animals do we use as forecasters?!!!
Well, call us old fashioned if you like but we tend to use the met office.
But if you mean raining cats and dogs........

Anne said...

That's a pity. I think the animals do a better job. The woodpecker is really going at it today. Weekend should be fine.

Mary said...

Funny that you ask Anne -- we do DO Groundhog Day in Canada. We have our own 'Wiarton Willy'[an albino] who concurred with Punx. Phil that there will be an early spring [thank Gawd!].

I didn't mention it yesterday because there is some scandal surrounding W. Willy.

[Wikipedia entry]

The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it became known that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog.

The new Wiarton Willie is also known as "Wee Willie," and is another albino groundhog. There have actually been two Wee Willies—Wee Willie and Wee Willie 2. The former was reported as deceased on July 11, 2006 after fighting an infection for the previous month.

M:-)

Anne said...

Laughed til the tears came about Wee Willie One. Oh, dear. Wikipedia actually expands on the story, bringing Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune into play. God, I love Canada!

Mary said...

Thought you'd enjoy it Anne. Can you imagine - ALBINO groundhogs!

P. Phil could never have died and decomposed without being noticed because he and his family are on display and are a popular tourist attraction in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania [otherwise known as 'Middle of Nowhere'.

Canada is, as you say, always good for a laugh. Sometimes I think all the weird people immigrated here. I proudly include myself in that grouping. Heck -- I have now the distinction of being the only Canadian to-date to win the BNB's S&T Year End Quiz!

M:-)