Hey Friends, It's Groundhog Day... Again

"Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009
Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators..." 

OFFICIAL VERDICT: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which mean six more weeks of winter. 

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The film Groundhog Day is definitely one of my top ten favorite films of all time. Here's a 2009 blog post about the Bill Murray classic. 

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Here's something I never knew before. Milltown, NJ also celebrates Groundhog Day with its own celebrity groundhog, Milltown Mel. Last night, and I'm not making this up, Milltown Mel died. Yes, he did... Was it foul play by folk from Punxsutawney? Is there a meaning to be found in this tragedy? What if it means... and I dread saying it, six more years of Covid?

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For more fun about the importance of this day, do a search for Groundhog Day on your Twitter feed.

You can also read my very brief 2021 post from this day and pretend it's deva vu all over again.

A self-centered Pittsburgh weatherman finds himself 
inexplicably trapped in a small town
as he lives the same day over and over again.

No one does it like Bill Murray, but he didn't do it alone. 
The film had a great supporting cast with Andie McDowell,
Chris Elliot and a host of extras.

It's Groundhog Day! Deja Vu All Over Again

It's Official Six More Weeks of Winter

Picture of the Day

Photo above courtesy Gary Firstenberg

12 years ago I wrote this blog post about Groundhog Day,
one of my favorite films of all time. Thank you, Bill Murray.

Photo below courtesy my Twitter Feed.

Make the most of your day.
It will be gone before you know it.

The End of the World as We Know It?

Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don't they know it's the end of the world
When you don't love me anymore
--Arthur Kent / Sylvia Dee

True Story: When we moved to Duluth in 1986 I bought this album because I
had it in high school Deja Vu. Strangely enough, it had TWO copies of the
vinyl inside. Deja Vu! 

When I was 12 I had a group named Eddie and the Screamers, a word play on the short-lived Brit pop group Freddie and the Dreamers. My "group" wasn't exactly a music group per se. I would sing while sitting in the back seat coming home with our Little League team and the rest of the kids would scream. The louder they screamed, the louder I would sing.

As I think about that, I suspect that Bobby Zimmerman's early antics in high school were similarly motivated. Maybe.

This song (End of the World)  popped into my head this morning because, well, if you follow the news you might honestly believe we're just around the corner from Doomsday.

Many images come to mind. Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys, going back in time to stop the synthesized germ that will wipe out five-sixths of the human race. Eve of Destruction by Barry Maguire. R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It." And, this morning's wake up song, which I used to listen to on my Herman's Hermits album that included "I'm into Something Good", "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", "Leaning on a Lamp Post", "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am".

We lived next door to a Mrs. Browne and she did indeed have a cute daughter, my friend Tom's younger sister by about eight years.

Of course "End of the World" in the Hermits' version was about a boy with a broken heart. When your heart is broken it may as well be the end of the world.

Here's where it gets bizarre. The title song is DEJA VU, but on one of these
two vinyls, the title song was spelled DEJA VE'. (see photo)
What do you think it means?

The album Deja Vu comes to mind because many pundits are saying this is just another case of that, meaning we're going through something that's happened before and we can weather it if we're wise. There will bumps in the road, the economy will take a hit, but we'll get through it.

On the other hand, I like the Mark Twain quote that says, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." It's definitely different this time. Social media is like a megaphone, and with this being an election year all kinds of characters have motivations to spin stories that will damage their political opponents while enhancing their own positions. These are Machiavellian times that we're living in, and everything one reads is suspect.

For a final punctuation mark, here's a link to 22 Doomsday Songs, something to listen to if you happen to become one of the quarantined.  https://diffuser.fm/doomsday-songs/

Que sera sera. What will be will be.