Today is Groundhog Day - the day when an anointed creature in small-town Pennsylvania decides the foreseeable meteorological future for us, by either seeing his shadow - which means six more weeks of Winter - or not - meaning Spring is on the way. It's a rather funny little holiday and, while I'm certain this groundhog has had extensive training, I don't put too much stock in his prediction. However, the holiday did serve as inspiration for a great, but often underappreciated movie that shares the holiday's name, "Groundhog Day." The movie starred Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell and was written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis. If you haven't seen it in a while, watch it again. It's good.
Below, find excerpts from some of the commentaries on the groundhog and the holiday delivered by Phil Connors (weatherman played by Bill Murray) in the movie...
Phil: Once a year, the eyes of the nation turn here, to this tiny hamlet in Pennsylvania, to watch a master at work. The master? Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous weatherman, the groundhog who, as legend has it, can predict the coming of an early spring. And here's the moment we've all been waiting for. Let's just see what Mr. Groundhog has to say. Hey! Over here, you little weasel! Well, that's it. Sorry you couldn't be here in person to share the electric moment. This is one event where television really fails to capture the excitement of thousands of people gathered to watch a large squirrel predict the weather, and I, for one, am deeply grateful to have been a part of it. Reporting for Channel 9, this is Phil Connors.
Phil: This is one of the most pitiful spectacles known to civilization. With one nod from a filthy rodent best known to pest control agencies, a moribund old coal mining hamlet turns into the Lourdes of Pennsylvania, mecca to thousands of people who, if they hated the winter so damned much, why don't they just move to Florida, anyway? There is no way this winter is ever going to end as long as that groundhog keeps seeing his shadow everyday. I don't see any other way out. He's got to be stopped and I've got to stop him. For Channel 9 news, this is Phil Connors.
Phil: In fact, the groundhog's legendary ability to predict the weather may be more than just the German folklore of the region. Higher temperatures trigger hormonal changes in the testosterone levels of male groundhogs, which may in fact wake them from hibernation and send them out to battle with other males for mating rights. So the truth is, they're not looking for their shadows, they're looking for groundhog chicks.
Phil: When Chekhov saw the long winter, it was a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope; and yet, we know winter's only one more step in the cycle. And standing among the people of Punxsutawney - basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. For Channel 9 news, I'm Phil Connors.
See the movie about the day Phil Connors lives over and over, over and over. It's good. Hope you're enjoying your winter. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for The Season For Loving IIIb: What Women Want!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment