Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil to make 126th prediction
"This is pitiful. A thousand people, freezing their butts off, waiting to worship a rat! What a hype. Well they used to mean something in this town, they used to pull the hog out and they used to eat it. You're hypocrites! All of ya! You got a problem with what I'm saying, Larry? Untie your tongue and you come out here and talk, huh? Am I upsetting you, Princess? You know you want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a prediction. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be gray, and it's gonna last you the rest of your life." ~~ Bill Murray, American actor and comedian, as quoted in the 1993 critically acclaimed film "Groundhog Day"
It’s that time of year again, when a funny furry fortune teller comes out of his burrow. If he casts a shadow, six more weeks of winter is predicted, if no shadow is cast, early spring is predicted.
Occurring every year on February 2nd with activities and celebrations beginning February 1st through the February 3rd Punxsy Phil will predict whether the next 6 weeks will be winter or spring.
Amazingly, for over 126 years (tracing back from 1886 or earlier) crowds as large as 40,000 have gathered at Gobbler's Knob hill at Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to celebrate. Other celebrations taking place in Pennsylvania include Quarryville in Lancaster county, the Anthracite Region of Schuylkill County and bucks County.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Day gained mass attention from the 1993 comedy film “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray who plays Phil Connors, an egotistical Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, dreams living February 2nd over and over while repeatedly indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts.
Finally he wakes up and realizes his life and priorities and makes drastic changes and improvements to his life. In 2006, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
Many wonder just how significant and scientific Punxsy Phil's shadow really is. According to groundhogday.org, the furry fortune teller is accurate 75% to 90% of the time, while a Canadian study of 13 states has the success rate at 37% of the time and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ has the overal prediction rate at 39% (since 1987). Stormfax Weather Almanac reports Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 100 times, no shadow 16 times with no record 9 times.
Groundhog day in Staten Island is sponsored by Time Warner Cable and replete with trumpets to wake up the little Staten Island Chuck as the Staten Island Zoo opens its gates at 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 2.
Chuck, or Mr. Charles G. Hogg, as he is known in formal company, will make his prediction at 7:30 a.m. and the ceremony is free.
South Carolina also celebrates Groundhog Day with a groundhog named Sir Walter Wally.
What do you think? Do you believe in the spirit or science of Groundhog Day?
Additional information:
National Film Registry Titles, FilmSite
Why Groundhog Day Could Lift the Loonie, CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/100416469
Groundhog Day: 10 things you should know before going, PENN LIVE
Groundhog Day 2013: Staten Island Chuck gets set to look for his shadow
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day: Planning your trip
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