Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows

Sunshine Village ski resort in Banff. Sweet!
Update: Perfect weather, perfect snow. I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Gorgeous tiny chicken machine show

I thought I'd take a page from Jeremy's book and show a hilarious Japan inspired internet comedy talk show parody thing. It has been described as "a cross between David Letterman, Pee-Wee Herman, Steve Irwin, Emeril, and a Japanese schoolgirl on meth." No kidding! Plus it's about chickens...kind of. The difference here is that they are doing it on purpose as opposed to being a serious thing that ends up being hilarious because of wacky exuberance combined with cultural and linguistic differences. I'm not sure which is funnier. I wonder which is more politically incorrect? In this you're laughing with them not at them, but they are laughing at someone so we are laughing at someone by association. Hmmm, I guess it's like anything. It's easier to laugh at jokes about things that are serious but intrinsically funny for whatever reason than actually laughing at the thing itself because the original usually has other emotions and meanings wrapped up with it. Adding a layer in between softens the blow. Like political comedy or social satirists for example. This hour has 22 minutes or The Daily Show make fun of some social, religious, or political folly which, though hilarious and ironic, is often also tragic or upsetting or a chilling vision of human ineptitude placed in power and run amok. It's funny because it is supposed to be funny, not funny because if we didn't laugh we'd cry (although I do love irony). Or take people getting hurt. You may think it is funny when you see someone get hurt but there is little bit of you that remembers, "oh wait that guy got hurt! I hope those burns don't prevent him from having children! I hope his family will be able to support itself while he's in recovery! I hope that dog doesn't have to be put down!" and so on. But, what if I told you about the moron who got bit in the crotch by a pack of toy poodles because he accidentally spilled hot bacon grease down his pants? Hilarious! And it is far enough removed from the actual people that it's OK to laugh at their pain. Well anyway, enough of my musings.

Watch the first episode:


p.s. There is an official website of the GTCM show but the myspace page is funnier and has all the shows on it (I think the second episode is actually funnier than this one). It's by a comedy group called Mediocre Films which has quite a few hilarious shorts. Also it's linked to a movement called Group 101, which is apparently the largest short film content generator in the world. Go figure.
p.p.s. Rick Pope aka. Lick Poop also has a myspace page and so does the Unicow.

Monster Truck Week Part 5: Monster Truck Freestyle

Everyone secretly hopes there will be some crazy accident but it never happens and when it does it's never caught on tape. But this time it did and it was! Ha!

How do they get the truck back upright you ask? Here's how:

Also, Jurassic Attack blew a tire! Oh, and there was some other less tragic stuff that happened too.

This wasn't the last event of the show. The demolition derby was after this but the video is too big. It was fun, it's important to end an event like this with a destructive free-for-all. Gives the audience a sense of closure. Anyway, thus ends Monster Truck Week. I know it was only 5 days but I don't get my Tim Hortons on weekends either (so nobody wins I guess).

Monster Truck Week Part 4: Extreme Lawnmower Racing

Apparently there has been organized lawn mower racing in the U.S. and in England for more than 30 years, with the annual Fourth of July Race in Twelve Mile, Indiana and 12 hour lawn mower race in Wisborough Green, England the oldest known events. Who knew? The first rule of lawnmower racing is take off the blades (no not "you don't talk about lawnmower racing"). Events are open to all self-propelled rotary or reel style riding lawn mowers. The mower must originally have been designed and sold commercially to mow lawns and it must remain suitable for lawn cutting (apart from the removal of the blades). After that, the degree of modification of the lawnmower decides what racing class you are in. I'm pretty sure this was an anything goes kind of race but apparently there are 4 different classes of lawnmower race:

Stock Class - As delivered from the factory.
IMOW Class - (Int'l Mowers Of Weeds) Front engine, highly regulated.
Prepared Class - Prepared (modified) drive train, engine, etc.
FX Class - (Factory Experimental) Major modifications allowed.

It seems that lawnmower racers never race for money either, just trophies, bragging rights, etc. You might be inclined to chalk this all up in the "guys are stupid" category, but it just looks like so much fun that I can see why they do it. It's just like go-carts but sillier.
p.s. I remember being allowed to mow the lawn on the riding mower when I was little and how much fun that was. Good times. Why not turn it into a race?

Monster Truck Week Part 3: Motocross

There were races and freestyle jumping. There were 2 races of 8 and then one of 10 or 12 (I don't remember) to determine the ultimate winner. The last one was pretty crowded so it was the most exciting. The 1st place guy was the pretty clear victor, he even fell down and was able to get up and still win. The other places were a little closer, I was routing for the 14 year old kid but he didn't do very well. I have a video of a part of the race but it won't load. I'll keep trying but you may have to be contented with the freestyle jumping, which was pretty spectacular. The one guy was even sick and he still did his thing. In this part the announcer was particularly entertaining, he kept saying "No man! No! You can't do that! You're crazy!" and so forth. Good times. It kinda reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skits of "The How Do You Say? Ah Yes, Show".

Monster Truck Week Part 2: Tough Truck Races

The second clip for Monster truck week on Chickens! is from the tough truck races. There were a bunch of trucks and they raced around the track one at a time and the fastest time won. The clip doesn't show the winning truck but I think he came in second. You get the picture anyway.

Monster Truck Week Part 1: Monster Truck Drag Racing

On Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Get ready for Mayhem! Mayhem! Mayhem! It's Monster truck week on Chickens! We'll start off with Monster Truck Drag Racing! Woo Hoo! There were three series of races that went on throughout the show. There is a clip from each series, the last one being the final race to determine the winner. There are other trucks (Big Cactus Crusher and The General Lee) but they weren't as good. Apparently the winner was a bit of an upset. You go girl!

Maniac vs. Bear Foot


Bear Foot vs. Jurassic Attack


Maniac vs. Jurassic Attack

Here is a picture of a spirochete

"This is my angry face!" ______________"I found an arrowhead"
If you listen to both of the clips below you'll get classics like "I'm a brick" and "I ated the purple berries" as well as "Here is a picture of a spirochete", "When I grow up I'm going to bovine University", "Me fail English? That's unpossible.", and "I'm learn-ding". Good times, but the second one doesn't have video.

Auto Trader Motorsports Spectacular!

You pay for the whole seat...but you'll only need the edge! Not just a stereotypical nonsense saying typically associated with car-themed destructive events or various other wholesome activities involving beer and idiots hurting themselves for no reason other than the adrenalin rush, it is also the title of the second album from "Animal Alpha" a genre defying Norwegian metal/rock band. Ah Google, where would my blog be without you? I can't say I like them very much but from what I understand they take some getting used to. Anyway, notes on the event in question to follow later.

Bear and Kitten

Huh. I gotta eat more bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S).p.s. this is from a comic called Bear and Kitten. It's about a bear and a kitten. Funny stuff.

Whew! We got ourselves a bloodbath!

Ahh! She sounds like a robot ! And this song sucks! I'm freaking out!



The point of the above was that some of you may remember that song from this SNL digital short (you have to suffer through about 3 minutes of autotuned fun before you get to the recognizable bit though):



Update: Jason DeRulo released his debut single, "Whatcha Say," which samples the recognizable bit of the song too.

Chickens Concert Series #12: Thrice

I love Thrice and I've never been to the Odeon before so it was a pretty sweet concert. We sat on the second floor so we had a great view. I missed the first opener, Attack In Black, so I won't say anything about them. Say Anything was emo but they were easy enough to tune out so that wasn't too bad. Some people were disheartened to see that the lead singer was wearing a Metallica T-shirt. Certain individuals seemed to feel that the underlying themes for which Metallica stands were not adequately represented by Say Anything's musical genre of choice or their specific attempts at self-expression within said genre. However, I'm not one to fly off the handle about little details. Oh...wait...yes I am...meh, whatever, at least no one was giving them the metal horns. Also, they had some neat T-Shirts.

Anyway, Thrice was the thing so we'll focus on that. Thrice is a punk (some have described it as punk-metal fusion which I can see because they have some pretty hard driving stuff, but they've also been described as experimental punk which I can also see especially with their newest album) band featuring Dustin Kensrue (vocals/guitar - also solo artist),Teppei Teranishi (guitar/keyboards/vocals), Eddie Breckenridge (bass/keyboard/vocals) and Riley Breckenridge (drums). They formed in 1998 while they were still in high school. I like them because each of their albums is different (in a good way) and they don't fall into the punk stereotype of just playing fast and loud (metal bands have that stereotype too except they are louder and angrier). Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just doesn't put you in the front of the pack musically. Anyway, to top it off Dustin Kensrue excels as a lyricist. While I like Thrice's stuff better than Dustin's solo stuff I thought I would throw that out there for some of my more loyal readers you think gold bricks come out whenever he sits down.

Interesting sidebar: Thrice is into charity work and often gives significant portions of concert proceeds to charity.

Anywho their new album, "The Alchemy Index" shows why they have been occasionally described as "experimental rock". It is a 2 disk themed set, one called "Fire" and one called "water". They are taking their music to strange new places with this one, especially the "Water" disk. At first I was scared and angry but, after listening to it, I've grown to like it and appreciate that they are exploring their personal space as musicians. I just hope they don't go too far. Remember, a single plum floating in perfume served in a man's hat is not a legitimate beverage selection in real life.The second themed 2-disk set in this series will come out later this year. This is typical of how prolific they are as they've turned out an album for every year since '99. Though after they made Artist in the Ambulance they skipped 2004 and put out 2 albums in 2005, "If We Could Only See Us Now" and "Vheissu" (FYI . Vheissu, comes from the debut 1963 Thomas Pynchon novel "V." Dustin Kensrue read it, introduced the others to it and they eventually decided to make it the theme of the album).

The downer of the concert was that D couldn't be there to share it with us (she was off edumacatin' some country rubes). Here is a video that some people may or may not have taken with their camera for you while we were there.

St. Valentine

So I guess you want to know about St. Valentine too, huh? Fine.

Saint Valentine, patron saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, plague, travellers, young people, etc., etc. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses. He was martyred in 269 (-ish).

The origin of St. Valentine (and how many St. Valentines there were is sketchy). Some say he was a Roman who was martyred for refusing to renounce Christianity. Others swear that he was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius.

The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in a The Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493. It says he was arrested and imprisoned by Claudius II because he was caught marrying Christian couples and aiding said couples when they were inevitably persecuted. A possible rider to the religious persecution was that because of all the warring going on at the time, Claudius needed soldiers and he didn't want any of his potential soldiers refusing to go to war because they wanted to stay home with their wives/families so he announced all marriages to be unlawful. Anyway, some say that the funny thing is Claudius supposedly took a liking to Valentine while he was in jail and may have even let him go...until Valentine tried to convert him. He was subsequently clubbed, stoned , and beheaded. One legend says that, while awaiting his execution, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter and, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to her, signing it, "From your Valentine."

Regardless, in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom. Whether this was actually his death day or not, this day happens to coincide with the Roman Spring festival, the Lupercalia, held in honour of the gods Pan (god of fertility, trickster figure, origin of the word panic) and Juno (protectress of women, goddess of marriage and childbirth). One of the most important festivals in the Roman calendar, which was exported to Britain (one of many). At the Lupercalia, Roman boys and girls drew names out of a box to find out who would be their partner for the festival.

The early Christian church was unable to prevent people from celebrating this pagan festival, so they linked it with the name of St. Valentine, who became the Patron Saint of lovers, etc. Ta Da!

Fun Facts:

The custom of sending Valentines is hundreds of years old. The earliest known Valentine was sent in Norfolk in 1477, in the form of a letter from Margery Brews to John Paston, whom she described as ‘my right well beloved Valentine’. Printed Valentines began to appear in the late eighteenth century, before this they were usually lacy, hand painted (and expensive) affairs. By the 1830s Valentines were sent in such great numbers that postmen were given a special allowance for "refreshments" to help them through the week.

I read that "archaeologists" have found a Roman catacomb dedicated to St. Valentine which "proves" his existence. Didn't find any non-Catholic reference to it though.

In the Middle Ages, when men drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be they would wear these names on their sleeves for one week i.e. they would "wear their heart on their sleeve". Yay origins of sayings!

Not Saint Valentine

There were quite a few Saint Valentines back in the day. Let's take a brief look at some of the lesser known ones first.

There is the St. Valentine whose feast day is May 2. He was a bishop of Genoa, Italy, from about 295. He aided monastic expansion in his era and died in 307. His relics were discovered in 985. How romantic!

Or how about the St. Valentine whose feast day is July 16. He was bishop of Trier, Germany and was martyred in 305 when he was executed during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.

Valentine was also a pope of Rome for about 40 days in 827, and little is known about his life.

Then there is the St. Valentine (feast day December 16) who was martyred with a bunch of other saintly types in 305 at Ravenna, Italy. Apparently there is some question as to how many and who actually died at this time and place. The fact that there are so many Valentines at this time makes it easy to mix them up I suppose.

But that's not all! There is the St. Valentine of feast day September 2 fame. The 4th bishop of Strassburg, France he died in the 4th century after leading a relatively forward thinking diocese.

Let's see now...St. Valentine feast day January 7, died in Austria in 470 after being an abbot and missionary bishop in Northern Italy for a while. St. Valentine and Dubatatius, feast day November 17, executed for their faith at Carthage. St. Valentine & Hilary, feast day November 3. Beheaded in 304 at Viterbo, Italy, during the persecutions under Emperor Diocletian (Valentine was a priest and Hilary his deacon).

And that doesn't even take into account all of the Sanints with names like Valens, Valentino, Valentina, Valentin, and Valentinian. Crazy.

St.Valentine (the famous one) shares today's feast day with several saints. My favorites are St.Auxentius (died in 473) because he was a member of the personal military entourage of Emperor Theodosius II in Constantinople. Then he retired and became a hermit until he was accused of heresy. He got better and then he went to live on a mountain (Mount Skopa), near Chalcedon. Among other things he formed a congregation of women while he was up there. Also, St. Antoninus of Sorrento who died in 830 was a Benedictine abbot and patron of Sorrento, Italy. He also became a hermit on a mountain (Monte Angelo) and was hailed as a man of holiness by the unwashed local types. While he was up there St. Michael (the Archangel) visited him on the mountain. After he died he repelled an attack by the Saracens on Sorrento by a miracle. Let's see St.Valentine do that! Ha!

It's funny when things that parody other things are parodied

It's like life imitating art imitating life (Ooooo...deep!). Plus it's got Star Wars so everybody wins! Nice.

Post Production Note: This post originally came about because I wanted to put up a clip from a Family Guy episode (Season 6, Episode 5, "Peter's Daughter") that spoofs the movie "Step Up". But I couldn't find the clip but trust me it's funny. Especially if your sister had recently made you watch Step Up for her birthday. Those movies are all the same! Bah! Anyway, the above clip happened to come up while I was searching YouTube. The following is how the Family Guy bit goes, I know it loses something but just imagine me describing it and laughing and it will be funnier.

Lois: Well I think you've been wonderful like when you took her to that new movie "I'm Rich You're Poor But Let's Dance Together"
{Cut to theater}
Girl: I'm rich and you're poor but let's dance together.
Man: Society won't like it.
Girl: I don't care.

Chickens Concert Series #11: Collective Soul

Public Apology:

Sometimes in the mad pursuit of living "life", we forget about what's really important...all the procrastinators out there who rabidly check and recheck blogs in the mad hope that someone (namely me) has put some random jibber-jabber on the internet. I will now acquiesce to popular demand with another highly anticipated installment of the Chickens Concert Series.

Chickens Concert Series #11: Collective Soul

So, time for an excursion into the world of 90's mainstream alterna-rock. Collective Soul as a group has definitely looked better. But they did their thing and it was exactly what I expected. Good nostalgia value.

"Wait! Collective Soul hasn't done anything since 1995 so why the heck are they on tour and why the heck would you go see them?" you ask? I told you! Nostalgia value! Also it turns out they have been putting out albums every couple of years since they started. Don't believe me? Well, I guess some background info is in order. Collective Soul is brothers Ed Roland (Vocals/Guitars/Keyboards) and Dean Roland (Guitar), Joel Kosche (Guitar), Will Turpin (Bass/Percussion) and Ryan Hoyle (Drums/Percussion). Note: Not the original lineup. They formed in Georgia in 1994. They got their name from reading Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" (ironic considering how mainstream they are). Anywho, their debut album "Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid" went double platinum and their second album (self-titled, released the next year) went triple platinum. But, as with so many bands, their crooked manager stole all their money, royalties, and publishing rights (while they were touring in 1995 they only got a $150 a week pittance for food).They broke it off with him and in 1997 they released their third album, "Disciplined Breakdown". This was after 2 years of courtroom battles, canceled concert dates, and self-imposed seclusion in a Georgia cow pasture. In 1999 they released "Dosage" and "Blender" in 2000. If you listen to the radio at all you probably would have heard some of their songs but it is possible you didn't know it was them. It happens. It happened to me. Then there was a 13 song greatest hits album 7even Year Itch: Greatest Hits 1994-2001. I agree with Kris, it's pretty lame if you can't think up a greatest hits album with more than 15 songs on it. Especially since 2 of the songs were new. But I digress. Next we have "Youth", an independent album in 2004 and in 2005, and acoustic album called "From the Ground Up". Then a DVD or something stupid. And finally their 2007 release, "Afterwords". It's OK, but not great. So I guess it just goes to show that just because I haven't been paying attention to something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Let that be a lesson to me.

The opener was a band called Jonas (not biblical, it's the lead singer's name). Jonas released his self-titled debut album in 2004 in Quebec (his home province). He became popular there through excessive radio play, concerts and magazine appearances and later received Juno nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Album. His second album, Suite Life, came out in 2006 was nominated for Anglophone Album of the Year (his second nomination for that). His new CD release in 2007 called "Promised Land" (part of why I thought it might have been a biblical thing but it isn't) is presumably why he is touring right now. Anyway, he was pretty good. Standard rock stuff. He signed my CD and even spelled my name right. Oh! Also I got to see him sign some women's boobs. Another concert first for me! Good times watchin' hoes.



Cameras were allowed at the concert so of course there are lots of videos. But not good quality videos. What an age we live in.

Hope Is Was

A new and awesome contribution from the makers of Updog & Indy, it's HopeIsWas music. Sharing his talents with the world at large. Kudos! It takes guts to put something you care about, that tells something about you, out there. Outside interests are good!

Letters to Superbowl Commercials

There were a lot of commercials on TV yesterday (also there may have been some sort of sports event?). No, I like football, I do, but I have trouble getting into sports events that I can't find some sort of patriotism or personal link to. I like the CFL and University football and I route for Canadian hockey teams (yes even Toronto if it's a choice between them and an American team). Anyway, I like watching the funny Superbowl commercials and this year there were quite a few good ones. There are also a bunch of just normal or crappy ones that I'm not going to bother with. Besides the normal ones there were a bunch of new movie trailers for Drillbit Taylor, Wanted, Ironman, Chronicles of Narnia, Leatherheads, Jumper, Wall-E, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, and Semi-Pro (I hadn't heard of Semi-Pro yet, another Will Ferrell character movie). All of this years Superbowl commercials are on the Spike website here (the ones that look boring and normal are boring and normal so don't even bother with them or you'll be watching commercials for like an hour.

Letters to Superbowl commercials:

To Budweiser,
You had the most different commercials of anyone (6) and they were mostly funny. The Bud Light series where it gives you super powers is pretty clever. Plus the mash up with Will Ferrell is funny. I'm still not gonna drink your beer though.

To Dell,
Who walks around with their laptop like that?! No one! Bah!

To Audi,
Good work on being mildly amusing with your Godfather spoof (though it's been done). All the other car commercials sucked except for Toyota.

To Toyota,
Badgers!

To Bridgestone,
Two good ones. Screaming animals. Screaming Richard Simmons. Random Alice Cooper. It all works.

To Sunsilk,
Congratulations on being the only female targeted commercial (the Victoria's Secret one was, but only indirectly in a manipulative way). Too bad you weren't good.

To Doritos,
Wow! You shelled out for a 1 minute long music spot (little CP would totally like the song) and a second commercial that was pretty funny (in which a guy is attacked by a giant mouse for his nacho cheese). Kudos to you.

To Kim,
Gatorade has Paton Manning at the end of their commercial.

To GoDaddy.com,
An advertisement for a rejected advertisement. How avant garde. I like how you dis the TV stations with your "wardrobe malfunction" reference.

To FedEx,
A chilling vision of genetic engineering gone awry. Way to make social commentary

To E-Trade,
I see what you're trying to do there and it didn't work. The kid was creepy and the spit-up was unnecessary.

To Cars.com,
Nice! My favorite is the Glondor one but the other one with the same premise but with a head shrinking witch doctor is also funny. It's good when a gimmick comes together.

To CareerBuilder.com,
I especially like the heart one (Ewww!). You always have sweet SB commercials. I remember the "Office Jungle" ones from last year. They made me giggle.

To Coke,
Meh. Pepsi had better ones. However the ad with James Carville (democrat) and Bill Frist (republican) was surprisingly relevant and you get props for that. Also, it reminds me of the recurring scene in Simpsons Halloween episodes where Mr.Burns owes Smithers a Coke. The Shaq vitamin-water commercial was pretty silly.

To Shaq,
You giant clown. I laugh in spite of myself.

To Amp,
What the heck?!

To American Idol,
I hate you and the reality TV shit storm that you started. But, your commercial was funny and you don't take yourself too seriously so I guess you're not that bad.

To Carmen Electra,
How dare you peddle my favorite gum! I hope this means they aren't going to take Icebreakers off the market because it looks like drugs. They remind me of Homer's square watermelons.

To Pepsi,
You had the best commercials for sure and the second highest number of different ones (4)! Thriller salamanders reminds me of Geico. Oh well, still very funny. I liked when the grasshopper got randomly eaten. The commercial with Justin Timberlake was just damn funny! You know what? I'm actually going to post that one because it was my favorite (and it's inclusive too because it's good for both Justin lovers and haters).

Pepsi Stuff: Justin Timberlake - Pepsi-Cola

Chickens Cultural Moment III: Carmen

The ballet adaptation of one of the most popular operas ever. Definitely different than the opera and notably lacking because the musical score did not feature those classic tunes that everyone knows from classic cartoons (see below), but having a live orchestra makes up for it and it was still very good. Here are the stats.

You know it's quite the sordid tale. At first you think Carmen is a manipulative hussy but then you realize that Don Jose is a stupid jerk. The story is set in Seville, Spain, circa 1830. Carmen is a gypsy who has a tryst with a corporal (Don Jose). She gets in trouble with the law and seduces Don Jose and ties him up while he is sleeping and escapes prison. Don Jose gets dishonourably discharged when he is discovered. Mayhem ensues as we find out that Don Jose totally had a girlfriend, then he turns to a life of crime after he kills his superior officer (who deserved it because he was trying to rape Carmen at the time). Carmen sets him up with some gypsy friends after that but doesn't what to go with him because she has fallen in love with Escamillo (the hot toreador). Anyway, Don Jose repeatedly tries to get Carmen to run away with him but she won't and then he kills her in a jealous rage when he sees her with Escamillo. That Don Jose, he was the orchestrator of his own downfall. Just let it go dude! What the heck?!

Anyway on the topic of cartoons and opera, Tom and Jerry did a cartoon with the Carmen opera score (Itchy's a jerk!):



And here is that Bugs Bunny and Elmer classic featuring snippets from Wagner's operas (of course Bugs did some other opera themed cartoons like Rabbit of Seville and Long-Haired Hare which also hold a special place in my heart).



And finally, in all fairness to opposing musical genres, METAL!

Title: Kill the Wabbit!
Artist: Ozzy Fudd (Mark McCollum)
Album: Dr. Demento's 30th Anniversary Collection

Dads

Besides being an amusing movie with Bill Murray as well as my Dad's birthday, Groundhog Day happens to be an actual day steeped in tradition. It is associated with this Scottish poem :

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.

Ergo, sunny=shadows=more winter and cloudy=no shadows=no more winter (kind of like "April showers bring May flowers" sort of wishful thinking I guess). "Candlemas" being the day half way between the first day of winter and the first day of spring (one of the four cross quarters of the year) and commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of Jesus. Oh those wacky Christians and their appropriation of pagan feast days. Of course, weather-wise this really only works if you live in a place in which actual winter weather is halfway done in February. I'm not bitter.

Anyway, this is linked to the belief that hibernating creatures can predict the coming of spring. The original German immigrants who brought the tradition to America in the 18th century weren't about the groundhog though. Europeans would have kept their eyes on badgers, bears, hedgehogs, or the like (anything that hibernates). The idea being that the emergence of hibernating animals signals the arrival of spring. Duh!

So we mash those two ideas together a hit frape on the blender of old European folk wisdom and the omnipresent human desire to control/predict the uncontrollable/unpredictable and voila! Groundhog Day!

Oh wait! But why groundhogs? Well, I don't know ummm...maybe a groundhog saved the president from being eaten by rabid hedgehogs. I think it's because they are small enough that they can be easily handled (not like badgers or bears) and they are solitary and relatively sluggish and they are big enough that they are easy to see in a small crowd.

True stories of groundhogs:

One time when I was excavating I ended up isolating a big groundhog in a unit and when I realized he was in there I shovel shaved around him until he was hunkered in a 25x25cm chunk of dirt. His butt was hanging out but he didn't seem to care too much until I scooped the dirt that was covering him off. Then he made a kind of annoyed grunt and got up and waddled across the excavation straight to a burrow on the other side and went in. Hilarious! Man I wish I had had a camera!

Funfacts to learn and know:

The groundhog (a.k.a. woodchuck, a.k.a "whistle pig"), Marmota monax, is in the family Sciuridae which includes squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, and prairie dogs. It lives in most of Canada and the eastern United States except for Florida (Florida! That's America's wang!). Adult proportions range from 415 to 675 mm long and roughly 3 to 4 kg.





p.s. Here is a recipe for fried woodchuck. Mmmmm woodchuck.




p.p.s. Hey wait this post is supposed to be "Groundhogs" and the other post is supposed to be "Dads". Dang it!

Groundhogs

Happy Birthday Dad! Sorry about the typo in the birthday image just take out the 'a' right? Plus there is an 'r' in there somewhere. Anyway, it was either this or the "Bakers do it for the dough" image (ha ha...D'Oh!). It happens to be my uncle's birthday too but I don't think he looks at my blog. Well happy birthday to him too anyway!