Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: makattak on February 02, 2010, 02:55:49 PM
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Tonight I will be continuing one of my favorite rituals- watching Bill Murray's Groundhog Day.
I've always loved this movie not simply because it is a comedic masterpiece, I've always enjoyed what I perceive as the Ecclesiastes parallels.
In review of this Jonah Goldberg includes a many other examples of the greatness of this movie:
http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/goldberg200602020835.asp
Ultimately, the story is one of redemption, so it should surprise no one that it speaks to those in search of the same. But there is also a secular, even conservative, point to be made here. Connors's metamorphosis contradicts almost everything postmodernity teaches. He doesn't find paradise or liberation by becoming more "authentic," by acting on his whims and urges and listening to his inner voices. That behavior is soul-killing. He does exactly the opposite: He learns to appreciate the crowd, the community, even the bourgeois hicks and their values. He determines to make himself better by reading poetry and the classics and by learning to sculpt ice and make music, and most of all by shedding his ironic detachment from the world.
The whole article is very good.
The movie is even better. I'm sure you can find it very cheaply at your local Walmart if you wish to partake of my yearly tradition. (On the off chance you cannot rent it...)
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tonight is our 10th annual groundhog day potluck
guests must bring food shaped like an animal
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpremium1.uploadit.org%2FdocZox%2F%2Fhogcard.jpg&hash=1ca2ac95c21833344ca375c5e2479f2d66fee1b4)
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You wacky East Coasters and your crazy rituals.
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You wacky East Coasters and your crazy rituals.
Hey hey hey hey hey...
I may live on the East Coast, but I'm a wacky Midwesterner, thank you.
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Hey hey hey hey hey...
I may live on the East Coast, but I'm a wacky Midwesterner, thank you.
My best friend is a native Pennsylvanian living in Maryland (where's the puke smilie?). I tease her on a regular basis about all things East Coast.
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I yell at the TV & radio jerks that claim it's "Groundhog's Day"!
While we may have Presidents' Day we have a singular, non-possessive Groundhog Day on 02FEB.
jb - the Grammar Nazi
:police:
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The title should read:
It's GROUNDHOG DAY!..............................Again.
:D
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Personally, I think a well placed 55gr bullet from a .223 round would settle his hash once and for all. No more of this shadow nonsense. A fine pink mist and who cares if the little twerp saw his shadow or not.
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So who has some good recipes for groundhog?
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I always celebrate this day with cake and ice cream... =D
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What caliber for fat little rodents that refuse to give us the hope of an early spring? :mad:
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Happy Imbolc =D
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It's Candlemas not Groundhog Day.
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I sure as heckfire remember that movie!
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tonight is our 10th annual groundhog day potluck
guests must bring food shaped like an animal
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpremium1.uploadit.org%2FdocZox%2F%2Fhogcard.jpg&hash=1ca2ac95c21833344ca375c5e2479f2d66fee1b4)
But why not just bring the animal?
jim
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Personally, I think a well placed 55gr bullet from a .223 round would settle his hash once and for all. No more of this shadow nonsense. A fine pink mist and who cares if the little twerp saw his shadow or not.
Dynamite's not entirely without charms.
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Dust off and nuke the planet from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.
I have a proposal. Eliminate the fat little rodent. Replace with a much larger and fatter rodent, Al Gore. Since Gore insists that Global Warming is nigh, he will never see is shadow, and we'll never have 6 more weeks of winter. All will be right with the verse.
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Dust off and nuke the planet from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.
I have a proposal. Eliminate the fat little rodent. Replace with a much larger and fatter rodent, Al Gore. Since Gore insists that Global Warming is nigh, he will never see is shadow, and we'll never have 6 more weeks of winter. All will be right with the verse.
Bwahahah :laugh:
Seriously, they make excellent targets, no matter what time of year. And if you can catch a baby one, they make pretty good pets...
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What would Groundhog Day be without a stupid idea from PETA?
Groundhog Day: PETA wants to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robot
By Chris Gaylord / February 1, 2010
With Groundhog Day just a few hours away, eyes turn toward Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania. Tuesday, Punxsutawney Phil will waddle from his hole, look for his shadow, and announce whether winter will tighten its grasp or step aside for Spring.
But this year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) thinks it's time for the nation's hairiest weatherman to enjoy an early retirement. PETA's proposal: instead of parading and manhandling the wee groundhog, replace ol' Phil with a robot.
It's time to consider "retiring Phil to a sanctuary and replacing him with an electronic groundhog," says the official PETA blog. "Phil is forced to be on display year round at the local library and is denied the ability to prepare for and enter yearly hibernation.... Add to that the displeasure of large, screaming crowds, flashing lights of cameras, and human handling."
Animatronics have come a long way – last year, the Horizons blog even joked that President Obama should consider a robot dog. Rather than look for its shadow, an iPhil could analyze the latest weather patterns, perhaps even project how global warning might permanently usher in an early Spring.
Yet, won't a Phil-bot lack the cuddly charm of a real groundhog?
One PETA commenter thought so: "I think retiring Phil is not the best idea. Is living at a library with children who love him and show him affection that horrible?" asks Adam in response to the post. "He would suffer more hardship back in the wild then continuing what he has been doing his whole life. Also when you say screaming crowds, who is screaming? He's not Bono."
The Altoona (Penn.) Mirror, located 90 minutes southeast of Punxsutawney, ran an editorial today denouncing the proposed robot outsourcing. "We agree with William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, who said Phil is 'being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.' Indeed, Phil is treated like a king, surely the envy of all of his fellow groundhogs."
PETA's animals-in-entertainment specialist, Gemma Vaughan, wrote to Mr. Deeley that "These normally shy animals -- who are constantly on alert when they are out of their burrows -- become stressed when they are exposed to large, screaming crowds; flashing lights from perhaps hundreds of cameras; and human handling.... Other popular exhibitions have featured robotic penguins and dolphins who swim and communicate just like real animals do, and we think that an animatronic groundhog would similarly mesmerize a crowd full of curious spectators in Punxsutawney."
Another commenter, Bri, supported PETA's idea, saying that "I think it is a good idea to retire Phil. Yeah, sure he is living a great life, but that life was not naturally meant to be for him. It would be like keeping a bear in your house to keep as a pet, when it should be in the wild. Phil is not a domesticated animal. He is a groundhog. Living with humans is not natural to a wild animal."
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0201/Groundhog-Day-PETA-wants-to-replace-Punxsutawney-Phil-with-a-robot
BTW, PETA commenter "Adam" seems to have skimmed over the literature and missed the general PETA message. :D
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One does wonder about how Phil is resurrected for Punxy's event.
This years model seems fairly young and quite docile.
If they have a "zoo" and breed them for display,
aren't they are semi domesticated already?
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Dynamite's not entirely without charms.
There are very few problems in this world that cannot be solved with the appropriate applicatiopn of high explosives.
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Uh...the rodent in Groundhog Day is a gopher. As for groundhogs, a 243 with a 75 gr hp does the job very well. Many have fallen to my custom rifle I built back in the 60s.
My family comes from PA even though I am a native Texan. I root for the groundhog every year, hoping there will be 6 more months of winter. I lived in the UP of MI then so skiing season lasted longer when the groundhog saw his shadow.
The reason Al Gore can't see his shadow any more is his gut is getting too big to see around.....chris3
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Uh...the rodent in Groundhog Day is a gopher.
Murray and gophers go way back.
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It's Candlemas not Groundhog Day.
Yeah, after the Catholics got a hold of it :P
Goes way back to Pagan times: Brigit's (Bride) Day, the freshening of the ewes (ìmbolc). There's a story that the Cailleach (Old Hag of winter) will come out to get more firewood if the winter is going to last, and the day will be sunny if she does.
No sheep, but at least our chickens are laying again :)
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Uh...the rodent in Groundhog Day is a gopher.
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpremium1.uploadit.org%2FdocZox%2F%2Fbig_bill_in_groundhog-731047.gif&hash=d557560cf2ff1c858587d47e95c1bbc2935328fb)
Don't drive angry!
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One of my favorites movies. Filmed in Woostock Il (Northwestern suburb of Chicago) and NOT in PA. :P