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Okay, so maybe the only time people in Los Angeles gathered around to see how something affiliated with a groundhog turned out was when the Bill Murray-Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day premiered in 1993, cementing the comic idea of life on an endless replay loop in our pop culture lexicon.
But early this morning, in a far-off place called Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania, the real celebrity groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, drew crowds as his annual (and allegedly 100% accurate) weather forecast was made. According to legend, if Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather, and if not, there will be an early spring. Phil's been doing this job since 1886--officials claim that it's been the same little furry guy all these years, and that a nip of the "elixir of life" he gets each summer at the town's Groundhog Picnic is the secret to his long life. Yeah, it's a little strange in Punxsutawney... Phil only speaks something called "Groundhogese" (of course!) which is understood by the leader of something they call the "Inner Circle" who translates the weather prognostication for the crowd and all of America.
So what did Phil see on this fine February morning? Well, Phil saw his shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of winter for us. Hey, isn't An Inconvenient Truth available in a Grounghogese translation? Gore, get on it! The official declaration:
Here Ye! Here Ye! Here Ye! On Gobbler's Knob on this fabulous Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2008
Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators,
Rose to the call of President Bill Cooper and greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting a weathered eye toward thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil consulted with President Cooper and directed him to the appropriate scroll, which proclaimed:
"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me.
Six more weeks of winter it will be!"
