Groundhog Day 2022: Did the Marmot Live to see its Shadow? Over the last 10 years, Phil has been accurate 40% of the time, according to NOAA. While Phil gets the bulk of the attention each year, New York media outlets continue to push a competing forecast from their homegrown rival, Staten Island Chuck. While Chuck doesn’t get near the acclaim, he’s had to deal with more harrowing conditions than his Pennsylvania counterpart. In 2009, Chuck bit then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and was secretly replaced by his granddaughter, Charlotte, for the 2014 ceremony. Unfortunately, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped Charlotte on the ground, and the groundhog died several days later. Residents in Middlesex County were left without a groundhog to guide them this winter after Milltown Mel, a lesser-known weather-predicting marmot, died Sunday. “A co-star that bites you once, well, I can accept that. But a co-star that bites you twice, well now, that’s a problem.” That was Bill Murray in a 1993 interview with the Inquirer discussing his experience on the set of Groundhog Day, where he was bitten multiple times by his hairy co-star, Scooter. Recalling the experience, Murray was so bitter he struggled to remember the little critter’s name. “Hell, I don’t remember the little [jerk’s] name,” Murray said as he grew mock serious. “Let it suffice to say I will never, ever, make another major motion picture with him again. And I mean that.” https://www.inquirer.com/news/penns...22-shadow-spring-20220202.html?outputType=amp
Groundhog / Marmot is a delicacy in Mongolia. Here it is cooked in the Boodog style with hot rocks inside the carcass and the fur burned off with a blowtorch.
haha love this. Weird Ned Ryerson fact you didn't ask for: The Actor, Stephen Tobolowsky, is a Texan. He was a student at SMU when he and his girlfriend somehow ended up hanging out with David Byrne and writing parts of the film "True Stories". During this time with David Byrne, he mentioned that he could hear peoples tones in his head. David Byrne wrote the song "Radiohead" about Stephen. This is the song which the band is named after. So Radiohead, the band, is essentially named after Stephen Tobolowsky.
Bill de Blasio speaks out about dropping Staten Island groundhog on 10th anniversary of the scandal [Bill de Blasio] has previously described how his motor skills were “not at their best” when he arrived at the Staten Island Zoo to celebrate Groundhog Day on Feb. 2, 2014, and zoo staffers handed him Staten Island Chuck. “I put on these gloves, and they’re like, ‘Here’s a groundhog,’ I’m like, ‘What the f–k?..." https://nypost.com/2024/02/02/news/bill-de-blasio-speaks-out-about-dropping-staten-island-groundhog/
Scientists cast doubt on reliability of US groundhog’s weather forecasts Professional forecasters have warned that Phil’s prediction on Sunday will probably be way off the mark. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has concluded that only 35% of Phil’s forecasts have proved to be accurate – placing him at a lowly 17th compared with other rodent forecasters. Staten Island Chuck, a New York-based groundhog, tops the rankings with an impressive 85% accuracy rate on his forecasts. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...bt-reliability-us-groundhog-weather-forecasts
