Feb 2 2021 - Polar Vortex takes on Groundhog

 

And we thought a groundhog was going to predict the winter weather. The Weather Network has scooped the news:     Air masses do battle in Ontario, setting the stage for a STORMY pattern in February.   How long will the Pandemic lockdowns go on before we term this the COVID Groundhog Day.  We can expect quite a few articles on the topic today. Groundhog Day is now defined in the English lexicon as a means to describe a monotonous, unpleasant, and repetitive situation. If that's the case, can you imagine how many stages we will be going through?  The script itself seemed to have a Groundhog Day experience. The script originated with writer Danny Rubin.  The script didn't initially sell.  Harold Ramis received the script:  "he admitted that he did not laugh while reading Rubin's script. He was interested in the underlying spirituality and romance present, but thought that it needed more humor. The pair discussed the core ideas in the script, raising parallels between it and the concepts of Buddhism and reincarnation.They also talked whether it was ethical for Superman—a superhuman being with the power to save the lives of countless people and prevent disasters—to effectively waste time on adventures with his partner Lois Lane." There were so many rewrites that reading about them seems wearying.  Rubin started, Ramis rewrote, then Rubin and Bill Murray rewrote. There was writing during the filming. Rubin has said that "the final film mainly resembles his script."  I consider that to be vague praise.    My favourite aspect of the movie is the different estimates of the time loop  - the studio's 2 weeks to 9 years to 34 years.  Rubin's estimate was 70 to 80 years.  Ramis' estimate is  10,000 years based on the traditional Buddhist doctrine of the time it takes for a soul to evolve to the next level.  "It is only when Phil stops using the loops to indulge his own desires and instead uses them to selflessly help others that he is freed." Is that the Pandemic message to be gained from this film?  A CNN writer today - Feb 2 2021 - thinks that we are in our own Act 3 - where Phil memorizes French poetry and learns to sculpt ice and play the piano.  I think that CNN writer is lost in the loop.  But here's the advice: "As we each pass or approach one year of lockdown, "Groundhog Day" still has lessons on how to manage our own loop. The last act of the film reminds us to focus on three areas that bring us closer to happiness if we can muster the effort. Do the right thing It's the little things Variety is the spice of life" Make a guess - where do you think we are in the cycle? Here's last year's snowstorm image demonstrating winter does repeat itself.  And then on to some montages - the first a Floyd Elzinga image overlaid with the blue copper grunge used previously. The last one is the weeping Cherry tree on Niagara street overlaid with a pastel abstract.   Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

I had no idea - it is Groundhog Week! (not day)

This is Groundhog Week!  How could I have missed that it has now become a week rather than a day. We can watch the Groundhog Day festivities live from Wiarton.  Or we can remember the great movie Groundhog Day. I consider this a National Observance Day of some sort.  That's because this is the informal celebration of the movie Groundhog Day as well. Do you remember last year when  we found out what Harold Ramis during filming thought were the number of years in the loop?  First it was 10,000, then 10, then 30 to 40 years.  The rationale ranges from how many years to evolve to the next level of spirituality, to how many years it takes to master a major skill such as a language or playing piano. This is the current popular calculation - 12,395 days - 33 years in the loop. Here's how this was calculated: Learning the sequence: 42 days Find Cowboy Outfit: 1 day Watching Heidi 2 at the movies: 100 days The Seduction of Rita: 4 days Becoming fluent in French: 4380 days Date fails: 8 days The Suicides: 20 days Learning ice sculpture: 3833 days Card flipping: 180 days Learning the piano: 3833 days Total: 12,395 – or 33 Years, 350 days So we have a special "National Observance Day" - it is a combination of celebrating our Canadian contingent of the original Saturday Night Live Troupe in this classic movie and Canadian Groundhog day.  Two great Canadian traditions.

It's "I Got You Babe" Day

Being Canadian, this is the morning we wake up to Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You Babe' coming from the clock radio next to the bed.  If anyone mentions Deja Vu, I start to sing the first bars of the song.  So here we are at Groundhog Day. The synopsis of the movie is wonderfully written at Wikipedia 'here'.  The most interesting section for me is on Time loop duration speculations.   Time loop duration speculations Estimates regarding how long Phil supposedly remains trapped in the loop, in real time, vary widely. During filming, Ramis, who was a Buddhist, observed that according to Buddhist doctrine, it takes 10,000 years for a soul to evolve to its next level. Therefore, he said, in a spiritual sense, the entire arc of Groundhog Day spans 10,000 years. In the DVD commentary, Ramis estimated a real-time duration of 10 years. Later, Ramis told a reporter, "I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and allotting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years." In 2005, Rubin said, "Ultimately it became this weird political issue because if you asked the studio, 'How long was the repetition?', they'd say, 'Two weeks'. But the point of the movie to me was that you had to feel you were enduring something that was going on for a long time ... For me it had to be—I don't know. A hundred years. A lifetime." In 2014, the website WhatCulture combined various time duration assumptions and estimated that Phil spent a total of 12,395 days—just under 34 years—reliving Groundhog Day. Danny Rubin was author of the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Harold Ramis.  He wrote a book on writing the movie - How to Write Groundhog Day.  Here is the hilarious promo page:  Buy it today! What if tomorrow never comes? Screenwriters How and why did the original screenplay change? Philosophers  Was this comedy influenced by Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence? Fans How long did the time loop last? New Screenwriters Seven acts?  It had seven acts? Psychologists Was the structure really based on Kübler-Ross’ stages of death and dying? Lovers Was it always a romantic comedy? Guys Which movie star with the initials A.MacD. sat on the screenwriter’s lap? Buddhists How much will this book cost? Danny Rubin seems to be truly thankful and happy for this experience.  I checked out his blog called Blogus Groundhogus.  The latest entry is February 2015, so I'll assume that is sufficiently recent to indicate things. Our Koi looks like it is entering a portal gate.  This was a reflection of a bridge at the Jacksonville Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens.  And of course, we continue the heart theme.