Friday Five – Groundhog Day

Headphones on. White noise playing. Candle burning. Flux capacitor…fluxing. Time for another Friday Five – on time this week!

The topic for today is Groundhog Day and before I get to the list, I’d just like to say that I think this is one of the dumbest traditions still going. Come on, a bunch of guys in silly hats and gloves waiting for a rodent to emerge from his home in the hopes he’ll predict the length of winter.

Don’t be silly. The whole thing smacks of stupidity. Even meteorologists with satellite maps can’t get things right most of the time. This is why aliens don’t visit us, and the fucker probably just wants a carrot for being awakened so damn early.

Oh. And it takes place in Gobbler’s Knob. I’ll just leave things there.

Ahem. So…

Friday Five: Groundhog Day

What’s your favorite Bill Murray performance?

I’ve only seen a handful of Bill Murray movies, not including Groundhog Day. There’s Stripes, Ghostbusters, Lost in Translation, Caddyshack, and I even saw Meatballs for crying out loud. While I thought he had an interesting role in Lost in Translation, my vote would have to go Caddyshack when he played Carl Spackler. Classic, quotable role.

What’s been a highlight of your winter so far?

Win…ter? I don’t know what you’re talking about. We had a few days of very light rain but as for the rest of our so-called winter, let this image sum things up for you. This is First Street in downtown Long Beach, a transit mall reserved for buses and the Metro train.

Aside from the warm weather, I’d say the two photo excursions to Los Angeles – one solo and one with the kid – were definitely fun. I didn’t blog about them; all the pics are on Instagram. It was just easier that way.

What’s there to look forward to in the next six weeks?

There are a lot of birthdays this time of year. The wife and kid are both in March and mine is somewhere between February 1-28. As a big communal celebration, we’ll pick a place we all want to eat and go there for dinner. Last year was Benihana which we thought was fun but definitely not worth the price. In 2016 we went to a Korean BBQ which was also fun but much more affordable. This year? I’m thinking Mongolian. There’s a killer place nearby.

Too early for flapjacks?

NEVAH! I will eat them any time of day. But flapjacks are one of those things that always seem like a good idea and once you get them, you never finish them. You can go a week without eating and have two plates of them shoved in front of you, and you’ll only finish one. Diabolical bastards. Speaking of flapjacks, I’m looking forward to my free Denny’s birthday Grand Slam breakfast, too. (Last year I took the day off work and went to every single place that was offering free birthday food — and it was fuuuuun!)

If someone in a bar asks to buy you a drink (and let’s just say for the sake of the question you are amenable), what do you order?

The only time I’m in a bar is for my monthly karaoke gathering with my former coworkers. In the odd instance that this would happen to me in the first place (HA!), my choice would be easy: White Russian. Because The Dude, and because I can’t name any others. Maybe a raspberry Smirnoff Ice because nobody carries Bartles & James.

Okay then. That’s two blog posts since I decided to take a break. I’ve been getting better but it comes and goes, and right now it’s coming back. Time to go relax the eyes again.

I’m out!