It’s probably a little bit early to start thinking about Groundhog Day, but that’s the day when Punxsutawney Phil comes out of his underground hole and predicts if winter is going to end. According to the legend, if Phil sees his shadow (on Feb 2), there will be six more weeks of cold. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

There are some rumors that Phil actually has an informant in the Department of Weather, (which is why he’s usually right) but this has never been confirmed.

Take the GAT (Groundhog Aptitude Test) by seeing how many of these frequently asked questions you know:

• Yes! Punxsutawney Phil is the only true weather forecasting groundhog. The others are impostors.

• How often is Phil's prediction correct? 100% of the time, of course!

• How many "Phils" have there been over the years? There has only been one Punxsutawney Phil. He has been making predictions for over 120 years!

• Punxsutawney Phil gets his longevity from drinking the "elixir of life," a secret recipe. Phil takes one sip every summer at the Groundhog Picnic and it magically gives him seven more years of life.

• On February 2, Phil comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Knob - in front of thousands of followers from all over the world - to predict the weather for the rest of winter.

• According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

• No! Phil's forecasts are not made in advance by the Inner Circle. After Phil emerges from his burrow on February 2, he speaks to the Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese" (a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle). His proclamation is then translated for the world.

• The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..."

• Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887.

• So the story goes, Punxsutawney Phil was named after King Phillip. Prior to being called Phil, he was called Br'er Groundhog.

Just snuck away from the party at Grandma's long enough to find some of my Dad's old CD's, and what do I find but his old scratched up copy of Pink Floyd's classic "Dark Side of the Moon." Fortunately, it downloaded onto my laptop with no skips, and I thought I'd slap it in its entirety on the Fixer's Jukebox as a Christmas present to all of you more patient listeners out there...

Should only be listened to alone, late at night, with huge headphones on your head and about an hour on your hand. First time I listened, scared the crap out of me, but it was my old friend (and enemy) Thibadeau Freck (formerly of France, now of Seemsberia), who truly turned me on to the magic of Floyd. So even though I hope to never speak to him again, at least he gave me this little treat...

P.S. more tunes being uploaded this week, including a mix from WVHP DJ Matt Rockman, but in the meantime, hope you enjoy.

Thanks to the “Seems experts” out there who pointed out a terrible discrepancy in some of the numbers relating to “The Seems.” As those of us in The Know know, Fixer Lucien Chiappa (featured in Book 2: “The Split Second”), is Fixer #12. HOWEVER, on the invitation to his retirement celebration at The Flip Side (the last page of The Split Second), he is listed as Fixer #22! This is a typo and Flip feels awful about it. But Mr. Chiappa already saw it and laughed. His exact words were: “Tell Flip to stick to burgers not flyers!”

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that it was no big deal and Mr. and Mrs. Chiappa were not the slightest bit upset. Now they have something to give Flip a hard time about til’ the end of Time.

Which hopefully won’t be any time soon!

LTF/FTL

FBD 3

My favorite things to do on Thanksgiving…

10. Nothing
9. Nothing
8. Watch TV
7. Watch TV
6. Eat
5. Eat
4. NOT get called on a Mission. (Unless it’s something cool like making sure the Fun House (In The Department of Fun) is still fun. Or taste-testing some of the new Pumpkin-Dazzleberry popsicle pies at the FDA.
3. Lock Benjamin in the garage. Just kidding. ☺
2. Give thanks for all the good stuff.
1. Call Jennifer.

Can someone please stop my father?

Somehow he got this crazy idea in his head from watching the Food Network that this Thanksgiving, we should have a Turducken! If you don’t know what a Turducken is, check this out from Wikipedia:

"A Turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The thoracic cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird."

The result is a relatively solid, albeit layered, piece of poultry, suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing. The turducken is not suitable for deep frying Cajun style (to deep fry poultry, the body cavity must be hollow to cook evenly).

Some people credit Cajun-creole fusion chef Paul Prudhomme with creating the commercial dish as part of the festival Duvall Days in Duvall, Wa in 1983. However, no one has ever verified this claim.”

If anyone has any ideas for how to intervene in this matter, please send suggstions to beckerdrane@gmail.com asap!