Groundhog Day Fraud Exposed!

Mom just told me about the gigantic fraud perpetrated on us over Groundhog Day and that Punxsutawney Phil character. You know - that whole thing about when he comes out of his burrow on February 2 if he sees his shadow expect 6 more weeks of winter and if he doesn't it means an early spring?

 Photo from Reuters

Well, mom read to me this Yahoo News report and it seems the whole thing is fake, with the results decided by some people in advance! So I was hoping that we were getting an early spring because he didn't see his shadow today. And boy I could believe it because we had 70 degree weather today! I ran and played so hard out today that I threw up.

Now I don't know what to think. Well, I did see on Wikipedia that there are some other rodent rascals that predict the weather - do you think they are real?

Next thing you know I'll find out that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are fake too.

Anyway, mom and I wanted to share this film clip from one of our most favorite movies - Groundhog Day! And, for all my pals snowed in my the horrible blizzard, I do hope we get an early spring!

Happy Winter Solstice

Mom says today is the shortest day of the year. I think that means that there is less sun which means less time to play outside. We are also having an unusually cold December here in Furrginia. I am a hot blooded doggy even with my short coat but I know dad and particularly mom are complaining about the cold. My swimming pond is frozen over which makes me sad too. Dad was going to take pictures of the special eclipse last night but the 20 degree temperature (not counting the wind chill) changed his mind. He CLAIMED it was too cloudy but mom and I know better.

Mom and I decided it would be fun to participate in the Winter Solstice gift swap that The Portugese Water Dog Blog sponsored. Mom and I sent a gift all the way to England and we got a package from the Portugese Water Dogs themselves ten days or more ago now. Mom would not let me open the package because she said we had to wait for the Winter Solstice. Well, today is the day so we opened the package. Drum roll please!

Mom and I love the presents! There was a whole family of knit doggies. Of course, not as many doggies as there are over the Portugese Water Dog Blog house, but still a mom, dad and baby dog. Here is a better close up picture of just the dogs:

Mom says I can't play with them because she likes them. But I think they are fun to look at too!

I am really excited about the other present. It might be hard to see in the picture but these are dog biscuit cookie cutters. The best part is they come with a recipe and thankfully for me what mom said was an "easy" recipe because otherwise they would never get made (just saying mom).

So short days or not, I am thinking this Winter Solstice thing can't be but so bad. Mom also suggested I share with you an article that tells you everything you would ever want to know about the Winter Solstice. It's by Richard Cohen and was in Sunday's New York Times.

I know Sue and her whole family of dogs are celebrating a double early Christmas and Winter Solstice because Morgan's pathology report came back with great news after a lump was removed from her neck turned out to be benign! And, be sure and check out this blog post from them because it has lots of pictures from Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas. Williamsburg is right down the road from where we live!

The Anipal Olympics #Pawpawty

In celebration of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the monthly #pawpawty was a tribute to the Olympics. The anipals all donned their special costumes. Sometimes I think that's my favorite part. This is my skiing avatar.


My pal @FergustheDog filmed me in a practice run on the slopes. Don't worry - some really hot Saint Bernard sweeties came and rescued me as I was eating myself out of the avalanche. This is a photo of one of them. Anyway, I got to DJ for the midnight EST time slot. This theme was pretty tough for the DJs although as usual I think we all did a good job. First time DJ @TeenysFriends blipped songs from various Olympic athletes personal playlists. @BunnyJeanCook blipped songs by the artists that appeared in the Vancouver Opening Ceremonies and @CathyKeisha had contests between artists from different countries performing the same song. Since there is always so much happening at the #pawpawty and my set was a little subtle, I wanted to share my playlist with you all. Aw shucks, I'm copying something @kittehboi did a couple of pawties ago. What can I say? You know they do say it's the sincerest form of flattery.

I started with the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 Theme Song ♫ "Winter Games" Stylus Mirek Rosh.

The Olympics are about the world coming together. In this song rappers from 21 countries around the world sing ♫ "World Peace Blue Olympics Remix."

Olympic Athletes start our as Dreamers ♫ "Dreamer" Supertramp.

An athlete has to be Hungry to win ♫ "Hungry Like A Wolf" Duran Duran

No matter how hard you work, ♫ "Only the Strong Survive" REO Speedwagon

Every athlete has ♫ "The Secret of My Success" Night Ranger

Everyone can't be an Olympic Athlete. Sometimes egos are like looking through ♫ "Rose Colored Glasses" Animal Logic

But if you persevere you might achieve fame ♫ "Ladies and Gentlemen" Saliva

After all the hard work, you win a medal and you're a ♫ "Sensation" The Who

An athlete might think they are a little invincible ♫ "I am the Warrior" Patty Smyth/Scandal

An athlete might get tempted by all of the stars and adulation ♫ "Glamour Profession" Steely Dan

Too much pawtying with ♫ "Fast Company" Eagles gets an athlete in trouble - not naming any names or casting any blame .... you might smoke a little nip, sleep with a lot of women.

But we all turn into a ♫ "Couch Potato" Weird Al Yankovic watching the Olympics (I always have to include a Weird Al song in my playlists)

The Olympics is one giant ♫ "Peace Train" Cat Stevens

Hope everybody had as much fun as I did. As usual it was all to raise money for an animal charity. This month it was The Pet Samaritan Fund in the Salt Lake City, Utah area and so far we have raised over $1,300!

And don't forget to vote in the poll on my new collar (top left above).