Chinese New Year was celebrated last Monday and the year of the red monkey began. It brought back memories of our first Chinese New Year's celebration right around this time a few years ago down under in Adelaide, South Australia. Click here to read about the Chinese New Year's celebration in Adelaide, South Australia.
We've been preparing all week, both mentally and physically, for Super Bowl Sunday, an unofficial US holiday. Finally, it's here. The kick-off is scheduled for 1830 Eastern Time … 1530 for us Las Vegans, out west. There's an Official Super Bowl 50 website and all sorts of associated apps for phone and tablet. The media refers to it as Super Bowl Week and significant TV prime time has been devoted to the big build-up to Sunday's game. It's especially important to us because our team, the Denver Broncos, is playing. Woohoo! The game is being played in Santa Clara, California (not far from San Francisco). Super Bowl ticket prices range from $3144 - $15,000. We're obviously watching it at home.
So, how have we prepared mentally for the big event? Well, we've been watching all the programming leading up to the big game including Best Super Bowl Commercials/Advertisements over the past 50 years ($5 mil for a 30 second spot) and the Best Half Time Shows over the years and highlights of Super Bowls past. This is Super Bowl 50 … so there's lots of material to choose from. There are interviews galore with the players, men who used to be players, men who have played in the Super Bowl but who aren't playing this year, daughters of Super Bowl players … you get the gist.
Additionally, we've been sending strong mental “win” vibes to the Broncos. We really want them to win and firmly believe they will. The odds, however, are not in our favor. The Carolina Panthers are favored by 5.5 points, but that's irrelevant. We plan to win, but just in case, we have cast a few spells and are relying on a little juju to overcome the point spread.
Ah, now you're asking how we're preparing physically for the event? There have been no calisthenics involved. We had a family pow-wow and carefully planned our menu which is comprised primarily of brunch, snacks, junk food, mimosas and beer. We've made lists and shopped relentlessly to make sure we have everything we need … and in great quantities. According to the USDA, Super Bowl Sunday is “the second-largest day of the year for U.S. food consumption”, second only to Thanksgiving. We plan to do our share along with the other estimated 120 million folks who will be watching.
We haven't watched a Super Bowl game in over a decade. Including the upcoming game, the Broncos will have competed in the Super Bowl eight times. Their last wins were back-to-back Super Bowls in 1998-1999. The Broncos also hold the record for most Super Bowl losses (5 losses – shhh!), but this time we plan to eat and drink our way to a victory.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
When it comes to major holidays in the USA, Groundhog Day does not qualify. Nobody gets the day off with pay. Nobody pays much attention to it unless, of course, they're from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and then the groundhog steals the show. As the ultimate prognosticator of Spring, if old Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when he emerges from his burrow on February 2nd, there'll be six more weeks of winter. If it's cloudy and he casts no shadow, we can be assured of an early Spring.
groundhog
Phil, or his progeny, has been forecasting the advent of spring since 1887. His forecast accuracy isn't all that great … about 39%. He tends to predict longer winters, rather than earlier springs, i.e. it's been sunny or bright enough to cast a shadow on more February 2nds than not over the past 129 years.
groundhog day stats
There's evidently lots to do in Punxsutawney around this time of year. There's the Annual Groundhog Ball, known locally as the Hog Ball. This year the tickets are $30/pp. The theme is masquerade (wear a mask) and Rudy and the Professionals are playing. Could get rowdy. There's a heated celebration tent with entertainment and food/beverages for sale at Gobbler's Knob. The rest of the year's events all seem to revolve around the hog theme. I think I'd like to go one year. It would be a winter road trip. We tend to enjoy bizarre, off-the-beaten track events. That said, they estimate 20,000 people attend, so we certainly wouldn't be alone.
groundhog-phil-02
It's interesting to note, by the way, that Groundhog Day, like so many other holidays we celebrate, has its roots in old customs and religions. Imbolc, the mid-winter pagan celebration, “was traditionally a time of weather divination, and the old tradition of watching to see if serpents or badgers came from their winter dens may be a forerunner of the North American Groundhog Day.” It may be, in fact, that the celebration dates back as far as the Romans. Who would have thunk it?
This year, however, we're in Las Vegas and as far we're concerned, spring has already sprung. It never really gets all that cold here, comparatively speaking, though the locals sometime complain. The average temps are slowly rising and there's plenty of sun and warm, pleasant days … before the desert heat takes over in a couple of months. How will we celebrate? Glad, you asked. I think we'll watch the live feed of Phil emerging from his burrow, indulge in our annual viewing of the movie Groundhog Day ...
... and maybe even listen to Stephen Tobolowsky's podcast commentary on the film. Maybe we'll take the Groundhog Day quiz and practice the woodchuck tongue twister.
I also checked out some facts about groundhogs. For instance, groundhogs and woodchucks are the same critter. Gophers are different. Amazing the number of trivial facts you can ferret out when you've nothing better to do. And, yes, in case you were wondering, I'm getting mighty impatient waiting around for the closing on the house, the move and then planning our return trip to Nine of Cups. Patience...patience...patience!
Hi there and welcome to Just A Little Further!
We are David and Marcie Lynn and we've lived aboard our Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sailboat since 2000.
What began as an urge to travel slowly and economically at our own pace ended up an adventure of a lifetime.
Well, here we are ... nearly 90,000 miles under the keel, 5 continents, 5 Great Southern Capes, 36 countries and almost two decades later, still taking one passage at a time and going just a little further.
