TRUMP AIN’T NOTHING BUT A GROUNDHOG

I wasn’t going to do a Groundhog Day post, but then I came across this Feb. 1, 2017 clip and, though I had second thoughts, decided (on third thought) to pass it on. Who said I ain’t nothing but a gentleman?

Hey, nothing said (or sung) about Trump could be more vulgar (not to mention obnoxious and disgusting) than Trump himself, right?

DAYS OF OUR WIVES

The third Sunday in September, which by all (ac)counts is today, is WIFE APPRECIATION DAY. First and foremost, it’s a day for all us husbands to give thanks….thanks that we don’t live in olden times of guys like King Solomon, who had hundreds of wives for whose favors he had to pay dearly to prove his appreciation, not only this day, but on wedding anniversaries, birthdays, and romantic holidays like the ancient equivalents of Sweetest Day, Valentine’s Day, and, of course, Groundhog Day. My wallet (which I affectionately call Wally) is having a nervous breakdown just thinking about that empty feeling….and praying he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning reliving this day.

Fortunately, we live in more civilized times where monogamy is the rule and just one wife is the ruler. Wally can rest assured that I see all such days as over-commercialized evil plots furthered by vile capitalists interested only in separating Wally and me from our hard-earned jack* (surnamed Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson, Grant and Franklin) — and my would-be better half had better see it that way, because I control the Jack in my Wally, and I will not be moved by shape-up-or-ship-out demands….

*jack, n. Money. Orig. a sporting term, common 1920s. –Dictionary of American Slang

Whoa! Let us not be too hasty — you know I was only kidding, don’t you, Honey Buns? Lay that pistol down, babe….

As a matter of fact, Snooky Wooky Ookums, I do have something for you on WIFE APPRECIATION DAY: something to bring back memories of those halcyon days when lovers can’t get enough of each other (as The Donald continues to feel about The Donald):

• * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sorry, Wally. Sorry, Jack.  When you gotta go, you gotta go.

 

 

 

GROUNDHOG DEJA VU

Writer/actor/director Harold Ramis died yesterday. When I heard the news, the first thing that came to mind was GROUNDHOG DAY, his 1993 romantic comedy-fantasy (come to think of it, what romantic comedy isn’t a fantasy?) that is one of my favorite movies of all time. I immediately felt the urge to write a retrospective review of  the film, but I’m finding that professional critics have already beaten me to the punch and said what I might have said, better than I.

The Daily Beast’s Malcolm Jones, for example, writes today under the headline Harold Ramis’s ‘Groundhog Day’ Is About as Perfect as a Movie Gets that “Ramis made a lot of funny movies, but Groundhog Day is in a class by itself. For my money, you have to go back to Preston Sturges’s ’40s comedies to find its equal. No matter how often you hit repeat, this story of a man living the same day over and over just keeps getting better.” Peter Canavese of GROUCHO REVIEWS (who knew?) calls it “A memorable comedy for the ages.”

Malcolm Jones says GROUNDHOG is one of two movies he knows almost by heart (the other being Sturges’s The Lady Eve). He quotes some of his (and my) favorite GROUNDHOG dialogue, including this exchange between TV weatherman Phil Connors (played, of course, by Bill Murray) and waitress Mrs. Lancaster:

Phil:   “Do you ever have deja vu, Mrs. Lancaster?”
Mrs. Lancaster: “I don’t think so, but I could check with the kitchen.”

Jones concludes his piece thus: “Thank you, Harold Ramis, wherever you are. Thank you again, and again, and again.” Amen.

I will conclude my piece with this GROUNDHOG DAY  trailer, followed by a clip which asks, “How many days does Bill Murray spend stuck in Groundhog Day?”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVeDx9fk60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jiKYtyDg5c