First D.J.: "Rise and shine, campers and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today." Second D.J.: "It's cold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?" First D.J.: "Not hardly. So the big question o­n everybody's lips..." Second D.J.: "O­n their chapped lips..." First D.J.: "...their chapped lips is, 'Does Phil feel lucky?' Punxsatawney Phil! That's right, woodchuck chuckers it's...

(IN UNISON): GROUNDHOG DAY!!!"

Today, Punxsutawney Phil ---  the Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary will predict whether we will have six more weeks of winter.  According to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, Phil has seen his shadow 97 times, and hasn't seen it (predicting an early spring) only 14 times.  Phil's track record is hotly disputed, though he's has had a pretty good run recently.  Nevertheless, thousands will await the sunrise and the groundhog at Gobbler's Knob in the tiny Pennsylvania hamlet that has become known as the "Weather Capital of the World," due in no small part to the movie that makes every day Groundhog Day.

This is o­ne time where the Internet really fails to capture the true excitement of a movie about a large squirrel predicting the weather. However, you can see the trailer as a refresher (while BuzzFeed compiles trivia).

In 2005, Roger Ebert revisited Groundhog Day, declaring that the film "finds its note and purpose so precisely that its genius may not be immediately noticeable. It unfolds so inevitably, is so entertaining, so apparently effortless, that you have to stand back and slap yourself before you see how good it really is."

At the other end of the political spectrum, Jonah Goldberg's equally effusive movie meditation grabbed the cover of National Review: "When I set out to write this article, I thought it'd be fun to do a quirky homage to an offbeat flick, o­ne I think is brilliant as both comedy and moral philosophy. But while doing what I intended to be cursory research -- how much reporting do you need for a review of a twelve-year-old movie that plays constantly o­n cable? -- I discovered that I wasn't alone in my interest. In the years since its release the film has been taken up by Jews, Catholics, Evangelicals, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, and followers of the oppressed Chinese Falun Gong movement."

Indeed, a 2004 article mentioned by Ebert (but not linked) from London's Independent observes that the Harold Ramis comedy has been hailed by some religious leaders as the most spiritual film of all time. More examples can be found at the NYT and the Christian Science Monitor.

As Phil Connors ultimately observed: "When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter."

ACCORDINGLY, we conclude:

...with Sonny & Cher o­n Hullabaloo and famously o­n Letterman years later, plus UB40 with Chrissie Hynde, not to mention The Cynics (from the Bonograph tribute CD), and David Bowie & Marianne Faithfull.

UPDATE: Phil saw his shadow; his main rival, Staen Island Chuck, disagreed.

RYLEY WALKER, Live at Rough Trade BK, January 26, 2017.

LEE RENALDO, Live at the Church Park Co-op, January 22, 2017.

CATE LeBON, Live at The Bowery Ballroom, January 26, 2017.

ROBIN HITCHCOCK shared "I Want To Tell You About What I Want" ahead of what is unvbelievably his first self-titled LP.

PAUL McCARTNEY & ELVIS COSTELLO: Hear the oft-bootlegged but never-released demo for “Twenty Fine Fingers," ahead of the deluxe reissue of Flowers In The Dirt.

BLONDIE and DAVE SITEK have "Fun" ahead of Pollinator.  Debbie's back in the disco.

BEACH SLANG covered The Jesus & Mary Chain and Hope Sandoval's "Sometimes Always."

FUTURE ISLANDS shared "Ran" ahead of The Far Field.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS shared “’83 Foxx And I" ahead of 50 Song Memoir.

BOB DYLAN will release a triple album of new recordings of the Great American Songbook. The man knows his ROI.

TIFT MERRITT talks to PopMatters about the joys of motherhood, life on the road, and more...

ALLISON CRUTHCHFIELD talked to Paste abouther breakup record.

REAL ESTATE: Martin Courtney tlaks to Bob Boilen about making music, The Beatles...and a horse.

BEYONCE is pregnant with twins. Should make Coachella interesting.

MEL GIBSON and VINCE VAUGHN will re-team to star in Dragged Across Concrete, a crime thriller about police brutality.

EMMA WATSON & MILES TELLER are reportedly “raising hell” with their agents after missing out on the lead roles in La La Land.

DANIEL-DAY LEWIS & PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON began filming a movie rumored to be about the fashion scene in 1950s London. 

JOE BUCK Knows Why You Hate Him.

FRANK PELLEGRINO, Sopranos star and co-owner of legendary New York restaurant Rao's, has died at 72 after battling lung cancer.

MARY TYLER MOORE's final husband is mourning the loss of his wife of more than 33 years, but he is finding hope in the assurance that her light and legacy will live on forever.

THE BEST TAKEDOWN OF HOLLYWOOD came from James Baldwin.

THE UNITED KINGDOM:The process of Britain leaving the European Union cleared a significant hurdle on Wednesday when members of the UK parliament voted in favor of allowing the government to begin divorce talks.

UKRAINE  began evacuating civilians from the eastern town at the center of the deadliest flare-up in fighting in 1 1/2 months between government forces and Russian-backed insurgents.

IRAN: White House national security adviser Michael Flynn delivered a tough warning to Iran on Wednesday for test-firing a ballistic missile and said it was in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

SEALS and PENGUINS engaging in an extreme form of sexual behavior...mass hysteria!

OLLIE the BOBCAT: Officials at the National Zoo suspended their search for Ollie, who escaped Monday from her enclosure...only to find her on zoo property.

AN OREGON WOMAN managed to get her pet python stuck in her earlobe.

COCKFIGHTING: A NYC teacher is charged with training roosters for the ring.