Chasing Shadows, Deja Vu The Third Again The 2nd Once More With Feeling Electric Boogaloo The Two Towers

[alarm clock clicking to 6:00 AM]

[Sonny & Cher caterwauling to I Got You, Babe]

Ok, Campers, rise and shine! 'Cuz it's Groundhog Day!

Or, as Brenda here knows it:

"Groad Hogs Day"

Today is the day that we celebrate the.. day...by having this cheeky little fella:

aka "the guy with the crappy back end":

"Did I do that?"

...drive around town with Bill Murray looking for a weather forecaster who has no shadow. Which I think makes the weather forecaster a vampire.

 Ah, American holidays.

Today is also the day when we find out if winter will end soon or not.

 Hm...

 [clickety click click click]

via weather.com Fifteen years and 12 hours ago

Yeah. Good luck with that, every-state-but-Florida.

So, unless shadowless weather forecasters are run over by rodent and celebrity driven automobiles, I'd say most of you are due to see a lot more of this:

"Squashed octopodes?"

Er, no. I mean this:

"Blue crabs?"

No, no, no!

THIS:

[crickets chirping]

Oh, never mind.

Happy Grounn Dhog Day, y'all.

Thanks to Brenda M., M.Z., Melissa B., Saundra, Karen C., Jamie, & Kevin H., who would like to remind you to never drive angry. Especially with a quadruped. 

See you tomorrow, campers!

Note from john (thoJ): Yes, Groundhog Day was Sunday but what am I gonna do, NOT post this?!

*****

P.S. If by some chance you DON'T have this classic in your film library, I *highly* recommend it. Plus I just discovered it's only $10 Prime right now for the Blu-Ray:

Groundhog Day 15th Anniversary Blu-ray
*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

Sunday Sweets: Tasty Tentacles!

So I was thinking I wanted to do something different this week for Sweets. Something new. Something crazy. Something, I don't know...tentacley.

Don't worry; I'm not going to show you anything WEIRD. Besides, I bet most of you like a cute lil' octopus as much as you obviously like owls. (YOLO!)

By Cake Central member Miniminipop

And besides, lookit that cutie!

(True story: I just learned what YOLO meant last month. I'm such an internet trend failure.)

(Truer story: I just learned YOLO does NOT mean "you obviously love owls." MY ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE. [sob])

Of course, not ALL octopuses/octopi/octopodes are that adorable. Some just look all hip and cool while hanging out in their undersea gardens:

By Jacqueline Marie's

I'd like to be
Under the sea
In an octopus's garden
In the shaaaade.
(See, that's why he's cool!)

While others search the sea floor for awesome steampunk accessories:

By Over the Top Cakes

"Yesss... I shall glue some gearsss on it, and call it 'ssssteampunk!' Mwah-ha-haa!"

(Not sure why I think octopi sound like vampire snakes, but there ya go.)

Now you might think that octopodes are the only things with tentacles. NOT SO.

There are also the giant squids in storybooks:

By Sweet Fix

In this case, literally.
(See what I did there? LITERALLY?!)

And fashion-forward Disney villains:

By Cake Central member e-cakefactory

Ursula, dahling, you've never looked more delectable!

...and who can forget the infamous Davy Jones?

By Rub-a-Duckie

EEEK!! Ok, gotta be honest: this thing is WAY too realistic for me. Amazing, yes, but I swear I can see his "beard" squirming. [shudder]

Yep, I'm going to need some serious cute to recover from that.

By MyCakeSchool (photo tutorial at the link)

Ahh, that's better. Such a sweet design, and I like the writing in the sugar "sand."

What is it about a little octopus in a sailor hat that makes him look so huggable, anyway?

By D Bar Denver

D'awwww. And if I'm not mistaken, those are sugar glass gems on the top tier and on the wire sprigs. Way to whip out the SKILLZ, guys!

Now, I know my fellow geeks are waiting for a Cthulhu cake, but I've gotta tell you, I think we posted the best one just a few months ago for Halloween - and believe it or not, good Cthulhu cakes are hard to find!

Besides, just picture this next guy with a body and wings and a seeping aura of horror, and that's basically Cthulhu right there:

By Kathy Cakes

(Can you believe this is cake? 'Cuz I'm not sure I can!)

Oh! And of course we can't talk about amazing octopus cakes without this famous showstopper:

By Highland Bakery

That's 200 pounds of airbrushed awesomeness, right there. Ahhhh-MAZING.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Gee, if you love octopuses so much, why don't you get married with 'em?"

Oh, you mean like with this super-fantabulous wedding cake?

By Cake Central member RejectedSeoul

EXCELLENT IDEA, you!

Now, just throw in a few cute little seahorses, and I am SO THERE.

And finally, I'm going to end with this stunning, mildly bizarre, excessively tentacley example of cakey goodness:

By Fire and Icing

Wowza. Tentacles have never looked more elegant.

And bizarre.

But mostly elegant.

Happy Sunday!

*****

These reversible plush octopuses from Tee Turtle are all the rage right now: nearly 60,000 reviews, and they come in over 25 fun color combos:

TeeTurtle Reversible Octopus Plushie

Not only are they adorable and fun to play with, but most of the styles flip from happy to sad, so a lot of parents use them as a helpful communication tool with their kids. Love that.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot: