Did the Groundhog see his shadow in 2010? Well that depends who you ask. The American authority, as made famous by the movie Groundhog Day, is Punxsutawney Phil. According to Phil, we’re in for another 6 weeks of winter here in the northern hemisphere.

However, I recently discovered that Ohio has its own four-legged forecaster: Buckeye Chuck. According to Wikipedia, the Ohio General Assembly declared Buckeye Chuck the official State Groundhog in 1979. And why not? I’m happy to let my weather predictions fall under the jurisdiction of Buckeye Chuck, because for 2010 he predicted an early spring!

There are several other regional prognosticator, including Staten Island Chuck (who bit mayor Bloomberg in 2009), General Beauregard Lee (who holds two honorary doctorates from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University), Wiarton Willie, and of course Punxsutawney Phil.

The Travel Channel has put together a fairly complete list of the most extreme pools in the world. I was actually watching this on TV last night (for those of you who never log off: it’s that big monitor with no keyboard and more comfortable seating) when I felt inclined to TwitPic about the beer pool.

I have a few qualms with the beer pool. First of all, I was a little flustered because I had never heard of it before. When was the last time you actually learned something new from one of those MOST EXTREME countdown shows?

Second, the title “Beer Pool” is something of a misnomer. The 13×13 foot pool is filled with 52 gallons of beer mixed with 4000 gallons of water. A more accurate title would be the “1.3% Beer Pool.”

Ok, so I’m being playfully pedantic – I obviously get the novelty of having a Beer Pool, I’m just bitter I didn’t blog about it sooner.

Found @aquaticsintl, WPTV.com ran one of those entertaining “lighter side of the news” stories on a Wellington, FL code compliance officer who thought to use pleco (Plecostomus) catfish to treat the algae problem in pools of foreclosed houses. The cleaner pools would make the houses easier to sell, without fronting the cost of pool chemicals.

On January 1st, 2010, the new FINA suit rule will take effect. High schools and the NCAA are on board for banning the suits immediately – before the season gets underway. The end of bodysuits is upon us!

However, because of the late notice, some people are left holding speedsuits without a place to use them. To help those swimmers, I’ve compiled 7 perfectly good ways to use your old, illegal speedsuit:

1. Fight Crime


2. Go Tanning

3. Sandbag Your Flooded Doorstep (Non-Permeable Suits Only)

4. Join Cirque du Soleil

5. Flesh Colored Paint – Just Keep Wearing It!


6. New Winter Olympic Sport: Sled-less Ice Luge


7. Break A Slip n’ Slide Speed Record

…I guess if all else fails, you’ll have the most expensive Michael Phelps halloween costume this year!

Visual approximation from unrelated story

On the list of things that don’t belong in backyard pools, I’d say cars are among the most entertaining to hear about. I think this is my third post about a car either ending up in a pool or crashing through a water slide. This one really brightened my morning because the homeowner had a sense of humor about the damage.

I got the tweet from PoolNewsFeed that led me to an article on Fox8.com. Here’s a quote from the story:

“Homeowner Kelly Hansel joked to WCPO-TV that she thought it was going to be a good pool weekend

Unknown underwater objects clocked at incredible speeds on radar! Humanoids in silver suits spotted in mysterious underwater encounter!

According to this article from Javno.com, the British Ministry of Defense recently published documentation about UFO research dating back to the Soviet Union. Since the publication, former navy official responsible for researching UFOs, Vladimir Azhazha, has been telling anyone who will listen about the strange characteristics of the UFOs:

“Fifty percent of UFO encounters are connected with oceans. Fifteen more

Ok so this is my first time seeing this picture from December 2008, and since I love the show “How I Met Your Mother,” I thought it was pretty hilarious. Found via Pop Wrap, you can find the original photo in the Best Of 2008 Gallery on Entertainment Weekly.

Is today the day that massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way consumes our measly planet? Unlikely. But the unique date and time do make for an interesting Wednesday afternoon. Spoiler: it’s already 1:30pm on the east coast and we’re still here.

Photo source: Discovery Space

This article from the Dayton Daily News starts with a pretty entertaining hook:

“A Sugarcreek Twp. man pleaded not guilty Tuesday, June 9, to five counts of public indecency and three counts of menacing, all misdemeanors, after police say he harassed several people over the span of a week while wearing a women

Original publication: The Onion Sports Network 8/21/08

Here is an excerpt from Michael Phelps Returns To His Tank At Sea World published on TheOnion.com. Let me get a reading–yep, still funny.

ORLANDO