According to General Lee, we’re having an early spring down here…
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Base upstart! Phil was around for a century before this stolen valor rodent.
Though I like his take on the weather. Maybe change is good.
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Never forget the reason for the season. Local commerce.
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Huh. Zoom happy hours work well for conversation practice groups in different languages. 
. Maybe those happy hour results would be better if they had a theme or discussion topics. 
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mum and i have been doing friday happy hour via zoom with Dear Brother (in Philly) every week for three years now (when he is not out of the country).
but then, we’re all family - the booze is there for a different reason.
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My father’s side of my family has had Zoom meetings every few weeks since the pandemic started. We’ve see each other more now than we ever did with annual reunions and casual gatherings. Of course, it’s cheaper in terms of gas and restaurant bills - so there’s more money for other things! 
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So infinite more weeks of winter?
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But only in Quebec.
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seems the conch agrees
“Our mollusk meteorologist concurred with Punxsutawney Phil and saw its shadow and is predicting six more weeks of winter in the north,”
emphasis added
the “molluscan meteorologist” has spoken.
sorry y’all. six more weeks of “winter” means six weeks of 70’s(F) and lower humidity. i’ll take it
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The Japanese government is trying to stop people from giving children weird, indecipherable names, suggesting new guidelines that would require kanji to be read in normal ways.
In recent years, Japan has had a problem with what are called キラキラネーム (kirakira ne-mu or “sparkling names”).
For example, parents might name their child Mirakuru (a transliteration of the English word “miracle”) and use the kanji 奇跡 to write it. 奇跡 means “miracle,” but it is typically read as “kiseki,” meaning that nobody is going to know how to read that kid’s name upon seeing it on a business card, etc.
Another example is parents naming their child Marin, but using the kanji 海 (umi, meaning “sea/ocean”). It’s a play on the English word “marine.”
Mind you, the problem isn’t that the names are weird and sure to result in a lifetime of teasing for the children. The problem is that the names are impossible for anyone to read because the parents are inventing new ways of reading kanji just for their children.
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Sounds like a cover-up by Big Winter!
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I predict that the next challenge for vital statistics registrars (and teachers) in various countries will involve creative combinations of emojis:
a
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On that matter, I had a bit of trouble getting my passport with my surname written as “Gruber” because my legal name is グルーバー, and they have specific rules for how to transliterate kana.
I had to show them documentation from before I was naturalized proving that my name had previously been spelled that way when written in the alphabet. And then, my usual airline won’t let me use my legal name (even for domestic tickets) because the name on the ticket always has to match what’s on the passport.
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All the trees are the right height. And there’s a dog on top of every car.
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Too in love to buy a ticket
In 2022, almost 86,000 passengers on Helsinki Region Transport (HSL) were caught traveling without a ticket. When HSL ticket inspectors catch passengers without a ticket, some frantically try to come up with an excuse.
As Hufvudstadsbladet points out, many rely on conventional excuses, such as that they didn’t have time to buy a ticket because they ran to the tram, or that they were only going to go one stop.
Some people, however, get more creative, and as part of a new campaign HSL has put out a song by the Kalevauva duo, featuring some of the more unusual excuses that ticket inspectors have heard over the years:
“I am in love, which prevents the use of common sense.”
“I don’t have a ticket because I threw up.”
“Can’t people from Oulu travel for free for a year?”
“I haven’t been able to buy a ticket because I’m in the middle of eating a sandwich.”
“I don’t have a ticket because I have this dog with me.”
“My mother is on the tram ahead of us and she has my ticket.”
“I haven’t been able to buy my ticket yet because my lips are so dry. I put on lip balm while digging for my travel card in my bag.”
“I don’t have my phone because I was sledding.”
“Aren’t these orange buses free?”
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