punxsutawney phil day and other superstitions

edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
edited February 2006 in Strut Central
6 more weeksspeaking of superstition, i had to move on Lunar New Year (aka Chinese New Year) and my moms told me to not move because it would mean that I would be moving every day for a year. she was genuinely freaked out and acted like this moving every day thing was imminent. one new year, my mom got so pissed because the first person to walk in the door was a non-family member and she thought it meant it would mean her home would be overrun with strangers. of course, that never happened.i know baseball players have ridiculous superstitions as well. i think nomar's thing where he steps out of the batting box before every pitch and does that weird hand/wrist back and forth thing (ayo?) is so so funny. do you know peeps with strange superstitions and rituals? do you have any of your own?

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  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    i think nomar's thing where he steps out of the batting box before every pitch and does that weird hand/wrist back and forth thing (ayo?) is so so funny.

    Some people in Chicago -- especially Sox fans -- got all pissed off with that and would be like, "Chill with the gloves, man!"

    One of my only superstitions is to NOT talk about my good fortune. I don't want to jinx anything.

  • HAZHAZ 3,376 Posts
    Back in 1990, I wore the same public enemy "it takes a nation of millions"
    t-shirt when watching each of the Edmonton Oilers playoff games. I also went to synagogue every saturday during that playoff run. That was the last year they won the stanley cup.

  • i used to play the ole crack in the sidewalk game back when i was a kid and up until a few years ago i always found myself secretly playing that game. weird how habits die hard.

    i'm sure some of the more, how do say, OCD people on here have some interesting habits.

  • One of my only superstitions is to NOT talk about my good fortune. I don't want to jinx anything.

    An interesting counterpoint of course is to invoke the "anti-jinx rule" while doing it to avoid the bad luck from the jinx. You just can't beat using a superstition to circumvent another superstition!

    So

    I always like seeing which athletes start to have long ass beards by the end of the season because they stopped shaving once they hit a winning streak.

  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts
    6 more weeks




    a lot of superstitions have legitimate sources, but i can't fathom where the groundhog day tradition came from. so, does anyone know why the whole country is interested in whether a rodent sees its shadow, and really how can we tell either way??

  • NateBizzoNateBizzo 2,328 Posts
    I won't open sealed records. That's my superstition.

    Anybody got a Thrust Re-issue I can listen to? I've never actually heard it.

  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,899 Posts
    6 more weeks




    a lot of superstitions have legitimate sources, but i can't fathom where the groundhog day tradition came from. so, does anyone know why the whole country is interested in whether a rodent sees its shadow, and really how can we tell either way??

    Wiki will set you free

  • DJFerrariDJFerrari 2,411 Posts
    i used to play the ole crack in the sidewalk game back when i was a kid and up until a few years ago i always found myself secretly playing that game. weird how habits die hard.

    Oh shit! I forgot about that one. That brings me back. Watch, now I'm gonna be all about it again

    I'm not superstitious, but I do have routines that must be followed. Kinda like Nomar's thing, which btw, annoys the shit outta me. I sometimes get a little freaked when I break my routines.

    Anybody else have the 'must take first step on stairs with right foot' thingy? I didn't realize I did that until my friend said he did it too. If I'm lined up for the left foot action, I'll do a little stutter step to get my right foot up there first. Pretty weird.

    DJ Ferrari

  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    i used to play the ole crack in the sidewalk game back when i was a kid and up until a few years ago i always found myself secretly playing that game. weird how habits die hard.

    i'm sure some of the more, how do say, OCD people on here have some interesting habits.

    I still find myself playing that game. Except some city sidewalks have awkwardly placed cracks, like every one and a half steps. It trips me up.

  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts
    6 more weeks




    a lot of superstitions have legitimate sources, but i can't fathom where the groundhog day tradition came from. so, does anyone know why the whole country is interested in whether a rodent sees its shadow, and really how can we tell either way??

    huh. those silly pagan germans

  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    One of my only superstitions is to NOT talk about my good fortune. I don't want to jinx anything.

    An interesting counterpoint of course is to invoke the "anti-jinx rule" while doing it to avoid the bad luck from the jinx. You just can't beat using a superstition to circumvent another superstition!

    So

    I always like seeing which athletes start to have long ass beards by the end of the season because they stopped shaving once they hit a winning streak.

    What is this anti-jinx rule you speak of? Please tell it's easier than knocking on wood -- ever more difficult in our plasticized society.

  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    I have not walked up or down a stairccase properly since 1985.

    If I catch myself doing so I'll jump back on the stair case and double step or something like that. I don't remember why I started doing this but it became habit and I feel like it would be bad luck for me to stop.


































    BTW I collect records

  • One of my only superstitions is to NOT talk about my good fortune. I don't want to jinx anything.

    An interesting counterpoint of course is to invoke the "anti-jinx rule" while doing it to avoid the bad luck from the jinx. You just can't beat using a superstition to circumvent another superstition!

    So

    I always like seeing which athletes start to have long ass beards by the end of the season because they stopped shaving once they hit a winning streak.

    What is this anti-jinx rule you speak of? Please tell it's easier than knocking on wood -- ever more difficult in our plasticized society.

    It's all vocal.
    Here's a simple example (me to wife on way home when usually the drive is clotted up with traffic):

    "Man, I have to say, firmly invoking the anti-jinx rule, that traffic so far has been non-existent."

    Btw - I've taken to knocking on my head when no wood is available.

    Oh, and reading about the stairs reminded of the fact that I always seem to have to put my left shoe on before my right. It's not that I think anything bad will happen - it's just that they somehow don't feel right for the rest of the day if I don't do it this way.

  • d_wordd_word 666 Posts
    i used to play the ole crack in the sidewalk game back when i was a kid and up until a few years ago i always found myself secretly playing that game. weird how habits die hard.

    i'm sure some of the more, how do say, OCD people on here have some interesting habits.

    I still find myself playing that game. Except some city sidewalks have awkwardly placed cracks, like every one and a half steps. It trips me up.


    Me too. I mean I'm a grown dude and I'll step all over the sidewalk, but I'm always conscious and thinkin about it. My parents' living room still has a certain numbers of steps that gotta be used for each section.

  • DJFerrariDJFerrari 2,411 Posts
    Btw - I've taken to knocking on my head when no wood is available.

    I do that even if there is wood available. Always a good laugh.

    DJ Ferrari


  • I always like seeing which athletes start to have long ass beards by the end of the season because they stopped shaving once they hit a winning streak.

    They're kind of subconciously biting Samson from the old testament... he was shit at everything once someone shaved off his gruffnut.

    Anyway, I used to have a little thing like that pavement crack game when I was a young'un. If I was out walking and a car was coming along behind me, I'd try to beat it to a certain point (like the nearest lamp post or phonebox etc) before it passed me. It wasn't realhead OCD shit, but it kept me fit, thats for sure.

    Nowadays I am completely dismissive of all superstition. Here we are in the future, all the knowledge and stuff and yet people still think that some spiritual death trap was created along with....... the LADDER... walk under one of those mufuggaz and you're on the highway to hell!

    What about when that dude invented the umbrella...?? Woooo. Inadvertantly unleashed the potential wrath of hell - How were we to know that satan vowed to drop some bad shit on your soul if umbreallas were invented and opened indoors??

    People freak themselves out when they see a lone magpie too - they literally convince themselves that their day is going to be shizzle cause they saw a bird chilling out on its own somewhere.

    Humans. So intelligent these days.

  • One of my favorite bits on superstition is in Drugstore Cowboy:

    "Ok, who put the goddamn hat on the goddamn bed?!"

  • I used to hate flying - so much so that everytime I'm on a plane I still say "dodged that bullet!" after landing. I don't yell it out or anything - I'll just crack wise to my wife or mutter it under my breath if flying solo.

    I guess it's not even a real superstition anymore - my wife has her pilot's lisc and I used to grill her about stuff all the time, and I've flown enough (and have taken some lessons as well) that flying doesn't bother me - but I still say it out of habit/pattern anyway.

  • I had a girlfriend who would freak out if I put keys on the table (is this a Swedish thing? Fy fan...).

    We broke up.

  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    I had a girlfriend who would freak out if I put keys on the table (is this a Swedish thing? Fy fan...).

    We broke up.

    Neta would probably pissed if you didn't

  • I had a girlfriend who would freak out if I put keys on the table (is this a Swedish thing? Fy fan...).

    We broke up.

    Neta would probably pissed if you didn't


    Portuguese superstitions!
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