Today is Groundhog Day, a North American festival which reckons that:

if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If the groundhog sees its shadow because the weather is bright and clear, it will be frightened and run back into its hole, and the winter will continue for six more weeks.

So in celebration, we’re posting Woodstock, Illinois, the location where most of the scenes from the excellent Bill Murray comedy of the same name were filmed (although it was actually set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania). And yes, in our thumbnail of the town square you can actually see “Gobbler’s Knob”…

For fans of the movie, the official Woodstock website has a PDF map which identifies all the locations used.

Thanks to Nev, Arthur and Pat.

This aircraft carrier in China is going to have a hard time achieving much while locked in a small lake some 30 miles from the sea.

That’s because it’s a ¾ scale model of the U.S. Nimitz Class Aircraft carrier, and is part of the “military education centre” of Orient Green Boat after-school camp for youngsters. Don’t ask me what youngsters at an after-school camp actually do with an aircraft carrier.

As an added bonus the 380 hectare park is purportedly the “largest sculpture park in the world” (More info from Global Security).

Also going nowhere is the $7 million North Avenue Beach House in Chicago. The ship-shaped building was originally built around the time of the Great Depression and then received a full makeover back in 2000.

Previous Landlocked ships we’ve featured: The Whampoa, Durban Seaworld and Shekou Sea World.

Thanks: TuneS, Trident2d5, Dave & Me

Oh dear, it appears that some tardy time-travellers aboard these planes at Peoria Airport have been eaten by The Langoliers!

(Although the movie was actually filmed at Bangor International Airport, I understand that no airport escapes the all-consuming wrath of the Langoliers. So that must be what we’re looking at.)

Thanks to Lrae.

With the continually increasing quality of images on Google Maps/Earth, it’s hardly surprising that the cameras are capturing ever more private moments of people’s lives. Perhaps then it was only a matter of time before the very end of someone’s life was published on the Internet for the whole world to see.

Here’s two examples of funerals taking place, one in the Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Chicago, and the other at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Washington DC Silver Spring, Maryland. In both shots you can see a crowd of mourners surrounding the grave and also the funeral procession parked nearby.

Update: From the comments, Chris pointed out a third funeral in progress at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA (where several notable San Franciscans are buried, including Joe DiMaggio).

Thanks to Yoshi, Don Bruns and Chris.

If I told you that this tall shadow in a car park in Berwyn, Illinois was cast by a huge sculpture made from eight real cars impaled on a massive metal spike, would you believe me? I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you’ve seen Wayne’s World you might remember this artwork, which was created by Dustin Shuler in 1989 and is entitled ‘Spindle’. If you look closely you can just make out the red Volkswagen Beetle at the top of the pile.

Thanks to Brian Schlosser and Joel Roller.