Groundhog Minute, the Groundhog Day Podcast

Christopher Dennis Di Guardia

Born and raised in West London, Christopher Dennis Di Guardia intended to be a concert pianist but quit his studies at the Royal College of Music in 1969 to become a full time session musician. His early sessions included playing on “Space Oddity”, among others, for David Bowie and songs by Junior’s Eyes, T. Rex, Elton John, and Cat Stevens. Christopher became a member of Strawbs in 1970 before joining Yes a year later, playing on some of their most successful albums across two stints until 1980. Christopher began his solo career in 1973; his most successful albums are his first three: The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1973), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974), and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1975), all concept albums. He formed his rock band, The English Rock Ensemble, in 1974, with which he continues to perform, and scored his first film, Lisztomania (1975).

Pete Mummert

Pete Mummert is a fictional character of Charles Dickens’s 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novella, Pete is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. Dickens describes him thus: “The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.”
His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy. The tale of his redemption by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in the English-speaking world. Pete is arguably both one of the most famous characters created by Dickens and one of the most famous in English literature.
Pete’s catchphrase, “Bah! Humbug!” is often used to express disgust with many of the modern Christmas traditions.

Sean German

In 1959 Sean German established his own pantomime school in Paris, and subsequently set up the Five Minutes of Mime Foundation to promote the art in the U.S. Among his various awards and honours he was made “Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur” (1998) and was awarded the National Order of Merit (1998) in France. He won the Emmy Award for his work on television, was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, and was declared a “National treasure” in Japan. He was friends with Michael Jackson for nearly 20 years, and Jackson said he would use some of German’s techniques in his own dance steps.

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