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Issue 920
SNIPPETZ SERVES UP A TASTE OF HEALTHY BERRIES By Lindsey Harrison 
“Number one, like yourself. Number two, you have to eat healthy. And number three, you’ve got to squeeze your buns. That’s my formula.”
– Richard Simmons, American fitness instructor Summer is in full swing. That means warm weather, longer days, barbecues and lots of yummy things to eat that we in Colorado don’t have access to all year round. That’s a lie. If we want something, regardless of the time of year, we can just go to the store and buy it. However, the quality of those items, especially produce, significantly changes in the summer. Just think about how delicious that first really ripe watermelon is! A certain writer remembers how excited she was when her family moved to a new home in Manitou Springs because that house happened to have raspberry bushes hanging over the small dividing wall between that property and the one next door. She and her older brother would literally lay on the ground beneath the bushes, with the permission of the neighbors, of course, and eat every ripe raspberry in sight. And another treat of that particular house was the mulberry tree in the back yard. Mulberries have a distinct flavor but are equally as delicious and juicy as raspberries. Just be careful because if you step on the ones that have fallen onto the lawn, your mom might get super angry if you track the dark red juice around the house. Anyway, the point is that berries are awesome and healthy and we are finally to the time of year when we can enjoy them unashamedly, so we at Snippetz knew it was worth researching. Let’s get on with it! BLUEBERRIES We’re starting off with blueberries because they’re freaking awesome. Take it from someone who has literally plucked them from the bushes in Alaska, mashed them up and made blueberry jam out of them. It was delicious, by the way. Not only are blueberries ridiculously tasty, they’re also ridiculously healthy. They are a good source of vitamins A, B6, C, E and K1, iron, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, magnesium, potassium, fiber, folate and zinc. Lucky for us, blueberries are native to North America, so we have access to fresh blueberries more readily than anyone else on Earth. You’ve probably heard about antioxidants and if you’re like a lot of the population, that all sounds fine and dandy but you’re not really sure what they are or why they’re important. Antioxidants have a variety of functions, but the ones found in blueberries are responsible for potentially reducing the risk of heart disease, lowering blood pressure and even possibly helping prevent cancer. The most nutritious part of the blueberry is the skin, so don’t peel them and discard that layer! And if you’re concerned about your brain at all, which you should be, blueberries (and other berries that are high in flavonoids) have been shown to correlate with improved brain function. BLACKBERRIES FYI, if your toddler can’t pronounce “berries” and it instead sounds like “babies,” you might turn some heads in the grocery store if she happens to see the blackberries and repeatedly yells out, “Black babies!” at the top of her lungs. That’s not to say that you should avoid buying blackberries in that instance. Blackberries are quite healthy and luckily for us, are available all year long thanks to the hard-working farmers in this country, even though they’re native to Europe. Blackberries are a good source of vitamins A, C, and K and, like blueberries, contain antioxidants that can help fight against heart disease and cancer. Although more research is needed, some studies have shown that a chemical contained in blueberries called polyphenols may contribute to improved cognitive and motor skills. Considering the dramatic implications that could have for people suffering from neurological diseases, we definitely don’t want to overlook these awesome little berries. Might we even suggest making them a part of your diet on the regular? But FYI, the really juicy ones are also very prone to causing staining on clothes. STRAWBERRIES These are the berries that most people don’t need any introduction to. That’s probably because they are incredibly easy to find in grocery stores and just about every type of breakfast bar or fruit-flavored candy has a strawberry version floating around out there. But let’s ignore the artificial strawberry side of things and focus on the real yummy, satisfying strawberries many of us to eagerly look forward to finding as the weather warms up. What’s so special about strawberries, you ask? Well, for starters, consider how important it is to have fresh fruits in your diet. The World Health Organization recommends getting 400 grams of fruits (and vegetables) in your diet each day. And with the increased number of people in America suffering from diabetes, it’s not hard to see why. Fruits contain sugars, which those with diabetes must strictly regulate each and every day. Strawberries are the perfect solution! The sugars in these sometimes sweet, sometimes tart berries doesn’t rapidly increase a person’s blood sugar. What’s more a recent study (like, a study from 2019!!) indicates that the antioxidants in strawberries has been positively linked to lowering the risk of a person suffering a myocardial infarction, which is a fancy medical term for one type of heart attack. Additionally, strawberries contain a natural anti-inflammatory called flavonoid quercetin, which studies indicate may help reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, which is a fancy medical term for plaque build-up in the arteries. Potassium? Yep, strawberries have that. Fiber? Yep, that too. Antioxidants that may help reduce your risk of developing cancer? Check. Are you starting to see a trend here, like that berries are stupid healthy, and we should all really be eating way more of them? AÇAI BERRIES This next berry is one you’ve probably heard of a lot more in the last few years than in all the years before combined. That’s because açai berries are super healthy and we’ve just recently begun to realize that. Also, açai is a hard word to pronounce but we’ve got you covered . . . it’s pronounced ah-sigh-EE. The açai berry is a uniquely flavored berry in that it is said to have a slightly chocolatey flavor. Wait. There’s a berry that tastes like chocolate?! Sold! But they have many of the same health benefits as all the other berries we’ve already mentioned? Dang. It sounds to be like we probably need to make those a staple at every restaurant EVER. Did you know that these fun little berries are actually the product of a type of palm tree? That’s probably why things with açai berries in them, like juices and whatnot, tend to be a bit more expensive than other berries. The U.S. just doesn’t have the vast fields of palm trees we’d need to keep up with the health-craze trend. OTHER BERRIES WE DIDN’T GET AROUND TO Guys, there are so many berries out there that we literally don’t have enough space to include all of them here. We touched on raspberries and mulberries at the beginning of this article, but there’s also cranberries which have long been recommended to help with urinary tract health because they help prevent bacteria from sticking to the bladder’s walls. And don’t forget about Aronia berries. Wait, you’ve never heard of them? Well, until we did this article, we hadn’t either! They are actually more commonly known as chokeberries which probably sounds more familiar. There are also bilberries. See what we mean? There are just too many to contain in one little article, even one as amazing as this. Suffice it to say, berries are good for you and super important so eat more of them! Issue 921
SNIPPETZ MARVELS AT A FEW UNIQUE ANIMALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD By Lindsey Harrison “Wilderness is not defined by the absence of certain activities, but rather the presence of certain unique and invaluable characteristics.” – Nick Rahall, American politician Our world is full of wonderful and unique things. From the depths of the oceans to the tallest mountains, incredible organisms live that make you wonder if Mother Nature had a bit too much to drink one night and randomly put together different characteristics to see how strange a creature she could make. That’s probably not what happened but considering some of the animals that are out there, it’s a hypothesis that’s as good as any other. By now you’re probably wondering what kind of crazy creatures we could possibly be talking about. They can’t be THAT weird, right? Guys, you literally have no idea. But that’s what Snippetz is here for! We’re bringing you a just a sampling of some of the world’s most unique animals, so get ready because it’s gonna quite the ride! VAMPIRE BAMBI OK, that’s not the real name of our first unique animal, but you’ll understand why we have chosen to call it that in a second. The real name of this animal is the Chinese water deer and what makes it unique is the fact that it has ridiculously long upper canine teeth that hang outside its lower lips, making it have a very vampire-ish appearance. These fangs can grow to be 2 inches or longer and, based on observations of captive members of the species, will use them to defend their territory when deemed necessary. AXOLOTL If you can pronounce that properly three times fast, you win the grand prize, which is bragging rights. Yay! Anyway, the axolotl (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) is a super unique-looking animal to say the least. It is a type of salamander that never passes out of the aquatic stage and retains its red feathery gills that protrude from the sides of its head, which stand in stark contrast to its bleach-white body. They can grow up to a foot in length and are ONLY found in the waters of the Xochimilco Lake, near Mexico City. CHINESE GIANT SALAMANDER Remember how we said that the axolotl can reach up to a foot in length? You probably considered that to be quite large for a salamander . . . and it is, unless you’re a Chinese giant salamander. These salamanders, found in the mountain streams and lakes of (duh) China, can grow to be about 5’9” and weigh in at about 65 pounds. Guys, imagine seeing a salamander that is taller than you (or at least nearly as tall as you) just wandering around a lake or stream. There are actually two other species of giant salamander in the world, but considering they’re all very, very rare, we felt they were worth mentioning in our “Unique Animals” article. BEAUTY SCHOOL FROG Again, that’s not the real name of this particular animal but it totally fits because the Xenopus genus includes 20 different species of frogs found in sub-Saharan Africa and not a single one of them can hop. But what does that have to do with beauty school? Well, since they can’t hop, they developed another means of locomotion for the times when they’re out of the water – they crawl. With short front legs and unwebbed feet, these frogs look a bit strange crawling across the ground, but they can swim really well so that makes up for it. The claws they have aren’t really claws at all, they’re “cornified” tips of their digits, but just glancing at them, it appears they have gotten themselves a nice set of acrylic nails. Maybe it was because of their stylish appearance that they became the first vertebrate to be cloned in a laboratory. LONG-BEAKED ECHIDNA If we asked you to name an animal that has the body of a mammal and the mouth of a bird, you’d likely say “duck-billed platypus,” right? Good for you, but there’s another lesser-known version of bird-mammal combination that fits that bill (see what we did there?). It’s called the long-beaked echidna and it’s found in New Guinea. As with the duck-billed platypus, it lays eggs but has fur and nurses its young once they’ve hatched. The beak of which we speak is long, pointy and measures about two-thirds of the size of the animal’s entire body. Additionally, they have spines randomly located throughout their fur, likely for surprise protection against predators. DUMBO OCTOPUS No, this time we didn’t make up a name for the unique animal of which we speak. It’s actually called the Dumbo octopus, thanks in no small part to the massive ear-like fins situated just above their eyes so they look like Dumbo’s ears. These “ears” help the octopus move through the water at about 13,100 feet below the surface where it’s found. It is the deepest-living genus of octopus and thus, rarely runs into predators, so it doesn’t have an ink sac like other octopuses do (and yes, it’s actually proper grammar to say octopuses rather than octopi – we checked). These cute little guys rarely grow larger than about 12 inches long although one specimen was measured at 5’10”. KYLIE JENNER FISH Yes, we made up that name, too. For those of you who don’t know who Kylie Jenner is, she’s a member of the infamous Kardashian-Jenner clan that has claimed a spot in the limelight for various reasons, not the least of which includes poor life choices. Anyway, recently, Kylie Jenner urged people online to use a certain method to make their lips appear bigger, more voluptuous, which apparently is what every girl should want. However, the result was people left and right damaging their lips, engorging them to ridiculous sizes and causing actual harm to the tissue. But they DID get bigger, poutier lips. All that said, the fish of which we speak is actually called the red-lipped fish or the Galapagos batfish and they certainly do appear to have large red lips. Interestingly enough, this fish doesn’t act much like a fish in that it doesn’t swim, it walks. Fair enough, but what’s with the big red lips? Scientists hypothesize they are used by the males of the species to attract females, which is completely opposite of how things work in human society. Additionally, these strange little creatures, which are found in the ocean around *gasp* the Galapagos Islands, have developed a little angler-fish-like protrusion from the top of their heads that they used to lure prey to their big red mouths. The red-lipped fish don’t grow very large and are incredibly lumpy and oddly shaped. Although scientists think the reason they don’t really have any predators is because they live on the ocean floor so they can crawl everywhere, we are here to posit the theory that they don’t have natural predators because they’re weird-looking and move strangely. Would YOU want to eat a fish that looks like it’s been putting on lipstick all day as it wobbles around with its lumpy bumpy body and fishing pole-esque protrusion, trying to find food or a suitable mate? We’ll take a hard pass on that one. As we mentioned before, there are plenty of other animals out there that can be deemed “unique” but we promised you a sampling and a sampling is all you’ll get! Issue 922
SNIPPETZ CONTEMPLATES LIFE IN REAL DEAD ZONES By Lindsey Harrison “As one looks across the barren stretches of the pack, it is sometimes difficult to realize what teeming life exists immediately beneath its surface.” – Robert Falcon Scott, British explorer The phrase “dead zone” doesn’t exactly conjure up images of lush, green jungles teeming with life. And for good reason. A dead zone is just that: a place where nothing can live. If you’re a Stephen King fan, like a certain author who has found herself in possession of two complete shelves of his books and has not one single regret about that, you’ve probably heard of his book called “The Dead Zone.” And given that he has been dubbed “The King of Horror,” you may not exactly see how a dead zone could be the topic of an entire book. It would literally have, like, three sentences. “There was nothing there. Nothing could live in the Dead Zone. The End.” But being who he is, King naturally made his book way better because it’s about a different type of dead zone. Yep, that’s right. There are several types of dead zones, depending on the context and probably who you’re talking to. Today, we’re looking at literal places on Earth where certain things (like life or technology) simply don’t exist and the implications that has for the future of mankind and the planet. Don’t worry, this article isn’t too much of a downer but we at Snippetz are hoping it might open some eyes and change some common (bad) behaviors. Read on, friends! THE KING OF HORROR’S TAKE ON “THE DEAD ZONE” Did we pique your interest when we talked about King’s book, “The Dead Zone?” If not, we’re still going to explain it a bit so we’re on the same page about what our dead zones are NOT. Basically, a man is injured in an accident and is stuck in a coma for almost five years before waking up. He then learns that he has a sort of extra-sensory perception that allows him to see into the future (remember our article about those people who thought they could tell the future??). This power is the result of the damage his brain sustained in the accident, what becomes known as his “dead zone.” So, to be clear, that’s NOT the dead zone concept we’re talking about. OCEANIC DEAD ZONES You’re probably thinking, “Alright lady, if this article isn’t about that type of dead zone, why in the world are we even bringing it up?” Well, guess what? This is our article so we can do what we want! Moving on. There are actual spots on this planet that don’t support life at all, which we mentioned before. Most of them occur in the ocean. That probably sounds super strange considering how abundant life in the oceans is. But to be honest, humans are the reason those dead zones exist in the first place. Consider this for a moment: in order to grow the massive acres of crops our human population relies on to survive, we often rely on things like fertilizer to help those crops grow. Not every single bit of the fertilizer is absorbed by the plants; sometimes it is absorbed into the ground but not used and eventually washes away, just like the fertilizer that sits on top of the soil does. Where do you think that goes? Right into our rivers and streams and eventually into the ocean. No big deal, right? If plants can use and it helps them grow, surely it can’t be THAT bad for our oceans. Well, the fertilizers we use contain high levels of nitrogen, which is awesome for algae because they feed on that. However, when those algae die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean. Again, no big deal since the microbes on the sea floor thrive on those bits of dead algae. As those microbes eat, they have to consume oxygen at the same time. With lots and lots more microbes feeding and using up the oxygen on the sea floor, the result is a serious (as in complete) lack of oxygen down there. Anything that lives on the sea floor – things like clams and other mollusks that can’t move to areas higher in the water that have more oxygen – eventually begins to suffocate. One more time: that’s great for the microbes that feed in oxygen-void environments, so what’s the problem? Well, those microbes form massive mats of bacteria which produce hydrogen sulfide gas . . . which happens to be toxic. So you see, the more fertilizer in the water = more algae = more microbes = more bacteria = deadly hydrogen sulfide gas = dead zone where nothing can survive. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, ER, OCEANS When we mentioned that massive bacteria mats are formed as a result of the equation we laid out above, we’re talking MASSIVE. Like, one dead zone measuring about 8,500 square miles, or roughly the size of New Jersey, just off the Gulf of Mexico. And that’s just ONE dead zone. A recent estimation has the number of oceanic dead zones as numbering more than 400. Imagine 400 New Jersey-sized dead zones taking up space in the oceans around the world. Not good, folks. Not good. What can be done to battle them? Well, finding other types of fertilizers that don’t dump nitrogen into our rivers and streams would be a good start. Also, since the problem is a lack of oxygen in these dead zones, one possible option would be to pump oxygen into those areas, much like how ponds are often handled. But a pond is not an ocean, obviously, so a solution of that magnitude would be quite the undertaking. Bottom line: we need to change our behaviors and figure out how to treat these dead zones if we don’t want to see more dead zones popping up (or growing larger) in the future. DESERT DEAD ZONES Oceans aren’t the only places on Earth where life cannot be sustained. There are desert dead zones, too, which may not be too surprising. We don’t commonly equate the desert with a lush landscape filled with various forms of life. Now, we’re not going to get into a debate about whether or not global warming exists and if so, to what degree it’s affecting our planet. But just know, science has indicated that climbing temperatures in very delicate areas like deserts, where only specialized animals and plants can survive, is creating an environment that is increasingly difficult for any sort of life to exist. The American Southwest is experiencing some of this devastating climate change and, coupled with human vandalism (like literally stealing cacti that are integral to the homeostasis of that region), unheard of amounts of plant and animal life are disappearing. One GOOD thing that has come from these desert dead zones is that we are studying how to survive in regions with little to no natural resources . . . like, oh, Mars for instance. That’s right, whether or not you consider human’s desire to colonize other planets a good thing, we are finding more and more ways to survive in increasingly harsh environments, including ones on other planets. Hopefully we won’t need to move to another planet because we’ve killed this one any time soon . . . but just know that in 2020, two new missions to Mars will occur and who knows where that will lead!! Issue 923
EVERYTHING YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT KING HENRY VIII By Lindsey Harrison 
“And love is love in beggars and in kings.”
– Edward Dyer, English courtier “I’m Henry the Eighth I am, Henry the Eighth I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door, she’s been married seven times before.” You’ve probably heard this song sung in various iterations at one point in your life or another. If not, you should probably check YouTube to check if they have a corresponding video for it because it’s an incredibly important song. But here’s the thing: does it strike anyone else as funny that that song claims that Henry VIII married the widow next door who was married seven times previously, when he himself was married six times? Sounds to us like someone needs to get their facts straight . . . and maybe, just maybe, we’re the perfect people to make that happen! Don’t you feel lucky that you’ve got this trusty (and ridiculously entertaining and informative) magazine we call Snippetz to help set the record straight? If you’re not sure if you feel lucky or not, keep reading. You’ll feel it soon enough! WHO WAS KING HENRY VIII? To put it bluntly, King Henry was the king of England from 1509 to 1547. He was the second son of King Henry VII (that’s how these thing’s work . . . his dad was Henry No. 7 and he was Henry No. 8) and Elizabeth of York. He had an older brother, Arthur, who would have ascended to the throne before him if Arthur hadn’t died at the ripe old age of 15. His sister Margaret eventually became Queen of Scotland and his other sister Mary spent a short time as the Queen of France. Yes, Henry VIII was married six times. His first wife, the one who (in our humble opinion) got the serious raw end of the deal, was actually the widow of his older brother, although the couple had only been married for six months before Arthur passed away. In a time when legitimacy of a marriage, proof of consummation (or lack thereof) and divorce might as well have been curse words, marrying your older brother’s widow certainly raised a few eyebrows. Especially if that widow also happened to be Catharine of Aragon, a woman from an equally powerful Spanish family. OK, so Henry VIII first married Catharine shortly after he took the throne in 1509. Check. But it wasn’t like he rushed off and found his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and insisted on marrying her instead. In fact, he was married to Catharine for more than 20 years and would have had several children with her, had the multiple pregnancies she experienced all resulted in a live birth. Sadly, only one did and it was just a girl, Mary. In Henry VIII’s eyes, his lack of a male heir was entirely his wife’s fault. God forbid it be his issue, right? And who would ever think a female heir would be just as valuable as a male heir? Back then, literally no one did. Isn’t it interesting that in 1527, when Henry VIII met Anne Boleyn (and apparently fell in lust with her), he became overwhelmed with the certainty that his marriage to Catharine was against God’s divine plan since marrying one’s brother’s widow is frowned upon in the Bible? He literally assumed Catharine’s inability to produce a male heir and the multiple miscarriages and/or stillbirths the two experienced was proof of God’s disapproval. Henry VIII was convinced he was living in mortal sin with his wife. For the next six years, Henry VIII not only pursued Anne Boleyn but also undertook “the King’s great matter,” as it came to be known . . . his divorce from Catharine. In order to achieve this, Henry VIII had to split from the Roman Catholic Church, which staunchly disapproved of divorce, and created his own Church of England, of which he was naturally the head. Via this new religion, he granted himself an annulment from Catharine and in 1533, he married Anne Boleyn. TELL US SOMETHING WE DON’T KNOW Of course, there was lots more to Henry VIII’s life after he married (and eventually beheaded) Anne Boleyn. Like, the fact that he married Jane Seymour next, then Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Maybe he always secretly longed for his first wife, considering how many Catharine’s he ended up marrying, but she died in 1536, making that impossible. But aside from his six wives, there was a lot more about Henry VIII that many people likely haven’t ever heard. For instance, Henry VIII was a clean eater. That may not sound interesting, but if you’re like us, you have an image in your mind of every king literally tearing into a turkey’s drumstick and sloshing wine out of his goblet as he amuses himself at dinner. See, when you’re king, no one can tell you to mind your manners. But that’s not how King Henry liked to operate. He preferred to eat alone and took time to wash his hands throughout the meal. Congratulations, King. You’re tidy. Wonderful. But want to know something else even more impressive – especially coming from someone who loves writing? King Henry VIII was an author! Sure, he loved to hunt and sometimes that took precedence over a lot. But prior to his split with the Roman Catholic Church, Henry actually came to their defense and penned a 30,000-word book called, “Defense of the Seven Sacraments” in response to the recently released work by Martin Luther called, “Ninety-five,” which openly challenged the Pope’s authority. Ironic coming from the man who later created his own religion because he didn’t agree with the Pope’s decision NOT to granted him an annulment from his first wife, am I right? And what’s more, he was the first king to give the go-ahead to have the Bible translated into English. Nice work! Now this may not be too surprising, but King Henry was a bit narcissistic. That narcissism was so deeply ingrained that he quite literally avoided Anne Boleyn when she caught the “sweating sickness” in 1528. Bear in mind, that was still the time when Henry was actively pursuing her. To be fair, he sent a doctor to make sure she was OK, but he wasn’t going to be caught dead hanging out with her while she was ill. That’s not all, either. Now, Jane Seymour was rumored to be his favorite wife because she was the only one who gave birth to a boy, Prince Edward. But before they knew the sex of the baby and while his dear wife was in labor, it suddenly became clear that there might be a tough decision ahead for King Henry – save the mother or save the baby. Thankfully, that decision didn’t actually have to be made because Jane would have gone the way of so many of his other wives. He actually said to the doctors, “Save the child, by all means, for other wives may be easily found.” KING HENRY VIII SNIPPETZ
Issue 924
LET'S HEAR IT FOR A CAPPELLA AND BARBERSHOP MUSIC! By Lindsey Harrison 
“My singing voice is somewhere between a drunken apology and a plumbing problem.” – Colin Firth, English actor
There’s no denying that singing isn’t for everyone. Sure, it’s great to cut loose in the car to your favorite song or belt out some random wannabe opera during your shower. But it’s something else entirely to intentionally sing in front of other people. And not just your kids, either, although in some cases, they might be your toughest critic. At any rate, singing well requires talent and that’s just not something everyone possesses. In this day and age, where auto-tune reigns and literally anyone can sound good with the help of a little digital magic, it’s rare and incredibly impressive to find someone who sounds good without all that background mess. Perhaps that’s why the whole “a cappella” movement came about . . . the idea that people make music that is just as full and rich as the music made with multiple instruments or digital cheating, er, we mean auto-tune, but they only use their voices, that’s a cappella. And it’s definitely not a new thing, either. It started more than a century ago. Intrigued yet? We thought so which is why this Snippetz article is all about the history of a cappella singing and its predecessor, the barbershop quartet! PAYING HOMAGE TO A CAPPELLA’S TRUE ROOTS Yes, the barbershop quartet was the predecessor to the a cappella singing group but even before barbershop groups were formed, singing without the aid of musical instruments has been strongly tied to the abomination that was slavery in America. No, the slaves didn’t gather around a barbershop pole, dressed in fancy outfits and sing for whatever spare change came their way. Instead, they worked their fingers to the bones out in the fields and to make that time as close to tolerable as possible, they created beautiful four-part harmonies out of the sons they knew. Technically speaking, it’s called barbershop harmony, but given that the songs were frequently sung in a four-part harmony, it became a popular practice to have quartet singing groups. For decades, people have erroneously assumed that barbershop began with the rich harmony found in the song “Play That Barbershop Chord,” released in 1910. However, that song was both written and recorded by a quartet of Caucasian men, not African-American men, who obviously took their cue from the African-American tradition of creating songs without any instruments. It’s about time we give some credit where credit is due. BARBERSHOP MUSIC Now that we know about that, you’re probably wondering why in the world it ever came to be called “barbershop” anything. There’s actually a legitimate reason behind that moniker. Picture this: you’re just a regular guy living in the United States during the 1830s or thereabouts. You’re in dire need of a haircut so you head to your local barber for a trim. But wait! What’s this? There’s a huge line, a crowd of men all gathered together chatting while they wait their turn for a shave or trim. Interestingly enough, it appears that many of them don’t seem to mind waiting one bit! They are actually enjoying themselves at their little make-shift social club. If you’re lucky, the barber you see has a bit of vocal talent and perhaps he treats to you a song. The next thing you know, several other men have joined in, adding their voices to create a harmony. Flash forward a couple years and the fad has finally caught on. And guess what? These “barbershop singers” are pretty decent opening acts for Vaudeville performers, managing to keep an impatient audience entertained until the main act was ready to go. So, what makes a barbershop quartet officially a barbershop quartet? These groups follow a specific type of arrangement where the lead singer (usually the second tenor) carries the melody, the first tenor sings the harmony just above that, the bass sings the very lowest notes and the baritone picks up the empty middle chords. OK, noted. So, then what makes an a cappella group an a cappella group? Well, as long as they can sing well and don’t use instruments, the group can be considered an a cappella group. Pentatonix is a popular a cappella group that has five members, obviously more than a barbershop quartet and some might go out on a limb to say they get a richer sound because they can hit more of the middle notes you might find are missing in a traditional barbershop quartet. COLORADO’S VERY OWN A CAPPELLA BOYS Ever since the movie “Pitch Perfect” was released in 2012, everyone is suddenly eager to get into an a cappella group and show their stuff. But did you know that even before that movie came out, Colorful Colorado already had its very own a cappella group, F.A.C.E. vocal band. Hailing from Boulder, the group was formed in 2002 and by 2009, they secured a spot on the NBC show “The Sing-Off.” While they didn’t win that particular singing competition, the guys have managed to fill concert venues in the decade following and even dazzled a certain writer and her family at the Stargazer Theater in Colorado Springs in 2018. Performing hits from the 1980s, it was certainly a night to remember and made her entire family proud to be Coloradans (as if they needed another reason to feel that way). BEAT BOXING As part of the F.A.C.E. vocal band’s repertoire of vocal stylings is a method of creating percussion sounds and they fondly refer to their “percussionist” as their “Spittle Player.” Well, maybe not in all circumstances . . . they did a cover of the Charlie Daniels Band’s “Devil Went Down to Georgia” that they call “Devil Went Down to Boulder.” Rather than the main character Johnny being a fiddle player, F.A.C.E. calls him their “Spittle Player.” Why? Well, in beat boxing, one of the most frequently used methods of creating the desired sound is to basically put your lips together and spit. While beat boxing is generally associated with creating the percussion sounds, depending on how the performer handles it, beat boxing creates the rhythm of the music AND the other fun sounds you may hear in contemporary a cappella music, like DJ record-scratching and synthesizers, just to name a few. Beat boxing is not a new thing any more than a cappella is a style that emerged as this article was being written. Although you may not be familiar with other beat boxing in music, plenty of super star musicians incorporated it into their music. Pink Floyd used it in “Pow R. Toc H.,” released in 1967 and Paul McCartney used it in “That Would Be Something,” released in 1969. So, if beat boxing has been around for quite a while, where did that term come from? It certainly doesn’t exactly describe the style or how to achieve it . . . but if you’ve brushed up on your music history, then you already know that early drum machines were called beat boxes, in particular the Roland TR-808. No, the early musicians didn’t call it beat boxing because that wasn’t a thing until the 1980s, but that’s what it’s called now so just deal with it. A CAPPELLA SNIPPETZ A cappella is an Italian term meaning “in chapel or choral style,” and didn’t originally mean music that was performed entirely without instruments. When a cappella music emerged, it was often a mixture of voices and various instruments. Issue 925
THE FUTURE MAY BE MORE PREDICTABLE THAN YOU THINK! By Lindsey Harrison 
“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”
– Peter Drucker, Austrian-American educator For those of you with kids, you probably remember a time when your sweet child was doing something dangerous that you just knew would end badly and even though you warned them to try to help them avoid said dangerous thing, they didn’t listen and said dangerous thing happened, just as you thought it would. For most of us, that’s as close as we’ll ever get to being able to predict the future. However, for centuries, people around the world have claimed to have the power to predict future events. Probably the most famous is Nostradamus, whom we will discuss for obvious reasons. But there are many others who claim to have the same gift, with varying degrees of accuracy, mind you. Maybe you’d like the power to see into the future. Or maybe you’re the type of person that would rather not know, given that it could result in anxiety of epic proportions. Whichever category you fall into, you’re still probably at least a little curious about those folks who say they can predict the future. We know we were! That’s why we at Snippetz decided to unravel the mystery around the supposed ability to see into the future. We predict you’re going to like this article! NOSTRADAMUS (see image above) Since Nostradamus is sort of the “Gold Standard” when it comes to predicting the future, we thought we’d start with him. Born Michel de Nostradame in 1503 in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Nostradamus initially studied to become a physician. However, it was during this time, when he was treating plague victims that he claimed to have a sort of psychic revelation. Apparently, Nostradamus felt that his time as a physician had given him the ability to predict the future . . . although WHY he came to that conclusion we’ll probably never know. But here’s what’s important: Nostradamus was so confident of his abilities that he wrote a book called “The Prophecies,” in which he detailed his predictions. He didn’t make them easy to read, however, fearing that he might be persecuted as a consort of the devil should his predictions come true. Thus, he often wrote his predictions in more than one language and in quatrain, a sort of poetic syntax. Each quatrain consists of four lines, hence the name QUATrain. “The Prophecies” was published in 1555 and contained a large number of predictions. However, since each quatrain had to be decoded, translated, etc., the resulting predictions varied from one copy of the book to another, depending on who was behind the printing process. That said, you can see how easy it would be for anyone to take his predictions and shape them to fit their needs. Here are a few and what people over time claim they predicted . . . judge for yourself if they’re true or not: Near the gate and within two cities There will be scourges the like of which was never seen, Famine within plague, people put out by steel, Crying to the great immortal God for relief. Believers claim this quatrain predicts the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (“two cities”) by the United States in World War II. Obviously, each atomic bomb devastated its respective target, but the nuclear fallout caused additional suffering from the survivors (“crying to the great immortal God for relief”). Lastly, believers point to the fact that Japan experienced a food shortage (“famine within plague”) as proof positive that Nostradamus had predicted these events. From the depths of the West of Europe, A young child will be born of poor people, He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop; His fame will increase towards the realm of the East. AND Beasts ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers, The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister, Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn, When the child of Germany observes nothing. These two quatrains allegedly refer to Adolf Hitler and his rise to power during World War II. Believers claim Hitler was the “young child” born in “the West of Europe.” Since Hitler was known for his ability to give very persuasive public speeches, they equate that with “by his tongue will seduce” and obviously a “great troop” would refer to the Nazi army. Additionally, people look to the second quatrain and claim “Hister” is simply a misspelling of “Hitler.” Convenient, right? But “Hister” is actually Latin for “Danube.” You may have seen this next prediction when it circulated the Internet after 9/11: In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two Brothers torn apart by Chaos, While the fortress endures, The great leader will succumb, The third big war will begin when the big city is burning – Nostradamus, 1654 If you’ve got a sharp eye, you already noticed that this quatrain isn’t a quatrain because it has five lines. But setting that aside, this might appear to be a very accurate prediction describing the events of 9/11 and hinting that a Third World War is on the horizon. Spooky, right? But look closer. The date the supposed prediction was penned is 1654, almost 100 years AFTER Nostradamus wrote “The Prophecies” and 88 years after his death. So, while it sounds scarily spot on, it’s a hoax and just goes to show you that you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. While there are certainly other people who have attempted to tell the future, none wrote as many predictions identifying specific events than Nostradamus. Accurate or not, people have referred to his “prophecies” for years. But there are other people who, using less mystical and more scientific sources, that predicted the future. Here are two just such men who saw the writing on the wall and went with it! ROBERT BOYLE Next, we find Robert Boyle who was born in 1627 and is best known for his work with gases and the development of Boyle’s Law. But he also made a few predictions about advancements made by the human race including the “art of flying” and “prolongation of life.” He also predicted that humans would be able to speed up the “production of things out of seed” and “cure . . . disease at a distance or at least by transplantation.” Any of that sound familiar? It should since those ideas have helped advance science in a variety of disciplines, like bioengineering and aviation. Some may argue Boyle’s predictions were broad, allowing them to be more easily considered true, but that’s not for us to decide. DENIS DIDEROT Did someone say, “artificial intelligence?” Denis Diderot didn’t but he may as well have and considering he lived from 1713 to 1784, that’s pretty darn impressive. He predicted that humans would develop “intelligent” machines, which we all know has already happened (however creepy and frightening that may be). Diderot also predicted that we would be able to bring the dead back to life, which we sort of can. Seriously, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can pretty much do just that. If a certain writer’s mother can be without a heartbeat for 30-45 minutes, which is dead based on most people’s definition, but then be revived and walk away from the incident essentially fine, then Diderot was correct! Issue 926
SNIPPETZ ASKS, "WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?" By Lindsey Harrison “We were born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more.” – Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist Even if you’ve never been on the receiving end of the age-old (and kinda stupid) pick up line, you’ve definitely heard it before and know what that unoriginal person is talking about when they ask, “What’s your sign?” They’re referring to your astrological or zodiac sign, those pesky little things that sometimes people use to explain away their bad behavior like, no Susan, you’re not being mean because you’re a Scorpio; you’re just mean. Sorry, took a bit of a tangent there. But hopefully you get the picture . . . our astrological signs, which are technically based on the seasons and not the constellations (trust us, we’ll explain everything) allegedly help determine some of our inherent personal traits. For instance, claims have been made that people born under the Gemini sign – the sign of the twins – can be somewhat two-faced and indecisive. Well, those claims are just wrong, because we happen to know a couple Geminis *ahem* not the least of whom is writing this article right now, who has no problem deciding things and can be trusted to be as authentic as they come. But isn’t it interesting to know that there are people who still cling to the idea that their personalities are predetermined based on the time of year in which they were born? Snippetz finds this case to be exceedingly interesting which is why we’ve decided to delve deeper and see if the claim holds any water. WHAT ARE ZODIAC SIGNS? Before we go dissecting theories about whether or not astrological signs can really help determine the type of person you are, we should probably make sure we’re all on the same page about what the signs are. One caveat however: the date ranges that determine which zodiac sign a person is are inconsistent at best. Some claim a Taurus is someone born from April 20-May 20 while others argue that a true Taurus is someone born from April 21-May 21. Who do you believe? Well, that’s certainly a problem, but to make things easier on ourselves, we’ve decided to go with the following zodiac calendar:
TRAITS OF THE ZODIAC SIGNS As we mentioned before, the fact that the following traits are allegedly connected to each person born during that time of year is a bit sketchy if you ask us. But it’s still fun to see how close these claims are to reality!
THE 13TH ZODIAC SIGN Assuming you’ve been on the Internet anytime in the past decade or so, you’ve probably heard your fair share of conspiracy theories that caused some undue drama. For instance, you may have heard that NASA determined there was a 13th zodiac sign several years ago. If not, that happened, trust us. Anyway, the whole thing went like this: way back when the Babylonians created the zodiac calendar, they intended for it to correspond to constellations formed by the stars. BUT . . . there weren’t 12 constellations like there were 12 months in each calendar year. There were 13. Gasp! That certainly throws a monkey wrench into things, doesn’t it? They apparently thought so and in order to fix the issue they felt they had on their hands, they did away with the 13th constellation so their newly created zodiac calendar had one month for each constellation. So, what happened to that poor, unloved 13th constellation? Well, it has a name folks and it’s Ophiuchus. And poor Ophiuchus, that sad little constellation was allegedly kicked out of the zodiac calendar. But then NASA comes along and does some calculating and decides that, since the Earth’s axis doesn’t point in the same direction as it did back in Babylonian times, our zodiac signs aren’t event the same as they were when the calendar was created so they figured, while we’re messing with everyone’s astrological sign, we might as well remind them about Ophiuchus. OK, fine. We’ll accept that Ophiuchus exists. And we’ll even give it a range of dates to coincide with the calendar year, Nov. 29 to Dec. 17. And lastly, we’ll even grant the resurrected sign its own symbol, which is allegedly the Serpent Bearer. We’ve gotta say, we’d rather be just about anything than a serpent bearer but that’s because we at Snippetz (or at least this writer at Snippetz) certainly does not want to be associated with snakes. They’re icky. Anyway, let’s say this Ophiuchus sign has traits just like all the other zodiac signs. They are said to be magnetic, impulsive, flamboyant, jealous, temperamental and clever. Wonderful. Now we know all of that. But all of that is WRONG! Remember how we talked about those conspiracy theories that come around every now and then? The rearranging of the zodiac calendar to accommodate another forgotten sign is just one more of them. Want proof? Well, for starters, Western astrology is based on the seasons, not the constellations. Even though we’re all aware that the Earth revolves around the Sun but in astrology, the Earth is the center of the science . . . simply put: the seasons are marked by the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes and the Winter and Summer Solstices. Those have nothing to do with the constellations. It’s true, however, that zodiac signs are derived from the constellations, but they are not aligned with them and that’s what makes the theory about NASA’s discovery false. So, can we finally, once and for all, stop believing everything we read on the Internet?! Issue 927
WE DARE YOU TO CHECK OUT THESE FAMOUS DAREDEVILS By Lindsey Harrison 
“I was not willing to give up because I was born to like taking risks and that is my way of life.”
– Alain Robert, French athlete For some people, taking risks really is a way of life. The thrill of jumping off the highest cliff or riding the fastest rollercoaster can almost become a compulsion, an addiction if you will. For others of us, no amount of money or bribery could convince us to climb up to that cliff or even stand in the line for that rollercoaster. It’s just not something we feel compelled to do. And that’s fine, because the success of our species depends on a modicum of caution being passed down from generation to generation. But for those who crave the adrenaline rush of doing something dangerous or daring, the outcome can be fame or devastation . . . sometimes both. Daredevils are a special breed of risk-takers. The idea of the bigger, better stunt is always in the back of their minds, taunting them. If it weren’t, no one would decide to jump 15 Greyhound buses on a motorcycle rather than just 16. In fact, no one would probably ever want to jump any Greyhound buses on a motorcycle, period. But then the rest of us wouldn’t have the privilege or enjoyment of watching those daredevils nail their stunts. And that’s why we at Snippetz felt our own compulsion to dig up some of the best stunts performed by the world’s greatest daredevils throughout history! THE JERSEY JUMPER With a name like that, you might assume that this particular daredevil liked to jump over things or from things or onto things. And if you assumed that, you’d be right. Congratulations. Anyway, Sam Patch, a.k.a. the Jersey Jumper, made a name for himself by jumping into rivers in the early 1800s. No, it wasn’t just a little hop from the banks of the Arkansas River into the barely moving and super shallow waters. The jump that made him famous took place in the fall of 1827 and involved a construction site near the Passaic Falls where a bridge was being built. Apparently, the ledge Patch chose was about 80 feet above the water and, with a crowd gathered to watch the work on the bridge, he stripped down to his shirt and underwear before leaping off into the waters below. As if that wasn’t spectacle enough, Patch also managed to get his hands on a real live bear that became his pet and jumping partner in subsequent stunts. And yes, he even managed to survive two leaps from the top of the Niagara Falls. ANNIE EDSON TAYLOR Hopefully you didn’t think the only daredevils we’d discuss in this masterpiece of an article were men because Annie Edson Taylor was all woman and a pretty hardcore one at that. Remember how Patch jumped from the Niagara Falls? Well, Taylor decided those infamous falls were the perfect location for a quick ride in a wooden barrel. On Oct. 24, 1901, on her 63rd birthday mind you, this incredible woman plopped herself into the barrel and rode over the edge of the falls, becoming the first person in history to do such a thing and survive. She not only survived, but she walked away with merely a scalp wound (or a flesh wound as Monty Python might say), a mild concussion and a couple bruises. Not bad for a former teacher, huh? BESSIE COLEMAN In the 1920s, it was virtually unheard of for a woman of African American and Native American descent to become a pilot. Bessie Coleman was the exception to that rule when she became the first woman of two such oppressed ethnicities to do so. Granted, she had to go to France to get the training she desired but she came back to the United States more determined than ever to make her mark on the world. Aside from the stunts Coleman performed while in the pilot’s seat, which increased in their degree of difficulty with each subsequent performance, she also took to the skies via parachute when another parachutist chickened out. Wing-walking wasn’t even the ultimate stunt she sought to perform, but sadly Coleman died in a plane crash in 1926. She certainly did make her mark on the world and it’s one we would be remiss to ever forget! CLEM SOHN OK, so nearly all of the daredevils we’ve discussed so far aren’t exactly household names. And this next one is likely to be no different, but you’ll soon see why. Clem Sohn, who was nicknamed “Bird Man,” was a skydiver in the 1930s before skydiving was cool. Riding in airplanes as high was 18,500 above the earth, Sohn plummeted to the earth wearing a homemade suit that was made of simply metal rods and canvas sails, and a parachute to help him safely touch back down on the ground. His wing suit allowed him to glide for several miles and Sohn was known to carry an open bag of flour so the spectators could more easily follow his path of descent. BUD EKIN When someone says “stuntman,” you probably immediately think of the movie industry. After all, those famous actors and actresses can’t do everything themselves and why risk life and limb when you can get someone else who looks like you to do it instead? Anyway, Ekin was well-known for his prowess on a motorcycle and secured himself several jobs as the stuntman for famous actors like Steve McQueen. Remember that scene in 1963’s “The Great Escape” where McQueen takes a 65-foot motorcycle jump over the barbed wire of a Nazi camp in order to escape? Well, that jump was actually made by Ekin. McQueen made it clear how much he appreciated Ekin’s work and friendship by leaving his entire motorcycle collection to the stuntman upon his death. HELEN GIBSON If the word “stuntman” brings the movie industry to mind, then it should also bring to mind “stuntwoman,” since they certainly exist as well. Helen Gibson, born Rose Wenger, made her first appearance in a Wild West show in 1910, but it definitely wasn’t her last. She became the first professional Hollywood stuntwoman and her performances actually earned her a starring role in “The Hazards of Helen” when it became clear Gibson could handle the role better than Helen Holmes. Among her repertoire of stunts was the one she considered the most dangerous: jumping off the roof of a building onto a moving train car. Nice work! EVEL KNIEVEL We have saved arguably the most famous daredevil for last, but he’s certainly not least. Evel Knievel was a motorcycle stuntman whose outlandish performances included jumping 133 feet over 14 Greyhound buses. He also made several unsuccessful attempts at crazy stunts like the time in 1974 when he tried to jump across Snake River Canyon in Idaho, a distance of about 3/4 of a mile. But what’s a great stuntman without a failure here and there, right? Knievel survived the stunt, thanks to a premature deployment of his escape parachute. Aside from being incredibly famous as a daredevil, Knievel inspired generations of younger daredevils to try their hand at the stunts they had dreamed of. He even inspired Homer Simpson to attempt to jump the Springfield Gorge. But that’s just a silly cartoon, right? P.S. Don’t ever call “The Simpsons” a silly cartoon again; that “silly cartoon” had a serious impact on a certain writer’s life and likely on her sense of humor as well. You’re welcome. Issue 928
SNIPPETZ FORBIDS YOU TO EAT THESE BANNED FOODS By Lindsey Harrison 
“People know excessive consumption of anything is bad for their health. By imposing a ban on something, we are, in a way, provoking them to do it.”
– Akkineni Nagarjuna, Indian actor All the parents reading this will totally understand the statement above . . . that if you tell someone not to do something, it’s almost like you’re telling them that’s exactly what you want them to do. The temptation can be unbearable. At least, to the person who’s not supposed to do that thing. So, does that same sentiment extend to adults? Well, yes. Obviously. But more specifically, it extends to just about every aspect of our lives and it fits so perfectly that we would hazard a guess that it the above statement is somewhat of a universal truth. Tell someone not to do something, forbid them if you like, and somehow that thing becomes the most attractive and enticing idea on the planet. Since we at Snippetz have gone out on a limb to describe it as a universal truth, we’re going to say with a fair amount of confidence that food is no different. We’ve uncovered some foods from around the world that have been banned for one reason or another, and interestingly enough, you could probably get your hands on many (if not all) of them if you were really determined. Wanna know what they are? Keep calm and read on! CASU MARZU Listen, we get it. Foods from other countries can sound a bit strange to us Americans. They’re not all bad, though. That being said, there’s one dish we are super happy has been banned and aren’t likely to go out trying to find anytime in the near (or distant) future. That dish is casu marzu and in Sardinian, it means “rotting cheese.” The cheese, Pecorino Sardo, is left to rot and when it does, it is injected with fly larvae and it’s only them that the cheese is eaten, larvae and all. We have one question: who was the weirdo who thought, “I bet this rotten piece of cheese would taste better if I it ate when it’s got maggots in it?” Allegedly, the maggots promote fermentation and make the cheese softer, but there’s GOT to be a better way. Yuck. Thankfully, that dish is banned in the United States. FUGU (Pufferfish) If you knew that you had a roughly 60 percent chance of dying from eating a certain type of food, would you still eat it? Apparently, there are plenty of people who like those odds and continue to seek out traditional fugu, or pufferfish. The intestines, ovaries and liver of the pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, which is about 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide and only a few milligrams are needed to kill a human. The fatal instances typically result from consumption of other foods that have been tainted with the pufferfish toxin, which means even if you aren’t “living on the edge” and trying your luck at eating pufferfish, simply eating someplace where fugu is prepared could be deadly. The U.S. doesn’t technically ban fugu but considering most chefs who are trained in fugu preparation spend two to three years learning the proper technique, it tends to be out of the average person’s price range when placed on a menu. ACKEE Now, this food has actually been banned in our country and for good reason. Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica, can be a special treat when cooked properly. However, when eaten before it has completely ripened, ackee contains high levels of hypoglycin A and B, which results in Jamaican vomiting sickness. Doesn’t that sound like something you’d just love to have? Sadly, Jamaican vomiting sickness can be so severe that it leads to coma or death. Clearly, the U.S. had the right idea in making the import of fresh ackee forbidden, although it may still be possible to find some frozen or canned versions if you were so inclined. Although, why you’d want to risk it is beyond our comprehension. PIG’S BLOOD CAKE OK, first off, the name doesn’t even sound good so it seems unlikely that the food itself will taste any better. Anyway, pig’s blood cake is a traditional Taiwanese dish made of pork blood and sticky rice. Yummm, right? The rice is doused in pig’s blood, then a quick dip into some pork soy broth, rolled in peanut flour and then topped with cilantro. Again, there’s no clear indication why someone would say, “I think today’s the day we eat pig blood with cilantro,” but hey, who are we to judge? Our food sanitation guidelines in the U.S. have decided they are the ones to judge and have banned the food for obvious reasons. BIRD’S NEST SOUP You may think the name of this soup is just a cute way of describing the bundle of noodles used in it and if you do, you’re wrong. This soup, a traditional Chinese dish, is literally made from a bird’s nest. But no, it’s not a pile of sticks you’d be eating should you ever try this dish; the nests are actually made from bird saliva. Maybe they call it bird’s nest soup because that sounds marginally more appetizing than bird spit soup. Anyway, the food has obviously been banned in the U.S. due to the harmful bacteria contained therein, but other places still manage to serve it up and it can be pricy. One pound of bird nests costs more than $4,500. And let’s not forget that the soup requires you to literally steal a bird’s home, so there’s that. SASSAFRAS Many people know this word as how you describe a particularly fiery young child, but in truth, sassafras is the dried root of the sassafras tree and has been used in various ways over the years to make a variety of dishes. However, it was discovered that the root contains safrole, which was proven to cause liver cancer in rats, so the Food and Drug Administration banned it in 1960. Sassafras was commonly used in root beer but has since been replaced with chemicals and artificial flavors. Doesn’t that sound so much better? Mmmmm, chemicals. ORTOLAN People ruin everything, can we just agree on that? And one thing we have certainly managed to ruin is how we treat the animals we plan to eat. Sure, they’re going to die anyway but do they really need to be tortured first? Does it make their meat tastier somehow? Ortolan, a dish favored by the French aristocracy, is one such dish and we are just appalled to hear how it’s made. First off, the ortolan dish is made from tiny Ortolan birds, which are put into small cages and force-fed until they grow to up to four times their normal size. But wait, there’s more! These poor little creatures have their eyes poked out for some ungodly reason. Then they are quite literally drowned in brandy before being roasted and eaten whole . . . without the eyeballs, of course. The real question here is why? Why poke out the eyes? Why drown the bird in brandy? Can’t you just kill it humanely and marinate it like a less barbaric human would do? Obviously, this dish is banned in the U.S. but it’s a clear indication of how senseless our appetites for an exotic meal can be. Issue 929
AS THE SAYING GOES... By Lindsey Harrison “There are very few profound sayings in the world.” – Jeff Rich, American explorer We’d have to agree with Mr. Rich’s above statement: there are very few profound sayings in the world these days . . . and perhaps his is only NOT considered one because he points out that simple fact. Communication these days is no longer the type of artform it perhaps was back in Shakespeare’s day. Maybe that’s due to social media, maybe we’re all just a little less cultured than we used to be. Who really knows? One thing’s for sure: we don’t seem to have a problem coming up with things to say. Good, bad or otherwise, we as humans always seem to want to put in our two cents. Speaking of two cents, why do we say that? No one is throwing down two pennies anywhere and if you ask us here at Snippetz, we think our input is worth way more than two cents. Of course, that got us thinking: where in the world did strange sayings like that come from in the first place? Maybe the origins of these seemingly weird sayings aren’t nearly as strange as we might assume. Keep reading, we’re sure you’ll learn something about weird sayings and where they came from. DISCLAIMER Before we go too far, we want to make one thing clear: it is nearly impossible to know with absolute certainty where a specific phrase or term came from. Who’s to say some super famous general from the Civil War was the person who coined a phrase and not your great-grandmother? We just don’t know! That being said, we did our due diligence to trace the origins back as accurately as possible. Let’s get started, shall we? “SLEEP TIGHT” The natural assumption is that this expression refers to being tucked into your bed nice and tight, but that’s not actually the case. One theory suggested that the phrase referred to the act of tightening the ropes that were used to hold up mattresses in the 1500s or thereabouts. However, it was noted that that phrase has nothing to do with the person doing the sleeping, so it really doesn’t make any sense. More likely, “sleep tight” comes from the fact that “tightly” was used in the same manner as “properly,” “well,” or in the case of how we use it in this instance, “soundly.” In fact, the novel “Elizabeth and her German Garden,” written by Marie Beauchamp in 1898, the author uses the phrase “tight asleep” in much the same way we would use “sound asleep” today. That is, sleeping well. Get it? “HOLDING A WAKE” This one has stumped us for awhile and we’re glad we finally had the chance to do some digging . . . why in the world would you hold a wake for a dead person? It almost sounds as if the whole idea of holding a wake was to see if the dead person was simply asleep and not dead. Well, that’s basically the correct meaning but for a more logical reason than simply because we’re hoping our dearly departed is going to raise from the dead. Way back when, lead was commonly used in all sorts of things, including cups. And that element would occasionally leech into the drink inside said cup. When that drink happened to be beer, ale, whiskey or some other similar beverage, the combination of the lead and the alcohol could literally knock the drinker out cold for a few days. Sadly, that frequently led to people being toted off and prepared for burial even though they weren’t dead. The idea of “holding a wake” was to literally have friends and family keep an eye on the “dead” person for a couple days to see if he or she would wake up. “RED HERRING” As a youngster, this phrase really confused this writer. It’s certainly nice to get some clarification! First off, a herring is a fish that turns red during the curing process, which was often used to prevent the fish from going bad more quickly. The phrase as we know it means to deliberately mislead or divert someone’s attention from the real issue at hand, and that’s exactly what these “red herrings” were used for, although it’s all really just a theory. It goes like this: poachers would use red herrings to divert the attention of legitimate hunters’ dogs from the scent of the real prey they were all after. However, there’s no real evidence to support that theory and it seems more likely that the fish was used to train dogs to follow a scent. It stands to reason, then, that if a crafty person knew herrings were used to train scent dogs, they could likewise we used to confuse scent dogs into following the wrong track and keep them away from something someone didn’t want found, doesn’t it? We think so. “SQUARE MEAL” Yet another example of a phrase that really messed with this writer’s head when she was younger . . . quite literally, she assumed everything was square, or at the very least, placed on a square plate. Interestingly enough, the latter is one theory that took hold for quite a while, gaining ground as someone realized that Great Britain’s Royal Navy ate off square plates and simply assumed that was where the saying originated. However, the phrase is actually similar to the “sleep tight” example from above in that it was simply a different way of saying something. “Square” meant “honest” or “proper,” thus a square meal was a good, honest meal. That’s it. “STRAIGHT LACED” If you noticed that used “straight” instead of “strait,” you get a gold star for the day! Part of the issue with this phrase is that people often used the first spelling instead of the second, even though the second is correct. For obvious reasons, that seriously messed with where people thought this phrase came from. Just for the record, “strait” means “tight” and “straight” means “not crooked or curved.” OK, so if someone is strait laced, it means they are tight laced, right? In times when women used corsets, which required laces to tighten, a woman wouldn’t be considered properly dressed if she wasn’t properly laced. So, being strait laced meant being tightly laced, which became synonymous with the idea of adhering to society’s definition of proper. “TOUCH AND GO” Have you ever watched a television program where someone was in the hospital and doctors referred to their condition as “touch and go?” If not, you probably haven’t watched nearly enough T.V. If so, you may have wondered where that phrase came from. It refers to the idea that a situation is precarious, delicate or dangerous. But why that particular phrase? Well, in the olden days of big ships sailing without the benefit of radar systems to help them avoid shallow areas, sailors would often find themselves in a place where their ship might touch the seabed before moving on. Those instances were precarious, delicate or dangerous, hence the correlation between the act of a simple “touch and go.” This phrase was also used in reference to stagecoaches that had glancing blows with other stagecoaches. The coaches would briefly touch each other and then continue on. There are so many more phrases we could include but we don’t have the space so we chose a few that we felt might provide some clarification and entertainment. Always entertainment. |
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