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Issue 410 - 9/7/2009
SNIPPETZ GETS THE SCOOP ON NEWSPAPERS by Deborah Stumpf 
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." -Thomas Jefferson, 1787
Certainly, some would agree with Thomas Jefferson that they prefer newspapers over government, and some might banish both. Arguably for some, government is still “strong,” while the newspaper business has lost ground, mainly because of the Internet and cable news outlets. But the newspaper industry has certainly had its heyday. The industry has been an iconic force for people in search of information about everything from Hollywood scandals to government cover ups to baseball scores. Around the World in Print Print media has been the source of mass communication for centuries. Julius Caesar established the Roman Acta Diurna in 59 B.C., which served to inform people about political and social happenings. The information was written on large white boards and displayed in popular areas like the Roman Baths. Centuries later in 1447, Johann Gutenberg of Germany invented the first printing press, which redefined the practice of using news sheets, newsletters and pamphlets to distribute information to the public. The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany, is home to the first printing press. Newspapers began appearing more frequently in the 17th century. The first newspaper on record and the first preserved – Relation – was launched in Germany in 1605. Western European countries were at the forefront of the industry during those early years: France started the Gazette in 1631; England – the London Gazette in 1665. Domestic issues, for the most part, didn’t make the news. Instead, the English reported on the problems associated with the French military and the French papers covered the latest British royalty scandal. Debut of Newspapers in America In 1690, the first newspaper in the U.S. appeared in Boston, Mass. However, Publick Occurrences was soon taken off the market because it went public without any authority. The publisher was arrested and all copies were destroyed, except for one – discovered in the British Library in 1845. The Boston News-Letter surfaced in 1704. Postmaster John Campbell started the newspaper, which was subsidized by the colonial government. Despite government support, the newspaper had limited circulation. In the 1720s, Philadelphia and New York City launched newspapers. By the Revolutionary War, about two dozen newspapers were established in various colonies. Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania were the centers of printing in America for many years. It is said that the early newspapers in America heavily influenced public opinion regarding full political independence from England. By the end of the war in 1783, 43 newspapers were in print throughout the nation. The Bill of Rights, established in 1791, guaranteed freedom of the press and the newspaper industry gained momentum. The Evolving U.S. Papers In 1814, 346 newspapers were in print and by the 1830s advances in printing and paper production technology spawned a newspaper that could be sold for 1 cent per copy, making it available to people other than the wealthy. The Industrial Revolution brought rapid change to the burgeoning newspaper industry. Huge printing presses arrived in the 1850s, producing 10,000 newspapers per hour. As the photograph came into play, so did pictures in the newspapers. The 1880 U.S. census reported 11,314 newspapers in print that year. By 1910, newspapers began to look like the modern-day version: bold headlines, illustrations, funny pages and sporting events. Yellow Journalism A few publishers and writers in the beginning of the newspaper industry interpreted freedom of speech with abandonment. Lawyers would have their own heyday if today’s newspapers mirrored the libelous content of the past. Fact checking and accuracy were not the modern-day mantras of newspapers. Political rivals battled it out in newspapers, with an “anything goes” attitude. Eventually, newspapers began reporting real news and discarded the lies and half-truths. But the growth of newspapers led to fierce competition, and publishers again began taking liberties with the facts to entice readers. Historians believe that “yellow journalism” began in 1895 with a rivalry between Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of The New York World, and William Randolph Hearst, The New York Journal publisher. A 19th century cartoonist, Robert Outcault, worked for The New York World until Hearst persuaded him to work for his New York Journal; thus, began their rivalry and “yellow journalism.” Outcault was nicknamed the “Yellow Kid” and comic strips used a yellow ink to prevent smears; thus, the name. Yellow journalism is basically skewed facts and stories and sensationalism. Publishers used eye-catching headlines to grab readers’ attention, and often exaggerated events and relied on unnamed sources. The practice included over dramatizing the news and scandal-mongering. Biased news articles prevailed as well. Although circulation eventually declined in the 1900s at newspapers known for yellow journalism, some say the practice never faded. Instead, newspapers absorbed yellow journalism with a continuation of catchy headlines, editorial sections, political cartoons, special interest sections and intrusive reporting. Newspaper Consolidation Ironically, many independent newspapers have realized greater success in the past few years. Independent community newspapers have come full circle. Once swallowed up by consolidation, they came back on the scene in the 20th century and have realized greater successes as larger newspapers crash because of high costs and a declining subscription base. Readers today often get their national and world news from the T.V. or the Internet but turn to community newspapers for what’s happening locally. In the early 1950s, family owned newspapers dominated the industry in the U.S. By 1980, newspaper families had given way to newspaper conglomerates. Media scholar Elizabeth Neiva wrote an essay in 1995 citing three factors that had a domino effect on newspaper consolidation. First, advances in electronic typesetting – photocomposition – reduced the need for skilled printer. Publishers could hire clerical help at much less than the cost of an experienced printer. Second, unions came in to protect their skilled printers but eventually lost their foothold through court battles and waning employee support. With new technology lowering production costs, newspapers began making the big bucks. The third and perhaps the most significant factor to the demise of the family owned newspaper was the IRS. As newspaper profits soared, the IRS created a dilemma for family owned newspapers. The IRS began appraising newspapers on market value instead of book value (assets), and heirs to the newspaper business struggled to meet their estate tax obligations. Between 1960 and 1980, 57 different family owned newspapers sold out to one person: Paul Miller of Gannett. When Paul Miller succeeded Frank Gannett as president of Gannett, Miller vigorously pursued other newspapers. Miller was one of the first executives to take his paper public, and by 1971, he was buying a newspaper company every three weeks. In 1979, Gannett had acquired 79 newspapers. The larger newspaper companies like The New York World went public, too, and newspaper acquisitions cranked up. By 1971, 170 newspaper groups owned two-thirds of the nation’s 1,700 daily newspapers. By the end of the 1970s, independent newspapers were just about history. Today’s top 10 U.S. newspapers by circulation 1. USA Today – owned by the Gannett Co. 2. The Wall Street Journal – owner, News Corp. 3. The New York Times – owned by the New York Times Co. 4. Los Angeles Times – owner, the Tribune Co. 5. The Washington Post – owner, the Washington Post Co. 6. Daily News (New York) – Daily News – owner 7. Houston Chronicle – owner, Hearst Corp. 8. Chicago Tribune – owned by the Tribune Co. 9. New York Post – News Corp., owner 10. The Arizona Republic (Phoenix) – Gannett Co., owner The Denver Post came in at No. 11 – it is owned by the Media News Group Plagiarism in Journalism…Or…Where Did That Come From? Maybe one could get away with fabricating stories in the early days of the industry, but there’s a label for that today – plagiarism – and reporters get fired for it. Jayson Blair of The New York Times was a master at plagiarizing and using fiction as fact. He resigned in May 2003, after he couldn’t prove that he plagiarized a story previously written by reporter Macarena Hernandez for the Antonio Express-News. The New York Times had plenty of warnings about Blair’s shoddy practices and questionable stories. He had been criticized extensively for numerous articles. After Blair resigned, a full investigation of his four years at The New York Times revealed a slew of suspect articles such as the following two: • In a piece on military wards and the wounded, Blair gave a full account of his personal interview with four soldiers in a naval hospital. Turns out he had never been in the hospital and had interviewed just one soldier by phone. He even made up stories about their injuries. • Blair wrote an article on a church pastor from Cleveland and had never been inside the church and had only interviewed the pastor on the phone. He stole quotes from a Cleveland newspaper and the New York Daily News and copied almost verbatim from a previous article in the Washington Post. Today, Blair is a life coach in Virginia! Jack Kelley had been the “golden boy” at USA Today for many years until his colleagues began investigating his practices. The story that leveled him involved an article about Yugoslavia and documents he said he had seen about killings and ethnic cleansings in Kosovar. The story was completely fabricated and led to an all-out investigation of Kelley. According to the “NewsHour,” Website of Jim Lehrer; USA Today determined that Kelley “made up all or part of 20 stories that appeared in the paper, lifted more than 100 passages and quotes from other, uncredited sources and billed the newspaper for thousands of dollars for translators and assistants that they say they never received.” While at USA Today, Kelley was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The Crystal Ball In his book “The Vanishing Newspaper,” Philip Meyer calculated that 2043 will mark the end of the newspaper, as future generations get their news electronically. Whether Meyer is right on remains to be seen, but the industry has taken many hits over the past few years. Advertising revenues have thwarted the newspaper business, causing massive layoffs. Between 2000 and 2008, advertising volume went from $7,653,000 to $5,996,000, according to the Newspaper Association of America. An article in the “Economist” referred to the Web site www.craigslist.com, which offers free classifieds, as one factor that has “done more than anything to destroy newspapers' income.” The industry has lost 18 percent of its employees between 1990 and 2004, and the numbers continue to rise. Bloggers, nonprofit news organizations and an uncanny number of media outlets have all contributed to the demise of newspapers. In 1998, 59.8 percent of adults read newspapers; the percentage dropped to 48.4 in 2007. If it continues at that pace, the newspaper industry could be long gone before 2043. All except for Snippetz, of course. 
Issue 411 - 9/14/2009
SNIPPETZ GETS THE BUZZ ON HONEY by Laurie Efram 
“Tart words make no friends; a spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar”
-Ben Franklin (1706-1790) September is National Honey Month! Honey, and the creatures that create it, are a complex and ancient source of much debate. Not only has honey been utilized in many different ways by mankind over many thousands of years, it continues to be a very important part of our society, used for much more than just a source of sweetener for our palettes. Indeed, even the word itself, “honey” has become an integral part of American vernacular. “Honey, can you pass the green beans?” can be heard across the country daily, or some similar approximation. Honey Around The World Honey has been used by mankind for over 40 centuries. The earliest illustration we have of honey being gathered is around 15,000 years old, and appears in a painting on the walls of a rock shelter in Eastern Spain. It is referred to in the Bible as “the heavenly food.” Ancient Egyptians paid their taxes with honey; and in early Greece and Rome, honey symbolized fertility, love and beauty. The ancient Greeks minted coins with bees on them. One could surmise that the endearment “honey” still used today may have been “coined” in those ancient times.
Honey In America In the 16th century, conquering Spaniards discovered that the natives of Mexico and Central America had already developed beekeeping. A distinct family of stingless bees (not true honeybees) was native to these regions. European settlers introduced European honey bees to New England in about 1638. The Native Americans referred to them as the “white man’s flies.” Honey wasn’t just used to sweeten food back then; it was also used to make cement, to preserve fruits, to concoct furniture paste/polish, to make varnish, and also to make many different kinds of medicines. In 2007, United States honey bees nearly became a complete casualty. Fully one third of the population died after several deadly viruses ripped through the colonies across the country. Very little is known about this natural disaster, referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder, or what caused it. Nature’s Perfect Food
Not For The Small Because honey can contain clostridium botulinum spores, to which infants have very little resistance, honey is not to be given to children under one year of age. After that, kids have generally developed enough immunity to the spores and it is then usually safe to eat. But it is best to consult a pediatrician for the most up-to-date information. The Life Of A Bee Bees are insects that live in colonies with around 50,000 of their closest friends. Their hives are self-constructed and are made out of beeswax, which is excreted from many of the worker bees’ glands. Each honeycomb has six sides. Honey bees don’t sleep, but they sometimes rest in empty honeycomb cells. Each hive has one queen bee that typically lives for three to five years. The hive will not survive without a queen, as she is the only bee who procreates. In fact, she does little else, producing 1,000-1,500 eggs per day. She is impregnated by drone bees that die shortly after their one and only encounter with the queen. The queen remains fertile for all of her life. When the queen bee sickens, ages or dies, the worker bees choose several larvae to be potential new queens and begin feeding them royal jelly exclusively. The best candidate continues to be fed this powerful, milky substance made from digested pollen, honey and a chemical excreted from a gland on the nursing bees head. It takes 16 days for a new queen to emerge from her egg. The hive also contains worker bees that can live only six weeks in the summer months, literally working themselves to death. However, they can live longer through the much less productive months in fall and winter. All of the bees have very specific duties throughout their lives, including nursing, guarding, “shopping,” housekeeping, constructing, royal attending and even undertaking. Very civilized insects. The ‘State’ Of Honey A few states have adopted the honey bee, or the apis mellifera, as their state insect:
More Buzz
It’s a Honey Of A Word
“The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey…and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.” Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milnes “The House at Pooh Corner” 
Issue 412 - 9/21/2009
SNIPPETZ THINKS THERE'S ALWAYS TIME TO IMPROVE ONESELF by Deborah Stumpf "It is never too late to become what you might have been." -George Eliot, English novelist Self-improvement books, tapes, videos, Web sites, talk shows and motivational speakers have inundated the lives of every American – some may say to ad nauseam. But in a world where body image and first impressions are seemingly vital to one’s success, the self-help gurus have a strong, long-term presence in this country, nothing short of Jay Leno or the pope. AMERICA'S OBSESSIONS Body Image In 2008, Darryl Roberts produced “America the Beautiful,” a film about America’s obsession with beautiful people. Roberts talked candidly with a National Public Radio show host about his relationships with gorgeous women. Dating three beautiful (“inside and out,” he said) women at once, he couldn’t settle with any one of them, because he was constantly looking for someone who was more beautiful. In his film, Roberts chronicles the life of Gerren Taylor, who began modeling at age 12. She skyrocketed to fame as a young model, but at age 15 she went to London and Paris to seek a job as an international model and was told that she was seven centimeters too big – too “obese” to model. Roberts described Gerren as 6 ft. tall and a size two. Her self-esteem had been developed purely through body image – through a walk on the runway, she told Roberts, and without that role she was lost. Many women and men get their idea of body image from the magazines that often feature the “beautiful” people on their front cover, from People Magazine to Sports Illustrated to Teen Magazine and AARP Magazine. Rarely do we see a 60-year-old with wrinkles and thinning hair on the front page of the latter magazine. Photoshop is a magazine’s answer to cosmetic surgery! Nip And Tuck According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 12.1 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. in 2008. Of those, 1.7 million procedures were surgical; 10.4 million were minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. Americans spent $10.3 million on those procedures. Nothing says self-improvement like a facelift. Although the recipients of the procedures were highest in the 55-plus age group, 750,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on people in the 20 to 29 age bracket. And books on cosmetic procedures are catching up with the massive weight-loss, exercise and diet book industry. Dropping The Pounds Amazon.com lists 23,876 choices for books on diet and weight loss. Amazon.com showed 708,552 results for books on exercise. Inarguably, weight defines body image. Books like the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet and the Flat Belly Diet have drawn thousands – millions – to seek help with losing weight. Those who wish to lose weight through the misery-loves-company method have thousands of choices, from weight-loss clinics to spas to boot camps.
The irony of it all is that despite the number of self-help programs for issues like weight control, obesity continues to rise in this country. A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Association Trust for America’s Health concluded that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese; one-third of all children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. A vast majority of health care professionals, personal trainers and others in the business believe that the body and the mind are one. Perhaps obesity and any other body issues or lack of acceptance of one’s mirror image could be better controlled by seeking mind-improvement advice. And there is plenty out there. Self-improvement Of The Mind Kind There are a number of talk shows devoted to improving the lives of Americans. Oprah Winfrey is probably the most well-known modern-day queen of how-to-get-a-better-life television. And then there’s her magazine. And then there are her spin-offs: Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz (about to launch). And the book recommendations: Two of the most popular books on self-improvement touted by Oprah are Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Other well-known authors – and motivational speakers – on self-improvement techniques:
The life coach has become another means for self-improvement for those who can afford to hire one. It doesn’t take a doctorate to become an authority in areas like relationships, careers or personal growth. Life coaches can be trained in weeks, months or years. Admittedly not mental health counselors, life coaches provide motivation and offer support, confidence building and guidance, when appropriate, to their clients. How to be a better (fill in the blank) Just Google “how to be a better (whatever),” and the amount of information out there is mind boggling, whether in the form of an article, a Web site, a book or a video:
But for those who haven’t got the time to peruse all the options for self-improvement methods, here are some tips from two of the purportedly wisest amongst us (with extra information about other books covering similar messages): Dr. Phil (from the book Self Matters): • Understand life’s defining moments, your life history. (The Self Matters Companion: Helping You Create Your Life From the Inside Out by … Dr. Phil) • Focus on your gifts, skills, abilities, traits – what is unique about you. Be your authentic self. (Finding My Way: to Authentic Living by Hubert Dreyfus) Deepak Chopra – his 10 keys to happiness:
In the end, it seems it can be said that one’s self-image is loosely defined – for proof, just turn on a TV reality show! 
Issue 413 - 9/28/2009
SNIPPETZ OPENS THE BOOK ON FOLK HEROES AND LEGENDS by Greg Stumpf 
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night A folk hero, or for that matter folk heroes in general are an interesting bunch. They are always bigger than life, and in some cases they do not even exist, as with Paul Bunyan who purportedly created all of the lakes in Minnesota by leaving huge indentions on the landscape with every footfall. Then there are real people who evolved to folk hero status due to a single event, like John Henry who beat a steam powered machine in a race and became a hero to the railroad workers. Or Casey Jones, a railroad engineer who died in a collision because he remained in his locomotive while braking and sounding the whistle in order to save his passengers and warn the crew of the other train. There are folk heroes like Annie Oakley, who consistently dazzled crowds with her sharp shooting abilities. Or those who gave of themselves over a period of time or even spent their entire lifetime helping others, like Johnny Appleseed. Let us not forget the dark side of folk heroes, although they are technically classified as ‘folk legends.’ Those are the ones who by some dastardly deed or string of crimes became legends in their own time. Bonnie and Clyde, Billie the Kid, Alfred Packer and Jessie James are just a few. During their lifetime they were either viewed as good, bad or sometimes both. Robin Hood, a criminal in the eyes of the law, gave his ill gotten booty to the poor. Depending on what side of the fence you view him, he is either a hero or a thief. The bottom line with all folk heroes or legends is, be they real or imagined, they all had a single salient characteristic that makes one a folk hero, thus imprinting the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. The Good… Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox Although Paul Bunyan is a mythological character, his origin is reported to be based on real life loggers Big Joe Mufferaw and Jos Montferrand. The legends originated at the mouth of the river in the Two Mountains area near Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada. He was described as a defender of the people, and stories of his feats moved up-river from shanty to shanty. Stories about the exploits of this mythical character were enhanced by each storyteller who told the tale until eventually Paul Bunyan was born. His life was claimed to have been spent in the northern logging region of the United States around Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Paul Bunyan myth was legitimized by newspaper articles traced back to James MacGillivray, a reporter who wrote the first Paul Bunyan article in 1906. Bunyan’s ever constant companion, Babe the Blue Ox, became a regular part of the Bunyan stories because oxen were used for logging at that time. Tales of his giant feet creating huge craters that made the many lakes when filled with water in the northwest area of Minnesota and Wisconsin further perpetuated Paul Bunyan lore. To this day there are numerous tourist attractions across the northern United States featuring large Paul Bunyan and Babe wooden statues, which continue to fan the flames of this popular American folk hero. Johnny Appleseed Johnny Appleseed’s real name was John Chapman. His illustrious career as a frontiersman, nursery owner and part time preacher began when he moved to central Ohio in 1790 from Pittsburgh, Penn. By 1800 he had established a number of apple tree nurseries from seeds he obtained from cider mills that gladly gave him all the seeds he wanted because they saw it as a way to increase their business. The more apples available, the more cider they could produce. Johnny Appleseed began creating not apple orchards, but nurseries, and left them in the care of neighbors with strict instructions to sell the trees for cash, barter and/or credit. If anyone was unable to pay his or her bill for the trees they received, he was quick to forgive the debt. John Chapman was always on the move and returned every year or two to his many nurseries to collect any profit and bartered goods to give to the needy. Chapman, whose business endeavors were actually financially sound, never flaunted his success and usually wore the least desirable of clothing he received in barter from his nurseries. It was reported that he seldom wore shoes in order to save the leather, and only in the coldest of winters did he finally don footwear from his cache of clothing received as barter, usually whatever no one else wanted. He traveled extensively, stopping to help anyone in need and trading apple seeds, clothing and food for a warm dinner and the opportunity to spend the night on the floor of someone’s warm cabin. The Fort Wayne Sentinel reported that John Chapman, AKA Johnny Appleseed, died on March 18, 1845 at the age of 80. …And The Not So Good Folk heroes, who gained their reputation not for good, but for evil, are as numerous as their counterparts. A couple of them have Colorado connections. Alfred Packer Alfred Packer was a member of a group of 21 men who left Provo, Utah in November of 1873 bound for the gold country of Breckenridge, Colo. During their travels, they met briefly with Chief Ouray near Montrose who urged the party to hold off on their travels until the winter passed. Ignoring Ouray’s warning, the party continued east towards the Blue River in what is now Summit County when they became stranded in a brutal snow storm somewhere close to the Gunnison area. When supplies ran out, Packer left the group to scout a way out and when he returned, found a member of the party, Shannon Wilson Bell, roasting human flesh. Packer’s story was that when Bell attempted to attack him with a hatchet, he shot him dead in self defense. Packer was arrested and thrown in the Saguache County, Colo. jail. He escaped and lived for a number of years in Cheyenne, Wyo. under an assumed name of John Schwartze. A tipster revealed his true identity, and he was extradited back to Colorado where he stood trial, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. A number of years later, Packer’s conviction was reversed by the Colorado Supreme Court based on an ex post facto law (a retroactive or after the fact change in law). However, on June 8, 1886, Packer was sentenced to 40 years during another trial in Gunnison. At the time, this was the longest prison sentence handed down in U.S. history. Alfred Packer was paroled 16 years later and oddly ended up as a guard at the Denver Post building in downtown Denver. His historic life was made into a movie that was produced by Mark Webb Productions in the late 1970’s. At the time, Mark Webb Productions was based in Castle Rock, Colo. Many local residents were used as actors and crew in the movie. Soapy Smith Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (Nov. 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was known as one of Colorado’s most notorious gangsters and con men. He had his hands in organized crime and gained the “Soapy” nickname by swindling many in Denver into buying common soap for a dollar a cake when at the time they could be purchased elsewhere for less than a nickel. He would set up his stand on a busy Denver street corner and in plain view of onlookers would wrap one or sometimes more of the cakes of soap with bills up to $100 in denomination. Then he would carefully wrap the soap with plain paper and mix them up. A shill would then be the first to buy one of bars of soap and always would be the one to pick the bar with the money inside. The innocent bystanders would snatch up the remaining cakes of soap. Needless to say there were never any winners. Smith expanded his criminal empire, and newspapers in Denver reported that he controlled the city's criminals and underworld gambling, and accused corrupt politicians and the police chief of receiving his graft. Modern Day Local Folk heroes are not necessarily born a hundred years ago. There could be an eccentric character living amongst us right now doing good or bad who could be the next American folk hero. There is one modern day folk hero, Chuck Pyle, AKA The Zen Cowboy, as proclaimed by The Rocky Mountain News columnist John Lehndorff on Jan. 23, 2009. Pyle is a Western style singer-songwriter who travels the country entertaining for numerous venues, carrying with him his “high-plains saddle philosophy.” He is quoted as saying, “Always ride the horse in the direction it’s going.” He has lived in Colorado since 1965 and spent a period of his life in the Palmer Lake area. Pyle’s music has been recorded by such recording stars as Jerry Jeff Walker, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Suzy Bogguss. 
Issue 414 - 10/5/2009
SNIPPETZ AND THE FRUGAL FAD by Deborah Stumpf 
"Less is more."
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architect (1886-1969) Fru•gal: 1. economical in use or expenditure; prudently saving or sparing; not wasteful 2. entailing little expense; requiring few resources; meager; scanty -Random House Unabridged Dictionary Frugal-related words also include sparse, thrifty, careful and economical. Nowhere does the word “cheap” show up in the dictionary. Thus, before getting into the meaning of being frugal in today’s sluggish economy, it’s most important to clarify the differences between frugal and cheap. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “cheap” with the following adjectives: inexpensive, low quality and stingy. In purist terms, in no way do the last two relate to “frugal.” Frugal vs. Cheap Some frugal people occasionally refer to themselves as cheapskates, but there are notable differences. For example: • Saving an extra $100 from your paycheck, above and beyond your 401K, is frugal. Stealing copy paper from the office to avoid paying for it is cheap. • Going out to dinner and ordering chicken instead of steak – although you really want the steak – is frugal. Under tipping the waitress to save money is cheap. • Asking someone out for a first-time dinner date to a nice pizza joint to save money is frugal. Asking someone out for a first-time dinner date and then asking her – or him – to split the bill is cheap. • Growing your own food to cut back on groceries is frugal. Dumpster diving for food is definitely cheap. The Gray Area Frugal versus cheap is often a matter of opinion. In August, Kimberly Palmer wrote an article for U.S. News and World Report on frugality and early retirement. She interviewed a 32-year-old IT engineer from Omaha, Neb., who is planning to retire as soon as possible – before age 50. He makes his own Windex by mixing rubbing alcohol, water and a little bit of soap and reuses old shirts for dishtowels. He sells old household items on Craig’s List and eBay. He usually takes his lunch to work but occasionally gets a free burger by filling out free surveys at the fast-food joints. Most of his saving techniques are frugal, but using old shirts for dish towels – some might say “cheap.” Palmer also cited a 33-year-old living in California on a budget of a little more than $500 a month (California?) with the rest (75 percent) going to savings. Jacob is a blogger, according to the article, and has already retired from his job as an astrophysicist. He lives in a small house and doesn’t drive because he lives close to all the amenities. He, too, sells on eBay and other sites. Frugal? Cheap? Deprived? Enough About Cheap And On To Frugal Lifestyles in America have changed – some drastically – as the economic disaster of the past few years caught the country ill-prepared. People have lost their savings, their jobs and their homes. As gas prices soared, Americans cut vacations, even cross-town trips, to weather the storm. Many tossed their big vans and SUVs to the wind in favor of smaller, more economical cars. And customers at consignment clothing stores are the same people who used to drop off their clothes. Goodwill has become the new Gucci. Additionally, a number of people are farming their backyards to beat the high costs of groceries. Frugality has become the new face of America. It’s the rage. The Internet is inundated with online, self-subscribed frugal financial advisors. Bloggers galore have cut a piece of the Web pie for themselves, sharing their ideas and attempts at living frugally. There’s www.frugaldad.com. Frugal Dad’s writings have appeared in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Daily News and he’s written an e-book, “The 7-Day Turnaround: One Week to Change Your Family’s Financial Future.” Frugal Dad touts his approach to debt reduction hoping that others can benefit. In January 2008, Frugal Dad wrote that his family had agreed to trim their cable service from expanded to basic for one year. They eliminated 60 channels and saved $35 a month (every little bit counts). They survived without psychiatric care or family discord but decided to resume expanded cable after the one-year trial. That decision caused a few raised eyebrows among Frugal Dad’s readers. One suggested the decision to re-up the cable service could be compared to diet fads. Give it up, give in. However, Frugal Dad said the comparison had merit but even the successful dieter, who turns good eating habits into a lifestyle, can eventually add a bowl of ice cream or a couple of cookies to the menu. It’s called maintenance, Frugal Dad said, and it’s the same concept regarding finances. Those who succeed at reducing debt or building savings can “relax the spending diet” and without guilt resume something like expanded cable service. It’s about “balancing things out and avoiding waste … spending money to get a good value,” Frugal Dad said. Fad Or A New Frugal America? In August, the American Psychological Association addressed the frugal fad in “Monitor on Psychology,” an online APA news brief. According to the article by Amy Novotney, social researchers found that even people who haven’t been threatened by the economic debacle have pulled back on spending. Novotney reported that 7 million more households (up 19 percent) planned to grow their own food in 2009, according to the National Gardening Association. In April 2009, the national savings rate jumped to 5.7 percent of disposable income, up from a “historically low average rate of 0.5 percent the previous year.” Americans appear to be less wasteful. Landfills nationwide report that incoming trash is down by 30 percent. And a Gallup survey showed that seven in 10 Americans are cutting weekly expenses. Some psychologists say the frugal fad could be the silver lining among the black clouds of the economic downturn. Will Americans become less credit happy and more conscientious about their spending habits? Will new spending habits mean that Americans will place less value on material things? Other psychologists say that a thrifty-manic America will not last. Once credit starts flowing again, the frugal fad will fade. Or not. In an Associated Press article on MSNBC.com, a survey by a research firm – AlixPartners – predicted that when the “Great Recession” subsides, Americans will “spend at about 86 percent of their pre-downturn level.” It might be “in” to be prudent about spending but in many ways it’s a catch 22 for the economy. In 2008, consumer spending adjusted for inflation was down 0.2 percent, the first annual drop since 1980. The frugal fad has meant significant losses for the car, household goods, clothing and shoe industries. To add fuel to the fire, the big-spender baby boomers have seen tremendous losses in their retirement savings, and their time is running out. Baby boomers have driven trends in America for years – their new thrift-conscious attitude could keep frugality alive for quite some time. Get on board If anyone is interested in frugal living, it’s obvious that advice is flowing like the Colorado rivers during the spring runoff. And many of those Web sites back their advice with online coupons, like www.beingfrugalisfabulous.com. Print out a coupon for all kinds of items, from breakfast cereal to eye exams at Sears. Just Google “coupons,” and the options are vast. Leo Babauta has one of the top blog sites on the Internet – www.zenhabits.net. He also wrote a book, “The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essentials.” Babauta lives on Guam and has a wife and six kids. This frugality guru provides 50 ideas for saving money. Many of those ideas have been around for generations. Turning off lights, hanging the clothes out to dry and minimizing shower time have been continuously drilled into Americans as worthwhile energy-saving techniques. His more standard steps for saving money also include downsizing the family car; buying used clothing and furniture; brown bagging it; creating unique gifts. Here are five of Babauta’s do-I-really-have-to frugal methods – and some side benefits. 1. Stop online impulse buys (no more hiding the package before he or she gets home). 2. Eat less meat (more tofu equals fewer cows, and talk about energy savings!). 3. Pay your credit card off each month or tear it up (pretend the plastic is a Dear John letter from your bank account – grieve and get over it). 4. Do it yourself (mow your own lawn and get fit, saves on the gym membership). 5. Drink water, not beer (saves money and creates family time – no more Sunday afternoon football parties). As they say, the proof of America’s frugal fad as a permanent direction is in the pudding (or the JELLO, whichever is the least costly). Meanwhile, remember to pick up your FREE Snippetz Magazine; and, save on paper towels and keep the newspaper to wash your windows with vinegar and water. Or, recycle to save the earth. It’s the craze: save something. 
Issue 415 - 10/12/2009
SNIPPETZ HEATS THINGS UP WITH CHILI by Deborah Stumpf 
"Next to jazz music, there is nothing that lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul more than a good bowl of chili."
-Harry James, musician and band leader (1916-1983) Halloween: step aside. October is also National Chili Month. As the aspens turn to gold and snow drifts in and out of Colorado, October is a perfect time to recognize one of America’s hottest (no pun intended) dishes. Texas Heat Texans have for centuries claimed fame as the originators of chili con carne. Others argue that chili originated in Mexico, but Charles Ramsdell, a writer from San Antonio, Texas, wrote the following in his article, San Antonio: A Historical and Pictorial Guide. “Chili, as we know it in the U.S. cannot be found in Mexico today, except in a few spots which cater to tourists. If chili had come from Mexico, it would still be there. For Mexicans … do not change their culinary customs from one generation, or even from one century, to another.” In 1926, another writer from San Antonio, J.C. Clopper, wrote that Mexicans defined chili in the Diccionario de Mejicanismos, published in 1959, as “detestable food passing itself off as Mexican, sold in the U.S. from Texas to New York.” No matter, most agree that San Antonio, Texas, is responsible for spreading Texas-style chili throughout the South and West and then some. In 1893, the San Antonio Chili Stand at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago introduced people worldwide to chili con carne. If there is still doubt about Texans and chili, here’s what some famous and infamous chili lovers said about the lone state in relation to chili. • "Chili concocted outside of Texas is usually a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing. One of the first things I do when I get home to Texas is to have a bowl of red. There is simply nothing better." - Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th president of the United States • Will Rogers (1879-1935), cattleman, banker and journalist, called chili a" bowl of blessedness." It is said that Will Rogers judged a town by the quality of its chili and sampled it in hundreds of towns. He concluded that the best chili was from a small cafe in Coleman, Texas. • Jesse James (1847-1882), outlaw of the old American West, refused to rob a bank in McKinney, Texas, because it was home to his favorite chili parlor. The Early Recipe Chili con carne (Spanish for meat) is all about meat – and – leave out the beans please. Beef or venison and chili peppers were the main ingredients in original Texas-style chili. Suet (beef fat) was used to add flavor, and the type of peppers (from the mild bell to the hot habanera) used depended on the desired degree of spice and “heat.” Besides beans, Texas chili did not include vegetables of any kind or tomatoes. Chili powder, a blend of ground peppers and spices, was often used in place of the chili peppers. When chili gained popularity in the eastern parts of the U.S., beans were added as filler because meat was more expensive and not quite as plentiful in those areas. Many chili purists still insist on banning the beans and tomatoes at various chili cook-offs around the country. Others banish the meat. Vegetarian or not, many health-conscious chili fans are now opting for the beans-only version. Chili contests often include vegetarian chili as a category. Can It Of course, canned chili is an alternative for the don’t-feel-like-cooking crowd. Some say that canned chili was first produced in 1908 by Willie Gebhardt of San Antonio. However, William Gerald Tobin, a Texas Ranger and hotel owner, first coined the idea of canned chili in 1881. Tobin contracted with the federal government and sold canned chili con carne to the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. The carne that Tobin used in his recipes was goat. Eventually, he opened a chili con carne processing plant and canning operation. He died before his venture took off. Red or Green? While Texas boasts the original chili recipes, New Mexico is the capital of chili growing. The largest agricultural crop in New Mexico is the chili, and the state grows more chili peppers than any other in the U.S. Chili is a New Mexico household staple. It is often said that the mantra of the people of New Mexico is “red or green?” In 1888, Fabian Garcia worked as a horticulturist at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He experimented with developing varieties of the chili. In the early 1900s, he released the “New Mexico 9” – nine different pod sizes and heat levels. Today, New Mexico State’s College of Agriculture and Home Economics helps New Mexico’s farmers develop new and improved varieties of the chili. New Mexico State University also is the headquarters of the Chili Pepper Institute. And every year, more than 300 chili growers from all over the U.S. attend the New Mexico Chile Conference in Las Cruces. The chili cash crop is worth about $60 million at harvest to New Mexico; after it’s processed, the value increases to more than $240 million. About 95 percent of the crop is harvested from seven southern and eastern New Mexico counties. Chili Facts Contrary to popular belief, the Spanish did not introduce the chili pepper to the U.S. The Inca, Maya and Aztec Indians used chili peppers to spice up their dishes, temper their medical ailments, trade goods and bring them closer to the gods. Chili peppers are related to tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants and have nothing to do with black pepper. Christopher Columbus, believing he had arrived in the Spice Islands of the East Indies, called the chili “pepper,” thinking it was black pepper The red chili is a ripened, dried green chili and has a sweeter flavor. Red chili “bouquets” are often used as a hanging plant décor in homes and restaurants.
The Hottest The Dorset Naga is the world’s hottest chili pepper. Joy and Michael Michaud grew the pepper out of their market in Great Britain and spent four years developing it. They had to wear gloves to remove the seeds outdoors as they prepared them for drying. The hottest chili pepper in the Guiness Book of Records is a Red Savina habanera, measured at 570,000 Scolville heat units. (Wilburn Scoville developed the scale in 1912.) In 2005, the Michauds sent the Dorset Naga to two New York laboratories, and they measured the pepper at 900,000 Scolville units. In 2008, the BBC’s “Gardeners World” recorded that the Dorset Naga measured 1.6 million SHUs at the University of Warwick in the UK. In comparison, the Jalapeno chili is measured at 10,000 SHUs. The Habanera chili ranges in levels between 100,000 and 400,000. Some say just dust the chili ingredients with the Dorset Naga and the heat is on. Chili Cook-offs Abound The International Chili Society sanctions more than 300 cook-offs each year throughout the world. And that’s just the number of chili championships that are members of the ICS. The 2009 World’s Championship Chili Cook-off is scheduled Oct. 9-11 in Charleston, West Virginia. Hundreds of cooks throughout the world will gather for the three-day event. Georgia Weller from Michigan won $25,000 with the 2008 world champion chili recipe. Every state in the union, including Hawaii and Alaska, has some sort of chili cook-off (or two or 20) a year – and almost every country. The Chili Appreciation Society International promotes chili cook-offs throughout the world to raise money for charity. They participate in more than 500 chili cook-offs each year and raise over $1 million for local charities. The Denver District Chili Cook-off is Oct. 4; the winner advances to the 2010 world championship cook-off. National Chili Month Here are a few ideas to celebrate National Chili Month. • Attend a chili cook-off or participate in one. • Host your own chili cook-off party, where everyone brings a pot of chili. • Or host a party and have each guest bring an ingredient appropriate for a big batch of chili, and cook it up during the Broncos game. • Have a chili cook-off at the office. • Create a new family recipe – have each member of the family think of an ingredient to add to the chili. The list could be endless and interesting. • Host a chili pepper eating contest (make sure to have guests sign a waiver). • Dress up like a chili pepper for Halloween. Southern Chili Georgia Style Georgia Weller, winner of the 2008 World’s Chili Cookoff Championship Ingredients: 3 tsp Wesson Oil 4 1/2 TBS CA Chile Powder 4 TBS Gebhardt Chili Powder 1/2 TBS NM Hot Chile Powder 1/2 TBS Chimayo 1/2 TBS Pasilla 3 1/2 TBS Cumin 1 TBS Granulated Garlic 4 tsp Onion Powder 1/2 TBS Brown Sugar 1 tsp Tabasco 3lbs Chuck - cut in chunks 1 can Beef Broth 1 can Chicken Broth 1 8oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce 1 can Green Chiles – chopped Instructions: Brown meat and add to chili pot along with chicken and beef broth, tomato sauce and green chilies. Add 2/3 of the spices. Cook for 2 hours. Add remaining spices. Cook additional hour or until meat is tender. Add salt to taste. Serve with Nabisco original Premium Saltine crackers. Excerpted from International Chili Society Web site, www.chilicookoff.com 
Issue 416 - 10/19/2009
SNIPPETZ IS FLYING THE FLAG by Deborah Stumpf 
Cheers for the sailors that fought on the wave for it,
Cheers for the soldiers that always were brave for it, Tears for the men that went down to the grave for it, Here comes the flag! -Arthur Macy For centuries, flags have been used as a way to inform, establish a presence or even threaten people. The earliest flag was a metal or wooden pole with a carving placed on top of the pole. The first recorded metal flag, dating back to 3,000 BC, came from Iran. Eventually, fabric replaced the carvings, and the oldest preserved textile flag was found in Egypt, dating back to third century AD. The national flag of Denmark, called Dannebrog, is red with a white Scandinavian cross and is the oldest state flag in the world still in use. However, some say that the red dragon of the Welsh flag represents the oldest national flag. It is thought in some circles that the red dragon began with the Romans. Every country in the world has a unique flag and every state in the U.S. has its own flag. The American Flag Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the American flag “a symbol of the government.” On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the U.S. flag, which originally featured 13 red and white stripes and 13 stars. The flag now bears 50 stars, representing each state. Although there is no written proof, historians credit Betsy Ross of Philadelphia for sewing the first American flag. Historians have agreed that circumstantial evidence and oral accounts recorded from interviews with Ross’s daughter and other family members support the story. The flag not only represents the face of the U.S. as a whole, it also is a symbol of respect, freedom, pride and loyalty, and the flag became the inspiration for a song and a “prayer.” The idea of the Star Spangled Banner came to Francis Scott Key when, on Sept. 14, 1814, in Baltimore, Md., U.S. soldiers raised the flag in celebration of victory over the British during the War of 1812. Inspired by the “broad stripes and bright stars,” Key wrote the words on the back of an envelope; the music is from an old English pub song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” It took another century before the flag would become the official national anthem. President Herbert Hoover signed the congressional resolution March 3, 1931. The Pledge The words for what would eventually be known as the Pledge of Allegiance first appeared in a Sept. 8, 1892 issue of a children’s magazine, The Youth’s Companion. A month later, more than 12 million children were reciting those words in schools across the country. The first written words: I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. ~Francis Bellamy, The Youth's Companion, Sept. 8, 1892 Adults officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance on Flag Day, June 14, 1923, in Washington, D.C., where many Americans had gathered for the first National Flag Conference. “Under God” was not originally in the pledge. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill in 1954 to add it to the pledge. The Flag – not without controversy
State flags The C for Colorado Andrew Carlisle Johnson designed the state flag, which the Colorado General Assembly adopted June 5, 1911. The colors of the Colorado flag represent statewide environmental features. The gold in the middle of the C is symbolic of Colorado’s numerous days of sunshine. The red in the C itself represents the color of most of the state’s soil. Blue is for the clear, blue skies of Colorado, and white symbolizes snow-capped mountains. The Best State Flag In 2001, the North American Vexillogical Association – vexillology is the study of flags – conducted a poll on its Web site to identify the best and worst flags in North America. More than 100 NAVA members and more than 300 people from 20 countries participated, rating flag designs on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 as the best. New Mexico came in at first place, with Texas at the No. 2 spot. Quebec, Canada, finished third. The worst flags: No. 1 – Georgia; No. 2 – Nebraska; No. 3 – Montana. Voters used words like “hideous” “desolating” and “simply awful” to describe Georgia’s flag. Colorado scored a 6.83, taking 16th place overall. (Check out all of the flags at www.nava.org.) The Peace Flag The U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corp. all have flags distinguishing each branch of the military. But the white flag is an international symbol of truce, peace or surrender. To “wave a white flag” means staying neutral and agreeing not to engage in any battle or resistance, from foreign wars to police battles on the home front. Flag Trivia
Flag, Flag, Everywhere a Flag The sport of auto racing has its own unique set of flags that guide the drivers and let the spectators know what’s happening. A few official flags from Formula 1:
The Olympic flag, designed in 1913, bears five interlocking rings representing five world continents. Antarctica is excluded as a continent and North and South America are deemed as one, as in “America.” The Red Cross flag is traditionally known as a red cross on a white background; however, the organization is identified through two other flags – a red crescent on a white background and a white diamond with a cutout center on a white background. World Flag “Stuff”
Issue 417 - 10/26/2009
SNIPPETZ IS GETTING SPOOKED BY CLASSIC SPOOKY MOVIES by Greg Stumpf 
"Once the door is locked, there is no way out. The windows have bars a jail would be proud of, and the only door to the outside locks like a vault."
-The House on Haunted Hill With the upcoming holiday that will be sure to bring lots of ghosts and goblins knocking at your door, Snippetz takes a look at some classic spooky movies that made film making history. But before we explore the voluminous list of spooky movies, we need to find out, what makes a movie a “classic?” Let’s Ask An Expert In an April 2004 article, Elizabeth (no last name listed), who writes for Reelclassics.com wrote, “They are films that can be watched on many different levels, and as a result, enjoyed again and again over the years in new ways. Because they adhere to certain standards of discretion and use established cinematic devices to imply what they cannot say explicitly, they also can't rely on sex or violence to hold the audience's attention. Rather than resorting to the use of blatant sensorial stimulations like explosions, nudity and flashy editing, classic movies use compelling stories and characters, or snappy dialogue, or high production values (cinematography, editing, shot composition, scoring, sets and costuming, etc.), or good acting, or some combination of the above qualities to attract and entertain the audience.” And, lucky for us, classics are still being made and enjoyed today based on this definition. Famous Spine Tingling Actors What role, other than the obvious, do the actors play in making a movie a classic? There are some actors who either by design or happenstance became classic spooky movie actors, and probably make those movies better because of their memorable performances. Lon Chaney, Sr. nicknamed “the man of a thousand faces,” is synonymous with classic spooky movies and he’s a ‘local.’ Chaney was born on April 1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He is likely best known for his performances in the classic Hunch Back of Norte Dame and Phantom of the Opera. Chaney had a particular skill for using makeup to create grotesque and deformed images of himself for the sake of his character. He was slated to star in the first Dracula movie, but unfortunately he passed away before production started. Chaney’s memory has been honored by the naming of The Lon Chaney Theater in the old City Auditorium Building in downtown Colorado Springs. Chaney’s son, Lon Chaney, Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps with great movies like Man Made Monster, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Lon Chaney, Jr. went on to make a variety of other spooky movies during his career. Boris Karloff starred in and is best known for the classic spooky movie, Frankenstein. He also had starring roles in The Old Dark House, the Mummy and The Bride of Frankenstein. Bela Lugosi was best known for his stellar performance in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Vincent Price thrilled us with The Raven, Tales of Terror, The Pit and The Pendulum, Theater of Blood, and House on Haunted Hill, just to name a few. And then there’s Jack Nicholson. Who could forget “Here’s Johnny,” the famous quote from Stephen King’s The Shining. SPOOKY MOVIES FOR THE FAMILY The Wizard of Oz - Possibly the standard spooky movie for the whole family. Lots of great song and dance, along with good and bad witches, and let’s not forget about those flying monkeys. It’s all fun and games until the flying monkeys attack. High Spirits - Grandmas love Steve Guttenberg and the rest of the family will love this hauntingly amusing tale about an Irish castle converted to hotel whose owner pretends the castle is haunted to attract more visitors. The American visitors bring some real ghosts with them to make things more interesting. Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein - Starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and the riotous slap stick comedy of Abbot and Costello Beetle Juice - A classic that parents will enjoy watching for the third or fourth time and is still funny enough for children to enjoy nearly 20 years after its release. Imagine a ghost couple who hire a ghost, Beetlejuice, to scare away the new mortal inhabitants of their home. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken - Starring Don Kotts, this is a classic for the whole family. Who cannot laugh when Knotts begins to shake and quiver from fear? Tremors - Giant man-eating worms hold an entire small town at bay. Kevin Bacon gives a great performance in this one. Lake Placid - Want more entertainment than man-eating worms? How about a giant man-eating crocodile that's eating all the townspeople? This thriller is lots of fun for the night before Halloween or any time for the whole family. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - For those of you who want to watch a movie with no absolutely no realism that can’t be taken too seriously, this is for you. It’s also great for the youngsters. Sleepy Hollow - Johnny Depp fans love this one, and it’s a great movie to watch on a dark and stormy night. This one may not be suitable for the 10 and under crowd as it involves the investigation of some ghoulish murders. Serial Mom - There is some violence and language in this one, but for a family with children in the teens or older, it could be a great choice for your Halloween movie night. For Grownup Ghouls Only Then there are the scary flicks for the older set. If under 16, it’s advised that the parents prescreen these tales of terror. The Exorcist - This horror classic stars Linda Blair as a young girl possessed by Satanic forces, Ellen Burstyn as her terrified mother, and Max von Sydow and Jason Miller as the priests who must confront the powers of Hell – and their own inner demons – to save Blair. Silence of the Lambs - stars Jodie Foster as a young FBI trainee and Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. This is the ultimate in realistic spooky. If you’ve never seen it, treat yourself to some mountain-sized goose bumps. Hannibal - The sequel to Silence of the Lambs starring Anthony Hopkins again as Hannibal Lecter, AKA The Cannibal, who escaped to Italy in the prequel. Now a vengeance-seeking millionaire, the hideously deformed survivor of a Lecter attack is ready to lure him back to America and plans to use FBI agent Clarice Starling as his bait. Make sure you don’t watch this one alone. Halloween - Halloween and all of the sequels are modern day classic spooky movies that lean heavily on blood and gore. Nightmare on Elm Street – Again, it’s another franchise much like the Halloween series with the same bad guy who for some reason just won’t go away from movie to movie. The Sixth Sense - A unique storyline with a brilliant surprise conclusion about a young boy played by Haley Joel Osment who sees dead people. He seeks treatment from psychologist Bruce Willis who some say gives one of the best performances of his career. The Blair Witch Project - The ultra-scary, low-budget horror hit that will send you screaming, traces the disappearance of three college students in rural Maryland in 1994 while filming a documentary about the region's fabled Blair Witch. Thirteen Ghosts - Make sure you leave the lights on when watching this one. Maybe you’ll leave them on even after you’re in bed. The Shining – This one stars Jack Nicholson moonlighting as a winter caretaker for a haunted hotel. Jack goes a bit insane after spending so much time in isolation working on his book that he decides to attempt to start killing off his family just as the former hotel caretaker had done. Also starring Shelly Duvall. Stephen King was inspired to write this novel while staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Some scenes were shot here in Colorado. The Changeling - This classic thriller stars George C. Scott as a music teacher who lost his family suddenly in a car accident and moves into an old house that’s haunted by the spirit of a child killed decades earlier. The movie is supposed to be based in Denver’s Cheeseman Park area. 
Issue 418 - 11/2/2009
SNIPPETZ HONORS THE FEW, THE PROUD, THE MARINES by Deborah Stumpf 
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."
- 1985, President Ronald Reagan The Continental Congress established the U.S. Marine Corps on Nov. 10, 1775 as land forces to assist naval fleets. That resolution signified the official birth date of the U.S. Marine Corps, a proud branch of the military that began to set themselves apart during the Revolutionary War. The head-and-shoulders-above tradition of the Marine Corps has been built upon for centuries. Marine Beginnings Although the Marine Corps celebrates its inception as the Nov. 10 date in 1775, the Corps, along with the Continental Navy, was actually shut down when the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War in 1783. On July 11, 1798, the Marine Corps was re-established, and the Marines were again forces to contend with amid hostile aggressions toward the U.S. The Marines fought the Barbary pirates along the shores of Tripoli; they battled alongside naval fleets during the War of 1812 and stood strong with Andrew Jackson in the defeat of the British at New Orleans, to name of few. In the next decades, the Marines were instrumental in protecting U.S. interests around the world. During the peak of World War II, the Marine Corps had six divisions, five air wings and more than 485,000 troops. During the latter war, 87,000 Marines were killed and wounded; 82 Marines had earned the Medal of Honor. Today, the Marine Corps operates under the U.S. Department of the Navy and is the smallest of the armed forces, with 190,000 active duty and 40,000 reserve Marines, in the Department of Defense (2008 figures). The Marine Corps is headquartered in Arlington, Va. Semper Fidelis Fortitudine (with fortitude) was the first motto of the Marine Corps initiated in conjunction with the War of 1812. By Sea and by Land – from the Royal Marine’s “Per Mere, Per Terram” – was the second motto. The third motto, “To the Shores of Tripoli,” eventually became a familiar line in the Marine hymn – “From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli.” In 1883, the Marine Corps adopted Semper Fidelis, Latin for “always faithful” as its official motto. The service men and women of the Marine Corps wear their uniform with pride. Semper Fidelis, or sometimes shortened to Semper Fi, exemplifies their loyalty and dedication. OOH-RAH! There are a few theories about the origination of the Marine greeting, “OOH-RAH.” One asserts that Marines on U.S. submarines during the Korean War responded to a call to action when they heard the vessel’s klaxon alarm – which sounded like “A-OO-GAH.” The sound became a Marine cheer on the submarine as a sign of battle readiness. Legend has it that a sergeant serving on the first Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion took the “A-OO-GAH” cheer with him when he became a drill instructor in San Diego. He handed it down to drill instructor students and they passed it on to their recruits. It eventually became part of the Recon cadence. Throughout the years, the Marines shortened “A-OO-GAH” to OOH-RAH. Another theory is that “OOH-RAH” is derived from the Turkish phrase “kill them all,” which was adopted as the Russian battle cry as “urrah.” Once a Marine, Always a Marine Although Semper Fi is the actual motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, “once a marine, always a marine” is the motto of the Marine Corps League – signifying its lifelong meaning to those who have “earned the title of Marine.” Semper Fi is a reminder to a Marine that he or she will live by the core values of honor, courage and commitment for a lifetime. No Marine can ever be undone. First to Fight The Marine Corps mantra and one of its missions is to be the first on the scene when the country’s interests are being threatened – first to help and first to fight. “For this, we have earned the reputation as “America’s 911 Force” — our nation’s first line of defense.” The Marine Corps states that its ability to respond from the ground, the air and the sea distinguishes it as the “premier expeditionary force.” Marine Quips The Marine Corps has been referenced by many terms that depict their unique identity among U.S. military branches.
Famous Marines
Other notable Marines: George Jones, country singer; Brian Keith, Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen – actors; Leon Uris, novelist; Ken Norton, boxer; Lee Trevino, PGA golfer Marine Corps Trivia
Schooled to be a Marine Young men can get an early start on their Marine career by attending the Marine Military Academy, a college preparatory school for males in grades eight through 12. The Academy offers an optional year for post graduate study. The Academy is located in Harlingen, Texas, on 142 acres. Students follow strict regiments not unlike the U.S. Marine Corps. The structure is designed to emulate the same goals of the Corps – to develop courage, character and leadership. The school accepts high-school age males nationwide as well as internationally – the yearly cost is more than $26,000. An Air Wing program is offered to cadets interested in becoming professional pilots and certified flight instructors. Whether high school graduates are from the Military Academy or from public or private schools, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., is the Marine equivalent of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Naval Academy offers undergraduate study for men and women seeking to become commissioned officers. At-Home Assignments The Marines operate 11 bases in the U.S. and Okinawa. California, Arizona, Hawaii, South and North Carolina, Virginia and Washington D.C. are home bases for Marine enlistees and officers. Recruits train at Parris Island in South Carolina or in San Diego, Calif. Officers train at Quantico, Va. The National Museum of the Marine Corps In November 2006, the Marine Corps launched a tribute to all U.S Marines with the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Denver, Colo., architects Fentress-Bradburn designed the 118,000-square-foot structure, located on more than 135 acres in Triangle, Va., near the Quantico Marine Corps base. The structure is embedded with the iconic image of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima – the architectural inspiration for the building. Highlights include the era exhibit galleries, where multimedia technology brings the Marines’ war time experiences to life to museum visitors. The World War II Gallery, the Vietnam Gallery and the Korean War Gallery are part of the depiction of Marines in operation. Also on deck are galleries educating visitors about Global terrorism, Marine training and the Marine band. About 1,000 artifacts are on display like the Grumman Panther, one of the first of the Marine Corps jet aircraft. Overlooking the museum is the 3-acre Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, where Marine Corps organizations and those who served are honored with monuments and commemorative bricks. The National Museum of the Marine Corps has been recognized for excellence by the Themed Entertainment Association, the equivalent of an Academy Award. The THEA chose the museum out of 120 nominees, which included theme parks, events and museums. Striking a Pose To further attest to the stalwart character of the Marines, 10 Marines based in Quantico posed for hours covered in “goo” and plaster so exhibit fabricators could accurately mold their bodies for a lifelike display. Two of the Marines were cast in similar positions close to their experiences when they were stationed together in Iraq. As part of a World War I scene, Sgt. Mark Wangler is posing as a Marine helping a wounded Marine in the back of a truck. Sgt. Richard Tack posed as the wounded Marine – and, in reality, he was shot in the leg in Iraq, and Wangler helped pull Tack to safety and administered first aid until the medic arrived. OOH-RAH! 
Issue 419 - 11/9/2009
SNIPPETZ COMES A COURTIN' ON SADIE HAWKINS DAY by Deborah Stumpf 
“The Sadie Hawkins Dance in my khaki pants; there’s nothin better – oh, oh, oh. The girls ask the guys; it’s always a surprise. There's nothin better, baby do you like my sweater?” - Relient-K (rock band’s Sadie Hawkins song)
Imagine being the “homeliest gal in the hills” with nary a bachelor to come “a courtin.’” Imagine your dad, the town mayor, ever so woeful that his 35-year-old daughter may never leave the nest. But dad’s anguish leads him to declare a day where all of the town’s single women run through the streets - literally – to pursue the town bachelors. The lucky – or not – who are caught must marry their trackers. Caught On Like Wildfire Well, it happened every year in Dogpatch, U.S.A. Hekzebiah Hawkins was the doting father and his so-called ugly daughter was Sadie; thus, the story of how Sadie Hawkins Day became an American folklore. Of course, Hekzebiah and Sadie are not real – they made their debut Nov. 15, 1937, as characters in Al Capp’s “Li’l Abner” comic strip. Only in America would a comic strip spawn a long-lasting tradition among singles. It took just two years for Sadie Hawkins Day to spread like wildfire throughout U.S. colleges and high schools. Al Capp had no intentions to keep Sadie Hawkins Day alive on the same day every year, but his fans did. So, for four decades on Nov. 15, “Li’l Abner” featured Sadie Hawkins Day in his cartoon strip, alongside real-life celebrations nationwide. The true-life version of Sadie Hawkins Day didn’t include a marriage proposal; it became a day where high school girls and female college students could reverse roles and invite a favorite boy/man to a Sadie Hawkins Day dance. In 1939, “Life” magazine reported that more than 200 colleges had held Sadie Hawkins Day events in conjunction with the comic strip event. By 1952, 40,000 different venues hosted Sadie Hawkins Day events. Sadie Hawkins Day has been referred to as the first of the female-empowering rites – years before the feminist movement took hold in the U.S. Sadie’s Creator Al Capp was born Alfred Gerald Caplin in 1909 in New Haven, Conn.; at age 9 he lost his left leg in a trolley accident. His father, an artist, encouraged Capp to develop cartooning skills, and his first comic strip was "Colonel Gilfeather” for the Associated Press. At age 19, Capp became the youngest syndicated cartoonist in America. Eventually, Capp quit AP to ghost write the popular strip “Joe Palooka” for Ham Fisher. In 1934, Capp decided to go out on his own, hatching a lifelong feud with Fisher. He took his idea for “Li’l Abner” to United Features Syndicate, and in three years, 253 newspapers with more than 15 million readers carried the strip. Before long, circulation of newspapers featuring “Li’l Abner” reached 60 million. Some say that “Li’l Abner” was the most popular comic strip of all time. Author John Steinbeck referred to Capp as the “best writer in the world.” Besides Li’l Abner, Daisy Mae and Sadie Hawkins, a few others in the comic strip:
“Li’l Abner’s” tremendous popularity inspired a Broadway musical, two film adaptations and an amusement park in Arkansas called Dogpatch, U.S.A. Capp also became a high-profile guest on the “Tonight” show – spanning three hosts: Jack Paar, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. He had a radio show, his own newspaper column and lectured at colleges all over the country. In 1946, Capp created a pamphlet for the Red Cross about his life with one leg. The Red Cross distributed it to amputee veterans of World War II. In 1977, Capp retired “Li’l Abner,” and two years later he died. The Song Although it may not be Grammy-award material, there is an actual Sadie Hawkins song, written by the rock band, “Relient-K.” All the girls in the bathroom talkin, who they gonna take to the Sadie Hawkins. My ears are burning but I kept on walkin, smile on my face and an air guitar rockin.’ The Sadie Hawkins Dance in my khaki pants; there’s nothin better – oh, oh, oh. The girls ask the guys; it’s always a surprise. There's nothin better, baby do you like my sweater? Sittin in the back of my next class nappin, gotta give a speech then bow to the clappin Told a funny joke got the whole class laughin, think I got a tan from the light which I was baskin The Sadie Hawkins Dance in my khaki pants … there’s nothing better, baby do you like my sweater. Scan the cafeteria for some good seating, I found a good spot by the cheerleaders eating The quarterback asked me if I'd like a beating; I said that's one thing I won't be needing And since I'm rather smart and cunning, I took off down the next hall running. Only to get stopped by a girl so stunnin. She said, "You're smooth, and good with talkin. You go with me to the Sadie Hawkins" The Sadie Hawkins Dance in my khaki pants … The Dress Code Sadie Hawkins Day dress has changed throughout the years, reflecting mostly country-girl fashions from the decades. The garb is a mixture of Elly May Clampett-style (Donna Douglas on the 1960s TV show “Beverly Hillbillies”) – tight mid-calf length jeans and plaid blouse tied at the waist – and Daisy Duke-style (aka Jessica Simpson in the “Dukes of Hazzard” movie version) – short-shorts and the same Elly May-type blouse. Both Elly May and Daisy wore their clothes well – showing bare, fit-as-a-fiddle midriffs. In years past, many of the couples dressed alike for Sadie Hawkins – guys would be dressed in overalls and straw hats. The like attire was part of the girl-got-guy thing and he’s-all-mine-tonight attitude. Sadie Hawkins Day and Leap Year Sadie Hawkins Day is sometimes mistakenly synonymous with Feb. 29 – leap year; however, Sadie Hawkins Day purists are the first to note that the latter is in November. But both Sadie Hawkins Day and leap year have common themes. When Feb. 29 is added to the calendar every four years, it marks a leap year – and a day when women can propose to men, much like the original idea of Sadie Hawkins Day. As the story goes, the leap year tradition that a woman can ask a man to marry her began in fifth century Ireland. St. Bridget had complained to St. Patrick that it wasn’t fair to make women wait for a man to propose. After a fair amount of persuasion, St. Patrick gave in and set Feb. 29 aside as a day to allow women the right to ask for a man’s hand in marriage. Then, in 1288, Queen Margaret of Scotland declared the same for women in her country. Feb. 29 became a day when Scottish women could propose to a man. The man who refused the lady paid a fine, in the form of a kiss, a silk dress or a pair of gloves – apparently, enough to make up for the rejection. Sadie Today Sadie Hawkins Day is usually celebrated the Saturday following Nov. 9 or Nov. 11. The celebrations are also referred to as WPAs (Women Pay All) or Turnabout, because it was expected at many Sadie Hawkins’ parties that women would treat their date to dinner and foot the bill for the dance tickets. Today, Sadie Hawkins Day is casual and whatever goes. Modern-day women don’t need Sadie Hawkins Day to ask a man out on a date. According to a 2004 Match.com survey of 800 single adults, 87 percent of the women said they would make the first move if attracted to someone. That was five years ago – women are even more confident today about approaching the guy first. And men are overjoyed about it, according to a few men’s magazines. Ladies, Want to Get Into the Sadie Spirit? First glance: Maybe you see your potential Prince Charming at a party or a bar. Don’t miss an opportunity to strike up a conversation. Perhaps later into the conversation you say something like, “I’m going to grab a bite to eat or a cup of coffee down the street – would you like to join me?” Whether it’s first glance or someone you know, try to gauge a romantic interest: If you can, ask a friend how he or she perceives his interest in you. Flirt a little with the man in question and see how he responds. Don’t be too cute. And go with your gut. Make it a low-pressure date: Ask him out to lunch; get a couple of sports-related tickets (if he likes sports) and invite him along; ask him to go hiking, bicycling; ask him to go to a party with you – make it simple. If nothing else, ask him how he feels about Sadie Hawkins. If he says, “I don’t know her, is she a friend of yours?” – run the other way. |
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