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Issue 860
SNIPPETZ IS LOOKING FORWARD TO "A TASTE OF TRI-LAKES CARES" by Lindsey Harrison “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” – Margaret Mead, American scientist There are plenty of organizations out there that are geared towards helping people. Food pantries to help people put nutritious meals on the table for their families. Employment agencies to help people find jobs to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads. There are even organizations like FEMA that are meant to provide disaster and emergency relief in times of crises. Many of us may never need any of these types of organizations, but there are plenty of us who find ourselves in an unforeseen situation where this type of help could be the difference between just surviving and thriving. Luckily, there is one such organization right here in the Tri-Lakes area that provides multiple types of services to people who find themselves in need: Tri-Lakes Cares. If you’ve never heard of them or don’t know much about them, you’re in luck! Not only is Tri-Lakes Cares holding a free get-to-know-you event on May 9, but we at Snippetz felt it was high time we gave them some credit for the amazing things they’ve done for the community over the years. Keep reading to learn more about the upcoming event and some insider information on Tri-Lakes Cares. WHO IS TRI-LAKES CARES? While we could’ve just looked up some general information for you about Tri-Lakes Cares, we thought we’d take a more personal approach and go straight to the source to get a true understanding of the organization. Haley Chapin, executive director of Tri-Lakes Cares, spoke to us and said that, since its inception in 1984, the organization has served the community in various ways. According to the organization’s website, “TLC exists to provide a safety net for low income households in the Tri-Lakes region; and to help those households willing and able, to work toward self-sufficiency. Many households in the Tri-Lakes region do not earn enough income to meet their basic needs such as housing, food, utilities, transportation, and health care . . . Tri-Lakes Cares strives to help our clients overcome emergencies and work toward self-sufficiency by offering resources to improve education and income by supporting self-sufficiency programs and encouraging job skills training.” Chapin said, due to the disparity between what people in the region make and what it costs to actually afford the basic necessities of life, many TLC clients fall into one of two categories: those living in generational poverty, and those living in situational poverty. “Generational poverty is where three or more generations of one family have lived in poverty,” she said. “Situational poverty includes those who stumble upon an issue like a layoff, divorce or medical catastrophe.” Regardless of which category the clients fall into, the ultimate goal is to give them the support they need to eventually support themselves, she said. WHAT DOES TRI-LAKES CARES DO? Yes, we’ve already generally covered what Tri-Lakes Cares does, but wouldn’t it make more sense to have more information? Chapin was able to provide that for us and said, “About 40 percent of what we offer the community is in-kind products or services.” Those products and services include things like food, toiletries and sundries, access to a pro-bono doctor, dentist and vision expert, or even support for writing resumes and working on interviewing skills.” One program Tri-Lakes Cares offers is called “Getting Ahead,” and lasts 12 to 15 weeks, during which clients learn about various ways to help get themselves out of poverty, Chapin said. Sometimes clients need help with costs related to post-secondary education like text books or class fees, which Tri-Lakes Cares can provide as well. WHY DOES TRI-LAKES CARES MATTER? You’ve read a bit about Tri-Lakes Cares by now, but you may be wondering why an organization like this is worth writing about in this amazing magazine. Well, consider for a minute if you were to lose your job right before Christmas. If you meet the eligibility requirements (which can be found on the Tri-Lakes Cares website at www.tri-lakescares.org), you wouldn’t have to worry about how to buy gifts for your family or find the money to make a hearty, festive meal. Now, imagine that you are trying to find a new job, but it takes longer than you thought it would and you need to find some help through the various government-assistance programs. If you’ve never been down that road before, it could certainly look daunting. Tri-Lakes Cares can provide support for you during that time to help you navigate that unfamiliar territory. But what about food during that time? Your family still has to eat but you don’t qualify for food stamps. Tri-Lakes Cares, once again, has a way to help you supplement your grocery shopping to make sure your family has everything it needs. Through the “Help Yourself Market,” people (anyone, not just clients) can come and literally help themselves to the items available, regardless of their income or where they live, Chapin said. “Sometimes we find people who are a bit shy about their situation,” she said. “Here, they can come get produce, breads and pastries, dairy, whatever we have available. They can help themselves to whatever they need during those tough times to supplement what they have at home. Sometimes that’s all you need to get stable.” Guys, think about that for a second. There is a place for you to go get whatever you need FOR FREE so you don’t have to choose between eating and paying your utility bill. Aside from all the other awesome stuff we’ve already mentioned, just that alone is enough to set this organization apart from the rest. TASTE OF TRI-LAKES CARES There are far too many amazing things offered by Tri-Lakes Cares for us to fit it into this small, but still fantastic, article. That’s why we recommend visiting the website – www.tri-lakescares.org, for those of you who weren’t paying attention earlier – to find out more about the services they offer or how to get involved and help those who are less fortunate than yourself. Here’s the big thing, though. You can get lots of that same information, while sampling yummy treats created by the Tri-Lakes Cares chefs at the Taste of Tri-Lakes event coming up on May 9 at Flying Horse Ranch, starting at 5:30 p.m. “This is going to be a great opportunity for families, including children, to come and participate, show support and learn more about the programs and services we offer,” Chapin said. There will be games to play, interactive education booths sponsored by local businesses that help teach you about the programs and services but in a fun way, and, of course, food. “We hope that this event is a family activity that everyone can attend together, and parents can teach their children the importance of giving back and supporting those who are less fortunate,” Chapin said. And, in case you were wondering what happens with any of the perishable food that is left over either from the “Help Yourself Market” or from the Taste of Tri-Lakes event, volunteers take everything to the Marian House Soup Kitchen in Colorado Springs, so nothing goes to waste. Brilliant! Issue 861
SHOW SOME CLASS, AND DON'T BE LIKE THESE POOR SPORTS IN SPORTS by Lindsey Harrison 
“It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.”
– Mark Twain, American author As always Mark Twain’s words ring true more than a century after his death. There’s no doubt, you definitely do NOT want to pick up a golf ball while it is still rolling if you intend to practice good sportsmanship. Maybe you never planned on showing good sportsmanship in the first place in which case, help yourself to all the golf balls you find . . . but don’t hold us accountable for the consequences you may face. Anyway, the point of all this is to say that not everyone is on the same page when it comes to how you should handle sportsmanship. Some people view sports as a live-or-die situation. Don’t show weakness, win at all costs, that type of thing. Others see sports as “just a game” and feel it’s perfectly reasonable to be decent to each other both on and off the field (or court or ring or whatever). Truly, the majority of people seem to agree that good sportsmanship is the way to go, which makes examples of poor sportsmanship that much more interesting when we happen upon them. Luckily, that’s just what we at Snippetz did, but truth be told, we actively hunted down some of the best examples of “bad sports in sports.” Enjoy! SPORTSMANSHIP VS. GAMESMANSHIP Before we go too much further, we feel it’s important to make the distinction between sportsmanship and gamesmanship. Most would argue that both are necessary components of being a well-rounded athlete. But there’s always a time when too much of one or the other can be detrimental to the game. Anyway, here’s the difference: sportsmanship is defined as fair and generous behavior or treatment of others, especially in a sports contest. Gamesmanship, on the other hand, is defined as the art of winning games by using various ploys and tactics to gain a psychological advantage. You can be the judge of whether the following examples are poor sportsmanship or simply gamesmanship. Either way, they’re pretty darn interesting. Angel Matos As a competitor in the 2008 Olympic Games, you may assume that Angel Matos, a Cuban tae kwon do athlete, understood and respected the Athletes’ Oath, which an athlete from the host country takes on behalf of ALL the competitors. It goes like this: “In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.” Apparently, that was not the case because, after Matos was disqualified during his match for taking a longer-than-allowed injury time-out, he decided to kick the referee in the face. Definitely unsportsmanlike. Pedro Santilli Don’t think for a second that unsportsmanlike conduct only applies to the athletes competing, because it doesn’t. For instance, consider a 2009 soccer match between two Brazilian teams, one of which was headed by coach Pedro Santilli. Apparently, Santilli thought the game needed to get moving so his team could possibly come back from the 1-0 deficit it faced and thus, decided to march onto the field and pick up the ball that was not in play to try to get the game moving again. Naturally, he was sent back to his bench, but made sure to push an opposing player on his way. Referee Flavio Rodigues de Souza ejected Santilli, prompting the coach to march back onto the field and punch the referee in the face. Again, unsportsmanlike for sure. Luiz Adriano During soccer, if a player is injured, time doesn’t stop but play does. Usually, the ball is given to a specific player/team to begin play and the missed time is added to the end of the half. But what happens when one player attempts to give the ball to the other team to start play, per the referee’s instructions? Well, if you’re Luiz Adriano, you ignore what the referee says, snatch the ball as it’s making its way to the other team and head straight for the goal. Even though he scored, Adriano was suspended for one game for “violation of the principles of conduct.” Hmmm. Maybe this qualifies as gamesmanship?? Brian Robison While it may not be entirely illegal in the sport of American football to kick an opposing player in the, well, boy parts, it’s certainly “frowned upon.” But that didn’t stop Brian Robison from the Minnesota Vikings in 2011; he landed a nasty kick to T.J. Lang of the Green Bay Packers. Luckily, Lang had a sense of humor about the whole incident and took to Twitter to provide an update about his injury: “Glad to report my genitalia are in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery!” Well, good for them. Our vote is unsportsmanlike for this one. Piero Alva Soccer, again?! Yep, it’s just that kind of sport, apparently. Anyway, in 2013, Piero Alva found himself the subject of controversy for a move many would later call “the least fair play in the history of soccer.” Opposing goal keeper, Juan Flores, snatched up the ball during the match but suddenly collapsed to the ground. He was suffering heat exhaustion and as a result, the ball came loose. A teammate tried to clear the ball away so that the medical staff could come on the field and help Flores, but Alva blocked the attempt and scored. He showed no remorse for his actions and told a newspaper reporter, “Football is for the living . . . If he was injured or had fallen ill, why didn’t he leave the field?” We’re thinking unsportsmanlike on this one, too. Sean Avery During a 2008 hockey game between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers, Sean Avery with the Rangers decided to employ some rather unorthodox measures to distract Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Avery literally stood in front of Brodeur, waving his stick and hands in the goalie’s face. Of course, people noticed. In fact, his shenanigans prompted NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell to announce that any more attempts at “face-guarding” would result in a penalty. We’ll call gamesmanship on this one since Avery was clearly attempting to gain an advantage, but it’s still a pretty crappy stunt to pull. Elizabeth Lambert Women are certainly not immune to unsportsmanlike conduct, but it happens far less often. But in the 2009 case of University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert, the idea that women can be just as nasty on the field as men was unquestionable. Throughout the game against Brigham Young University, Lambert proceeded to punch a player in the back, make several dangerous slide tackles and even yanked another player to the ground by her ponytail. In a compilation video, it appears that Lambert went on a rampage, but of course, these incidents all took place over the entirety of the game. Regardless, Lambert’s actions didn’t go unnoticed, although she only received a yellow card in the second half for tripping. She did express remorse over her actions later on, which is decent of her. Still, we say that’s a prime example of unsportsmanlike behavior. Issue 862
SING US A SONG, YOU'RE THE PIANO MAN SNIPPETZ BIDS HOMAGE TO BILLY JOEL by Lindsey Harrison “I think music itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.” – Billy Joel, American musician Having a nickname like the “Piano Man” could mean one of two things: either you are an incredibly talented pianist, so much so that you are the only piano man that comes to mind; or, you are so horrible that people literally can’t remember your name and don’t even really want to, so they stick you with a super-generic nickname. Considering Billy Joel has sold more albums than Michael Jackson (yes, THAT Michael Jackson), it’s pretty easy to determine which of the above scenarios applies. OK, so it’s obvious that Billy Joel is famous and talented, but there’s bound to be some things about him that the average person doesn’t know. Not to say that ANY of you wonderful Snippetz readers are average; you’re all magnificent. But just humor us for a second. There are things that you don’t know about Billy Joel, even if it’s as simple as what his shoe size is. That being said, Snippetz wanted to see if we could round up some more interesting pieces of information to tell the story behind the Piano Man. Here’s what we found! EARLY LIFE Billy Joel was born William Martin Joel on May 9, 1949, in the Bronx to Howard and Rosalind Joel. Both parents are of Jewish decent, his father having emigrated to Switzerland before coming to the U.S. to escape the Nazi regime during World War II. The family lived together in Hicksville, New York, (formerly Oyster Bay) but his parents divorced in 1957 and his dad moved to Vienna, Austria. That decision would later have an impact on Joel’s music, but when he started taking piano lessons as a young boy, he probably didn’t know that yet. Although it’s nice to think that someone as talented as Billy Joel was drawn to the piano like mosquitoes are to this writer’s legs during the summer, that was not the case. His mother insisted he take lessons and set her son up with notable musicians like Morton Estrin and Timothy Ford as his instructors. Obviously, the lessons did wonders in fostering Joel’s natural talent, but it did little for his social life. In fact, he recounted how difficult it was to be the only boy in his neighborhood walking around with sheet music under his arm. Let’s just say, Joel was on the receiving end of more than one beat down during his youth. As a teenager, Joel decided it was time to learn how to defend himself against the inevitable bullying and took up boxing. Turns out, the Piano Man was a pretty good boxer. He even secured a place on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit, where he went on to win 22 matches. However, during his 24th match, his opponent broke Joel’s nose. Apparently, that was when he decided he had had enough and gave up boxing for good. MUSIC: THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE To help support his family, a teen-aged Billy Joel found himself playing gigs at piano bars, which often ran late into the night. One such gig resulted in Joel missing an exam at Hicksville High School, and ultimately prevented him from graduating with his fellow classmates. Joel seemed to have known that he was destined for greater things because he said, “I told them, ‘To hell with it. If I’m not going to Columbia University, I’m going to Columbia Records, and you don’t need a high school diploma over there.’” Anyone out there thinking that they can just skip getting their diploma? Well, don’t. Joel eventually earned his in 1992. The event that finally tipped the scales and convinced Joel to seriously pursue his musical career was a performance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. He joined a group called the Echoes, which was a British Invasion cover band, along with several other one-time appearances with other bands. Over the years, he teamed up with various groups and individuals, and eventually branched out on his own as the opening act for bands like The Beach Boys. Eventually, Joel developed his own sound and style, and people grew increasingly interested in what he had to offer, musically. He did end up signing a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1972. It was a year later that Joel released his signature song – the one that earned him his infamous nickname – “Piano Man.” He wrote the song about his experiences working at The Executive Room piano bar on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. There, he performed under the named “Bill Martin” and the people that frequented the bar acted as his inspiration for the hit song. Billy Joel has certainly had a prolific career and has been recognized in various ways, including his receipt of seven honorary doctorate degrees and his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Joel was named MusiCares Person of the Year for 2002, at which time several artists, including Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi and Natalie Cole, performed versions of his hit songs. Additionally, in 2011, Joel became the first non-classical musician to have his portrait placed in Steinway Hall of the Steinway & Sons store in New York. Although certainly talented, Billy Joel admits he is not like other rock-and-roll stars. According to himself, Joel thinks a main difference is that he just doesn’t look like a star. “I don’t look like a rock-and-roll-star,” he said in an interview. “I look like the guy who delivers the pizza.” Not many musicians in today’s world with his kind of money and fame would be caught dead saying that! Kudos, Mr. Joel. BILLY JOEL SNIPPETZ
Issue 863
CARS THAT WEREN'T MADE FOR THE AVERAGE JOE by Lindsey Harrison “As men get older, the toys get more expensive.” – Marvin Davis, American businessman As children, we all had a toy that we really wanted. More like coveted, to be honest. We begged our parents to buy them for us and when they didn’t, we cleaned gutters, mowed lawns, picked up dog poop, or baby-sat until we finally saved up enough money to buy the toy. And wasn’t that just the greatest feeling in the world? Walking up to the cash register with that toy, feeling like there was nothing in the world that could ever make you happier. There’s also likely to have been a time when each of us decided that amazing toy really wasn’t that amazing anymore and we needed to upgrade, so to speak. Now, admittedly, not all of us are constantly on the search for the next bigger, better thing but many of us are. Maybe it all stems back to our childhoods, when we first began to long for that one awesome toy. Or maybe it’s ingrained in us to always want more, to never be satisfied with what we have. How sad is that? But we’re not here to depress you!! What we want to do is set the stage to bring you one of the largest displays of extravagant spending and possibly proof that we are all just big kids wanting a new toy at heart. Buckle up and ride along with Snippetz as we take a look at the most expensive cars in history. 1962 FERRARI 250 GTO – SOLD FOR $38.1 MILLION If you don’t know much about cars, that’s fine. We don’t really either, but we do know how to research and find things, including what exactly the GTO stands for in the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO car title. Certain cars are built specifically for use in a certain market or particular class of racing, which is called homologation. This car was built for homologation into the Group 3 Grand Touring Car category of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (in English, the International Automobile Federation). Thus, GTO comes from the Italian “Gran Turismo Omologato,” or “Grand Touring Homologated.” And now you know what the GTO stands for. But that’s not why you picked up this magazine to read today. You don’t really want to know what GTO stands for, if you didn’t already. You want to know how in the world one car could sell for $38.1 million. Well, much of what drove the price of this particular vehicle up so high was its scarcity. The 250 GTO was only produced for two years and production totaled just 39 cars. Another reason is that many “in-the-know” car collectors consider this Ferrari model as the one that most completely embodies the characteristics of that particular make of car. Combine that with the limited number available and you have yourself a recipe for auction success! Rumor has it that another 250 GTO went up for auction in 2016 for $56.4 million, although we were unable to determine if that car had been purchased and for how much. 1957 FERRARI 335S – SOLD FOR $35.7 MILLION It’s probably no surprise that a Ferrari is once again on this list. What is surprising is that there are multiple people out there who have a spare $35.7 million just lying around. Honestly, if you happen to have so much money that spending $35.7 million on ONE CAR is no big deal, then we have a business deal we need to work out with you. Anyway, this particular car, called the Spider Scaglietti, was sold in 2016 and apparently, the auction resulted in a bidding war before one lucky collector snatched it up. What makes this car so special? Well, scarcity once again comes into play with the 335S, with only four cars made ever. Yep, that’ll get those collectors to come running! But let’s not forget that this car was incredibly fast as well. Initially, its top speed was about 190 miles per hour as it was built straight off the assembly line. However, an upgraded engine actually helped the Spider Scaglietti set a lap record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1957, topping out at 200 miles per hour. That record has since fallen but considering the race track was a mere 8.467 miles long, you know that car was flying! 1954 MERCEDES-BENZ W196 – SOLD FOR $29.6 MILLION Driven by the famous Juan Manual Fangio, the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196, was certainly no slouch in the speed department. Fangio drove it to victories in the 1954 German and Swiss Grands Prix. In fact, the W196 was the car that took first place in nine out of the 12 races in which it was entered, including the only two world championship races in which it competed. Impressive, right? Well, here’s something a bit more impressive: although the final price for the W196 was $29.6 million, it was only predicted to sell for no more than $7.6 million. Clearly, someone saw something in this car that they simply couldn’t resist. Oh, and they also had nothing better to do with that $29.6 million. Go figure. 1956 FERRARI 290 MM – SOLD FOR $28 MILLION Yep, Ferrari again. And remember that guy, Juan Manual Fangio? Good, because he actually built this vehicle. Again, it was one of only four ever built and during its eight-year racing career, it never crashed once. Fangio apparently intended for this particular car to compete in races like the Mille Miglia, which was an open-road endurance race held in Italy between 1927 and 1957 . . . hence, the “MM” in the name. So, here’s the thing about Ferrari: the company has made A LOT of really nice cars, including ones that top the charts as some of the most expensive ever. In fact, 11 of the 15 most expensive cars in history were made by Ferrari. Rather than highlight every single Ferrari (since we wouldn’t have enough space), we’ve listed the remaining cars below:
1998 MCLAREN F1 “LM-SPECIFICATION” – SOLD FOR $13.75 MILLION Considered to be the most iconic of the modern supercars, this particular 1998 McLaren F1 LM boasted satellite navigation and sold for $13.75 million in 2015. The manufacturer intended for the standard F1 to be a comfortable, every-day car (that just happens to look like a racecar, we suppose), while the F1 LM series was specifically built for track racing. Only six F1 LMs were built in 1998, making this car’s value skyrocket when it came up for auction. Issue 864
SNIPPETZ TRACKS DOWN THE HISTORY: BOUNTY HUNTERS by Lindsey Harrison 
“There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else.”
– Ernest Hemingway, American novelist For those of us who may not be very familiar with the bounty hunting occupation, we have probably made assumptions based on what we’ve seen in movies or read in books. Naturally, there is a shred of truth to those depictions, but we all know that filmmakers, directors, authors and the like take a bit of creative license with their characters. That’s entirely their prerogative, but it can certainly make for a skewed perception of how events happened. With that in mind, when we decided that the topic of bounty hunters was intriguing and wanted to know more, we realized we needed to do our own hunting . . . for information, that is. Even though everything you read on the internet is true otherwise it couldn’t be on the internet (insert super sarcastic eyeroll here), we uncovered some good, reliable facts about the history of bounty hunters. Things could get a bit crazy, so you may want to sit down to read this issue of Snippetz! WHAT IS A BOUNTY HUNTER? Before we bring you the history of bounty hunters, it probably makes sense to give you a better definition of what these particular people do. So, let’s start at the beginning and pretend that you have just been arrested for breaking a law of some sort. You go in front of a judge who sets your bail at $50,000. Likely, you don’t have that kind of money just lying around, but you still really want to get out of jail. In steps a bail bondsman, someone who can loan you the money and ta-da! You’re out. Great! Now, back in the real world but things aren’t going so well since you got arrested and you just don’t feel like going through the judicial system to get your case figured out and instead, you skip your trial date. The courts then revoke your bond and issue a warrant for your arrest. That’s where the bounty hunter comes into play. The bounty hunter is hired by the bail bondsman to find you and bring you back, which typically results in you going back to jail. Sometimes the bounty hunter and the bail bondsman are one and the same, assuming they run both types of businesses. Either way, the bounty hunter gets a “reward” for bringing your criminal butt back into police custody, where you will eventually stand trial for your crimes. In modern times, bounty hunters often have to be licensed or registered with the state in which they operate. However, some states don’t allow bounty hunting at all, so if you’re looking to make a quick buck by hunting down some fugitives (which we absolutely DO NOT condone), make sure you know the laws of that state before you do anything! EARLY BOUNTY HUNTERS As we mentioned above, bounty hunters were used to help located and return fugitives that were on the run. But the occupation is not a new one; it’s actually far from it. Granted, it looks very different from the previous centuries, but the general idea was the same. One marked difference can be seen in the comparison between modern bounty hunters and those in the late 1400s in England. Yes, there are many obvious differences, but we’re talking about one in particular that has to do with the bail set for prisoners, so they could get out of jail. Instead of money, bail was actually a person, a custodian if you will. That person was designated by the courts to keep track of the released prisoner until said person could be brought to trial. The custodian, or Fugitive Recovery Agent, was required to not only keep track of the person to which they were assigned but also present them at trial. Now, if the custodian failed to bring their charge to trial, the custodian would stand trial in that person’s place. Often, this meant the custodian was hanged for the crimes their charge committed. So, it makes sense that in those early years, the custodians of the released prisoners had quite a bit at stake when it came to ensuring their charge was brought to trial. Aside from acting as collateral, these custodians basically became the first bounty hunters. They themselves would chase down their charge to keep from being held accountable for that person’s crimes. Money wasn’t used as a means of collateral to get out of jail until the late 1600s. At that time, British Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act, which allowed people to be released from jail for a certain monetary amount. That Act was later adopted by the United States as the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which also prohibits a judge from setting bail at an excessive amount. With money on the line, it’s no surprise that people chose to hunt their fellow man down. Remember all those “Wanted: Dead or Alive” posters we usually associate with the Old West? They usually offered some sort of reward for the return of the wanted person. And, really, who wouldn’t want to find an outlaw, bring them to justice and make a quick buck in the process? BOUNTIFUL BOUNTY HUNTERS In 1873, the U.S. Supreme Court gave bounty hunters the authority to work for bail bondsmen to retrieve defendants, while also giving them certain rights during these hunts: they could pursue a fugitive into another state and even enter a fugitive’s house without a warrant, in order to bring them back to justice. On the other hand, bounty hunters were no longer allowed to bring their fugitive home “dead or alive,” probably because that verbiage somewhat condones murder, if you think about it. Regardless of that fact, bounty hunters still manage to round up and return plenty of fugitives in modern times. One estimate claimed that bounty hunting is currently a multi-million-dollar industry, with a successful bounty hunter earning anywhere between $80,000 and $100,000 per year. That’s not to say that bounty hunting is easy by any means. Typically, bounty hunters invest about 80 to 100 hours per week working their cases. BOUNTY HUNTER SNIPPETZ
Issue 865
SNIPPETZ DROPS A TRUTH BOMB ABOUT WOMEN IN WAR by Lindsey Harrison “No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistani politician Generally speaking, when people discuss the various wars our country has been involved in, we think about the men who fought. We think about how many of them lost their lives or were injured mentally, physically or both. We know that there is probably no way we, as a society, could ever really repay them for their sacrifice. But we tend to forget that there’s a whole other group of people who fought in those wars, losing their lives or returning as a shadow of their former selves because of what they had witnessed or experienced. That group is women. We know, it sounds obvious but if you think back to stories about World War I and World War II heroes, not many are about women. Which, honestly, just doesn’t make sense to us here at Snippetz because we know, without a shred of doubt, that they were are amazing and deserve recognition for the great things they did. So, to give some much-needed attention to the women of war, we fought our way through tons of information and here’s what we found. WORLD WAR I WOMEN Yes, there were wars prior to World War I, we know that. But we also know that we need to start some place and these seemed like as good as any other. So, here’s a bit about women who took part in World War I. First off, it was not exactly uncommon for women to find a way to serve their country during WWI. In fact, more than 100,000 women joined the various women’s branches of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. And that’s just counting the women from Great Britain. Initially, women who served in WWI did so in support positions, usually ones that did not recognize them as part of the military. We know this because women weren’t allowed to wear military uniforms during their time of service until 1917, even though the war had broken out three years earlier. Speaking of uniforms, WWI ushered in a new era of women’s fashion as it marked the first time that pants or trousers were really acceptably worn by women. At first, it started out with the munitions workers who wore overalls during their work day but eventually women realized how practical pants can be and soon, it was a fashion trend that took hold. Obviously, it’s still a trend today so maybe it’s less of a trend than a overhaul in women’s fashion. And speaking of munitions workers, female workers were called “Munitionettes” and produced about 80 percent of the weapons and ammunition used by the British Army during WWI. Women also accounted for quite a bit of the railway workers during WWI, with the initial female worker population of 9,000 in 1914 exploding to 50,000 by the time the war was over in 1918. And it wasn’t just the easy jobs these women did; they did everything from cleaning carriages to acting as guards and signal workers. Because all types of women, both married and unmarried, mothers and childless women, all felt called to serve (or needed to serve to earn a paycheck), there was an obvious need for other types of services, like daycare centers. Clearly, there were plenty of mothers out there who either wanted or needed to work because daycare centers popped up like weeds across Great Britain. WORLD WAR II WOMEN Not that the women who served in World War I weren’t complete rock stars, but let us tell you, we found some pretty incredible World War II women who did some pretty incredible things! For instance, did you know there was a group of female pilots from Russia who were dubbed the Night Witches by the Germans because of how fearful and successful they were? The group was headed by Marina Raskova, who had already proven her mettle when she and two other women completed a flight across Siberia in 1938. That may not sound impressive, but the thing is, Raskova ended up bailing out of the airplane and onto the frozen tundra because the wings became overloaded with ice and there was literally nothing left to get rid of to lighten the load. So, you’re thoroughly impressed with Raskova already, right? Well, here’s something else to make your jaw drop. As the leader of the Night Witches, Raskova received her fair share of prejudice from her male counterparts, who went so far as to provide her team with open-cockpit Po-2 biplanes, rather than the more modern versions they themselves used. The Po-2 biplanes could only fly at a top speed of about 94 miles per hour (significantly slower than the other planes) and could only carry two bombs, and small ones at that. But that didn’t stop the Night Witches. These inventive women figured out how to fly super low to the ground and cut their engines just before reaching their targets, so they could essentially glide undetected over their German targets until they let their bombs fly. Also, as the name suggests, the Night Witches fly night operations frequently, as many as 18 each night. Their tactic was to fly in groups of three toward a target. When the spotlights would hit them, the two outside planes would break away, confusing the soldiers on the ground, who would lose sight of them and try to catch them in the searchlights again. This ultimately left the center plane in the dark, which was just what the Night Witches wanted. That plane would zoom in, drop its bombs and then all three planes would regroup and do the same attack again, until each had dropped its bombs. Definitely impressive, right? But here’s something else to consider: these Night Witches, stuck with super light and not-so-great Po-2 planes often found themselves having to lie on the wings of the planes to keep them from being blown off the airfield. That doesn’t sound horrible, until you factor in the insanely brutal winter of 1942 and 1943. Gale force winds and ice pellets battered them, but the Night Witches still managed to run more than 24,000 combat missions by the time the war was over. Another thing to consider about women in war during both World War I and World War II was the prevailing school of thought that still placed a high value on women staying home. One Congressman, who likely is glad to have remained anonymous throughout all this time, even said, “Who will then do the cooking, the washing, the mending, the humble homey tasks to which every woman has devoted herself; who will nurture the children?” Well, sir, maybe there happens to be a group of women who enjoy that type of “humble, homey” life which is great. But there is clearly a large portion of women who found themselves to be of potentially higher value out on the battlefield with the menfolk. And from the looks of how those women fared out there, men might have been a bit up a creek without the help of those less-than-homey women. Issue 866
SNIPPETZ SEEKS TO REVEAL THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE SINKING OF THE SS EDMUND FITZGERALD by Lindsey Harrison “There is no greater unknown than the sea and no greater mystery than a lost ship.” – Clive Cussler, American writer If you’ve ever been out on the ocean before, you know exactly what Mr. Cussler was referring to in his quote above. Looking out into the vast blue expanse of the ocean, or really any large body of water, certainly holds its charm. There’s also the knowledge that, when the light shines as deeply into that vast blue expanse as it can, there are who knows how many species of odd, potentially dangerous aquatic creatures hidden below. And it’s not just creatures you have to worry about; there are rocky structures all over the place just waiting to rip out the bottom of your sea-faring vessel. OK, that might be a bit dramatic, but you get the idea, namely that water is cool but hides stuff that might not be so cool. You’re probably wondering why we keep acting like lakes and oceans are out to get us. They’re not, we suppose, but the truth is, people lose their lives to the power of lakes, oceans and other types of aquatic environments all the time. And if that tragedy happened to be shrouded in mystery somehow, it makes the story that much more compelling. If you’ve been a Snippetz reader for any period of time, you know that we can’t just pass up a good mystery, which is why we’re diving into the tale of the disappearing ship known as the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. You’re not going to want to miss this! FIRST THINGS FIRST You’d think we would have learned something from the Titanic disaster back in 1912, namely that to dub something “unsinkable” or really to even think that is just asking for trouble. Apparently, the people in charge of constructing the SS Edmund Fitzgerald back in the late 1950s didn’t get that memo. There are a few differences between that ship and the Titanic, though. For instance, the Fitzgerald was a freighter ship that routinely made trips through Lake Superior and had done so for many years prior to its disastrous final trip, while the Titanic was a passenger liner on its maiden voyage when it sank. And yes, the Titanic was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, not a lake of any sort, so there’s another difference. But probably the main difference is that no one really knows what happened to the Fitzgerald, especially considering that not a single soul survived the wreck. CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER So, how in the world could a ship just sink without anyone knowing what happened to it? Seriously, it’s not like this happened in the Dark Ages; this was 1975! There are several fields of thought floating around out there, supported by the facts and often completed with speculation. What we do know for sure is that the ship set sail on Nov. 9, 1975 for a routine run from Superior, Wisconsin to Zug Island, located on the Detroit River, by way of Lake Superior. Aboard were 28 crew members, plus the captain, Ernest McSorley. Now, you might assume that perhaps Captain McSorley was a novice and hadn’t had much time at the helm of a ship and that might be why the ship wrecked. You’d be completely wrong if you did assume that; he had 44 years of sailing under his belt before that fated voyage. Well, if inexperience wasn’t the problem, maybe the ship was really old or a poorly-constructed vessel. Wrong again. The 729-foot-long vessel had been built less than 20 years prior, making it a relatively young ship. And with a price tag of $8.4 million, you’d assume it was a fairly well-built ship as well. It was, but everything has its flaws and the Fitzgerald was no exception. So, what happened? Here’s what we know (all times are approximate):
You’ve probably guessed that the ship wasn’t missing and didn’t disappear. Sadly, it wrecked but the circumstances surrounding the event caused a lot of speculation. First off, none of the 29 men who tragically went down with the ship was ever recovered. The only items to surface following the crash were life jackets, a few lifeboats, some propane tanks, a few oars and various assorted tools. The appearance of the life jackets indicated that the crew had never put them on. Additionally, it took four days to find the wreckage. There was no single piece of evidence in the ship’s remains to indicate what had caused it to sink in the first place. In fact, official reports were filed by three different organizations that investigated the crash and they were unable to agree on a definitive cause, leaving many people to speculate about what happened. THE THREE SISTERS DID IT . . . OR DID THEY? No, this is not a trio of sisters who flew in and attacked the boat, causing it to sink. The Three Sisters refers to a series of massive waves that hit in quick succession and is one of the leading theories about what happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald. The result of encountering a Three Sisters series of waves is rarely good; loading a boat with thousands of gallons of water in a matter of minutes (if not seconds!) almost always causes it to sink. Bolstering that theory is the fact that the Anderson’s captain reported two waves of massive height had hit his ship shortly before the timeline indicates the Fitzgerald sank. He reported that those waves, and possibly a third just as large, headed straight towards the other ship. Another theory is that the boat was too close to the shoal that the Arthur Anderson managed to skirt around near Caribou Island. If the Fitzgerald scraped its hull along the shoal, it could have caused the boat to take on water. Pair that with the “once in a lifetime storm” it encountered, and you have a pretty fool-proof recipe for disaster. FEELING LYRICAL? The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the subsequent deaths of those aboard is certainly tragic and not a matter to be taken lightly. Speaking of light things however, Gordon Lightfoot recorded a song about the incident, called “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” just a year after the ship sank. While it is inevitable that people will eventually forget about the Edmund Fitzgerald, the memory of the ship and her 29 crewmembers will live forever through that song. Issue 867
‘TIL DEATH DO THEY PART? HOW CONVENIENT: BLACK WIDOWS ( NOT THE SPIDER! ) by Lindsey Harrison “There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, and nothing worth killing for.” – Tom Robbins, American author Most people would probably agree with Mr. Robbins and his statement above. But there are definitely some people who don’t necessarily have their moral compasses facing due north, if you know what we mean. If you don’t, go ask someone. Anyway, the point of all this is to say that most people consider murder a bad thing, something that wouldn’t even factor in as an option in just about any situation. There is, however, another subgroup of people, those with their moral compasses a bit off-kilter, that see murder as a means to an end. As former Russian Federation dictator Joseph Stalin once said, “Death is the solution to all problems. No man – not problem.” See what we mean by being a bit off-kilter? And the scary thing is, Stalin isn’t the only one who took that philosophy to heart. In fact, there have been plenty of people who don’t bat an eye at the idea of murder. We actually have a pretty interesting name for women who take this approach to life: black widows. By now, you probably already know that something as intriguing as this would end up being a topic for Snippetz at some point in time and that time is now! Sit back and enjoy our trip into the deceptive web of lies spun by these notorious black widows. BELLE GUNNESS We’ll start off with Norwegian immigrant, Belle Gunness, as the first of our black widows, which are labeled as such after the actual black widow spider who kills her mate after they have “done the deed” and she no longer needs him. Anyway, Belle was nicknamed the Black Widow of the Heartland and once you hear her story, you’ll understand why! Belle came to the United States in the early 1880s and married a man named Mads Sorenson in 1884. The couple had four children and lived in Chicago where they ran a candy store. Unfortunately, the business burned down, which led to an insurance policy payout and potentially sparked something sinister in Belle. In 1900, her husband died on the day when his two life insurance policies overlapped, so each paid out to his “grieving” widow. In 1902, Belle remarried, this time to a man named Peter Gunness. Poor Peter had no way to know what kind of disaster his life was heading towards, but he got a glimpse when one of his children from his first marriage died. Shortly thereafter, Peter died and them his adopted daughter disappeared. Apparently, the girl began asking questions about what happened to her father. Belle was lonely after having “lost” so many people in her life and started writing to men through “lonely hearts” club and found herself a couple new love interests after that. Finally, in 1908, when her house burned down, the true extent of Belle’s murderous ways was revealed. In the charred ruins of the house were four bodies, including three children from Belle’s later husband. Six other bodies, presumed to be those of her “suitors” from the lonely hearts club were also found, along with two more children, and finally a lone woman who some thought might have been Belle herself. However, the measurements of the body didn’t match Belle’s. Because she was never heard from again, authorities were never able to determine why she chose to murder so many people. NANNIE DOSS Dubbed “The Giggling Grandmother,” Nannie Doss was nothing like the image you might get when you think of someone fitting her nickname’s description. After her first husband left her, Nannie killed two of her children with rat poison and collected on their life insurance policies. Between 1920 and the mid-1950s, Nannie struck again many more times, including murdering her mother, two sisters, a nephew and a grandson, aside from the four husbands she murdered after marrying them. Of course, in each instance, the person had been killed with rat poison. So why the nickname “The Giggling Grandmother?” Well, when she finally confessed to the crimes, she apparently giggled throughout the entire confession. That’s not psychotic in the least, right? AMY ARCHER-GILLIGAN If ever there was a black widow to go down in history, Amy Archer-Gilligan would surely be it. Aside from the fact that the circumstances around her crimes inspired the play by Joseph Kesselring and the movie by Frank Capra, both titeled, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Amy was an unassuming woman who ran a nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut from 1907 to 1917. During that time, at least 48 people died while in her care, including her two husbands. In both marital instances, the men left Amy a significant amount of money in life insurance policies. Additionally, she managed to convince several of the doomed people in her care to name her in life insurance policies, which naturally became suspicious to their families. Amy was eventually investigated for the murders and the police spoke to shop keepers who reported she frequently bought arsenic or strychnine to “kill rats.” After exhuming both of Amy’s husbands and several of the patients who died under suspicious circumstances, it was determined each had tested for arsenic. EVELYN DICK Beautiful and apparently irresistible, Evelyn Dick earned herself two nicknames: “The Canadian Black Widow” and the “Torso Killer.” Evidently, Evelyn murdered her husband, John Dick, and had her father help dismember John’s body in her father’s basement, where he also burned his deceased son-in-law’s limbs in the furnace. John’s torso was found in the forest outside Hamilton, Ontario in 1946, by some children who were hiking nearby. Evelyn was naturally considered a suspect from the start, especially considering the couple had only been married for about five months. She was tried for his murder and found guilty but later released on a technicality. However, during the investigation, authorities came across the remains of an infant, encased in cement and placed in a suitcase. The baby was Evelyn’s son. She was tried for his murder and convicted in 1947. So infamous was Evelyn’s case that it became the topic of a schoolyard song, which goes like this: “You cut off his legs . . . you cut off his arms . . . you cut off his head . . . how could you, Mrs. Dick? How could you, Mrs. Dick?” MARY ELIZABETH WILSON In just two short years, Mary Elizabeth Wilson, nicknamed the “Merry Widow of Windy Nook,” “loved” and lost four husbands. In each instance, she had only been married a short time, sometimes as briefly as a few weeks, before her spouse died. However, that was apparently long enough for Mary to get herself named as the rightful heir to their estates and money. As if that isn’t suspicious enough, Mary reportedly asked the local undertaker for a discount, considering she buried four husbands within such a short period of time. In fact, the BBC reported that she had been asked at one of her weddings what should be done with the leftover sandwiches and cake, to which she replied, “We’ll keep them for the funeral.” Each of her husbands’ bodies were exhumed and found to have been poisoned with insecticide. Lovely. Issue 868
IT'S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES... UNLESS IT’S PUZZLE GAMES by Lindsey Harrison “A good puzzle, it’s a fair thing. Nobody is lying. It’s very clear, and the problem depends on just you.” – Erno Rubik, Hungarian inventor There’s nothing worse than being stuck in the waiting room for the dentist or doctor and realizing you have nothing to do. Nowadays, most of us have smartphones so we can typically find something to entertain ourselves for that seemingly endless period of time. But before smartphones, all we really had were books, maybe a hand-held gaming system, or magazines. There’s only so much you can read about celebrity break-ups before you feel like banging your head against the wall, though. Thank God for smart people who figured out that puzzle games, especially those that could be printed in newspapers, magazines and booklets were worth inventing. And the even better part is that many of those same puzzle-type games are available in apps on your smartphone, so even if you’re not big on carrying around a newspaper or magazine – although with access to this incredible magazine we call Snippetz, there’s certainly no excuse NOT to be – you can easily play your favorite puzzle game anywhere, anytime. Although, preferably, you don’t play them while you’re driving. If you do, stop it. Anyway, since we at Snippetz realize how incredibly valuable puzzle games are, we thought it was appropriate that we find out the story behind these wonderful distractions from reality. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can always look to the back pages of this magazine and try your hand at some of the ones we’ve printed for you! CROSSWORD PUZZLES Certainly one of the most recognizable puzzle games around, crossword puzzles are extremely popular, often appearing in everything from newspapers to magazines to kids’ menus at restaurants. Admittedly, the difficulty of these puzzles varies greatly depending on where you find them. But one thing remains the same: the incredible way a seemingly unrelated set of words can fit together seamlessly to create a mind-bending puzzle game. The man behind the idea of crossword puzzles, a journalist and editor named Arthur Wynne, didn’t exactly come up with the inspiration to create a puzzle game all on his own. Complements of the prompting by his editors at the daily newspaper, New York World, Wynne set out to create a puzzle that would not only challenge and entertain, but educate those who attempted to solve it. As a normal man from Liverpool, England, it probably wasn’t super easy for Wynne to simply pull an idea out of thin air and make a new puzzle game up to the standards that his higher-ups required. But luckily, Wynne was able to harken back to his childhood and created a derivative of a game he used to play when he was younger. Originally called “Word-Cross,” Wynne’s game was a diamond-shaped puzzle with no black squares – which are fairly common in crossword puzzles of today – and a “fun word,” a freebie solution to one clue. In Word-Cross, the clues weren’t separated into “across” and “down” sections, but were simply numbered. Perhaps this made the puzzles more difficult than those of modern times. However, if you’ve ever actually attempted to complete a crossword puzzle, it can be exceedingly frustrating trying to locate each “across” word and “down” word since the numbers skip around in each category. On Dec. 21, 1913, Wynne’s first puzzle was published in the World newspaper. Apparently, he realized his talent for creating such puzzles and ended up publishing the first book of crossword puzzles in 1924. Crossword puzzle Snippetz
SUDOKU Looking at a Sudoku puzzle, you may not initially know how to solve it. This writer certainly had trouble determining what in the world needed to happen in order to solve the strange box of boxes, some containing numbers, but most completely blank. Although definitely difficult, the idea behind Sudoku isn’t terribly complex. The name literally comes from the Japanese characters Su (meaning “number”) and Doku (meaning “single”). Interestingly enough, Sudoku was not created in Japan, however. It was developed in Switzerland, but another form, called Magic Square, was documented as being in use in China as early as two thousand years ago. Both puzzle games follow the same idea: reordering numbers so that each number is used only once in each row and column. Subsequently, each row and column would then also add up to the same number. One key difference is that Magic Square puzzles do not provide starting places for the numbers to go. In fact, the goal of Magic Square puzzles was to create a solution to the puzzle starting from a completely blank square. In doing so, it was thought that a person’s fortune could be told based on that solution. Traditionally, Leonhard Euler, a mathematician, is credited with creating the modern Sudoku puzzle, however he initially called them Latin Squares. He used letters instead of numbers and he published a dissertation on his theories about how his new puzzle could function without adhering to the Magic Squares rule of having each row and column add up to the same number in about 1782. By the time Howard Garnes introduced the Sudoku puzzle – which he called “Number Place” – to readers of the American Dell magazine in 1979, another rule had been added. Rows and columns must contain each number only once, but the grid was also split into 9 areas, consisting of 3x3 squares. In every 3x3 square, each number must also only appear once. Typically, Sudoku puzzles have a few spaces already filled in to start you off, with the more difficult puzzles containing less “freebie” numbers. Wanna know how this writer finishes a Sudoku puzzle? Pick a “freebie” number that appears in several places throughout the puzzle. Follow along both the row and column in which it sits into the adjacent 3x3 squares. You should be able to narrow down which spaces that number absolutely CANNOT be in. Eventually, you’ll have determined which space it MUST go in and then just go around the entire puzzle to put that number where it goes in each of the 3x3 squares. Do the same thing with another number that appears frequently in the puzzle and eventually it will be just a process of elimination to determine what number goes where. Ta-da! PUZZLE GAME SNIPPETZ
Issue 869
YOU WANNA KNOW WHO’S “BAD” HUH? MICHAEL JACKSON IS! by Lindsey Harrison “If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” – Michael Jackson, American musician Every once in a while, an artist comes along that inspires millions of people around the world and becomes an icon for a generation. In some cases, that artist is so prolific that they reach multiple generations, across multiple cultures and in this case, musical genres. Of course, we’re talking about Michael Jackson, or as he came to be known, the “King of Pop.” No, not soda pop. Get hip to the lingo, folks. We’re talking pop music, as in popular music, which his certainly was. Regardless of your personal opinion of the man, it’s undeniable that he reached a level of fame that most people only ever dream of and it wasn’t by accident. His vocal talent was almost palpable and his talent as an entertainer surpassed that of nearly every other artist who came before him. That said, there’s a reason why we chose today’s issue to focus on the King of Pop. It was on this day, June 25, in 2009 that Michael Jackson died. To commemorate his life and career, Snippetz thought it was time we took a look at the “Man in the Mirror” and tell you all about his “Thriller” of a life. EARLY LIFE Michael Joseph Jackson was born on Aug. 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, to Joseph and Katherine Jackson. He was the eighth of 10 children in a family that certainly wasn’t lacking talent. In fact, Joe Jackson often played the guitar for a rhythm and blues group called the Falcons to supplement the income he made as a steelworker. Katherine was no slouch musically, either. She played the clarinet and piano and even dreamed of once becoming a country-and-western singer. And let’s not forget that both La Toya and Janet Jackson were (or still are) amazing singers in their own rights. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves so let’s back up just a sec. At the ripe old age of 6, Michael and his brother Marlon joined their brothers, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine, in a band their father had formed called the Jackson Brothers. The pair were recruited to play the congas and tambourine as backup musicians for their brothers. It wasn’t until young Michael’s vocal talents came to light in 1965 and he began sharing the lead vocals with Jermaine that the group changed their name to the Jackson 5. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. In 1966, the Jackson 5 entered a major local talent show and won. That victory helped launch their careers as musicians because it helped them secure spots opening for other singing greats like Gladys Knight, the O’Jays and Etta James. The group toured took them throughout the Midwest where they played at primarily African-American clubs and lasted from 1966 to 1968. The Jackson 5 toured with some pretty big names, but they also secured a record deal with Steeltown Records in Gary. There, they recorded their first single, “Big Boy,” before moving on to a contract with Motown Records in 1969. After several successful years as the Jackson 5, Michael began to test the waters as a solo artist in the early 1970s. While he continued to sing with his family’s group, he found time to release four solo albums with Motown and by 1979, Michael released his fifth solo album, but he had been plenty busy in the years between. ACTING CAREER If you thought Michael Jackson was just a singer/performer, you are mistaken. Well, kind of. He began working in the film industry in 1978 when he accepted the role as the Scarecrow in “The Wiz,” a spin-off of “The Wizard of Oz.” Sadly, it was not exactly successful. It’s true, Michael was a much better singer/performer than an actor, or at least the reviews from “The Wiz” indicated as such. But to be honest, even as a singer/performer, there’s a bit of acting that is required if you’re ever going to be any good and we think you’ll all agree that Michael was good! It’s probably no surprise that he meshed his acting/singer/performing talents together to make one of the most iconic music videos ever created. Most music videos last less than 5 minutes, mainly because they focus on the song about which the video is being filmed. In Michael’s case, he created a 14-minute epic music video for his song, “Thriller” in 1983. The video was all about zombies and included a zombie Michael Jackson in the mix. Critics hailed it as a video that “defined music videos and broke racial barriers.” The video has become a staple of the Halloween industry and many stores that put out lines of costumes around that holiday recreate the video to advertise their wares. Additionally, in December 2009, the “Thriller” video was selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry and to this day, it remains the only music video inducted into the registry. ECCENTRICITY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME In later years, Michael Jackson’s notoriety stemmed less from his musical talent and more from the eccentric things he did. You probably remember the incident where he dangled his young son over a balcony with a blanket over the baby’s face, which eventually earned the poor child the nickname “Blanket.” But not everything he did was crazy, even though his new nickname, “Wacko Jacko” would have you believe otherwise. Michael was entirely aware of the strange rumors being circulated about him, some that held a grain of truth and others that were so outlandish it’s almost comical. For instance, he was said to have offered to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick, also known as the “Elephant Man,” who died in 1890. Although it’s said that any press is good press, Michael came to realize that’s not always the case. But he managed to look past the rumors and focus on his career, which he bolstered once again with the release of his album, “Bad” in 1987. The record produced five singles that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which became a new record for the most number-one Hot 100 singles from an album. While we could use up lots more space talking about Michael Jackson’s career, we just don’t have that kind of literary real estate available. Suffice it to say, he was a spectacular artist, a true star! MICHAEL JACKSON SNIPPETZ
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