WEBVTT - Josh and Chuck's Christmas Extravaganza 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.800 Brought to you by the reinvented twenty twelve Camri. It's ready. 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.320 Are you welcome to you stuff you should know from 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:15.520 HowStuffWorks dot Com. 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:19.920 Hey, and welcome to the podcast Mark here the bells 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:23.439 a Christmas podcast. Yeah, this is a Christmas podcast, the 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.319 Holiday Special. Uh huh. Lots of glad tidings here. Yeah, 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:29.720 your ear buds are gonna be bursting with them. 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:30.880 We have real muppets. 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:33.839 I wish, I so wished. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:35.280 You just look so disappointed. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.640 Really for a second, what do you yeah, surprise, I wish. No, 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.239 there's no muppets. Thanks for the letdown already, it's like 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.800 thirty seconds into this thing. No, instead, chuck, this is 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.639 it's our higher Holiday Special where we put together some 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.440 little Christmas podcasts that we're going to do. Get some shorties, 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:56.880 some longies. 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.920 We're gonna dispel some myths, we're gonna enforce some myths. 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.040 That's right, and we're gonna explain the origins of some things. 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.400 And if you're all very good boys and girls, we 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.959 may even read a story at the end. How do 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:13.680 you like that? That's exciting? Yeah, So this is a 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.600 little different. It's a little a little it's packed with 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.600 at least one hundred and twenty percent more holiday cheer 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:24.759 than our typical episode. Yes, like shrunken heads, right, maybe 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:26.679 that one is up to like one hundred and eighty 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:27.720 percent more, And this. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:29.399 One will come out I believe on what like the 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:31.319 twenty second Yeah, just. 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.960 A it's Christmas Eve, Eve Eve, that's right. 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:37.280 But you should be off work as far as I'm 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.039 concerned already and like roasting chestnuts. 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.680 But even if you're not, it's that time of year 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.119 where like you're going to work and you feel absolutely 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.440 great about things, you know what I'm talking about. Have 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.320 you ever worked retail on the holiday season? Yeah, even 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.600 in retail right before Christmas, you can feel terrific work 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.600 as a gap. I worked at American Eagle. Really Yeah? 0:01:58.680 --> 0:01:59.960 What was on your heavy rotate? 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:00.480 There? 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.400 Santa's got a brand new bag? James Brown? 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.200 Over and over ours? Was that Chrissy hind one about? 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.320 It is a good one except when you hear eight 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:14.560 hundred times. Yeah, it was a good mix, but y end, 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.799 it was the same mix over and over again. What's 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.240 my favorite Christmas song of all time? Yeah? Gosh, that's tough, 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.239 So I would have to say Chuck my favorite Christmas 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:32.360 performers are Johnny Mathis and Fronte and Tyscher. Excellent Christmas album. 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.399 Bing Crosby's Christmas Album is possibly the greatest Christmas album 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:40.400 ever released Carpenters. Maybe that's a good one. Definitely. Bing 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.440 Crosby is at least tied with the Charlie Brown Christmas 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:50.960 Special Soundtrack, the Vince Giraldi Trio soundtrack, Classic Jazz Vince, 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.800 and of course William's Last Christmas. That's a good one. 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.799 I'm not kidding like it's good. It's probably the best 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.040 can temporary Christmas song of all time if you ask me. 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.720 I haven't gotten it yet, but my morning Jacket has 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:06.760 a Christmas EP they just put out, which I'm gonna get, 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:08.800 and then I think it's. 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:10.320 The waitresses Merry Christmas. 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.880 Yeah, that's Emily's favorite and has since become one of 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:14.440 my favorites. 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:19.360 Yeah, it's a good one too, very upbeat. When at 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:21.960 the end of like the Gong Show or something, you just. 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.440 Said, no, no, no, it's the horn break and Merry 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:25.560 Christmas by the Waitresses. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:26.520 Yeah, it's a good song. 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.520 So is that enough pilabor for the beginning? 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.720 I think, So let's get to it. We're doing this 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:33.760 a little differently. There is gonna be a little bit 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.680 of Christmas cheer between some of the segments, and we 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.800 hope that this finds you with a nice cup of cocoa. 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:44.320 You're a warm fire or scotch that too. If you're 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:49.000 a night watchman, sure that there are. You're surrounded by 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.960 people you care about who care about you. Yeah, or 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:53.920 at the very least, you're having a good time with us. 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:56.160 Regardless of how you choose to celebrate this time of 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:59.360 the year. We're going with Christmas because that's what we do. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:00.520 That's a great point, Chuck. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.800 Yeah, But we respect all religions and stuff like that, right. 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.040 We wish glad tidings to all. So let's get it started, 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:08.920 shall we. Yes, let's. 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:44.839 So Josh to kick this extravaganza off, this cheer fest as. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:45.160 You call it. 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.279 Yeah, let's let's talk a little bit about Christmas caroling. 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.120 You ever do that I have as a child, that 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:57.839 going door to door singing like Christmas songs, Narco ballads, whatever. 0:04:58.160 --> 0:04:59.719 As long as you're doing a door to door and 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.600 it's winter, you're in the clear as a carol. I 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.960 don't know about that, but you know, originally they started 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.719 out as very secular. They weren't religious necessarily. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.200 Well, that's true, and in fact, the word carol itself 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.080 lies not in song, as Sam Abramson, our old little 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.839 buddy has to say, but in dance. An old French 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.039 Carol with an e at the end means a kind 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:26.839 of dance. In Latin carola means a dance to a flute, 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.040 and in Greek caroleas means a. 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.080 Flute player who accompanies the coral dance. 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:36.360 So it was all about dance early on, and some 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.920 were religious early on, but generally there were secular dance 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.080 tunes American. 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:47.320 Bandstand, the Eleven Lords of Leaping, you could consider them caroling, 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:50.320 especially if there was a flute that they were leaping 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:55.360 to good point. So, like a lot of Christmas traditions, 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:57.600 which if you go back and listen to last year's 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.760 How Christmas Worked, I think it was in past tense 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.880 for some reason. Really episode yeah. 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:03.920 Because we killed Christmas. 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:09.599 I guess. Yeah, Silent night, deadly night happened. And you'll 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.479 find that there is a lot of I guess stealing 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:17.240 going on through Christmas traditions from pagan holidays, specifically Northern 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:22.159 European pagan holidays, specifically the winter solstice festival of Yule, 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.680 which is where we get Yule tie, Yule log, all 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.880 that stuff, all the mules. But they think that caroling 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.240 originally has its roots in the Yule festival, where a 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.280 lot of Northern Europeans got together and said, let's sing, 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.080 let's dance. Maybe there's a flute, maybe there's not, but 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.159 there's probably wassale. Yes. 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:45.640 Wassale is a thick, hot, spicy beverage that they would 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.200 give travelers, you know, to keep them warm and to 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.040 wish them well. And it became a holiday staple obviously 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:51.800 because of the weather. 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.719 Have you ever had it? Now? Have you no? But 0:06:54.760 --> 0:07:00.960 I want to. Typically it's like cider, brandy, yeah, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, oranges, apple, sure, honey, 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:05.120 sugar yum, and hot orange. Just take a take a crockpot, 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:08.160 an ancient pagan crock pot if you can. That's customarily 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:10.040 how it's how it's heated well. 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.880 And from that word, uh, jolly, bands of churchgoers would 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.040 go door to door and it's. 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.320 An old Norse term. They would call it watling or 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:18.840 was sailing? 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:19.160 Yeah? 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:19.880 Is it what's sailing? 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:21.200 I think so? 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.840 And they would spread the joy through hymns Christmas hymns, right, 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:28.800 and that was although see I thought that would have 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.040 been the origin of caroling, but Sam says here, we 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:32.680 don't really know. 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:35.560 Yeah, Sam kind of bounces all over the place in 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.640 this mini article. But it's Sam. I wonder if he listens, 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.160 you know, if you if you're listening, Sam, we miss you, buddy, 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:43.240 glad tidings to you. 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:45.440 Sam used to work here, by the way, If you 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:46.480 haven't picked up on that. 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:51.360 So chuck it. It's possible. There's well, there's different aspects 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.240 to it. So you have the carrols, right, Yes, a 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:55.960 lot of carrols like oh come all, ye faithful guy, 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.880 rest ye married gentlemen. I saw three ships of sailing, 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.880 that kind of stuff. Silent night, silent I. They're very 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.960 very religious, very very Christian. They are talking about the Nativity, right, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.560 the birth of Christ exactly. Like I said, carols were 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.480 originally secular, although I'm not exactly sure what they were 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:16.080 singing about necessarily, right, maybe like it's cold, it's really cold. 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.440 Come we have some wacle right, and that was a carol, sure, 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.800 But in about the fourth or fifth century AD, carols 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:28.200 were written in Latin. They were very solemn, serious, not 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.920 necessarily associated with Christmas. It wasn't until the thirteenth century 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.920 when Saint Francis of ASSISI said, you know what I 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.520 need to jazz up my congregation. I'm going to make 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.160 some upbeat, up tempo carols. They're going to be about 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.320 the Nativity, but they're going to be happy, and I'm 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.040 going to make everybody sing them on Christmas. And that 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.000 was the birth of the Christmas carol. 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.680 As we know it exactly. And they were very energetic, 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:55.520 as you said, and that spread through across Europe, and 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:57.880 of course anything that spread across Europe was eventually going 0:08:57.920 --> 0:08:59.920 to root down here in the New World. That's right, 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:05.080 the United States. And eventually little Chuck's gonna find himself 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.040 as a fifteen year old going door to door in 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:08.880 Snow Mountain. 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:09.280 With his youth group. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.199 That is nice, Chuck, It was nice. I'll say, you're 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.640 such a supportive like fellow youth group member. Oh yeah, 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.080 you really nailed that, Carol. I've been paying attention to 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:21.040 you at practice and you really nailed it. Oh I 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.440 didn't ever do it though, that's the key. Well, that's 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.320 not overdoing it. You mean it. 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.640 These days, a lot of groups do this for for charity. 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.839 Like I said, churches, and I didn't get for charity 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:34.600 though they hit people up for money or something. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.720 I think that people sometimes give him tips in lieu 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:39.959 of wasasle because it's kind of hard to come by 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:44.240 sometimes in the average house in Michigan. Sure, they don't 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.640 necessarily have wacle there, so sometimes people give people money. 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:49.640 There's like an exchange of something. It's almost like a 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:53.320 Halloween Well, you're actually giving somebody something in the form 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:54.840 of like well wishes or glad. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.960 Tidings exactly, but you're earning your keep. As Sam pointed out, 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.240 this could have come from the feudal tradition of singing 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:05.520 for your supper. Another idea of possibly where Carolyn. 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.280 Began, or going door to door, especially singing for your supper. Right, sure, 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.360 because it's not just the caroling. There's a thing of 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:13.640 going door to door. Why are people going door to door? 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:15.920 Why don't they just stand in a central location make 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:20.040 everybody come to them. Yeah, you can, but you're not 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:21.160 really doing the whole thing. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.760 There's another legend, Sam says, probably isn't true. There's no 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.360 basis for it, but there was a young girl named 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.920 Carol Poles, and she was a little English girl who 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.120 went missing very sadly in London during the holiday season 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.080 the nineteenth century. They went door to door looking for her, 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.640 singing to declare their good intentions, like, hey, don't shoot 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.880 us in the face, We're really just looking for little Carol. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.280 But Sam goes on to say that there's really no 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.160 basis in fact for this. It might just be legend. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.240 So you want to talk about a few Carols, A 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.559 couple of twelve days of Christmas? I mentioned eleven Lord's 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.600 a leaping. A lot of people say that this is 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:06.960 a means of secretly teaching children the Catholic symbols and 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:11.040 values and beliefs from a time when you couldn't practice it, 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:11.959 and that's bunk. 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:15.200 Well, or teaching them memory at least, and how to 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.840 recall things. Well, that's true, that's true, But the Catholic 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:18.520 parts fault. 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.480 Right, right, And twelve Days of Christmas came about around 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.800 eighteenth century in England, so it makes it something of 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:29.600 an old one, but definitely not the oldest. What about Tenembaum, 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:31.360 that's one of my favors. 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:32.960 That's a classic. 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:34.760 Aka Christmas Tree. 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:39.080 That's right, that is a German in origin, and we're 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:40.880 going to pick up on that in a later story. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.560 By the way, the exact roots. 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:47.000 Are not known, but the melody might be familiar to 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.680 you if you live in Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, or New Jersey, 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.800 because your state anthem is sung to the tune of 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:54.960 Christmas Tree. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.400 Who knew, Chuck, Let's get to the bottom of probably 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.760 one of the great mysteries. I know what you're gonna Christmas? Yeah, 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:05.080 what is figgy pudding? 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.480 If you're in England, you're gonna say, of course we 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.200 know what piggy pudding is, right, but it's it's British 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:12.640 in origin. 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.120 If you're in America and you're familiar with the carol 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:19.080 we wish you had married Christmas and the line we 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.600 won't go until we get some, We won't go until 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.839 we get some. Now bring it right here. I think 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:25.760 that are e figgy pudding. 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.920 Comes after bring us some figgy pudding? I believe is 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.760 the more on the nose line. Okay, which precedes it? 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:34.520 Right? Sure, I said, are e figgy pudding? Oh okay, yeah, 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:35.199 sorry about that. 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:37.480 It is British. It's a dessert. 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:43.360 It is uh sort of like carrot cake meets custard, 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.960 but it's got chopped figs in it and spices and things. 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:49.199 I don't know. Does it sound good to you? Yes? 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:53.360 Oh really, yes. I love carrot cake, but I love custard. 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:54.520 I'm not a big custard guy. 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.760 I would definitely try it, all right. 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.280 They said it's unique in the texture and taste, and 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:00.400 I'm not gonna that. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.200 So while you're sitting there by the fire, maybe now 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:05.360 that we've kind of given you roughly the recipes for 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.120 wassle and figgy pudding, you go make this. We'll be 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:08.600 right here. 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:10.800 Someone should send us figgy pudding. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:37.199 They should, all the way from England. Chuck, Josh, I'm 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.240 sure you, being a sentient person, have noticed that there 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:44.679 are there's a plant, a Christmas plant, as it were, 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.880 like probably the official flora mascout of Christmas, the cactus. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.880 Uh no, no, the points said to you, Yes, the 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:58.000 very brilliantly colored red leafed plant that you see everywhere 0:13:58.040 --> 0:13:58.719 this time of year. 0:13:58.760 --> 0:13:59.640 Did you say red leaf? 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:00.360 Yes? 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.200 Well that's good that you said that, Josh, because a 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.320 lot of people, because the leaves are so gorgeous and 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.080 red and shaped like stars, think that that is the 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.320 flower and the flowers, in fact, the little yellow thing 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:11.800 in the center. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.000 Yeah, and the flowers like oh orh somebody would pay 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.199 attention to me. I know, but I'm small and yellow. 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.480 So what this is? You agree then that probably the 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.480 official plant of Christmas besides missiletoe. And really that's just 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:29.440 a cutting the official plant with a root ball of Christmas. 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.440 To the tune of about two hundred million dollars in 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:32.720 sales every holiday. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.840 But the crazy thing is as much as it's associated 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.920 with Christmas and snow and sleigh rides and things like that. Sure, 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.640 the point Setti is native to Mexico. I had no idea, 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:46.720 did neither. No. It grows to heights of about twelve feet. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:48.480 Yeah, it's a shrub, a tropical shrub. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.000 Yeah, in southern Mexico. And actually it turns out that 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:56.840 it's a Christmas It's associated with Christmas thanks to America's 0:14:56.840 --> 0:15:00.680 first diplomat to Mexico, a guy named doctor Joe Roberts. 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:04.080 Point set were they named after? Okay? 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.080 Yeah, he in the nineteenth century. 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.640 He went down to Mexico eighteen twenty eight, discovered the 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:14.520 point Setia and thought, hey, this is really really pretty. 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.720 I bet this would look great on my mantle in 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:18.680 my heart in December. 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.320 In South Carolina? Is that where it was? 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.040 Yeah, South Carolina, And so he brought it back and 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:28.320 it wasn't initially, it didn't catch on like wildfire initially, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.040 but over the years throughout the twentieth century, it became 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.000 the mainstay of Christmas. 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:39.000 It also suffered some indignity in what it was called 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.720 before it finally landed on point Setia, like, oh really, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.720 the lobster flower or the Mexican flame leaf, like lobster flower. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.160 And then well, actually down in Mexico they considered it 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.240 a holy plan as well. It's called the florist de 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.000 Nocee Buayna in Mexico. That's Spanish for Flowers of the 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.920 Holy Night. Yeah, And that's based on a Christmas story 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.800 that's told down Mexico way about a little girl who 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.760 is very, very poor and who was there at the 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.200 birth of Jesus and all she had was weeds to 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:14.480 bring him. As she showed up, the weeds bloomed into 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.840 the beautiful point Setia plant. 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:20.000 Hey, that sounds like a good story. 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:20.840 It's a great story. 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:21.440 I don't buy it. 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.800 It's better than the lobster flower. Story because in that 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:26.680 version it turns into an angry lobster. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.200 So that is generally where people think that they got 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.000 the Christmas tie right. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:35.920 Well, that and the fact that they bloom in December. 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.320 Right, And another interpretation is that it's a symbol of 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:41.120 the Star of Bethlehem because the leaf looks like a 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:41.800 star in a way. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.160 And then the real interpretation is that they bloom in 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:50.360 December exactly right. So is that it Well, no, there's 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.760 a lot of a lot of scorn heaped on points 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.280 set he is that they are in fact poisonous. It 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:59.760 turns out that they will give you diarrhea if you 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.200 eat leaves which are called bracts the upper portion of 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:05.080 the which why would you do that because you're a 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.119 little kid and it's red. Okay, you will get a 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.480 little case of diarrhea, you're telling me, will hurt, but 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:15.240 you won't. It's not fatal. Apparently scientists somehow figured out 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.680 that a little kid would have to eat about five 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.679 hundred point seati of bracts for it to become a 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.080 toxic dose. So you want to keep them away from 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.440 the points that he is anyway, just so they don't 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.760 have diarrhea. This Christmas. But you don't have to worry 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:30.240 about them dying at least. 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:35.000 And as my wife pointed out, oh, but they're toxic 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:35.840 to cats. 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.920 I look that up. They are somewhat toxic to cats, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.159 but I don't know if they're deadly. 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:46.000 And the website I found said cats aren't gonna really 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:48.320 like the taste that much anyway, so you really don't 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.439 need to sweat it. But if your leaves drop off 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:51.840 on the floor and you got cats, you might as 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:52.920 well pick it up and put it in the trash 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:54.480 because you don't want to make kiddy sick. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:55.399 It's true. 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:59.639 Ever, Laurn and the Wizard are point Setia free. 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.320 Although my house is riddled with them. 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.560 With Lauran and the Wizard, no with point Setius. Well, Chuck, 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.480 we missed it this year, but next year, well now know. Also, 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:13.880 December twelfth is National point Setia Day in the United States, 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:15.560 aka go. 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.160 Out and buy some point Settias. Yes, so that's point 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:19.000 Setia it is. 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.440 And I want to take this opportunity to wish merry 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:26.080 Christmas to the Wizard and Lauren. Thank you. They have 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:26.800 their stockings. 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:29.719 What I'm hoping is that because of this podcast, there 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.560 will be tens of thousands of people all over the 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:36.560 country saying, Hey, did you know the point Setti is 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:37.560 actually from Mexico? 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.080 I hope that happens around dinner tables all over the world. 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.360 Chuck, it's time for probably my favorite Christmas story. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.399 My favorite, You like this one? My new favorite? 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.280 You weren't You weren't familiar with this until recently. 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:11.960 Well I sort of was. Here's the deal. I saw 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.639 the movie at midnight. Clear Have you ever seen that? 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.160 Yeah? I know, yes, I have been not for years. 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:19.159 I forgot about that. 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.560 Really good movie and uh, not so much based on 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.200 but inspired by this story. 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.760 Yeah, and it was always one of my favorite movies. 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:30.120 But there was actually another movie that hits this one 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:31.960 on the head from five years. 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.720 Ago, cannon Ball Run. What it's called. 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:38.520 It's a foreign film called joyex Noel, which means Merry 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:43.160 Christmas Noel. Yes, and it tells this story straight. 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:45.679 Up, does it? So? The story that you're talking about, 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:48.399 I want to explain to you is called The Christmas Truth. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.040 It is so great and it is a true story, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.359 as you're saying, and it took place in World War one. 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:57.199 World War one, Chuck, humans have gotten pretty good at 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.320 war by the time World War World War one came around. 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:02.240 World War One, the more I hear about it, it 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:06.520 sounds like perhaps the most brutal of the world wars. 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:09.919 It gave us our first understanding of PTSD, which we 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:12.840 used to call shell shock. Yeah, it gave us mustard 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.720 gas posgen gas, chlorine gas. Chemical warfare is another way 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.879 to put it. Powers, yeap tanks, machine guns that could 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:24.160 spit out six hundred bullets a. 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:30.000 Minute, airplanes in combat, mass bombing, dropping bombs on civilians. 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:34.600 And most pertinent to this story, trenches. Trench warfare. Yeah, 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:38.800 this is nutty. The trenches made their debut along the 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:46.520 Western Front in Europe apparently too great success. Too great 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:52.360 of a success. For example, the Battle of Verdun lasted 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:56.240 nine months, there were three hundred thousand deaths and almost 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.320 no changes in the positions between the two trenches. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:03.720 I mean, war was so enthrallingly basic back then. It 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:07.840 was literally just like gaining ground foot by foot. 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:12.600 Right, Yeah, but this was the first step toward modern warfare. 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.000 It was that. Yeah, but it was the first step 0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:16.840 toward modern warfare where you could kill a bunch of 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:18.640