Skeleton Trivia for Tuesday, 2024-09-10
In which Mister Skeleton goes off on an extended tangent about balsam
Hiya Skeleton Crew,
We’re just powerin’ through September, it sure feels like! Let’s keep it movin’ with some more trivias, eh?
Answers to Last Time
That famous photo a’ Tommie Smith ’n’ John Carlos givin’ the Black Power salute on the podium was taken at the Mexico City Olympics.
Modena is famous for its balsamic vinegar—an’ if ya get the real traditional stuff it’ll set ya back somethin’ like a hundred bucks a bottle!
Today’s Trivias
Trivia 1
For better or worse, the way I remember the names Tommie Smith ’n’ John Carlos is that I remember their first names are Tommie ’n’ John, like in the colloquial name a’ that surgery—y’know, Tommy John surgery?
The more technical name a’ that surgery is ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction. But the Tommy John eponym comes from the name a’ the first fella to receive the surgery: Mr. Thomas Edward John, Jr. He was an athlete who played at what position in pro sports?
Trivia 2
So I was lookin’ it up, an’ the balsamic in balsamic vinegar ain’t actually a reference to balsam per se; more it just means somethin’ like “aromatic” or “curative”.
But so that got me on a whole Wikipedia rabbit hole readin’ ’bout balsam ... an’ if I’m bein’ honest, it’s pretty confusin’! Like, so, first off, balsam can be referrin’ to a specific taxonomic family, Balsaminaceae. But ALSO balsam can mean a kinda resin or sap—an’, get this, the resin can come from all SORTS a’ different plants, not just Balsaminaceae ones! Matter a’ fact, the majority a’ them seem to NOT be Balsaminaceae?? So, ah, that’s a big muff on the part a’ the taxonomists in my book.
Oh, then ALSO I got Britannica tellin’ me balsam’s not just ANY resin, but it’s specifically gotta be a resin “dispersed in benzoic or cinnamic acid esters”? But Wikipedia just says they “often contain” those esters, it don’t make it a hard requirement.
Ah jeez! Come on folks, let’s get this together, please!!
ANYWAY, I feel at least I can kinda confidently say that the word “balsam” has got Semitic origins, an’ in particular it seems like the use that first put it on the map was in the Bible. There it was referencin’ to a perfumy substance, also called “Balm of” what ancient region that’s situated east a’ the River Jordan?
The Biblical resonance here is probably why this answer’s the name Marilynne Robinson used for the titular Iowa town of her second novel, plus also it’s the name a’ the theocratic republic where Offred lives in The Handmaid’s Tale. Whereas the medicinal resonance is why it’s the name a’ one a the big pharma companies in the U.S.
OK then
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee