They said it couldn’t be done; that there was just no chance; that it was quite simply ludicrous to expect the next edition of SingSnap Rhythm & News to be ready for Valentine’s Day...
...and they were probably right!
Fortunately, nobody told us! So, we went ahead and did it anyway, happily oblivious to this apparently impossible task. Recent personnel changes made the production process ‘quite interesting’ (official press release description) but despite near insurmountable odds the shiny brand new SingSnap News Team has battled valiantly through hours of meetings, gallons of coffee, forests of paperwork (we’ll replant, honest!) and no small amount of exposed raw nerve endings to proudly present to you good people THE SingSnap RHYTHM & NEWS VALENTINE’S DAY EDITION.
GUYS! Don’t be afraid of all the pink! Take a look and you’ll find stuff in here for you too.
Enjoy! PLEASE! My job’s on the line here you know...
SingSnap Sponsorship Program:
Turning Blue into Gold!
Not content with being the “biggest, baddest, best singing community in the world” trevorSTAFF and the boys at SingSnap have come up with another fantastic feature.
The SingSnap Sponsorship Program began the roll out onto the site on the 10th of February. Whilst the Blue service still offers the most comprehensive choice of songs and the largest storage capacity (up to 100 recordings) of any free karaoke service on the internet, not to mention access to almost all of the additional areas and features within the site, there are some who simply cannot afford to upgrade to even more features available on the Gold service, such as stereo playback, Inner Circle groups and many others. That’s where the Sponsorship Program comes in, giving you generous subscribers the opportunity to donate to the fund and give out some Gold.
For more information click on this link, and get somebody singing for joy today!
SingSnap Site-Admins
steal sponsorship shade.
Patrons of the new SingSnap Sponsorship Program were left in disarray recently when it emerged that the new screen name color allocated to them had been snatched from under their noses by merciless SingSnap Site-Admins in a daring daylight raid.
Nicknamed the “Rainbow Robbers” the all-girl duo ruthlessly abused their site privileges and used their staff contacts to acquire the new shade of shocking pink for their own use, leaving potentially hundreds of generous sponsorship patrons stuck with the prospect of their old green unwanted cast-off color.
“It’s like this see,” explained the ringleader, cockney conniegSITE-ADMIN, when interviewed by the News_TeamNEWS-TEAM ; “I’m a girl, I got power, I like pink. End of, innit!”
“Besides,” continued her partner in crime, lisamarieSITE-ADMIN, “You’re not gonna get many fellas wanting to chip in if they end up a bright shade of fuschia! Ooo that black looks nice on you by the way...”
News Team lawyers have already been put on stand-by.
Subscription deadline looms.
SingSnap members are reminded that the cut-off date for the old subscription rate to upgrade to Gold service will soon be upon us.
The ‘grandfather’ rate of $7 (US) monthly and $70 (US) annually has been retained for use up to 28th FEBRUARY 2009 after the responses received from the community regarding membership pricing changes. This rate applies to any Blue members who registered prior to 6TH JANUARY 2009.
Further details regarding this and other related items can be found here on the SingSnap Message Boards. Don’t forget to leave a note on your calendar!
We've all heard of the ups and downs of online romance. Kind of makes you wonder exactly when does it ever really work out? Well, if you're on Sing Snap, meeting that special someone definitely happens! With the right connections, and some perseverance, many friendships here have gone from "WTG enjoyed your song" to "Will you marry me?", and the lucky couples here continue to make beautiful music together.
Two couples who found romance on Sing Snap back in early 2007 are bipolarbettyPATRON and paddy19GOLD and Janet_MelGOLD (the shared SingSnap account of Janet & Mel). Their magnetic connection began as a great friendship, singing duets and sharing computer technical advice. Little did they know that it would be the beginning of the rest of their lives together, that knowing they were meant to complete each other's life-duet, and they knew they had nothing but happy days ahead of them.
"What started as a friendship of singing duets and helping each other with computer technical issues turned into a perfect fit romantically as well..., " Paddy said, "...and a few months later I flew from Chicago to San Diego for our first face-to-face meeting. There was instant chemistry and everything just fell into place from day one."
Betty soon made the move to Chicago and she says their relationship has been bliss ever since. On June 11, 2008, Betty and Paddy were married. Betty had this to say:
"Music brought us together and the community in general here keeps us looking forward to singing, listening to others and reading the fun threads on the message boards, and of course keeping up on the latest developments here. Paddy and I look forward to each day where we can sing and listen to our friends here and just to have the opportunity to be ourselves and share laughs goofing off with our friends. As a matter of fact, we now sing together even when the computer is completely turned off."
She adds: "I'm completely addicted to SingSnap," and admits "I'm the nutty one, and Paddy is the sane, rational calm type. He loves making fun of my addiction and crazy videos, and we laugh about it all the time. Plus he never gets mad that I spend so much time on here. Imagine that! I obviously married the perfect guy for me. Thank you SingSnap!"
“Mel and I met through a friend of ours, "Mainelystac", who is also a SingSnap member” Janet explains. “She told me about this really nice man and that I should go listen to him sing. So I did and Mel would come and listen to me sing, too. Our mutual friend Stacy wanted me to ask Mel when his birthday was so I sent him a PM. Of course it took "A LOT OF PERSUADING" to get him to tell me that information, but eventually I got it! We started chatting through PM's for a while, joking around, getting to know each other. When Mel's birthday came around I sang him a special song, "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", and from then we started talking on the phone and chatting through a couple of different chat sites.
Janet continues; “Mel and I stared to realize that our friendship was turning into love. We spent 7 months getting to know each other before he came to visit me. I must tell you that he is scared to death of flying due to some really scary incidences when he was in the Military, so I knew that he must really love me a lot to fly 3,000 miles just to meet me. So, on November 4th, 2007 Mel took some mild tranquilizers and flew from Maryland to Oregon to meet me.
“Our first meeting at the Portland Airport was so wonderful. We were both grinning from ear to ear when we saw each other and just gave each other the biggest hug and Mel started kissing me all over my face. I started laughing. We walked for about 50 feet, then Mel dropped his bags to the floor and said "That just ain't gonna cut it", and he grabbed me up in his arms and gave me the deepest and most earthshaking kiss I had ever had in my life. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We both knew we were totally in love from that moment on.
“We spent two wonderful weeks together. We both had tears when he had to leave because we didn't want to be apart ever. We just have so much in common and we laugh and love so perfectly. In early February Mel returned to Oregon and stayed for a month and a half, then again at the end of May he was back. We made plans to get married on September 27th 2008. Wedding announcements were sent out, I had a Minister friend of mine who would perform the ceremony; we had it all set. Then Mel got some unfortunate news from home and he had to return immediately. Our wedding had to be postponed, I cried; then I decided that the love we have for each other meant more to me than a few months delay of our wedding plans.
“Mel is planning to be here again towards the end of this month. We are setting a new wedding date as soon as possible.
“Our love for music is what brought us to SingSnap and we have been singing our feelings to each other through the lyrics of our songs. We are both very thankful that there is such a wonderful site for us to express our love through song. We have made so many wonderful friends and we love each and every one of them.”
Sounds like two happy endings, or rather happy beginnings here on SingSnap, whose great online community has proved time and time again that it is a threshold to many great friendships as well as love connections. With all the songs to sing, videos to be made, and all the duets yet to be shared, maybe there's a love match out there for you too on SingSnap!
So let's all toast the two happy couples!
Our congrats to Betty & Paddy, and Janet & Mel!
LadyDi821NEWS-TEAM, Assistant Editor
STAT_SUEof_LYRICLYNEWS-TEAM, Administrator
Our heartfelt thanks go to the inimitable artistic talent of SingSnap member, caricaturistGOLD, the man responsible for the wonderful portraits you see above.
Oh, he’s a mighty fine singer too. Makes you sick, doesn’t it! Go check out his songs, it’s worth it.
At this time of year, when so many seek those elusive answers to the secret of emotional bliss from any place they can find them, Rhythm & News is here to hold your hand and guide you through the most difficult maze ever known; the path to keeping your woman happy.
Be ready for your love to come to you exclaiming, "Hark! My dearest Valentine, I love thee, I adore thee, and I won't come home with a gift from the gas station this year, for you are my everything, my daffodil, my sweetpea, and most important, you are my ride home." This is your lucky year, because you will reap love’s true reward, indeed your Valentine is bestowing you with finery worth over the cost of a Big Mac.
Life flies by pretty fast, so slow down long enough to appreciate your special Valentines virtues. Time alone is predicted for you two, and quite intimately, too. In fact, so intimate, one of you may even have to shave your legs. So light some candles and fluff those pillows, because many fabulous smoothly shaved legs and smoothly shaved moons are in your future.
Expect a resurgence of sensitivity in your usually thoughtless mate this month. Ah, that clever cupid and his darts of longitudinal lust. Not only will your partner spoil you with random acts of kindness, which aren't so much random, as just "acts" (be careful about that, by the way). So fear not, your love will go to the ends of the earth to shower you with kisses that won't have you running to the doctor (this time). Now that IS good news.
Mark some time off for lots of social outings on your calendar, because this month you'll be swamped. Expect old flames and old acquaintances to come out from under the rocks they've been hiding under to shower you with attention. Your dance card will be filled, and your Friday nights will be busy busy busy. So dust off your disco boots and shine those disco balls, and get ready to entertain some dancing fools.
What jolly tricks does our spherical cherub have up his sleeve, er diaper, this V-day? My guess is that if you've been dreaming of hearing the pitter patter of tiny feet, and if your biological clock is thumping away, well, you may be in luck this year. OK, so there might be four fuzzy feet and not two, maybe a tail, and maybe some house potty training, but still, is that so different from what you have now? With luck, the surprise is a puppy! Consider it a step in the right direction.
Enjoying your V-day will be a breeze with the stars aligned in your favor, and this Valentine’s day will be your ticket to pampered perfection. Not only will your lover put you high upon a pedestal, but your special someone won't even make you dust it first. You won't need to lift a finger. For a switch, your Valentine may even bring YOU a cold brewski and pick your skanky unmentionables up off the floor without complaining. Ah now that is bliss!
Your star sign makes perfect sense for you, because Libra rhymes with Zebra, which is a striking, strong, confident exotic animal with black and white markings, just like your Valentines date will be...Wait, no that's National Geographic. No no, your Valentine will be more like a small, scared, trapped rodent, shivering in a dark laundry room corner, and looks are not of importance, because you're in charge, and your rat will be at your mercy. Always a good time eh?
Scorpio, Scorpio, wherefore art thou Scorpio? For I am cupid, and the stars have designed that under your window your love will appear, clad in what would appear to be semi-clean clothes and a scarlet red rose from the corner gas-n-sip. It's the thought that counts and a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and so does your date, despite the cheap dime store cologne.
The language of love is universal when spoken in song. Whether you sing like a songbird, or sound like a cat in a burlap sack being knocked into a wall, don't be shy, sing out! Your love will hear you loud and clear, and will be putty in your hands. When the moons phases revolve and come full circle, you never know, maybe your love will be baying to the moon over you as well. Earplugs help.
Take a gamble on that certain someone this Valentine’s day. When your secret love finally shows their hand, you'll know it was worth the wait, so go "all in". However, don't forget to Google their name to make sure your winner isn't a loser. Nothing ruins a romantic moment more than the morning after, and finding your mates scrappy mug shot on the side of a carton of milk with the caption "most wanted," and not wanted in a good way. Be safe!
The fiery Aquarius Moon heats up and makes a big splash this month. Dive right in, because the water is warm. Run a hot bath, light some candles, and don't forget the bubblebath! Just invite your lover over for a soothing dip, and cupid will take care of the rest. Having said that, beware of the bath-mate that turns your tranquil soak into a rolling, bubbling jacuzzi. Some suspicious bubbles don't come from your jug of bubblebath.
Under this sign you'll be right as rain this February 14th and all you have to do is take matters into your own hands. Someone else's reject may be your prince or princess charming. So get on the phone, dial a friend of a friend, and break the ice. You make it happen, just turn up your sex appeal to your love interest by making the first call, and you can count on cupid to back you up 100%. (Heavy breathing optional).
Here is where you will find the rest of Cupids answers to your Heart's Desire.. Cupid Reveals All
To counterbalance all the lovey-dovey stuff features in our humble publication I thought I should speak out for the large percentage of SingSnappers who can't stand Valentine's Day. Regardless of whether you are in a relationship or not ...
February 14th is just sucky.
You have to do SOMETHING for it otherwise your other half will fall out with you
Even if your other half says they don't want to do anything for it they secretly do and if you take what they said as what they ACTUALLY MEAN then refer back to number 1.
Flowers; why do they go up in price especially for this occasion?
Flowers again; men can only send them on Valentine's Day without a woman questioning what their ulterior motive is. Does he want sex? Has he crashed your car (we all know women are better drivers)? Or is he apologising for saying your derriere looked big when you asked whilst he was watching football and he wasn't paying attention to what you were saying?
Flowers yet again; Come on! They show a lack of imagination when choosing a present. Buy me something original please! Like that gorgeous platinum watch with diamonds I saw at the end of that day we'd been shopping for 5 hours trying to get something for me to wear to my sister's wedding. And no matter how hot you think I'd look in it, I don't want your team's strip! Or cheap tacky undies (that will either be too big or too small) or gas station random paraphernalia. You get the picture surely?
Other couples. It's like a competition; “Who can prove their love the most for this one day?” Please note; a MASSIVE card does not mean you love someone more, it just makes the postman look like an idiot, or gives him a hernia!
Restaurants. If you haven't booked at least 2 weeks in advance you stand NO CHANCE of getting a table and McDonalds won't do so don't even try.
Cards/Teddies that sing/play a tune - Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Enough said.
You'll spend around 3 times the amount you normally would on the same items at any other time of the year.
Even if you actually are lovely and romantic and show your love all year round, actually saying "I don't think we should celebrate Valentine’s Day" translates as "I'm cheap!"
Why is EVERYONE coupled up?? How on earth are you supposed to find someone for yourself?
Everyone's talking about it! What about last night's TV? Hello!!! Didn't anyone see 24?? Though on second thoughts, it beats talking about the R.E.C.E.S.S.I.O.N.
You get pitiful glances and noises from all your coupled friends and/or colleagues. "Guess what!?! He's whisking me off to Paris for the weekend!! Oh, sorry...*pitiful glance* I didn't mean to make you feel bad". Oh no no just patronise me instead. It's fine!
Cards from a secret admirer. Why why WHY!?!?!?! No need to keep it a secret, just tell me who you are!! If I fancy you something could happen. If not...erm thanks! I'm really flattered...now how about we pretend this never happened?
Being single is a lifestyle choice (at least that's what I keep telling myself!) so why does Valentine's Day still shove itself down my throat and make me feel bad for making that choice, because it IS a choice! It's not at all because no one finds me attractive...
Everywhere you look, there it is! On TV, radio, internet, in shops, in the street...like we need reminding??
All the movies on TV are romantic ones and make you feel sorry for yourself whilst dreaming of your Prince Charming coming along to sweep you off your feet because you know he's just around the corner!
Your favourite chocolate takes on a limited edition Valentine's Day identity to make you feel even more nauseous when you comfort eat whilst watching lots of number 7s.
Ben & Jerry/Frankie & Benny are the only men in your life and you see them much more than you really should.
All the songs on the radio either make you wish you had someone or remind you of an ex. Altogether now; *wails* "All by myseeeeeeeeeellffff, don't wanna be...all by myyyyyyyyyyself anymore..."
Hi everyone! Time really does fly! It is already February of the New Year and with this being our first edition of the SingSnap 2009 Newsletter we, "The News Team", would like to wish everyone in the SingSnap community as well as our wonderful staff and all the members that give their precious time to help our site, to ALL OF YOU, the Happiest New Year Ever!
As many of you know when a new year begins people make "resolutions" and have ideas for positive change they feel the need to be incorporated into their daily lives and regimens. So why not include SingSnap into these thoughts since for so many who spend a significant amount of time here it is in reality already part of your lifestyle and a place you LOVE.
To coin the expression "Love Thy Neighbor" we must realize that we are all living in the same place once we log on. How wonderful is it to be somewhere with literally thousands upon thousands of members from all over the world with different cultures, personalities etc. but also with the one common denominator that brings us ALL TOGETHER as a family; our LOVE of MUSIC and SINGING.
Of course not everybody loves every neighbor or gets along with all of them but we encourage you to EXPLORE this and find friends that you are compatible with. If you haven't, keep trying; we promise you that they are HERE! Don't be afraid to take a trip to unknown territory, you never know who or what you might discover. We encourage clicking on people you've never heard before. Gold, blue, male, female, old, young etc. It doesn't matter.
These trips can sometimes turn out to be AMAZING!
We on the News Team would LOVE each and every one of you to seriously think about making SingSnap a happier and more enriching experience as one of your resolutions for 2009. Why not utilize some of the wonderful features this huge community has to offer? Try something that you haven't tried before.
We encourage you to focus on LOVE and how much you LOVE SingSnap and to let go of any "bad karma" you might have experienced in the past with thoughts of this New Year being FRESH and POSITIVE.
2008 was a year that incorporated MANY huge changes for SingSnap. In previous newsletters and also in the message board forums all of the Gold features and additions to our site were acknowledged, as they will be in 2009.
The latest new and exciting development is the SingSnap Staff's recognition of those who sponsor the less fortunate of our community; they now have "Patron" added to their new green screen name. We at the News Team think this is such an awesome way Trevor and the boys are acknowledging the most generous in our community and how much they are appreciated. WAY TO GO STAFF on adding this new feature to these wonderful, caring donators. A warm and heartfelt thank you once again from our Staff and News Team. You are all doing a wonderful things to help this awesome site continue to grow and prosper.
Love above anything really is the best cure of all, so come on people, start showing THE LOVE!
Romance, love, rejection, beheadings, cards, goat skins, cherubs and chocolates. These are the things of which Valentine’s Day is made.
The legend of Valentine’s Day dates back to the fourth century, and Saint Valentine. He is traditionally the patron of couples, bee keepers, lovers, travelers, young people, and greeting card manufacturers. Rumors that the CEO of Hallmark is a direct descendant are as yet unconfirmed.
During his life as a priest, Valentine performed marriages against the decree of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius believed that a single man made a better soldier than a married man, his heart and soul being available to the act of war. He ought not to be distracted by petticoats, taking the trash out, and always being told he is wrong.
When Claudius found out about Valentine’s actions, he had him imprisoned, stoned, and beheaded. Before losing his head, it is said that Valentine met and fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. As a last act he penned a note to her declaring his love and signing it “from your Valentine.” This being the closing on our Valentines today, it is fortunate for us that he didn’t sign it “please, my love, beg your father not to cut my head off.” [Doesn’t Hallmark do these too? Ed.]
So we celebrate this day in commemoration of a beheading. Not too cheery. Perhaps we ought to go back in time a bit to find a more romantic beginning. After all, it is believed that the Catholic Church named this feast for a Saint to eliminate the memory of an existing pagan ritual, Lupercalia.
Lupercalia was celebrated in ancient Rome every February 15th. Lupercus was the god of fertility and shepherds, represented as half-naked and dressed in goat skins. As part of a purification ritual the priests would sacrifice goats to the god, and after drinking wine, they would run through the streets of Rome holding pieces of the goat skin above their heads, touching anyone they met. Young women would run up to the priests, believing that being touched with the skin would make them fertile. Now we’re getting somewhere in the romance department. It’s hard to think of anything more romantic than being touched with a bloody goat skin.
The festival was also dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture and doin’ it. During the Middle Ages February was thought to be the beginning of birds’ mating season. So as another part of their festivities, it became a time to join the creatures in commencing our own mating rituals. The young women of the village all put their names in an urn. The single men then chose a name out of the urn to find which lass was to be theirs. This must have led to some very disappointed young people as they saw their beloved carried off by another. Unrequited love and arranged marriages, yet another romantic notion for us to consider on our high feast of love.
The oldest existing valentine is still housed in the British Museum in London and was penned by Charles, Duke of Orleans, while imprisoned in the Tower of London during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He, just like Saint Valentine centuries earlier, was facing death and penned a note to his wife. Again the closing was most likely “please, my love, beg the jailer not to cut my head off.”
In the 18th Century in Great Britain, sending cards and small gifts to friends and lovers had become common, and the marketing strategies were well under way. The holiday, and the marketing, made their way to the United States where mass-producing Valentines began in the 1850’s. The Greeting Card Association estimates that one billion cards are sent on this day, second in volume only to Christmas cards. Valentine’s Day is yet another holiday sponsored by businesses to get people back into the stores who haven’t been shopping since the other corporate sponsored holiday known as Thanksgiving-Christmas-NewYears-AfterNewYear. Let’s get men out to the stores before tax day comes up. They know that they are in deep trouble if their beloved doesn’t get a gift on this day. It means he doesn’t love her, right? Maybe Claudius II was right.
And we mustn’t forget Cupid. He’s the Roman god of erotic love and beauty. This son of Venus and Mars (goddess of love and god of war), could use his arrows to make people fall madly in love by shooting them in the eyes or heart. He himself fell in love with the beautiful Psyche after dropping one of his own arrows on his foot. Yep, he shot himself in the foot.
Over the years the image of Cupid has changed from a hot young man with his privates tactfully covered with gauze to the fat diapered winged imp with an archery set that we now know. It’s hard to understand why his new image is considered romantic, but why not? We started with beheadings, lotteries, goat skins and mating wolves.
All this makes me want to get out my red construction paper, doilies, scissors and glue and start making a whole slew of lovely little cards with X’s and O’s.
You Will Need:
Crust:
Filling:
1 cup powdered sugar 1 cup whipped cream 1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened 1 pkg vanilla instant pudding 1 pkg chocolate instant pudding 2 cups milk
Topping
Whipped cream Heath bar, crumbled
Directions:
The top three wittiest answers sent to the NEWS_TEAM PM box before midnight EST on March 10 will be gifted with a free month’s Gold!.
We may get Binky to judge if we can stop her laughing long enough to actually read the answers!
Good luck!!!
Wishing everyone the very best on this Lover's Day.
HOW DO WE LOVE THEE (FOR MICK)
Based on the poem "How Do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do we love thee? Let us count the ways. We love thee like your halitosis and pink nighties Your Bon Bons can kiss kiss while memories of online dating are long gone. Till the ends of Ward 13 when gone mad for footie. We love thee to the gutter level of Brit editors. Deep pockets short arms, yet you buy your Sleazy Sun Newspaper. We love thee freely, as you strive to NOT PAY. We love thee surely,as you put on your tutu. We love thee with the passion you aim towards gossip. We love thee whilst donning Y-front briefs along with your childhood dream to cross dress. We love thee with a love you seem to spend whilst golfing with your titleist balls for all of our lives.. And,if Northern Monkey's choose, we shall but love thee better for sure after death.
P.S. So glad we got that insurance policy!
WTG!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!
Your Newsletter BUDDIES
This parody was written by:
STAT_SUEof_LYRICLYNEWS-TEAM, LadyDi821NEWS-TEAM, and conniegSITE-ADMIN
Well there you have it; proof if ever it was needed that you don't have to be a Laureate for your poetry to mean something (I just know they're going to get me for that!). And hey, even if you think you suck at writing verse, you could always sing a song!
From your flattered and humbled Editor, and on behalf of the News Team, may we wish our entire SingSnap community a very happy Valentine's Day!
Your News Team contributors for this edition were:
REALLYMADNEWS-TEAM LadyDi821NEWS-TEAM STAT_SUEof_LYRICLYNEWS-TEAM CeelaaNEWS-TEAM conniegSITE-ADMIN Mary54NEWS-TEAM divinedivaukGOLD Binky-PATRON ma_elena caricaturistGOLD justadreamerGOLD The Secret Star Searcher
