Myth-tery

I was looking for music on YouTube like I sometimes do when I had a hankering to hear "Strange Magic." I get cravings for music the way pregnant women crave pickles and ice cream.

All that kept coming up was the song by ELO and a bunch of cover bands. That didn't make any sense. I was looking for the song by Chicago. Not when Peter Cetera was the lead singer. That other guy. What's-His-Name. I kept re-searching, hoping for different results. Finally I picked the most viewed video by ELO. Bingo! I didn't know ELO sang "Strange Magic." I felt like the people in those Cox commercials. It made me wonder what else I didn't know.

Maybe you're better than me at music trivia but there's a lot of myths we all believe. Like that Sherlock Holmes often said, "Elementary, my dear Watson" but he never actually did. So here's a few commonly believed myths that I thought worthy of mentioning:

• MYTH: If you ask an officer if he's a cop he has to tell you the truth. FACT: Actually, he doesn't. The law is only concerned with entrapment, whether an officer entices you to commit a crime you wouldn't otherwise have committed.
• MYTH: We only use 10% of our brains. FACT: Nobody knows for sure where this myth originated but any MRI scan will show that even while asleep most of the brain is always active.
• MYTH: You get sick being out in the cold. FACT: Germs that make you sick live in warm temperatures. People get sick because in cold weather they spend more time indoors huddled together.
• MYTH: When left to soak overnight a penny will dissolve in Coke so that must mean it will rot your teeth and eat away at your stomach. FACT: First of all, if this were true I would be the first to know about it. I drink Coke like it's my job and I still have my stomach and all of my teeth. The truth is Coke is less acidic than OJ and it would take months to dissolve a penny. Since Coke doesn't sit in our bodies anywhere near that length of time, I think we're safe.
• MYTH: The word meaning "held as opinion" is pronounced supposeBly. FACT: It's spelled with a "d" so you pronounce it with a "d." This isn't really a common myth but it is annoying.
• MYTH: A fish's memory span lasts only a few seconds. FACT: Dory from "Finding Nemo" was a-dory-ble but blue fish actually have long-term memory. Rainbow trout even develop personalities.
• MYTH: Both the Johnny Depp version and the original movie were titled, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." FACT: The original was titled "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Ok, maybe this one was just me but I was surprised when I found out - like my whole childhood had been a lie.

If you really want to get crazy and start checking the validity of all those annoying email forwards you get, go to www.snopes.com.  And go ahead. Swim right after eating. You won't drown and probably won't even get a cramp.