Beware April Fools' Day Headlines
Jeff—Saturday
They’ll be the ones touting good news.
Truth is, there’s an awful lot happening in our world these
days––with the emphasis on AWFUL.
There’s no need for me to list a parade of horribles here, because
each of you likely finds yourself in one way or another plodding through your
days mired in the muck of it all. So much so, that even positive developments seem
far too often inexorably linked to endless irrationality if not tragedy.
If only that weren’t so. If only….
Anyway, in my thirteen-year tenure on MIE, this is only the
second time my Saturday slot landed on April Fools’ Day, the last being in
2017. So, in honor of the occasion I
decided to take a shot at projecting a rather upbeat view of this non-public
holiday celebrated in many parts of the world and dedicated to playing
practical jokes and spreading hoaxes.
Just to add a bit of perspective, this is what I had to say
about the state of the world a half-dozen years ago today:
“Not sure there’s anything left to joke about at the moment.
And not just in the US. Greece is on the
ropes (still), Brexit is punching itself out of its constricting EU paper bag
(into suffocating plastic?), China is dancing (to its own tune), North Korea is
looming (when not booming), Russia is taping and raping (not tapping and napping),
and the Middle East is…well…just the Middle East.”
By the way, for those of you who don’t already know, playing
pranks on a set day goes back to ancient Roman, Indian, and Medieval
times. Many credit the “Nun’s Priest’s
Tale” in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1392) for singling out April 1 st ,
though some cultures adhere to a different prank-playing date, e.g., December
28 in Spain and Hispanic America. Others suggest that the US Congress should be
credited with having established the ultimate “fool us all” day, as the Tuesday
following the first Monday in November in a year divisible by four.
As for what is considered the greatest April Fools’ Day hoax
of all time, I’m sure we all have our favorites—mine being a several decades
ago completely made up version (see above second photo) of The New York Times —but according to a site listing the “ Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time ,”
here’s the one it considers the greatest of all time (and here’s a link to the video
broadcast):
#1 The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
April 1, 1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced
that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded
spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It
accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of
spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called
the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the
BBC diplomatically replied, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato
sauce and hope for the best.” Even the director-general of the BBC later
admitted that after seeing the show he checked in an encyclopedia to find out
if that was how spaghetti actually grew (but the encyclopedia had no
information on the topic). The broadcast remains, by far, the most popular and
widely acclaimed April Fool's Day hoax ever, making it an easy pick for number
one.”
Enjoy the day, especially my granddaughter Rachel who’s
about to leave single digits behind forever.
Much love.
—Jeff
@font-face
{font-family:Courier;
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:modern;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"MS Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 6 9 4 2 5 8 3 4;
mso-font-alt:"ＭＳ 明朝";
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:modern;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 134217746 0 131231 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face
{font-family:"@MS Mincho";
panose-1:2 2 6 9 4 2 5 8 3 4;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:modern;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 134217746 0 131231 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
mso-themecolor:hyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS Mincho";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;
mso-fareast-language:JA;}div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
