Reminder: April 1

[yendi]

Folks, remember, tomorrow is April Fool's Day. So don't believe everything you read, especially on LJ, at niche news sites, or anywhere else, really. Well, maybe those stop signs on the road, but really, if you live in Atlanta, you likely don't believe 'em, anyway.

(And don't issue press releases on April 1 if you want to be taken seriously -- remember Google announcing Gmail last April 1, and the skepticism it led to?

Personally, I deplore most other kinds of pranks. Not impressed by them or those that think they're funny. But well-done humorous news blurbs are one of my weaknesses, and I'm looking forward to the fake stories at Slashdot, and similar sites. I can't imagine anything topping last year's press release from the EFF announcing their merger with the DOJ

And for the best April Fool's prank, see what the British tv show Panorama did over half a century ago.

For good viewing, check out April Fool's Day (of course), or Slaughter High, a movie that was originally called April Fool's Day as well. The former isn't much as horror flicks go, but is quite fun. The latter ranks right behind the second and third Sleepaway Camp movies in terms of sheer fun and inventiveness, and its lack of a DVD release is a shame.

Comments

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

*grins* My little guy has an eye appointment tomorrow. I'm hoping for a doctor with a sense of humor, but I doubt we'll get one.

[corwinok.livejournal.com]

ANd two more movies go into my netflix queue (only because Slaughter High isn't available). :)

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

Actually, Gmail's release was brilliant. First, everyone said, "That's so ridiculous they'd never do it," which gave them tons of press, and then when it was real everyone gasped.

I take Gmail's press release as the perfect way to use April 1st.

[yendi]

Now an eye doctor could have lots of fun -- post a chart in Russian, or backwards, etc. :-)

Here's hoping he gets one of the good ones.

[yendi]

Except most of the "that's so ridiculous" stuff I saw lumped Gmail in with every other joke for the day, which meant that it didn't really get much publicity until April 2, when they kept insisting that it was real. If they'd just announced it on April 2 in the first place, they've have gotten front-page coverage that day.

[yendi]

I'm actually shocked that it's not available. I didn't think there were any low-budget '80s horror flicks not on DVD yet.

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

Another great site for April Fool's gags it The Motley Fool (http://www.fool.com/). It helps to keep up on business/investing news to get the most out of their jokes but they are worth a read even if you don't.

[corwinok.livejournal.com]

I'm always baffled by some of the choices they make as to what to release on DVD and what not to.

[yendi]

*nod* I've seen some of their jokes in years past. Quite fun.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I always enjoy hearing what NPR does with April 1st.

Last year they reported the USPS's announcement of portable ZIP codes, for people who, for example, move from Beverly Hills to Dubuque but want to keep the cachet of their 90210 ZIP code.

They called it the "Go Postal" program.

[tablesaw]

I recently got sucked into a magazine's April Fool.

In my defense, the "April" issue of said magazine was delivered to my house in February.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Personally, I deplore most other kinds of pranks. Not impressed by them or those that think they're funny. But well-done humorous news blurbs are one of my weaknesses, and I'm looking forward to the fake stories at Slashdot, and similar sites. I can't imagine anything topping last year's press release from the EFF announcing their merger with the DOJ

*nodnodnondondodnod* I've hated April Fool's day for ages, but the fake stories and bits of silliness on the 'net have made it a bit less of a sucktastic thing for me.:)

Today's APOD (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html) is in that vein and wonderful.:)

Gessi