Practical Jokes In The News

[CO Liberal]

Please try to adhere to the following voluntary guidelines, in order that we can have an orderly discussion of joke-related news topics:

1 - Feel free to add any CURRENT stories to this thread by replying to this message. In order to be considered current, someone should have been fooled within the previous 24 hours, or provide follow-up to a practical joke that was previously posted on the J/PS board.

2 - Both pro-joke and anti-joke stories, editorials, and press releases are welcome in this thread, as long as they're current. Please do not post links to jookes from a few years back that support your position.

3 - Bear in mind that any links to extremely homorous sites (such as Newsmax, CNS, or the Washington Times) or intentionally pro-joke or anti-joke sites are not considered reliable sources by many DU-ers. If at all possible, try to find a link for your story from a more mainstream source, such as a general-circulation newspaper or magazine site. If you choose to use a slanted site, be prepared for a pie in the face.

4 - Do not change story titles. In other words, if the Oskosh Gazette's web site runs a story titled "Two Killed When Joke Backfires", the title of your message should read "Two Killed When Joke Backfires". Don't change it to "Practical Joker Kills Two People", or anything else that changes the meaning of the story.

5 - If it's not clear from the title where the story occurred, add the city, state, or country in parentheses after the title.

6 - The person adding a news story to the "PJITN" thread is allowed (and encouraged) to comment on that story, indicating their position on the topic being discussed. These comments can appear either at the beginning or end of the post; if possible, place comments in a different typeface so readers can separate the comments from the story. Others who wish to comment on a posted story can do so by replying to that story; this allows other readers to follow the comments by scrolling through the subthread. The use of smiley faces is encouraged.

7 - Please direct your comments to the joke, rather than attacking the person posting the joke or any person responding to the joke. In accordance with DU rules, any message that appears to be a personal attack against another DU-er or a violation of any other DU rule will be reported to the moderators, with a link saved on thousands of computers nation-wide.

8 - If you object to these guidelines, do everyone else a favor - log off your PC and come back tomorrow.

:-)

[Wickerman]

1. Could you define the rules for this thread?

I think this could become a hot topic and I believe some ground rules should be laid lest things get heated?

[CO Liberal]

3. Got 'Em Now

Look at the original message.

:-)

[CO Liberal]

2. Pranks, practical jokes on ‘fools’ throughout the world today

Pranks, practical jokes on ‘fools’ throughout the world today

By Martha Krienke
Sun Newspapers

Many of the classics such as Vaseline on door handles, soap graffiti on cars or Kool-Aid in showerheads. The opportunity for joking around comes again today with the celebration of April Fool’s Day.

The history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, does not have a clear beginning. Some believe the tradition began in several cultures at the same time from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582 in France. Before this time, the New Year was celebrated for eight days, beginning March 25 through April 1.

When the Gregorian Calendar was introduced under Charles IX, New Year's Day was moved to Jan. 1. But, with the news traveling only by foot, many people did not hear of the change until years later.

The more stubborn crowd refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year April 1. These folks labeled as "fools" became subject to ridicule and were made the recipients of other practical jokes.

<more>

http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Golden_Valley&story=133033

[MrBenchley]

4. Out walking my dog late last night

I encountered the neighbor kid, who giggled that he had tied his siter's foot to her bedpost and saran-wrapped the family toilets...

Some things are evergreen...

[CO Liberal]

5. Ban on workplace practical jokes can be taken too far, expert says

Ban on workplace practical jokes can be taken too far, expert says

PATRICK MALONEY, Free Press Reporter 2004-03-31 03:35:02

On the eve of April Fool's Day, one London psychologist says the hot-button issue of banning workplace pranks is nothing to laugh about. The act of subjecting co-workers to pranks is seen more and more in a negative light, said Heinz Klatt, a professor at King's University College at the University of Western Ontario.

He sees a social change, underscored by an ongoing controversy at city hall. Klatt doesn't condone vicious or vindictive acts, but he laments anti-harassment policies have stopped the fun that "introduce a light element into life.

"What is lost . . . is a little light-heartedness," he said yesterday. "People have done pranks all through history. We can live without it, but (life) is better with it."

Glenn Howlett was on stress leave from his longtime job at city hall since November, when colleagues pulled a prank that backfired. Howlett was given a dummy memo stating a major report had to be finished by April 1. The use of that date, April Fool's Day, was intended to tip Howlett off to the joke.

The gag, however, has led to Howlett taking an early retirement package and prompted city officials to ban any and all pranks by employees.

<more>

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2004/03/31/402555.html

[FatSlob]

6. Well, this wasn't in the news...

but it nearly gave me a heart attack. This morning, just as I'm groggily awakening, my wife tells me she's pregnant. Thank God she was kidding.

[Wickerman]

8. That you were going to whelp?

Yikes!

:P

[FatSlob]

10. I'll say...

I'll make a few more lunatic asswipes before I'm done, though...JUST NOT RIGHT NOW!

[CO Liberal]

11. Things Could Be Worse....

...she could have told you that YOU were pregnant.

:-)

[FatSlob]

12. Just like AH-nold...

What movie was that?

[CO Liberal]

13. Remember "Rabbit Test"??

It wsa a movie Joan Rivers produced about a man who bacame pregnant. It's why she isn't producing movies today.

[FatSlob]

15. There was one with Ah-nold too.

JOAN RIVERS made a movie? I've gotta research this. Was it as bad as "Ishtar"?

[CO Liberal]

16. Worse

"Ishtar" had its moments, which is more than can be said for "Rabbit Test".

[Supormom]

17. Funny.

When my husband and I had been dating only 1-1/2 months, I sent him roses and a card that said "Surprise! You're going to be a dad!" He was at work at the time. He didn't find it funny at all, but his friends and coworkers laughed for days.
I thought he would figure out that it was an April Fool's day joke, but he stewed for hours before he finally called me.

[CO Liberal]

7. Laughs That Last

Laughs That Last

The Practical Joke And Its Spiritual Cousin, The Hoax, Have Been Around Forever

By WILLIAM WEIR
Courant Staff Writer
Posted April 1 2004

Vitaline O'Toole still shudders when she recalls her short career as a prankster. At Wellesley College in the 1950s, she pilfered stationery from the dean's office, wrote an ominous academic warning and left it on her roommate's desk. Unknown to O'Toole, her roommate was worried sick about a particularly difficult course. The note didn't help, and O'Toole had some explaining to do. And "April Fools!" wouldn't cut it.

"She was horrified that her friend would do this," says O'Toole, who lives in Madison. "I felt terrible."

Done right, practical jokes are a form of affection, says Todd Holm, who teaches a course on the psychology of humor at Concordia College in Minnesota. Their targets feel foolish but flattered that someone would design a joke specifically for them. "Despite the magnitude of the prank, the person can appreciate what's been done," he says.

Or, as O'Toole learned, they can backfire something awful. She's still friends with her old roommate, but O'Toole's experience warded her off such shenanigans for good.

<more>

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/news/celebrity/hc-practicaljokes.artapr01,0,5043241.story?coll=sfla-entertainment-headlines

[CO Liberal]

9. Don't try this in Boulder County

Don't try this in Boulder County

On April Fool's day, a look back as some good - and wacky - pranks

By Matt Sebastian, Camera Staff Writer
April 1, 2004

Depending on your sense of humor, Davide Andrea may be Boulder's best loved — or most loathed — prankster.

For 20 years, the Italian immigrant celebrated his birthday each Nov. 22 with a stunt or practical joke, often making headlines. One year, Andrea sprinted the Pearl Street Mall carrying a tennis racket — and wearing nothing but sneakers.

Another year, Andrea dropped 10 wallets around town, each with $38 and his phone number, just to see how many people — five, it turned out — would return the errant billfolds. The next year, he performed an informal survey of the city's speed bumps, holding up signs asking motorists to honk once if they liked the bumps or twice if they didn't — a loud prank that didn't tickle neighbors' funny bones.

But none of Andrea's jokes riled Boulder as much as his 1994 stunt: That year, the electrical engineer drove around town with a doll in a baby seat strapped to the roof of his car. The prank prompted bystanders to chase Andrea's car down the street, screaming for him to stop.

"One couple followed me all the way from 55th Street to downtown," Andrea recalls, nearly a decade later. "They were furious. I guess, to some people, it wasn't funny at all. So that's why I decided to apologize — to calm people down."

<more>

http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/our_town/article/0,1713,BDC_2518_2772187,00.html

[MrBenchley]

14. Nancy Pelosi's April Fools Quiz

From the great House Democratic leader:

"April Fools

As the tradition of pranks on April Fools Day is played out across America, the biggest joke will be revealed. The American people have been fooled that the state of our economy is solid, our pensions secure, our health care affordable, our environment protected, and the opportunity for education guaranteed. The opposite is true.

Take our April Fools test to find out the truth:

Your share of the national debt is $24,000.
True False

President Bush has the worst jobs creation record since Herbert Hoover.
True False

Health insurance premiums increased by 13.9 percent last year, the largest increase since 1990.
True False

Pension plans nationwide are underfunded by $400,000,000,000.00.
True False

The Bush Administration has jeopardized 58,000,000 acres of roadless forests, including some of the most pristine areas left in North America such as the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
True False

The Child Tax Credit leaves out 6,000,000 families.
True False

Tuition for state universities has increased by 40 percent this year.
True False"

Needless to say, the answer to each is "True".

You can sign up to get her bulletins at

http://democraticleader.house.gov/

[RoeBear]

18. That's a mean joke...

...I mean we have a joke in office.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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