Posts Tagged ‘April Fool’s Day’
“Every once in a while, people need to be in the presence of things that are really far away”*…
The temperature was hovering in the mid teens outside when we all made our way down to the continental breakfast that occupies the lobby of every roadside motel in America. There was a couple hovering over watered down coffee and self-made waffles when my dad proffered information about our morning: “We’re on our way to the McFarthest Spot!”, as if fully expecting them to smile and say back “Oh, what fun!” Instead, we were met with blank stares and an uncaffeinated “what?”
The McFarthest spot, of course, is the point in the contiguous United States that is furthest away from any McDonald’s restaurant. A brilliant (if eccentric) man named Stephen Von Worley determined it to be in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota some years back. A twist of fate, unsurprising to any resident of Tonopah, led to their McDonald’s closing and moving the coordinates some. Recalculating the location of the Spot with the newly closed restaurant absent from the dataset pushed our beacon of hope west.
The Spot now lies on some BLM land in the middle of Nevada, just northwest of Groom Lake – better known as Area 51. It’s just over 120 miles as the crow flies to the nearest Big Mac, even more if you account for driving miles. It seems to me oddly far, but also strikingly close given the magnitude of the 3.1 million square miles we in the US have between Canada and Mexico…
Tag along on “A Visit to the McFarthest Spot.”
* Ian Frazier
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As we dally at a distance, we might note that to day is April Fool’s Day. A popular occasion for gags and hoaxes since the 19th century, it is considered by some to date from the calendar change of 1750-52— though references to high jinx on the 1st of April date back to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).
April Fools’ Day is not a public holiday in any country… though perhaps it should be.
The McFarthest entry above is not a gag. Nor is your correspondent’s suggestion for an April Fools smile: this ad (via the Minnesota Historical Society) for a Bobcat loader: Bobcat A Go-Go.
“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year”*…
25+ Hilarious Pranks For April Fools’ Day
29 Insanely Easy Pranks You Need To Play On April Fools’ Day
* Mark Twain
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As we ponder the prank, we might note that today is, of course, April Fools’ Day. A popular occasion for gags and hoaxes since the 19th century, it is considered by some to date from the calendar change of 1750-52— though references to high jinx on the 1st of April date back to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).
April Fools’ Day is not a public holiday in any country… though perhaps it should be.
If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings.
– Welsh Proverb
An April Fools’ Day hoax marking the construction of the Copenhagen Metro in 2001
“For every prohibition you create you also create an underground”*…
In November 2016, this former public toilet, once known as “ground zero” to locals, was reopened in downtown Reykjavik to do what it was maybe always meant to do: tell the story of Icelandic punk…
A tiny museum with a sizable collection– visit the “Icelandic Punk Museum.”
* Jello Biafra
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As we muse on moshing, we might recall that today is April Fools’ Day. A popular occasion for pranks and hoaxes since the 19th century, it is considered by some to date from the calendar change of 1750-52— though references to high jinx on the 1st of April date back to Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).
“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.”
– Mark Twain
An April Fools’ Day hoax marking the construction of the Copenhagen Metro in 2001
The Jury is In: This Year’s Coolest April Fool’s Gag…
From Moog Music (Bob Moog’s legacy company):
MF-401 Auto De-tune
$799.00Do the vocals on your favorite song sound like a vocoded chipmunk? Yes(?). Did you use extreme auto-tune settings in the sensitive ballad you wrote for your girlfriend, who then dumped you because, as Jay Z said, “Auto-tune is Dead”. Never fear, you can now recapture the emotive intensity of your original vocal performance complete with the off-kilter, yet somewhat charming intonation for which you are known.
Introducing Moog Music’s MF-401 Auto De-tune, featuring Authentic Vocal Imperfection(tm) technology, even a T-Pain vocal can be restored to its complete original character, scrubbing the pitch correction and leaving the untreated vocal in all its wavering sharp or flat glory. Results may vary, and Moog Music in no way bears responsibility for discomfort or irritation caused by the use of the MF-401.
Shipping begins April 1, 2010
(For background, see “All That Glitters…,” “Auto-Tuning the Cosmos…,” and “Auto-Tuning Infomercials…“)
As we rethink our panini preferences, we might recall that it was on this date 1959 that The Coasters’ single “Charlie Brown” was banned by the BBC because it refers to “throwin’ spitballs.” The ban lasted 2 weeks. “Young Blood,” “Yakety Yak,” “Poison Ivy,” and other Coasters’ hits were deemed less threatening to the morals of young Britons, and were spared ostracism.
Happy National Chocolate Mousse Day!
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