Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Fooled You, Satan!

Image by Marco Verch on Flickr

What is the best April Fool’s prank in history?

Many believe that a BBC TV hoax from over 60 years ago takes the cake.

In 1957 the news show Panorama reported that, thanks to a mild winter in Switzerland, the dreaded spaghetti weevil had been eradicated. As a result, Swiss farmers had enjoyed a bumper crop of spaghetti. The programme showed farmers carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from trees.

Scores of viewers fell for the prank, calling the BBC and asking how they could grow a spaghetti tree themselves. They were advised to “place a spring of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

There must be something in the water at the BBC, because in 1980 their pranksters were at it again. On April Fool’s Day they announced that Big Ben, London’s iconic clock tower, would become digital and henceforth be known as Digital Dave. This “news” produced a flood of irate calls to the station.

Other European countries are no slouches at April Fool’s pranks either.

In 1969 the Netherlands’ public broadcaster announced that government inspectors would be roving the streets armed with remote scanners, detecting people who had not paid their TV/radio tax. It was suggested that the only way to stymie the scanners was to wrap the TV or radio in aluminum foil. The next day, all the supermarkets were sold out of foil, and suddenly a flood of TV/radio taxes were being paid.

These probably rate as some of the best wide-scale practical jokes ever.

But with Easter Monday falling on April Fool’s Day this year, it got me thinking of an ever greater example of someone being outwitted.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Easter Eggs at Christmas

Image by Annette from Pixabay

At Christmas, do your thoughts turn to Easter eggs?

Probably not, unless you’re an avid player of video games or a fan of certain movie franchises.

In the cinematic and computer worlds, an “Easter egg” is a secret message, image, or feature hidden in software, games, or films.

With video games, an Easter egg might be an unpublished feature or hidden property of the game that is normally hidden from the public eye. It can only be accessed by certain button combinations that are not common knowledge.

Easter eggs inserted by filmmakers in their works might involve a jokey detail or an obscure reference to a previous movie by the same auteur. Only the most alert audience members catch them.

For instance, famed film director Alfred Hitchcock had a penchant for appearing in cameo roles in his own movies. In 39 of the 52 films he directed, he left “Easter eggs” consisting of himself in blink-and-you-miss-it bit parts.

Are there any “Easter eggs” to be found hidden in the Christmas story in the Bible?

Actually, there are.

If you read the Scriptures closely, you’ll find that there are foreshadowings of Easter sprinkled throughout the accounts of Christ’s miraculous birth.

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