Chicago (AP) – Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to stash a dead fish somewhere to stink up the school hallways. Time to drop tennis balls on the heads of people in the lobby. Time to cover your soon-to-be alma mater with Post-It notes.
For high school seniors, it’s prank time – or “structured mayhem” in the words of Mindy Utay, a therapist who works with teens.
It’s a rite of passage as graduation looms, mostly harmless fun but sometimes a escalating into vandalism. This spring alone, windows at school have been smashed, walls and sidewalks spray painted, and paint poured down steps. Cars have been flipped. Property has been damaged from California to Kentucky to Maryland.
As a result, school administrators are rethinking exactly what constitutes a prank and where to draw the line – and finding that’s not always easy to do.
Happy April Fools’ Day from The Art of the Prank!!
Here’s a list of goings on around the world. We’ve been adding to this post throughout the day:
MODERATOR’S NOTE: This blog post could go on and on. There’s oh so much more out there. Enough, you say! Well, we agree.
And, since the New York Annual April Fools’ Day Parade went off without a hitch and the revelers have just reached Washington Square Park, the after parade festivities are about to begin. So, get out, get some fresh air, and join in the fun!
Tom Tom announces a new navigation voice guaranteed to keep babies happy in the car:
On the 1st April 2012, we will announce the results of months of meticulous research in our NavLab. Our experts have found a solution to stop babies crying in the backseat. For a safe and stress-free journey, let Darth Vader entertain your baby in the backseat. A TomTom navigation voice, guaranteed to make your baby happy!
Sir Richard Branson to launch “Journeys to the Centre of the Earth” through Virgin Volcanic
Only 500 people have been to space, only three people have been to the bottom of the ocean, but no one has ever attempted to journey to the core of an active volcano. Until now. Using patented carbon-carbon materials pioneered for deep space exploration, Virgin is proud to announce a revolutionary new vehicle, VVS1, which will be capable of plunging three people into the molten lava core of an active volcano. In its first three years of operation, VVS1 will target the five most active volcanoes in the world: Etna, Stromboli, Yasur, Ambrym and Tinakula.
Google Street Roo – exploring the outback one bounce at a time: Over the next four weeks, more than a thousand Big Red kangaroos will be equipped with a 360-degree head camera that will automatically capture images when the marsupial is on the move during daylight hours.
Boston — A well-known actor took the art of “pranking” to a new level.
The prank happened 15-years-ago at the Museum of Fine Art, but it was just this week that one of the stars of the NBC show “The Office” took credit.
B.J. Novak, a Newton native, admitted to the prank.
Long before his days on the hit NBC show, Novak, who plays the character, Ryan, reportedly recorded spoof audio tours with friends in 1997, and swapped them with the real one at the MFA. As the recording progressed, it became clearer that it was a joke.
Northampton – All last week, students at Smith College were buzzing over a rumor that the school was going completely vegetarian and locavore. There were protests and counter-protests, with slogans chalked on walkways. There was a Twitter feed that caught the attention of VegNews, “America”s premier vegan lifestyle magazine.” At a student government meeting, the dining services manager came under attack: How did she expect students to pass their midterms without coffee?
But the Smith administration wasn”t really planning to ban meat, food from outside New England, or anything else.
The whole thing was a hoax – one in a decade of annual pranks perpetrated by professors Jay Garfield and Jim Henle as part of their introductory class in logic. The point is to teach rhetoric and argument, albeit in an unorthodox way. Logic classes get dry. Typically, students spend a lot of time working through inscrutable proofs on the chalkboard. Continue reading “Smith College Logic Professors Snare Students… Again”
Chicago (AP) – Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to stash a dead fish somewhere to stink up the school hallways. Time to drop tennis balls on the heads of people in the lobby. Time to cover your soon-to-be alma mater with Post-It notes.
