Spring Quiz (aka April Fool’s Quiz)

It was a good year for the Fools of April. I would blame the weather for it (what else).  The first two pranks I saw while checking emails in bed (yes: bad, bad habit) where the funniest. 

First an email announcement from a stock footage house – it was so elaborate that I still have not found out whom it’s exactly from – announced the comeback of the VHS tape and had everything from client testimonials to special offers and a video.  The list of perks listed among other things: easy to order – simple 3 page fax order form.  Or: don’t settle for invisible digital goods.  Or: amazing 720 x 480 resolution. I’m still LOL. The email leads you to this site.

My other fave was the New York / New Jersey Trail Conference.  They had a long list of fake announcements in the form of their usual newsletter.  Again someone went to town and had a blast! I loved one news item in particular: Alert: Park Police say increasing use of mobile map apps leads to battery thefts on trails. Wonderful.

As far as for our Clock Wise Quiz; most people it seems read through it quickly and congratulated me. Really, guys, spaghetti harvest??? The three winners are actually the only three people to follow instructions and answer the question which announcements were false and which were true.  Several people offered to send me their smelly sneakers – thanks, very generous to offer.

Quite a few thought that the first and second announcements where false but that the third wasn’t – thank you that you think I would be hosting a cooking show (well, actually, why not…).  Only one person actually called me on the spaghetti story which I ‘stole’ from the BBC – they ran the story in 1957.  The stinky sneaker story I stole too, buy the way. There was a news item in the New York Times about a final round of choosing stinky sneakers for some event.  I don’t remember for what cause or product.

So, without further ado,  the winners of the quiz are:

-          James McGivney

-          Markus Bruderer

-          David Mandel 

I guess the ladies were busy working – what else….

James got the three questions right and answered them properly. Thank you, Jim.

Markus not only called me on the prank, but pointed out that I had a fake date for the prizes to be collected. Thank you, Markus.

David Mandel, who in typical David fashion immediately tried to re-negotiate the prize (not even knowing if he won), to a 5-course dinner at my house, got all three right too. I’ll have to consult with his wife and see if he deserves dinner.

Special mention to my friend Fritz Spring – who changed the subject line to Spring’s Spring Quiz – very cute, then wrote that statement  one and two where false (he knew about the BBC prank) and that the third was true. When I told him that the third was false too, he fooled me back … So: it’s open for debate if he KNEW three was false or if he was just smart and quick enough (and he is both) to give me a good retort. We’ll never know.

I don’t know about you, but I had a jolly good time today. Thanks for playing!