25%
Yes. It was glorious.
0%
Yes, but it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.
25%
No, I do not have the talent.
12%
No, I think the whole thing is deeply silly, and I am much too serious a human being to waste my time on such nonsense.
37%
April? What do you mean, April? Where did February and March go?
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April Fool's

I love the 1st of April. I hardly ever take it so far as to actually trick anyone, mainly because I have no talent. If I am around people, however, I am frequently the one getting tricked (one way or another), being generally gullible: I once looked out the window after having been told that there was a fun fair on the lawn outside a cabin in the middle of the Norwegian mountains -- hilarity ensued.

What I love about today is that it forces me to be critical of what I read in the papers. It is something I should be doing every day, of course; but like most people (I think) I tend to accept things at face value unless there is something glaringly wrong about how it is reported. I trust that nobody will actually set out to deceive me (unless, you know, Rupert Murdoch is in there somewhere). I am well aware that this is a naïve way of approaching the world. And I do try to keep my wits about me when I read the papers. But the heightened scepticism on April's Fool's highlights my credulity the rest of the year.

Here are a selection of NRK's jokes through history. Here is the Guardian's list of today's crop. Jessop's sent me an e-mail trying to convince me to buy their "scent camera". And I am fairly sure Geoffrey K. Pullum has been inventing stuff about the New Yorker.

Wikipedia has an interesting article on the subject. Apparently Britain only serves up untruths until midday. Do we have that rule in Norway?
Are likes this

Comments

Ulf,  01.04.11 15:24

We talked about framing in my English class yesterday when analysing a short story.Today I repeated what framing was, and introduced the term "boxing". Then I showed them Maru jumping in and out of a huge box. They were confused. It was great.
Camilla,  01.04.11 16:34

Was it this video?
Tor,  02.04.11 14:57

And a box.

I don't know about people, but at least the online newspapers tend to write about the other online newspapers' jokes in the early afternoon.

Are,  03.04.11 13:21

I actually did not get tricked this year! I think that's the first time in years that hasn't happen.

My favourite was the Morgenbladet one, about the new capital of Norway - "Norvegia". They really went all the way, and the 2 pages of text were enormously funny.
Camilla,  03.04.11 13:24

Her er flere.
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