April Fool!

So in case you didn't realise, Sunday's article was a complete hoax. Hands up guv, it's a fair cop. A jape. A prank... APRIL FOOL!

April Fool!

This is what happens when the only church service you have on certain Sundays is put on at some ungodly hour which you miss.... it leaves you waking up with time to kill and unfortunately the Devil makes work for idle hands.

Basically I was thinking about my habit of subverting whatever random event Google has commemorated on Good Friday in the past by using it and turning their randomness back into a commemoration of Good Friday. It was then that it occurred to me. Why not do the same thing for Palm Sunday and April Fool's Day... after all, how often are they going to fall together in our lifetimes?

Although the entire article was a complete fabrication and the story itself was absurd enough, here are the humdingers that should have given it away:

1. Alhmar Dhryh is fictional. It is phonetic Arabic that translates to "Ass Shrine".
2. The Hebrew inscription פתי של האחד באפריל translates as "April Fool's Gullible".
3. The researcher I quoted (Prof. Ol Ali), is an anagram of April Fool.

In addition, the photograph of the excavation site was ripped from somewhere else in the Middle East and the photographed remains of the wall fresco is actually an image of some prehistoric cave paintings. Finally pray tell, what are the odds of such a story being timed to come out on Palm Sunday? Isn't it just a little bit convenient.

So congratulations if you dodged the bullet and saw through my little plan... and I won't reveal who included a reference to my post in a sermon on the same day - you know who you are... and your secret is safe with me. :)

However perhaps the last laugh is on me. When endeavouring to explain my elaborate ruse to a couple of colleagues at work, one of them was pretty insistent I should get suited and booted with a dog collar and join the clergy.

*Cue awkward silence in the office*

Time for you to share: 

• What April Fools tricks did you play on people?
• Were you caught out by anybody else's tricks or jokes on Sunday?

Don't Get in a Flap

I think i managed to navigate April Fool's Day pretty much unscathed today... how about you?

Did anyone catch the hilarious April Fool's gag/BBC iPlayer advert that ran this morning. What is unique about it, is that the story was apparently broken as a joint effort on the part of the BBC, GMTV and at least one national newspaper.

It's not unusual for the media to pull stunts to commemorate the date, but this is the first time I can think of when differing media companies have conspired together on the same story, to increase the chances of some poor gullible sap falling for it.

The Beeb have done well out of it, as the trailer serves as an advert for their iPlayer service.

If you didn't see it, here is the clip in question:

All that it remains for me to do, is say that I hope you enjoyed this day of fiendish pranks, tall tales and good natured hilarity... and that you survived it relatively unscathed.