{"id":5240,"date":"2006-03-31T18:34:47","date_gmt":"2006-03-31T22:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/03\/31\/warning-lame-april-1-humor-co"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:02","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:02","slug":"warning-lame-april-1-humor-coming-to-a-weblog-near-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/03\/31\/warning-lame-april-1-humor-coming-to-a-weblog-near-you\/","title":{"rendered":"warning: lame April 1 humor coming to a weblog near you"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

If you are like the editor of this weblog and find yourself <\/font><\/p>\n

getting grumpy when overrun by lame attempts at <\/font><\/p>\n

humor, we have <\/font>some important advice for you:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny Stay out of the blogisphere for the next few<\/font><\/p>\n

days. April Fool’s “humor” will be everywhere,<\/font><\/p>\n

and scarcely any of it is likely to be funny or <\/font><\/p>\n

original.<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

not!<\/em> \"laughing<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’re thinking of writing your own piece of <\/font>fun April 1 <\/font><\/p>\n

humor or satire — please reconsider. If you must do so, <\/font><\/p>\n

kindly avoid writing posts<\/font> that are made to look and sound <\/font><\/p>\n

authentic, <\/font>and declare that well-known or beloved people <\/font><\/p>\n

are dead. [you<\/a> <\/font>know who you are]<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a wonderful piece of April First honesty, Bert Foer, the <\/font><\/p>\n

president of <\/font>the American Antitrust Institute<\/font><\/a>, revealed today <\/font><\/p>\n

that There Is Nothing Funny About Antitrust<\/a> (AAI, March 31, <\/font><\/p>\n

2006). Discussing a confidential report by Attorney General <\/font><\/p>\n

Gonzales, Foer quotes what he calls a “business blogsite”:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

“Do you crack jokes about antitrust law? If you can, <\/font><\/p>\n

you should give yourself a lot of credit, because The <\/font><\/p>\n

Daily Show got all geared up to do a segment on the <\/font><\/p>\n

Madison free-drinks antitrust problem and they gave up. <\/font><\/p>\n

They didn’t know how to make it funny. That’s what I heard”.2 <\/sup><\/p>\n

2 <\/sup>http:\/\/althouse.blogspot.com\/2004\/04\/do-you-crack-jokes-about-antitrust-law.html<\/u>. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Did you see who AAI thinks is a “business blogger” — Law Professor<\/font><\/p>\n

Ann Althouse<\/font><\/a>. That is<\/em> funny.] Having written speeches for antitrust <\/font><\/p>\n

officials in Washington, back in my youth, I can confirm that coming <\/font><\/p>\n

up with a good, <\/font>ice-breaking, competition-policy joke is nearly impossible. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tiny Also, not funny for the antitrusters at AAI: “IP Grab<\/a> – The <\/font>Struggle <\/font><\/p>\n

Between Intellectual Property Rights & Antitrust,” which is <\/font>the topic of <\/font><\/p>\n

their Annual Conference, on June 21, 2006, in Washington, <\/font>D.C. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 Our pledge to you<\/em><\/strong>: No lame attempts at humor at this website from today,<\/font> March 31, 2006 through April. 2, 2006.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

not funny update<\/strong> (11 PM)<\/em>: Go to our post<\/a> on Nino Scalia’s <\/font>crude gesture, <\/font><\/p>\n

for discussion of the actual photo of the moment. It seems <\/font>pathetic to Your <\/font><\/p>\n

Editor that a purportedly courageous Jurist has to prevaricate <\/font>like a ten-year-<\/font><\/p>\n

old after making an obscene gesture — and even utilize a U.S. <\/font>Supreme Court <\/font><\/p>\n

spokeswoman to make his excuses. [By the way, if you are still wondering what <\/font><\/p>\n

a gumbah is see our new “goomba goombah gumba gumbah<\/em><\/font><\/a>.”]<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\nApril Fool’s Day —
\na skylark’s song
\nway over my head <\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

april snow<\/font>
\na pat of butter<\/font>
\nmelts in the pan<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

matt morden<\/font><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

“April Fool’s Day” – <\/font>The Heron’s Nest<\/font><\/em><\/a> (June 2001)<\/font>; “april snow” – Mayfly <\/em>#27<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

growing old–
\neven the cherry blossoms
\na bit annoying<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"watch<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

into the snake’s hole<\/font><\/p>\n

oh foolish <\/font><\/p>\n

mouse<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kobayashi Issa<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/span> <\/font> <\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

translated by <\/font><\/font>David G. Lanoue<\/strong><\/font><\/a> <\/span><\/font><\/span><\/font> <\/font> <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n<\/p>\n

April 1<\/p>\n

no one but me<\/p>\n

to make a fool of me<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/font>dagosan<\/strong><\/em><\/font><\/a> <\/em> <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

on the old snow shovel cherry blossoms<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nduring discussion<\/font>
\non the meaning of life the crunch
\nof a student’s apple<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

George Swede<\/strong><\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

from <\/font>Almost Unseen<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/a> (Brooks Books, 2000) <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"dead<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are like the editor of this weblog and find yourself getting grumpy when overrun by lame attempts at humor, we have some important advice for you: Stay out of the blogisphere for the next few days. April Fool’s “humor” will be everywhere, and scarcely any of it is likely to be funny or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1mw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12707,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5240\/revisions\/12707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}