Vibrancy

Editor's note: The Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant (cont.)

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and

 Prince Harry, prepare to board the Spirit of

Chartwell where they joined the Queen for

the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River 

Thames in London, 3 June 2012.

© Press Association

.....

k. a. gardner ‏@karenagardner

The British Monarchy's photostream. #DiamondJubilee 

H/T: Beth Cleaver -- "As usual, Beatrice looks ridiculous."

Expectancy

Editor's note: The Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant...

Members of the public take their places on the South Bank in readiness for the River Pageant, 

3 June 2012

© Press Association

.....

k. a. gardner ‏@karenagardner

The British Monarchy's photostream. #DiamondJubilee H/T: Beth Cleaver -- "As usual, Beatrice looks ridiculous." 

X Men

Editor's note -- Ringside at 

The New Yorker. Imminent X victory on 

the diagonal.

..............

The New Yorker ‏@NewYorker

Cartoon of the day: 

http://nyr.kr/JrYgG0

Screaming Icon

Editor's note -- Felix Salmon is not impressed. He tweets that Edvard Munch's The Scream got sold in 17 tweets by Art Market. The next day he writes a blog post about the sale called "Art valuation datapoints of the day". 


Salmon said the reason The Scream sold for $120 million is not because it's "Good Art" but because "it's a cultural icon, something instantly recognizable".

"It’s really not all that far from what you find in any art class of tortured adolescents."

felix salmon ‏ @felixsalmon

The Scream gets sold over the course of 17 tweets in 14 minutes from @artmarket. Fun to read the saga.

http://twitgoo.com/5u2w68

Alien Rodeo

Editor's note -- John Ptak, of Ptak Science Books in Asheville, N.C., tweeted a different link to the RETRONAUT website the other day. The Editor saw ALIENS IN VINTAGE POSTCARDS and is posting it instead. 

RODEO (c) Franco Brambilla

There are 23 presumably Photo-Shopped aliens postcards. Franco Brambilla, an "Italian illustrator devoted to sci-fi", thanked RETRONAUT in comments "for putting so many images by me on your fantastic retrosite".

.........

Aliens in vintage postcards
 http://www.retronaut.co/2010/07/aliens-in-vintage-postcards/ 

via @theretronaut

Goddamn Gizmo

Editor's note --  This "Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work" tech report is possibly the best use of creative cursing the Editor has heard in her entire life.

"Tech Trends reporter Jeff Tate looks at the new gizmo Sony promises will revolutionize the way consumers become infuriated by goddamn blinking TV box things."

.................................

k. a. gardner ‏ @karenagardner

via @TheOnion - Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work 

Duped?

Editor's note -- The Museum of Hoaxes compiled a list of the top 100 April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time based on the number of people duped. The BBC tops the list with an elaborate prank called ...

Swiss Spaghetti Harvest!

On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil." 


The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti." 


The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.

To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fool's Day hoax.

@HoaxMuseum  Museum of Hoaxes

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time