April Buffoons

I hate April Fools Day. The jokes, the pranks always seem, to me anyway, at the expense of someone else. Some poor schmuck is made to play the fool.

Frat boy-esque bullshit abounds on this day. Assholes whose sense of humor formed while watching Andrew Dice Clay vids think this is their day to shine big. You know, these are the cretinous mollusk brains who think singing racist songs equals clever, grand amusement. These are the toad shits who think gang rape is the sign of a really great party. And they're the chuckleheads who spout "you have no sense of humor" when the butt of their "jokes" don't think it's all so damn funny.

Also emerging from the woodwork today are the folks who just aren’t the least bit funny. Either the hoaxes are of the And this is funny WHY? variety or it’s so inside baseball that only the jokester’s besties are gonna get the alleged humor. What constitutes Lame Humor? Certainly it’s in the eye, ear, nose and throat of the beholder. One person's cliched knock knock joke/weak-ass April Fools chicanery is another's ROTFL.

Just as New Year’s Eve is the amateur night for partiers, April Fools Day is the time for the humor impaired to jump onto life's stage. I try to stay inside to, ya know, avoid the failed  humor fiascoes.

Hoaxes, tricks, bamboozlement on a grand scale can be stone hilarious.

Lobby 7, the entrance on Mass. Ave., in late December.

Perfect example? The brainiac pranskters of the 'tute AKA Hell, AKA Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their brand of hornswoggledom and humor really speaks to me. It’s creative and inventive—it speaks to the mind, delights the eye AND it’s just damn funny.

Recently there was Snowhenge.

 Stonehenge appeared in Kresge Oval, just in time for 2015's first MIThenge, a biannual phenomenon in which the sun sets in perfect alignment with the Infinite Corridor.

What’s the Infinite Corridor?

The Infinite Corridor is MIT's spinal cord. Many of our departments, classrooms, and labs radiate from here. Whatever you do, stay to the right when traveling the corridor and note that pedestrian speed increases dramatically when classes let out. Off you go!

In 2014 there was Castle on a Cloud.

The skybridge between buildings 66 and 68 became the Kingdom of the Giants for Parents' Weekend 2014. The installation included a castle atop the skybridge; clouds along the windows; and the beanstalk that was climbed by the mischievous protagonist of the inspirational fairy tale, snaking up the side of building 68.

In ’99 the Great Dome became the Great Droid.

On the first day of spring finals and two days before the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, students arrived on campus to find the Great Dome transformed into a likeness of R2-D2, the famous droid from the Star Wars saga.

In ’96 the Great Dome became the Great Beanie.

In 2009: A half scale replica of the Apollo Lunar Module was placed on the Great Dome to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.

And the list goes on. Check out all the links for more hackerific fun.

This, THIS is humor I can relate to. It’s goofy, wildly inventive and on a beautifully big scale. Also too, no one’s being made to play the fool. No one’s the butt of the joke.

The hacks delight.