"For the
first time in 12 years, there will be no 4tvs April
Fools Day joke on the site. Of course no one will
believe me until tomorrow. But the tradition is
ova..."
...was met with
the appropriate cynicism from a group of people who
have grown to know these jokes all too
well...
And even at this
point during the day I thought of making a joke
out of that. Saying I was done forever on
April 1st, then everyone wondering until 2012 if
I was.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
So I specifically
waited until today to write this so there was no going
back. The entry simply isn't up, the tradition is over
and thank GOD. The reason is simple: the internet just
ain't what it used to be.
In 2000, when the
first joke was Jess leaving <shaking head> - the
only social networking was called: EMAIL. The
only thing close to the amount of community and
interaction we have today would be a message board on
your favorite topic. But basically, you checked your
email, looked at some news and every other use for the
internet was in its infancy. I honestly knew of only
handful of sites that hosted videos like I did 'cause
we were nearly all on dial-up and it suuuuuuuucked. I
finally got broadband in early 2001 and it changed
everything.
What was the
point? Oh, yeah - ease of tricking people. You could
theoretically fool people if they checked their email
in the morning. With Facebook now? Everyone knows
INSTANTLY. A quick scan of their news feed and
everyone's either pregnant, married or some other
shocking news. Kinda sucks 'cause it's just killed the
tradtion for me. And man, there were some doozies.
Probably still my favorite was 2001's "I won the
lottery" which is a nearly impossible prank to
pull off because it's so big... but I recreated
the ticket, recreated the fortune cookie I got
the numbers from and my favorite? I put
everyone's email (holy shit would this not be
appreciated now) at the beginning of the entry who was
on the mailing list telling them they were all getting
$100 if I ended up being the only winner. Oh
GODDDDDDDD it worked well. This
entry and
the following
entry of
reactions are golden.
The day soon
evolved into a True/False day. Everyone was expecting
a whopper so I started writing the truth
(as it often is quite a whopper) and then everyone who
said "Didn't get me THIS year!" actually were
indeed fooled... the final ratio turns out like
this:
2000 - Jess
leaving -
FALSE (a bit
ironic considering, but false
nonetheless)
2001 - Winning
the lottery -
FALSE (best
joke EVER, so hard to pull off
believeability)
2002 - Trailer
stolen -
FALSE
(pretty weak, but got some of you)
2003 - Dad's
heart scare -
TRUE (bound
to happen, huge news on THAT day)
2004 - Leaving
LA - FALSE
(so well written, it even felt true to
ME)
2005 - Adam
"4tvs" Kontras -
TRUE (true
at the time, but papers never filed)
2006 -
Charlotte/America's Got Talent -
TRUE
(nothing will ever beat this entry)
2007 - Still
married -
TRUE (every
word of that entry is true, even the
Wii)
2008 - Donna
pregnant -
FALSE (to
which we both can honestly say - WHEW)
2009 - 4-Square
reality show -
TRUE (too
obvious a "joke" NOT to be true)
2010 - 4tvs.com
points to 4-Square for good -
TRUE (true,
at the time but was later changed)
5-4 in favor truth
and as you can see, the second half is nearly all
truths. I just didn't like lying. Though the one
telling pops Donna was pregnant was fucking unreal.
The truth was we thought we were, I told him
(nearly a year before the joke) and then used the
footage to fool EVERYONE. Everyone knew I would
never do that to my father who had a heart condition.
LMAO. Great video though. Sincere reactions that can
never be duplicated again and I'm so glad it's on
tape... thank the fuck christ that wasn't true though.
Which of course
brings us to this year. I had a doozy set-up
because in early February I was certain Talya was
pregnant. For two weeks her mother, Talya and
I were in a daze because of the obvious symptoms
of morning sickness and food cravings (which later
turned out to be gastroenteritis after a trip to the
ER). I was gonna unlock those entries and then
announce it yesterday but of course it wasn't to be.
The three entries are however unlocked and honestly,
they're really good. So
glad they're finally
open.
But more than
anything, I'm just tired of it. Facebook being the
final nail for me. We just live in a different time
now. April Fools Day is now almost officially a
tradition of the 20th Century in a time where people
weren't connected to information and media at all
times. I'm glad to have put my mark on the day that
those who were a part of it will never forget. 10
years later I still have people talk about the
lottery one with the utmost respect because they
literally wrote me their address for the $100 check.
LOL. Good times.
I was
originally going to piece together all the videos but
they make zero sense without the entries. Since I'm in
a remarkably sentimental mood this year, and since so
few newcomers have seen the video with my dad - I will
make a rare exception and do a video repost of the
2008 one. I will adore this video forever. I mean, of
course this will really happen in the future... but
that first reaction (even if it ended up being false)
is just really special...
Goddamn
I love this video blog sometimes. It may be
incredibly difficult, it may be something I wish I had
never started sometimes... but without it? That video
doesn't exist.
So goodbye to old
traditions, and hello to a continuation of the
happiest year of my life. It really is spectacular.
Oooooh! And we're taking the new pup to Journey
Mountain this week. See if she has any mountain goat
in her. :)
