We only pulled off one prank today…tricking this family into thinking I quit my job at Apple because I received an offer to work part time at the Onion‘s AV Club-Austin branch to write reviews. If only. The Austin division shut down last August which is a shame, I think the publication’s Madison, WI-based DNA was a good match for Austin. However, there wasn’t really enough advertising to support them and the older, more established Austin Chronicle; they overlapped in key subjects: music, movies and books. Besides, The Onion is more well-known online with its target audience, ergo making money is trickier.
Anyway, I don’t think the Simmons family is terribly gullible. Somara and I gave an Oscar®-level performance to lure them in. I had to stop before they grew too worried about how I was going to pay for our house. Not quite as awesome as convincing people Somara was pregnant (physically impossible after her surgery despite some pyramid-scheme’s claims 2000 years ago).
Now to the Header for this month. I had trouble coming up with a great one (trust me, May will be as bitchin’ as last year’s New Zealand music tribute/quiz), then I remembered the centennial of the Titanic‘s sinking. It’s a morbid event which gave James Cameron at least one Oscar® yet some good came from the disaster.
- Titanic is synonymous with a colossal failure in American slang. I have no expertise with the other dialects.
- The legends and myths about David Sarnoff begin over this tragedy.
- It was used to great comic effect by Futurama, Time Bandits and Doug Adams.
- The ship is a punchline for a clever ethnic joke non-PC people enjoy.
I have a more personal connection to the event through my grandfather Everett. He was seven when it happened and I’m confident the general news took a while to reach the family farm in Central Illinois via regional papers. These factors never stopped him from retelling us kids about what transpired…as if he were there or something. Looking back, Grandpa’s account was amusing despite being inaccurate, embellished and biased. I think he would’ve loved the History Channel and Cameron’s huge movie had he lived couple more years.