April Fool's Day

April Fools’ Day, which falls on April 1 each year, has been known as a day for pranks and jokes for centuries. Our counterpart is December 28.
According to this article, the first known reference to tricks and April 1 is in the “Canterbury Tales.” Jokes have continued ever since in the form of fake events, false announcements and misleading newspaper stories. With the advent of new technology in the 20th century, the jokes have expanded into new media.
Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied, or I accidentally stepped on your glasses!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"

Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees.

The spaghetti tree hoax is a famous 3-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current affairs programme Panorama. It told a tale of a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the fictitious spaghetti tree, broadcast at a time when this Italian dish was not widely eaten in the UK and some Britons were unaware spaghetti is a pasta made from wheat flour and water. Hundreds of viewers phoned into the BBC, either to say the story was not true, or wondering about it, with some even asking how to grow their own spaghetti trees. Decades later CNN called this broadcast "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled."

Another great April Fools’ joke by a leading media house was the Stockholm Stockings story. In 1962, there was only one television station in Sweden and the televisions in that day were all black and white. Kjell Stensson, a technical expert with the television channel, appeared on the 1st of April to make a special announcement. He told viewers that they could make their black and white TV sets display color instantly by using a stocking to cover them. To make the story more believable he proceeded to demonstrate how to cover the TV set with a nylon stocking. Thousands of viewers believed and tried it. Of course it didn’t work but they finally got colour broadcasts eight years later.

In 1972 the Veterinary Record printed a story about the diseases of a certain parasite Brunus edwardii. This species was described as being common in homes in Europe and North America. The article claimed that a survey done showed that the species inhabited 63.3% of the households in Britain. Further claims were made that the number of children in a single household was directly proportional to the number of Brunus edwardii species in the household. The article stressed that not much is known about their diseases, especially those that could be zoonotic and the effects of its close contact with man. Several subsequent articles followed this article with detailed description of the species and its diseases. The article was so popular that the Whittington Press made requests to print it but had a hard time classifying the species as the Brunus edwardii is actually what is commonly referred to as the teddy bear!

The left handed whopper was another great April Fools’ joke by Burger King. On the first of April in 1998, USA Today printed a full page advertisement by Burger King announcing the release of its latest burger, the Left Handed Whopper. This burger was supposed to cater for the 32 million Americans who were left handed. The advertisement stated that the condiments in the Left Handed Whopper were still the same as in the other original burgers. There was a slight difference however, that was meant to accommodate left handed customers. The condiments had been rotated 180 degrees to make it easier for left handed people to eat. Thousands of Burger King Customers had already made orders for the left handed whoppers by the time Burger King made its follow up announcement the next day to say that it was an April Fools’ joke. It was even reported that some people had ordered a right handed version of the left handed whopper.

April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool! 

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

BUT HOW DID IT ALL START?

Watch the video to learn a bit of St.Patrick's history.





WHY GREEN?

Originally the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue however over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.Then in 1798 in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick.
Even the city of Chicago has developed a unique tradition of colouring the river water green. It started in 1962 when 100 pounds of green vegetable dye were added to its river, enough to keep it green for a week. The tradition has continued till date. Now, 40 pounds of a green food colouring keep the river green for only a few hours.

HOW DO PEOPLE CELEBRATE?

Irish community in various cities celebrate the Day with social and community works. Making charities, attending mass, promoting their own culture, and feasting with their foods.
Despite all these varieties, all are driven by a unique theme: be an Irish day. It's a celebration for being Irish and enjoying things Irish. While it reminds us about St Patrick. It also tells us to be Irish. With shamrocks and the leprechaun. As it tells us to cook and feast the Irish way. To laugh away all worries with Irish jokes. Dance to the tunes of the Irish bands. Try out the Irish words. And with all these the Day lets us know the real fun of being Irish.

Sources: History Channel (St.Patrick's Day)

History Channel (Who was St. Patrick?)

Wikipedia

The Holiday Spot

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day

Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent - the 40 days leading up to Easter - was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday, Anglo-Saxon Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins). A bell would be rung to call people to confession. This came to be called the “Pancake Bell” and is still rung today.

Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9. In 2016 Shrove Tuesday is today 9th February.

Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients. A pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a frying pan. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.

In the UK, pancake races form an important part of the Shrove Tuesday celebrations - an opportunity for large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, to race down streets tossing pancakes. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first, carrying a frying pan with a cooked pancake in it and flipping the pancake as you run.

The most famous pancake race takes place at Olney in Buckinghamshire. According to tradition, in 1445 a woman of Olney heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. The Olney pancake race is now world famous. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf.

 Each contestant has a frying pan containing a hot pancake. She must toss it three times during the race.  The first woman to complete the course and arrive at the church, serve her pancake to the bellringer and be kissed by him, is the winner.

Merry Christmas!