April Fools Day Jokes and Pranks Ideas

Assorted Pranks to consider pulling on your friends

• Put a rubber band around the push button of the spray nozzle (the kind with a hose) so the button stays down. Point it forward. When the victim uses the sink they will get a wet surprise!

• Use a pin to make a few small holes in a plastic disposable cup. Offer a drink to the victim and watch while the liquid dribbles out onto their shirt.

• Find a scrap of cloth. Place a dollar on the floor and stay nearby. When the victim comes by and bends down to pick up the dollar, rip the cloth loudly. Most people will reach back to see if they ripped their pants. One of the original classic April Fool's pranks of all time!

• Get up really early and sneak into your victims bathroom and fill their hair-dryer with baby powder. And when they turn it on, their head will be pure white just like an old person!
  

• Before one of your family members takes shower, remove the shower head and place a life-saver candy in it, replace the shower head with the candy now trapped in it. When the person takes a shower he or she will not notice, until they get out and start to dry off the towel will stick to them they will get back in the shower to rinse off... works like a charm.
  

• Find a box about the size of a cake. Then cover it with frosting, making it look like a cake. Then put it out in the office kitchen, or wherever people leave free food. Sit back as one of your co-workers tries to cut a slice.
  

• Take an empty coffee mix can and replace it with a can with coffee mix in it. Make sure coffee cans are the same brand, or it will not work. At the bottom of the can put a piece of paper that says April Fools. Make sure you help the person with making their coffee to see their reaction.
  

• This ones for all you pet owners! First, put a walky talky some wear near the area of where your pet is laying. Go into another room with the other walky talky. Then, when your brother/sister goes to pet your furry friend, say something like..."Hey Pal! Get your grimy hands off me!" They'll get a kick outta this one!!!
  

• Switch the "Pull" and "Push" signs on a set of doors. Watch as people get confused trying to open the doors. (Don't do this on fire escapes)
  

• You will need a funnel, a coin, a couple of friends and, of course, a victim! Start playing the 'funnel game' infront of your victim. A game of skill that involves putting the funnel down the front of your pants and balancing the coin on your nose with your head tilted back. Tip your head forward to let the coin drop into the funnel. When you have the victim begging to do this put the funnel in his pants and get him to put his head back so you can balance the coin on his nose. As this is happening pour a large drink into the funnel!
  

• Stick a post-it note under your friend's mouse so that the paper leaf covers the mouse ball - the mouse will no longer work! Align so that the sticky part of the note doesn't touch the ball. Costs next to nothing to do, and doesn't cause any damage.
  

• Glue eggs to the carton and beg for eggs in the morning. When the victim gets them the eggs break!
  

• When your victims asleep sneak into their room and draw eyebrows and a moustache on their face, make sure to be their when they look in the mirror.
  

• Put some water in a cereal bowl, and place it in the freezer so that the water freezes. Offer to make your sister/brother cereal in the morning. Make sure you use that same bowl. Put their favorite cereal over the top of the ice, and serve. .

Earth Quake Rocks San Jose, California

An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale rocks San Jose California this afternoon. Relatively mild as earthquakes go, but a reminder that the Golden State is vulnerable. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries.

Natasha Richardson death caused Epidural Hematoma

New York City medical examiner’s office announced confirmed that actress Natasha Richardson had died of a Epidural Hematoma.

The actress fell during a beginning skiing lesson and hit her head. Initially she apparently felt no major problems and was thought to be all right. The condition is sometimes referred to as "talk and Die syndrome."

The original injury causes bleeding in the brain. A buildup of blood occurs between the dura mater (the tough outer membrane of the central nervous system) and the skull. The condition can be deadly.

Because the buildup can take a while, many victims are unaware that they are seriously injured and will ofter refuse proper medical attention.

Symptoms of an epidural hemorrhage include:

— Headache;

— Loss of consciousness;

— Weakness on one side of the body;

— A change in mental status

Heather Schmidt: No Good Turn goes Unpunished

Heather Schmidt thinks terrorists are targeting her and has enlisted the FBI’s help. They have responded suggesting that this isn’t a publicity stunt but a genuine threat.

Heather Schmidt, a well known and world renowned classical singer, has her own charity-driven reality show "The Ambassador," which attracts 200 million viewers in China. She has dedicated her life to performing in poverty-stricken countries.

She’s also become the target of suspected terrorist threats.

Following the earthquakes in Pakistan, which killed thousand in 2006, Schmidt flew to Lahore, Pakistan to perform in a music festival to raise funds for the country, where she was interviewed by several media outlets.

"After my performance, I introduced myself, and talked about my own brush with tragedy (being present in New York City during 9/11) and how Pakistan stood by my country, and we were shoulder-to-shoulder there for them," Schmidt told Tarts. "I really struck a chord with the people, they really responded to what I was saying," according to Fox News.

Her performance and support got her invited to Governor’s Mansion by Pakistan’s then-President Pervez Musharraf. It appears photos with him may have tied her to him in Pakistani minds.

But it has been within the last few months that strange incidents have started occurring in Schmidt’s life, prompting her and her management to reach out to the FBI.
The FBI has deemed Schmidt’s case as a credible threat, and has filed a report, advised her to track all call and odd occurrences, to change her Web server, and to hire protection while out in certain public places.

"I feel like it’s my purpose to travel the world and performing in the East is part of my life plan. I’m not going to stop doing what I do," Schmidt added. "It’s obviously not a good feeling knowing that people are plotting things against you, but I felt like I had such a positive connection with Pakistan, and I don’t want it to be this way."

NCAA and NIT Set Stage for March Madness 2009

Both the NCAA and NIT invites have been announced setting the stage for the annual March Madness Marathon. 65 teams received the coveted invite to the NCAA dance and 32 to the second tier ball of the NIT.

Go to NCAA or to NIT for rosters.

Ponzi Scheme Crook Bernard Maddoff Finally Jailed

After weeks of "house arrest" in his plush mega condo, "Bernie" Bernard Madoff is finally sent to jail. He plead guilty 11 times today in court and was taken into immediate custody. His ponzi scheme nicked not only many well heeled investors and personalities but untold charities.

Up tick rule rumors feeds stock frenzy

Rep Barney Franks comment that he had spoken with the Mary Shapiro, head of the FTC. He said he thought that the uptick rule would be returned by the end of the month. The uptick rule was one of many regulations initiated in the 1930's to provide stability to the stock markets. It was one of the rules eliminated by the anti government crowd that surround George Bush and led to the disaster we are facing economically in the US and world today.

The uptick rule, requires a person who sells a stock short to wait until their is an uptick, an increase in market price before they can buy. This serves to prevent a cascading descent where one short sale generates another driving stock prices down and creating a feeding frenzy of negativity.

The news seemed to set of a positive buying spree on today's markets which have been seriously oversold. If and when the rule change takes effect it will probably have a less significant effect, but will once again add stability to the market.

The underlying message is that some regulations are in fact healthy for the market. And those who championed the notion that all government regulation was evil were wrong.

USNS Impeccable Assault on the High Seas!

Piracy off Somalia is one thing, interference from Chinese government ship on the high seas is another.

Will the Obama Administration get is first international challenge from China?

It appears so. Numerous reports indicate a series of hostile actions taken against a US Naval Ship the USNS Impeccable.

Five Chinese vessels in a possibly coordinated effort yesterday “shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity” to a U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship as it conducted routine operations in international waters, the Pentagon said today, according to Bloomberg news.

More information is available on the Impeccable and the incident on wikkipedia

Daylight Savings

Love it or hate it, daylight savings does come into effect today. Effective due to changes made in 2007, daylight savings comes into effect on the second Sunday of March each year and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Time officially changes at 2am local time, so at that time put your clocks forward one hour (yes, you will unfortunately lose one hour of sleep, but you’ll gain it back later).

Since I am posting this Sunday morning, you may assume I am already late.

Sportsbook.com website down

Gambling 911 web site reports that the popular Sportsbook.com website, was down late Saturday afternoon.

They advised their viewers to visit Super Book (Superbook.com) which is part of the Sportsbook.com family.

Super Book is part of the Sportsbook.com platform and you should be able to reach your account there.

Pink Slip Parties

With the economy in collapse and unemployment booming the Pink Slip party offers a creative way to gather a lot of people to a local bar restaurant to cry and party at the same time. Combined with a job recruiter where one can be found, this combo is the rage of the year.

With record unemployment there are plenty of folk with the time to party, if not the money. Misery loves company so there's a lot of potential there. Perhaps the local collection companies could be encouraged to sponsor the events. They are probably one of the few industries actively hiring these days. And they should understand misery.

Watchmen Review, Sex, Music and Altered Perceptions

The overly long watchmen movie is in theaters. Grabbing a lions share of screens in many markets, the early reviews are not all positive. Graphic novel to film is a clash of media. Despite being a marketing wanna be it may fade into yesterday quicker than most. As scary as a 5 term tricky Dick may have seemed, after just two terms of Bush people are already scared enough for real.

The original graphic novels will probably be the biggest winners with Borders offering collected series for from $43.99 to $78.94.

As is the pattern these days trinkets of all sorts down to refrigerator magnets are in ample supply.

This movie contains simulated sex, nudity, strong language and graphic violence.

The sound tack may be the best part. There is also a nod of homage to “Apocalypse Now” and a soundtrack heavy with the baby-boomer anthems. The mosaic of music will raise some interest with everybody from Bob Dylan to Simon and Garfunkel, to Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Nat King Cole.

A dark movie in dark times. The biggest problem being I didn't read the graphic novels, so I don't know or care about the characters and still don't.

Sanja Gupta says no to Surgeon General post

Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, has told network officials that he will not leave his television post, according to the Washington Post. He had been expected to join the Obama administration as Surgeon General.

Lately it seems as if the new president is having increasing trouble finding appointments who can pass the now tighter vetting process. Although no ilk yet of a problem with Gupta.

American Idol does 13 for a Bakers Dozen

American Idol wild-card selections are Jasmine Murray, Megan Joy Corkrey, Matt Giraud... and Anoop Desai. The surprise of the day was the addition of a 13th spot and Anoop Desai was the the lucky beneficiary.

John Stewart Scewers Santelli & CNBC

America's financial markets took another black eye when Comedian newscaster John Stewart blasted Rick Santelli of CNBC for his comments about President Obama helping homeowners facing foreclosure. In the process Stewart took on virtually all the CNBC personalities for misreading the economic crises.

The disdain expressed by people like Rick Santelli who seem to operate out of principled peak at the real plights of millions of Americans is unlikely to win wall street or the market much support from the bulk of Americans who aren't feeling very prosperous.

I'm a fan of CNBC in general, but the entire staff should be forced to watch John Stewart and then discuss why he where he was right. I am sure they can find all kinds of reasons to challenge the details such as Santelli being Chicago Based and not on Wall Street.

The only real shortcoming of the Stewart piece is that it somehow managed to avoid skewering Kudlow, whose patrician airs appear to be the epitome of arrogant wealth.

Flyer acquire Carcillo and McLaren

The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired forward Daniel Carcillo from Phoenix and defenseman Kyle McLaren from San Jose.

The Flyers traded forward Scottie Upshall and a 2011 second-round draft pick to the Coyotes on Wednesday and gave the Sharks a sixth-round pick. They gave the Sharks a 6th round draft pick for McLaren.

Carcillo leads the league with 174 penalty minutes and has three goals and 10 points in 54 games. McLaren has not played for San Jose this season, but has 46 career goals and 207 points in 719 career games.

Kyle McLaren Traded

Left handed Canadian Defenceman Kyle Mclaren was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2009 6th round draft pick.

McLarens Career as outlined by Wikipdia

McLaren was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the first round, ninth overall, during the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He played his first NHL season when he was just eighteen in the 1996 season, and was the youngest player on an NHL roster that year.

McLaren was traded to San Jose along with a fourth round draft pick for young defenceman Jeff Jillson and goaltender Jeff Hackett in the 2003 NHL season season after getting into a dispute with the Bruins' management. Reportedly, they offered McLaren a two-way contract, meaning that McLaren would make less money than if he were playing in the American Hockey League. An established NHL player at that point, McLaren was insulted and demanded a trade. He along with teammate Joe Thornton both were drafted by Boston but traded to San Jose.

In recent years, McLaren has developed a reputation for having one of the best hip checks in the league. His most notable hip check was in the first round of the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs when he pinned St. Louis Blues winger Petr Cajanek into the boards near the Sharks' blue line. Cajanek would not play for the remainder of the series. Other memorable hip check recipients include Petr Prucha and Trevor Letowski.

During the 2003 season he was was struck in the face by a slapshot from Vancouver’s Sami Salo and missed 6 games due to his injury. For the remainder of the season he played with a clear visor. He stopped wearing a visor until partway through his 2005 season, when he returned with a yellow tinted visor because its color helped prevent glare of the ice from affecting him. McLaren switched back to a clear one during the 2007–08 season, reportedly because his lucky visor was not helping change his ineffectiveness during San Jose playoff runs.

McLaren is in a three-year-contract worth US$7.5 million; the deal expires in June 2009. McLaren signed that deal citing how happy he was in San Jose and how much his family loved it there.

On October 7, 2008, McLaren was placed on waivers by San Jose Sharks' general manager Doug Wilson so that the team could accommodate the salaries of newly-acquired defencemen Brad Lukowich, Dan Boyle, and Rob Blake within the constraints of the NHL salary cap. He currently plays for the Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate Worcester Sharks; his salary does not affect the San Jose Sharks' salary cap as long as he remains in Worcester.

making home affordable

The Obama administration launched the "Making Home Affordable" initiative today. It is a $75 billion loan modification program, which will be in effect for the next three years.

Owner occupied homes with values of up to $729,750 are eligible and can get interest rates as low as 2% and the term extended to as long as 40 years.

The new features are designed to reduce the level of foreclosures and help stabilize the existing housing stock.


Borrowers must provide two recent pay stubs, their past year tax return and an "affidavit of financial hardship" to qualify.

The program is aimed at helping up to 9 million Americans remain in their homes.

Harry Potter Actor's Killer Convicted

Karl Bishop convicted today in the stabbing slaying of Harry Potter actor Rob Knox. This was big news in the UK last May when it occurred, but seems to have received less attention in the US.

Knox was stabbed more than ten times including one cut to his jugular. He apparently was going to the aid of his brother Knox played the role of Marcus Belby in the upcoming Harry Potter film.

Facebook koobeface Worm Reported

Users of social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and others are being warned about a new strain of the “koobeface” worm.

The latest version arrives as an invitation from a user’s friend or contact, inviting them to click on a link and view a video at a fake YouTube site and install an Adobe flash plug-in according to Trend Micro spokesmen according to NBC Consumer watch.

The worm installs a trojan horse program, giving control of the infected user’s computer.

Trend Micro, which documented the new strain, recommends using caution when clicking on links in unsolicited messages, even if they appear to come from someone you know.
Also, don’t install applications or programs you aren’t looking for and research any program before installing it.

Frugal Coupon Mom

Coupon clipping is getting to be noticed big time, as the recession cum depression takes hold. Frugality is king. Frugal mom coupon blogs have recently been written up in Minyanville, Wall Street Journal, and even the Financial Times of London.

While the coupon seeking behavior is noticed, not as much attention is given to more effective ways for merchants to use the coupon in their marketing portfolio. One exception is a small website call http://www.MicroBusinessSpecialist.com/blog which discussed among other things, how to bring the tools used by internet marketers to main street.

After all this time, it's surprising that basic concepts such as list building and the use of auto-responders that are so prevalent online have not made much headway with main street merchants.

It's as if they felt burned when they weren't stampeded with new traffic when they set up their web pages years ago and have concluded that web based marketing doesn't and won't work.

Rachel Ray, Now there's a hot dish!

Rachel Ray appears ready to take on the "Girl's next door" with a provocative photo shoot.

The 30 minute "not a chef" likes her extra virgin olive oil, and apparently doesn't mind showing off her stuff.

Now we're fans of Rachel's and can't wait to get an eyeful.

"I thought if I'm gutsy enough to do this, this is a good thing for everybody," Ray said of being 35 and asked to pose in the magazine in 2003. "This is the everywoman, here she is. And I thought, what the heck? I asked my husband what he thought of it and he said, oh, kinda cool. And I did it and it was the most scared I've ever been and I wouldn't change a thing. I'd do it again tomorrow." according to a quote in the Huffington post citing an interview slated to be aired tonight on Nightline.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/02/rachael-ray-defends-fhm-s_n_171132.html

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Ron Insana Returns to CNBC

Ron Insana has returned to his alma matter CNBC as the economic turmoil thwarts his efforts to make money outside of the fourth estate.

Insana joined SAC as a managing director after closing his own fund of hedge funds shop, Insana Capital Partners, in August. He was responsible for advising the firm on its strategic development according to www.finalternatives.com.

His first appearance was today on Power Lunch, the CNBC noontime program.