Loved this!! My love affair with maps started decades ago with those occasional maps in National Geographic magazines, and continues to this 8th decade+ as I do genealogy research with old maps, local maps, huge maps, tiny maps. Love them all. Thanks for the great post today!
Mine too - I was a Nat Geo maps obsessive. Did you ever see the CD-ROM that NatGeo released with digital copies of every single map they'd ever created? Don't know if it's still on sale (I suspect not, since everything is downloads noawadays) but if you can grab a second-hand copy, it's an incredible thing - eg. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254202080092
Thanks for the interesting link. I'm trying to not gather more of these sorts of fascinating world items which send me off down rabbit holes for hours, days,weeks. I currently have more than I can handle already! Those maps were always loved, handled, stuck up on whichever bare wall space I could find, scrutinized closely... An adventure to savour. 😊
I don't know how I never heard of Terry Pratchett before, especially since there are 41 books in the Discworld series. Only a few pages into Equal Rites and I am already in love. Thanks for the recommendation!
As Architectonic says in the reply below, what a treat you have in store. Terry always had something important to say, he always found a funny way to say it, it was always in the form of an entertaining story instead of a sermon, and his humour was never cruel or punching down for laughs. Also, I like that you started with Equal Rites, which introduces Granny Weatherwax for the first time, who crops up again and again with an ever-expanding cast of witches in many of the subsequent books...
Neil Gaiman (who collaborated with him on "Good Omens", which is now a terrific TV show on Amazon, go find it) wrote this in 2014: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett-angry-not-jolly-neil-gaiman It's about how Pratchett deeply feels the injustice in the world, and the Discworld novels are his way of addressing it. So there books are not throwaway comedy, by any means. They're raging against the machine, by way of making people laugh.
Enjoy. I'm currently halfway through a full run of them myself!
Equal rites as a beginning was purposeful. 41 books seemed daunting, so I decided to take on the 6? book witchy series within the series and go from there. But they are short and fun, so I may end up reading the whole lot. And humor is definitely my prefered vehicle for reading against the machine. Thanks again.
Excellent plan. Especially since I reckon once you've read six, you'll want the rest. You'd be missing Rincewind, the unlikeliest and most cowardly wizard that ever lived; Corporal Carrot, a simple and heroic and deceptively clever man who always saves the day because he brings out the goodness in people: Sam Vimes, Lord Veternari, quite a lot of Death (at least read "Mort"!) and also the Death Of Rats (SQUEAK) and so much more.
They're like Pringles. You can't just consume 6 and leave the rest of the tub.
The greatest of them all. Perfectly timed - pasta still an exotic item, "Panorama" well-known for only covering serious topics, and less than half of Britain had TVs so it spread partly through word of mouth, with all the excitable confusion that can bring. Perfectly done.
What a fun newsroom that must have been to work in! I pulled some pranks working for the animal shelter’s social media marketing team a few years ago. I’ll try to dig them up and share!
Congratulations on running the first all-day artist's workshop with absolutely no materials today! (A small complaint, though: I logged into it for about 4 hours, and absolutely nothing happened. It was very relaxing though!)
You can and I have now grabbed a copy of the first book! (The covers gave me a real "His Dark Materials" vibe,and I now see from the trilogy's page at Penguin Random House that it was absolutely intentional.) Looking forward to diving in - thank you.
I enjoyed this even the second time around! And of course went down the "Terrible Maps" rabbit hole and the Sitka volcano hoax this time! Thanks for that bit of silly time. Always good. 🤣
Really, it was just a clever April Fools Day prank then.
Today we get fed stuff just as fictional for ulterior/malicious motives, and readers struggle to make some sense of it. So there is really some depth to this story about a simple prank ... especially the power of having the advertisers on board. The big plus to Substack...
No Advertisers ... keeps the B.S. level manageable .
lol, I love this! We had a map of middle earth when I was a kid, hand drawn by my dad as he read the books, and tried to plot out where everything must be.
Exactly what I was hoping for! Sure makes for a great fantasy hoax and would have been alarming for anyone new to the internet news at that time. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Betsy!
For many years we subscribed to Discover Magazine. They had some really good April Fool's Day articles. I no longer have access to their site to find them, though. There was one about "ice borer" animals, whose head heated up to some amazing temperature so they could bore through ice. They bore a resemblance to naked mole rats as I recall.
I had a little community newspaper that one April Fool's Day was full of stories of nefarious political doings, committed by people with names like Brian Pepperonni. I thought it was transparent but heard later that a Social Studies teacher in the local high school devoted a class to lecturing against the corrupt and terrible goings on. I had huge fun writing the articles but have felt guilty until today. No more! Spaghetti rules!
Back when Google still held to their credo (“don’t be evil”), they had those awesome directions for getting to London from Iowa, which included “Swim 3,700 miles”. Alas, humor appears to be among the first casualties inflicted by evil.
Loved this!! My love affair with maps started decades ago with those occasional maps in National Geographic magazines, and continues to this 8th decade+ as I do genealogy research with old maps, local maps, huge maps, tiny maps. Love them all. Thanks for the great post today!
Mine too - I was a Nat Geo maps obsessive. Did you ever see the CD-ROM that NatGeo released with digital copies of every single map they'd ever created? Don't know if it's still on sale (I suspect not, since everything is downloads noawadays) but if you can grab a second-hand copy, it's an incredible thing - eg. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254202080092
Thanks for the interesting link. I'm trying to not gather more of these sorts of fascinating world items which send me off down rabbit holes for hours, days,weeks. I currently have more than I can handle already! Those maps were always loved, handled, stuck up on whichever bare wall space I could find, scrutinized closely... An adventure to savour. 😊
I don't know how I never heard of Terry Pratchett before, especially since there are 41 books in the Discworld series. Only a few pages into Equal Rites and I am already in love. Thanks for the recommendation!
As Architectonic says in the reply below, what a treat you have in store. Terry always had something important to say, he always found a funny way to say it, it was always in the form of an entertaining story instead of a sermon, and his humour was never cruel or punching down for laughs. Also, I like that you started with Equal Rites, which introduces Granny Weatherwax for the first time, who crops up again and again with an ever-expanding cast of witches in many of the subsequent books...
Neil Gaiman (who collaborated with him on "Good Omens", which is now a terrific TV show on Amazon, go find it) wrote this in 2014: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/24/terry-pratchett-angry-not-jolly-neil-gaiman It's about how Pratchett deeply feels the injustice in the world, and the Discworld novels are his way of addressing it. So there books are not throwaway comedy, by any means. They're raging against the machine, by way of making people laugh.
Enjoy. I'm currently halfway through a full run of them myself!
Equal rites as a beginning was purposeful. 41 books seemed daunting, so I decided to take on the 6? book witchy series within the series and go from there. But they are short and fun, so I may end up reading the whole lot. And humor is definitely my prefered vehicle for reading against the machine. Thanks again.
Excellent plan. Especially since I reckon once you've read six, you'll want the rest. You'd be missing Rincewind, the unlikeliest and most cowardly wizard that ever lived; Corporal Carrot, a simple and heroic and deceptively clever man who always saves the day because he brings out the goodness in people: Sam Vimes, Lord Veternari, quite a lot of Death (at least read "Mort"!) and also the Death Of Rats (SQUEAK) and so much more.
They're like Pringles. You can't just consume 6 and leave the rest of the tub.
Well said. I miss Terry. Every book a treasure.
Oh, you are in for a treat!
Every time I reread one, I find something new. There are likely jokes in there that I will never get. And I love that.
There is the famous Spaghetti Tree BBC Richard Dimbleby April Fool from 196?
BBC: Spaghetti-Harvest in Ticino | Switzerland Tourism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU
The greatest of them all. Perfectly timed - pasta still an exotic item, "Panorama" well-known for only covering serious topics, and less than half of Britain had TVs so it spread partly through word of mouth, with all the excitable confusion that can bring. Perfectly done.
There have been a few similar attempts since - there was this from last year: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230727-the-hoax-documentary-about-human-flesh-eating-that-shocked-the-uk I saw it, and there was a point where it was just obvious it had to be fake and so the game was up, but - didn't quite land, at least in my mind? It has to be the right kind of funny.
What a fun newsroom that must have been to work in! I pulled some pranks working for the animal shelter’s social media marketing team a few years ago. I’ll try to dig them up and share!
Congratulations on running the first all-day artist's workshop with absolutely no materials today! (A small complaint, though: I logged into it for about 4 hours, and absolutely nothing happened. It was very relaxing though!)
This was wonderful. Thank you.
Might I recommend YA fantasy? The Mapmakers Trilogy, by S.E. Grove—I enjoyed it very much and like to spread the word.
You can and I have now grabbed a copy of the first book! (The covers gave me a real "His Dark Materials" vibe,and I now see from the trilogy's page at Penguin Random House that it was absolutely intentional.) Looking forward to diving in - thank you.
Actually 1957. Spaghetti in England then came in cans so obviously came from a tree. Our cuisine has improved somewhat since then!
I enjoyed this even the second time around! And of course went down the "Terrible Maps" rabbit hole and the Sitka volcano hoax this time! Thanks for that bit of silly time. Always good. 🤣
Hate April Fool’s Day; love this.
Haha - aye, I hear you. The ones that wildly miss the mark make me dread seeing them, because I cringe so hard it makes my glasses fly off...
(Loving your Japan dispatches!)
Don’t know why I keep thinking of the map of The Village in the first episode of The Prisoner.
“No, I need a bigger map!”
This one? https://www.portmeiriononline.co.uk/prisoner-village-map/p69007
The very same! I’ve always wanted to visit Portmeirion…
Excellent. Reaffirms my trust in both media and the reading public.
Reaffirms and shatters it, all at the same time.
Really, it was just a clever April Fools Day prank then.
Today we get fed stuff just as fictional for ulterior/malicious motives, and readers struggle to make some sense of it. So there is really some depth to this story about a simple prank ... especially the power of having the advertisers on board. The big plus to Substack...
No Advertisers ... keeps the B.S. level manageable .
lol, I love this! We had a map of middle earth when I was a kid, hand drawn by my dad as he read the books, and tried to plot out where everything must be.
Hand drawn! That's a dream of a dad, right there.
He also read all the books aloud to my mom and I. Those books will always have a special place in my heart.
Great story! I too would love to hear a new joke like this. Maybe a new animal discovery from the Amazon, or deep in the ocean?
How about this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotheaded_Naked_Ice_Borer (Credit to Betsy Wilson in another comment for tipping me off about it...)
Exactly what I was hoping for! Sure makes for a great fantasy hoax and would have been alarming for anyone new to the internet news at that time. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Betsy!
For many years we subscribed to Discover Magazine. They had some really good April Fool's Day articles. I no longer have access to their site to find them, though. There was one about "ice borer" animals, whose head heated up to some amazing temperature so they could bore through ice. They bore a resemblance to naked mole rats as I recall.
HA. That is fantastic - and I found it! https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/who-will-dare-to-challenge-the-hotheaded-naked-ice-borer
And, of course, it now has its own Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotheaded_Naked_Ice_Borer
I had a little community newspaper that one April Fool's Day was full of stories of nefarious political doings, committed by people with names like Brian Pepperonni. I thought it was transparent but heard later that a Social Studies teacher in the local high school devoted a class to lecturing against the corrupt and terrible goings on. I had huge fun writing the articles but have felt guilty until today. No more! Spaghetti rules!
That was so much fun! Another book rec for map nerds - The Cartographers, by Peng Shepherd.
Back when Google still held to their credo (“don’t be evil”), they had those awesome directions for getting to London from Iowa, which included “Swim 3,700 miles”. Alas, humor appears to be among the first casualties inflicted by evil.