April Fool's Day Pranks and Misheard Lyrics

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Transcript

Speaker 0:16

G'day, folks, and welcome to Fun Facts and Sidetracks. Hi. We're back again. How are you, Marty? Glad to be back. Glad to be back indeed. Yeah, yeah. Glad to be back in Brissy. Yes. Greatest city in the world. Yeah. Hey, we want to start by thanking some people who seem to be listening to us around the world. All over the world. Mm-hmm. Yeah, which was pretty amazing. We looked it all up, didn't we? We did ... we’ve got people down in South America and in the US and in Africa, and in the UK . Yeah ... , some people in Norway and all over the place, so- Yeah ... thanks for listening, guys. So that's great. I think we've got a pretty fun episode ahead. I guarantee we do. We are talking about some pretty funny topics, so we might get into that. As, as we always say, we're not experts but we're just sharing a lot of stuff that we find online and that we read about, so hopefully you guys like it too. Yeah, that we find quite interesting and funny and yeah, we have a laugh. Yeah. Okay.  All right, Marty Moose. Yoo-hoo, yeah. That was supposed to be a moose. We always talk about music first up. That we do. And this time we wanted to have a chat about some misheard lyrics for songs. Oh, that's funny. And there's a ton of fun in this. Yeah, there is. Yeah. These things are called mondegreens. Okay. I think you've been doing some research on mondegreens. Well, it was a lady by the name of Sylvia Wright, an American writer. Mm-hmm. In 1954 it was her mother read her a story. And she got it mixed up as being, lay him on the green. Yeah, I believe she was reading an old 17th century Scottish ballad called The Bonny Earl of Moray. Yeah. And, and her mum was reading it to her and used the term laid him on the green. And, for her whole life Sylvia Wright thought it was Lady Mondegreen. Yeah, Lady Mondegreen. Yeah. Which sounds very Scottish too. It does a bit. Maybe the mother was speaking Scottish, you know, with that real Glaswegian accent. She might have been. Yeah. Anyway, that's where Mondegreen comes from which is interesting, isn't it? There's a load of them. So we might have a chat through some of these, and I think we'll probably do a few episodes because there's a ton of fun to be had with these. Yeah, there's a ton of songs where you've been singing along and realised that really that wasn't the words to the song. I have to say, doing some research for this one, I discovered a whole bunch of songs that I've been singing wrongly in the car. Yeah. I think, like, one of the really funny ones that I, that always comes to my mind and to people overseas probably don't know Barnsey. Jimmy Barnes. Yeah, Jimmy Barnes. Like, when he brought out the song Cheap Wine and a Three Day Growth. My younger brother, he was only very young, and he was singing along in the background in the back of the car when we were driving along, and he was singing Cheap Wine and a Three Nay Go. Oh. So it was like, "Cheap wine and a three n ay go." And I thought every time we hear the song now, that's all I hear. The tricky part with Mondegreens is sometimes they're just, well, they're fun things that sound better than the actual lyric. Yes. But sometimes songwriters actually made words up too, which doesn't make it easy to get it right. Yes, to fill in the space, to make it rhyme, to make it sound right. Yeah. So a good example of that is Jeff Lynne from ELO. Yeah. Don't Bring Me Down. Great song Yeah. And at the end of the line, there's, "Don't bring me down," and then it goes, "Groos." Oh, that's it? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, everyone thinks it's Bruce. That's what I thought it was. Yes, exactly. And, he's been interviewed about it and he said, "No. Well, I just shouted out groos 'cause that was a word that came into my head." So- Yeah ... how are you supposed to get it right if it's not even a real word, right? No, it isn't. I think when it comes to this stuff, the captain coach of the modern green team would be, James Reyne from Australian Crawl. Oh. Personal favourite. I couldn't understand any of his words ... personal favourite, but yeah, I think, by design his lyrics are pretty hard to pick up on. Yeah. In one of their very early hits, The Boys Light Up, he sings a line which talks about a garden being dorseted. Dorseted? Yeah. And people found that pretty hard to grasp because it's not actually a word. He was referring to a suburban Dorset Gardens Hotel. Oh, okay. So, you know. In his language oh, man. But, James Reyne, for people who aren't familiar with him, he's got a very sort of choppy, new wave sound. So things like Beautiful People, often people even think that's Beau- Teefoo Bee Bop. I've often wondered what- But it's, it's actually Beautiful People. There's a line that says, "They've got a Robert Palmer T-shirt in their travel bag." Oh, goodness. But a lot of people mishear that as, "They've got a rubber politician in their travel bag." The Bee Bee Bop one. Yeah. Like, I never really knew that. Yeah, Beautiful People. And that's what he's saying, is beautiful people. Yeah. It sounds nothing like that. Like that. I think I used to say, "You, you Bee Bee Bop." Exactly. And there's a whole bunch of his songs. I mean, Down Hearted, Broken Reeds That Never Really Started, or it's Broken Dreams That Never Really Started. Yeah. And Errol is actually sung by one of the other Australian Crawl band members. The late Guy McDonough. But he sounds just like- he does ... like James Reyne, and Reyne sings a lot of those songs in concert now. But the song Errol, Oh Errol- Yeah ... and a lot of people call that Oh Wero. James Reyne's song Motor's Running Way Too Fast, people have misread that as your mother's run away to France. So yeah, there's a bunch of those. I was listening to a pretty good, podcast the other day which, is called Behind the Song. Okay. And they're really good, just as a sidetrack. Yeah. They go for about 10 minutes, but they give you all the info about just one song. Yeah. And this one was about the Stone Temple Pilots and the song Vaseline. Vaseline. Yeah, which was a massive hit. As a kid, Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots misheard the Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane- Yeah ... as Flies in the Vaseline. Oh. So, so for years he thought it was Flies in the Vaseline- ... not Life in the Fast Lane. So that's totally how that song came about. Is that incredible? Yeah, it's pretty good. And we've all done it. Oh, totally. The interesting thing is that, you know, a lot of songs you know, it might be people like James Reyne whose diction maybe isn't so good and his accent is unusual. But, even just pure pop songs like Abba's Dancing Queen. Yeah. You would think that that's pretty straightforward, but, there's a line in the song that says, "Young and sweet, only 17." Yeah. But apparently a lot of people think that says, "Young and sweet, only seven teeth." Oh, dear and there's another line that says, "Feel the beat from the tambourine," which some people interpret as feel the beat on the tangerine. Oh, God. But it'll ... If it makes them happier. Oh, totally. Yeah. There's, the last line, "See that girl, watch that scene, digging the dancing queen." The mondegreen there is, "See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen." Which probably wouldn't be very good now. No. Mightn't fly. And from one extreme to the other, AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Dirty ... Oh, Done, Done Dirt Cheap. And, what was the other one where they…. it's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll. Exactly. Well, there's a whole sausage roll connection actually in any time rock and roll is mentioned in music it seems like Sausage roll raises its head there's a bit of a sausage roll thing going on, yeah. So AC/DC, things like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. There's a part where Bon Scott sort of speaks it. Yes. And says, "Dirty deeds and they’re done dirt cheap ... well, apparently it's misread as dirty deeds and they're done with sheep, so. That might be a Kiwi thing. Yeah, it's gone straight through to the keeper, that one. Yeah. Now the Bee Gees. And she comes to me on a submarine. Exactly. Well, that's one of many. So see if you can spot this song. I'm ready. I got hair in my pants. I can't hide it when I'm walking, and I'll comb it in the dark in the morning. Oh, God, this ... That sounds like, I got chills. Is that the one? No. No. No. What is it? Well, it, I'll, I'll try and say it as high as I can. Oh, okay. I got hair in my pants. I can't hide it when I'm walking. Night Fever. Yeah. Uh, it's actually, I got fire in my mind. I get higher when I'm walking. Oh, it sounds pretty similar anyway. And I'm glowing in the dark. Give you warning. I never ever knew that lyric. Wow. Yeah. Night Fever. There you go. More Than a Woman, apparently some people interpret that as bald-headed woman. Bald-headed woman. Okay. Fleetwood Mac. Yes. I'll give you the line. See if you can give me the song. And this is sung by Christine McVie. There's a clue for you. Yeah. I'm begging you for a little sip of tea. Say You Love Me. That's it. Yes. Yes. So begging you for a little sympathy, not a little sip of tea. Oh, dear There's an old song that's sung by England Dan. And it's a pretty old song, but some listeners might know it. Okay. The name's familiar. And it goes,,,, And it's I'd Really Love to See You Tonight. Oh. I'd Really Love to See You Tonight. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So the, the main kind of lyric in the chorus is, "I'm not talking about moving in." That's the one, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, a very popular misreading of that is, "I'm not talking about the linen." Yes. Yeah. That's what I thought it was- Yeah ... until I saw it actually on a clip. I think it was, like, I can't remember. It was in an old clip, and they were singing it. And because he was actually there singing it, you could see him singing it, and you're watching his lips- Yeah and you realize that's what it was. Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it sounds for all the world like linen. It does. Yeah. Now here's a good one. Kiss,:Rock and Roll All Nite. Yep. "I wanna rock and roll all night." Yeah. "And party every day." Yeah. A lot of people apparently hear, "I wanna rock and roll all night and part of every day." Well, they've been rock and rolling all night. Well. So, you know, just tired. But, but I mean, there's an obvious sidetrack here, and that is the Homerpalooza episode of The Simpsons. Yes. Where where Homer's lamenting his fading youth, and he's saying to Marge, " "I used to rock 'n' roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day." "Now, I'm lucky if I can find half an hour a week in which to get funky." Oh, dear! Classic. Yeah. Now, this one, I reckon everyone listening has probably sung this song incorrectly, and I think a lot of people sometimes with these just go, "You know what? That's better than the original." Yeah Elton John, Tiny Dancer. Yeah. I know what I used to hear. What did you hear? Tony Danza. Yeah. Hold me closer, Tony Danza I think it's number one on the list of mondegreens from everything I've heard. Yeah, which is pretty incredible, isn't it? Yeah. Must make him feel pretty special. Who? Tony Danza? Yeah. Here's another one, and I, I never knew what the line was on this song. You know the Cars song, Drive? Yeah. It's a pretty slow song. Yeah. Who's gonna drive you home? Yeah. Yeah So it's the bass player, Benjamin Orr. Yeah And he's going, "Can't go on thinking, nothing's wrong." Apparently it says, "But now," but everyone thinks it says, "Pork pie." Okay "I can't go on thinking nothing's wrong" Nothing's wrong, pork pie." Yes. Yeah. I actually used to sing that one out. Mm. And I don't remember what I used to say- Oh, dear ... to be honest. Pork pie! Oh, yeah. I think I used to say, "All right," or something. Yeah. Well, it sounds better than, "But now." Yeah. Uh, the Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This. Yeah. Sweet dreams are made of cheese. Sweet dreams are made of cheese Yeah. Yes It works. Bon Jovi, Living on a Prayer. Oh, classic. They don't seem to get that start, do they? That just before they, everyone goes- Living on a prayer. What's the bit before that… we've gotta hold on to what we got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. That's it. Yeah. We got each other, but that's a lot for love. See, that could be a mondegreen. I don't know if that's the words. Yeah. But within the chorus, evidently a lot of people hear, "It doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As opposed to, "It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not." A lot of people don't even know what he's actually saying there. No. Just make it up. Yeah. All right, I'll throw one at you. I'm guessing you'll get this one. There's a bathroom on the right. Oh, Bad Moon Rising. Yes. I always... Yeah, it does sound so much like that. It, well, it does. Well, when you hear it you know it's not it, but it can't possibly be there's a bathroom on the right. Yeah. Yeah. There's bathroom, bathroom on the right. Bathroom, yeah, exactly. Here's one for you. The Clash with Rock the Casbah. Yeah. There's a feeling that it sounds more like cash bar. Yeah. Or that it says Dr. Cashpot. Rock the Casbah. Yeah. So there you go. A classic - Dire Straits, Money for Nothing. Yeah. The actual lyric is, "Money for nothing and your chicks for free." Yeah. But, you know, a lot of people interpret that as, "Money for nothing and your chips for free." Yeah. Yeah. That would have to be an English thing, wouldn't it? They love their chips. Maybe. Okay, I'll throw another line at you. On a dark desert highway, cool whip in my hair. Mm-hmm, Hotel California. Exactly. Cool whip being an American kind of non-dairy frosting. As opposed to cool wind in my hair. All right, what about this one? Caught in a trout. Say you. Elvis Presley. Suspicious Minds. And that'd be it. All right, another one. Have a crack at this. We're working for peanuts. It's the final countdown. Yes. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. What a moment in time that song is. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. But the line there being, "We're heading for Venus." Yeah. We're heading for Venus. Oh, dear. Uh, all right, now let's get serious. With the lights out in containers, here we are now, entertainers. Lights out in containers. So this is, obviously, Nirvana- Yep ... with Smells Like Teen Spirit. Yep. The best part in that is there's a line that no one really knows anyway in the song, which is, "A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but the misinterpretation is, "I'm a lion, I'm a vinyl, I'm a Skittle, I'm a Beatle." Yeah. Which kind of works when you scan it on the song. Yeah. "I'm a lion, I'm a vinyl, I'm a Skittle- And it probably makes more sense ... Well, it makes as much sense as a mulatto, an albino- Yeah, yeah ... a mosquito, my libido. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And as a sort of a spin-off from that with Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters, so Pretender, awesome, awesome song there's a line in that song which is, "What if I say I'm not like the others?" Which is a line that he just repeats over and over. Yeah, yeah. "What if I say I'm not like the others?" That's misinterpreted as a Sesame Street line. One of these things is not like the other. Oh, yeah, that's right. Remember that? Yeah, yeah, I do. Sesame Street, they- Yeah ... did that for years, didn't they? It's a wonder he hasn't got done for copyright, Al. Probably. Like, uh, the other Aussie song. Doo, doo doo doo. Oh, yeah. Um, yeah. Anyway, that doesn't- Down Under. Yeah, doesn't matter. Yeah. So there's a few, but we'll, we'll do more. We could go on forever. Oh, there's a lot of them, Mart. We'll, we'll touch on some more in, in future episodes. And that's the fun thing about music, it brings us all together. Even, even when the lyrics are wrong, who cares? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, good fun there. It is. And of course, if anyone's got a favourite mondegreen of their own, share it with us on Facebook or Instagram, or send us an email to funfactsandsidetracks@gmail.com. Yes. And now everyone knows what a mondegreen is. Indeed Hey, Al? Hmm? Are we gonna talk about April Fools' Day? Ah, April Fools'. No, we're not. I told you we were, but we're not. Oh, that's because it's April the 1st. Yeah, somewhere. What is... What is... Yeah, what is April Fools' Day? Oh, April Fools' Day, okay. We- Okay, I know what it's about, but- Yes. We are gonna talk about April Fools' Day. Yeah. It doesn't matter what time of the year we talk about it. No. Because there's been some pretty funny April Fools' Day pranks played. There have been ... over the years. But to go back just for a second, the theory is that... Well, there's a few theories about April Fools', but it kind of goes back to the 16th century when, the calendar changed. Everything goes back to the 16th century, doesn't it? So through the Middle Ages, et cetera, a lot of towns celebrated the new year, with a spring holiday that began around March 25th and ended on the 1st of April. Wow. And so the new year was considered to be April 1st. Wow. But when the French moved to the Gregorian calendar, the change officially moved to the start of the new year, to January the 1st. Wow. Yeah. And there's a few other theories around that, but we'll go with that for now. But the, the idea of April Fools is, based around the idea that some people, especially in rural areas, didn't really receive the news that the calendar had changed. Oh, okay. And so they continued celebrating the new year in late March and early April, and so people would actually mock them and- Oh kind of call these traditionalists, April Fools. Wow. Yeah. Dear, oh dear ... yeah. So there was an edict, by Charles IX who decreed that- Charles IX ... Charles IX , yes, that, the new year would no longer begin on Easter as it had done. So there's another French tradition based around that which is all around the April fish, and this involved pranksters secretly taping a paper fish onto the back of an unsuspecting person. Oh my like, "Kick me." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah That, that's exactly it. And they were considered to be an April fish, which is kind of a reference to a young fish that's easily caught. Ah. Yeah, so April fish. Yeah, in Scotland, they do a very similar thing where- They put a bit of haggis on your back. Yeah, that's it. It's called Gowkie Day apparently, and I'm- ... I apologize if I got the pronunciation incorrect. Gowkie Day. Gowkie or cuckoo. Oh. It's a symbol of the fool. That sounds more like it. Cuckoo. Yeah, so, essentially, yeah, on the following day, Tally Day, signs reading, "Kick me" are pinned to friends' back. Oh, dear. So yes, you're bang on. Wow. Yeah. But of course, what's happened over the years is that everyone gets involved in, April 1 pranks. Yeah. A big American company got behind it and started marketing it. There's a couple of other theories that are based on, April Fools. One of these is around the weather, so because the holiday also coincides with the equinox when, unpredicted sudden changes in weather were often said to fool mankind. Really? And there was, in ancient Rome…. the Romans, What have the Romans ever given us? I had to include this just for that reason. Just for that line. Yeah. Okay. Um, but they celebrated a festival called Hilaria on March the 25th. Hilaria. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. People would dress up in disguises, and they'd play jokes on their neighbours, and that was very much like April 1st. Yeah. April Fool’s Day stuff. Dear. So there you go. So it goes right back. Yeah. And now we've got it today. Today we've got the simple version where it's only half a day, but isn't it? Yeah, until midday, that's right. Till midday. And then after midday you're the fool. Yeah. But there's even, even to go on, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which is, like, 14th century- Mm-hmm there's a tale in there, a fable involving a fox and a rooster, which I won't go into, but basically it seems to replicate the whole April Fools' Day thing. The Nun's Priest's Tale- Okay ... in the Canterbury Tales. There you go. Doesn't sound like fun to me. No. And, and I can tell you, the fox and the rooster story was even less fun. So we're not going there. But there's lots of possibilities- ... for why, April Fools' Day came about. Oh, goodness. Could you imagine being back then then? Oh, no. Like pinning fish on the back of people. And kick me. Yeah. But- In a kilt ... back in those days, they probably would've nailed it to someone's back, wouldn't they? Yeah. And the Scottish guys had a big kilt on. You know, and a big hat they used to wear. Yeah, gnawing on a bit of haggis. That's it. And I guess, you know, pranks have always been around, and I'm sure any tradies listening to this might remember... sending an apprentice out for a left-handed screwdriver. Yeah, left-hand hammer and chisel and striped paint. Yeah. And, you know, no workplace is complete without somebody removing the batteries from a computer mouse- when someone goes away. But there are some pranks that really dial it up. Yeah. So we thought we might have a chat about some of them. And probably one of the best exponents of this over the years has been the BBC. Yeah, they, yeah ... they've done some amazing stuff. In 1957, they aired a segment on a news broadcast, and it was all about a spaghetti harvest. So they went out and filmed this thing. This fellow said he had this idea for a joke, and got approval he could spend 100 pounds, which back then was probably a fair bit. 100 pound. 100 pounds. They said, "Yep, you can go and film it, but you can't spend any more than 100 pounds." So he created this three-minute video that's set in Switzerland, and it wasn't a video back then. It was a reel-to-reel. Yeah. And it sounded like this. Yeah. But it's great. You can watch it online. It's hilarious because it was claiming that there was a spaghetti weevil that had been eradicated because of the mild winter. Which led to a bumper crop of spaghetti. Oh, goodness. And so they've got all these people harvesting spaghetti. Yeah ... and like they're saying, "Oh," and, "How do they get it, you know, to be such a uniform length?" Yeah. And, "Oh, it takes a lot of... “Here we are in Italy”. Yeah, no, it was in, Switzerland. Oh, okay. Yeah. No- “Here we are in Switzerland”. It takes, takes a lot of work to, grow it to this, you know, defined length, and they show all this spaghetti that's been, like, sticky taped onto trees. Oh, dear. And anyway, people were so convinced that they were calling in to the station to, ask how they could grow their own spaghetti and how could they get their hands on spaghetti trees. I would've been one of those people, yeah. Apparently, the BBC reported that the advice was that you should put some spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and hope for the best. I wonder how many people did that Oh, man. But they, they caught everyone. It was on a news show called Panorama, three-minute film. Another great one they did was Smell-O-Vision. This is 1965. I remember this one. Do you? I don't remember it, as in I remember someone telling me about it. Yeah. So the, the idea was they had this professor who was saying they had this new technology, and that for this transmission he was going to, broadcast aromas that would come through the screen. And so he had, things like onions- Yeah ... and coffee beans, and he said he wanted people to, call in to the studio if they could actually smell the aromas through their TV. And I guarantee there was... the switchboard was jammed. Yeah, totally. They had people saying that the onions were making their eyes water and all this stuff. Oh my goodness. Yeah. It's just hilarious. The BBC were promoting this concert in 1961 that was happening on April the 1st, and it was by a continental pianist called Lirpa Loof. Mm-hmm. And they were, you know, encouraging everyone to tune in. Oh. And of course, Lirpa Loof is April Fool spelled backwards. Oh, dear. But they caught heaps of people. In 1977, The Guardian newspaper in the UK, printed a travel supplement for a place called San Serif, which was an island republic in the tropics, and apparently all the text was full of, printing and typesetting terms and things. Yeah. And, um, even the shape of the island was in the shape of a, a semicolon and the island's dictator was described as General MJ Pica, and picas are like a unit of type measure. Okay. Back when they used to use, manual typesetting and stuff. Yeah. But yeah, San Serif, obviously the typeface, so the whole thing was a joke, but people fell for it. I wouldn't have fallen for that one, Al. No, I know you wouldn't. You would've just chucked it out, right? Another good one from the BBC was in 1980 they announced that Big Ben was going to be made digital. Yeah. And, what they did was they announced that the hands would be given away to listeners on a first come, first served basis. Oh my goodness. You're kidding me. No. And people were, you know, calling in and queuing up and all sorts of stuff to get the hands. But of course, when, more people heard about it, they were really unimpressed because Big Ben is like a national icon and nobody even jokes about it. Wow. Yeah. So they had to go into apology mode pretty quickly. Yeah. They also did this thing in 1976 where they had an astronomer, a guy called Patrick Moore. Yeah. He claimed that Pluto and Jupiter were, in this particular alignment, and it was only going to happen, they knew exactly down to the minute when it was going to happen, at 9:47 AM. Yes. The conjugation of Jupiter and Pluto, and people would be able to feel a reduction in gravity on Earth for a brief time. Oh. So you could have just people floating around. Yeah, so they encouraged people to jump in the air and feel how weightless it was. Oh. And, and again- I know ... yeah it turned out to be a huge- Yeah success. I would've been there jumping up. Well one woman claimed that she and 11 of her friends were sitting and had been wafted from their chairs and orbited gently around the room. Oh, God. Imagine what they were on. I don't know. There's been a bunch of stuff from the BBC which has been great. There's been some pretty interesting, product launches. Yeah. Seedless avocados. A fun one is Hot Wheels. Do you remember Wonder Woman had an invisible jet? Yes, I do. Yeah. So they launched a new product. And this is only fairly recently. They launched Wonder Woman's invisible jet as a Mattel Hot Wheels thing that you could purchase. So the Mattel social media team put it up on Facebook saying that they were selling this and they mocked it up to show it, and the problem was everyone wanted one. So they sold this thing for $5, but it was an empty package because it was an invisible jet, right? Oh, goodness Al. This is why we're in the less trouble we're in. I know. BMW launched a rainproof sunroof. That's a good idea. Yeah. This is on April the 1st, 1983. They said even in the hardest rain, you could leave the sunroof open, because it could be driven through an automatic car wash with the top down, and the occupants would be protected by the new design. Basically, the engineers had created this system with high volume air blowers that direct a jet of air across the opening. No. If people wanted additional information, they were directed to a customer service line, to direct their call to April Verst. And people did. Vas ist das? Yeah. Oh, man. Good fun. Good idea. That's so good. There's, there was one, in 1974, a fellow in Alaska, reported that there was a volcano erupting. Well, he took a whole bunch of tires into this dormant volcano and lit them. Oh, you're kidding me. He told the local authorities that that's what he was doing, he told the police and the FFA, but he hadn't told the Coast Guard, and they had to get out there in a helicopter and- Wow ... go and observe this thing. So I think he was in a little bit of strife, but he made the papers worldwide. Oh my goodness. Yeah. One a little bit closer to home. Yes. Some listeners might remember Dick Smith. Yes. We do remember Dick Smith. In 1978, Dick Smith, claimed that he'd towed an iceberg into Sydney Harbor to provide fresh water. Yeah. He was saying it was a practical solution to the city's needs. So, and again, you can Google this stuff and there's this giant white thing that's on a barge in Sydney Harbor. Oh, wow. And you know, people actually believed it. And of course then it started raining and it was made of foam and shaving cream. I think the shaving cream started washing off. But how good. Yeah. Oh, dear. Power to him for doing that. Yeah. Yeah. This is a sidetrack. Mm. Like if you were on the poles or somewhere really cold with snow and the ice, you can't drink the water that's looks so clear. Oh, really? Well, well some of them it's been frozen for like a lot of years. Oh, okay. And it's got bacteria in it. Yeah. Right. So you could pick up something that you really don't wanna pick up. Yeah, yeah. That really icy, coldly clean looking water that you think that would be the purest water you could drink. Yeah. It could have a dead animal from- ... however many hundred years ago or so. A dead caveman. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Goodness. Richard Branson is pretty famous for his April Fool's Day, pranks. So he had a UFO-shaped hot air balloon created. Mm-hmm. And, um, it had all these flashing lights and things on it. So it had strobing lights, Apparently he hired, a dwarf, or a little person- ... to sit in it in an ET costume. Yeah. And he'd come out and scare everyone, you know, wherever it landed. Yeah. It was supposed to land in Hyde Park- Yeah but there were poor weather conditions, and he had to land in a field in Surrey. So after it landed, the door opened, and he had dry ice going- Yeah ... so it billowed out. And this, this little person wearing- Yeah ... an ET costume- Yeah ... came down the platform. But by that stage the police were there in force. So, apparently when Branson revealed his prank, they were none too impressed, but it's still hilarious. Oh, that's funny. It is pretty- Imagine if they did that in America. Oh. He would've got shot. Oh, yeah, probably. He would've been dead. Yeah. Goodness. That's so good. That was a good story, Al. All righty, Al. It's come to that time in the podcast. Mm-hmm. And, I know you've got it. So let's have it, the last one. The last. Yeah. Okay. A fun fact. Yeah. All right. This is something I found online not long ago, and that's the fact that there's a river in the Peruvian Amazon that is boiling. A river? The water is up to 99 degrees Celsius. Wow. Yeah. At this point, you could boil an egg in that. You probably could. They reckon, they reckon that animals that fall into it are basically burned to death because- Wow ... the water is so hot. It's in Shanay-Timpishka. It's also known as La Bamba- Oh ... for people who struggle to say Shanay-Timpishka. But it's a 6.4 kilometre or four mile river in the Amazon- Yeah ... where, yes, as I said, the temperature is up to 99 degrees Celsius. Wow. The name translates to boiled with the heat of the sun, understandably. So where does La Bamba come in? La Bomba means the pump, referring to all the super geothermal heating that's happening it means “Para bailar La Bamba. Se necesita una poca de gracia Una poca de Gracia”. All right. What have the Romans ever done for us? Yeah. Tick. Mart having a sing. Tick. So, yeah, this is crazy. The scientists, theorized that the temperature is caused by a fault-driven geothermal system. There's no volcano for 700 Ks, so it's not like it's a volcano that's, you know, just- It's obviously a big crevice ... bubbling away under the, under the Earth's crust. Yeah. There's obviously a big crevice and the water goes right down there. Yeah. Far out. Yeah. It's hot enough to cause severe third degree burns. Wow. And it instantly cooks small animals and insects that fall in, so. Might be a good place to hang around if you're hungry. Good place to do the washing. Yeah. Good takeaway. Yeah. Well, What's on the menu tonight? Whatever falls in. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently the local people have known about it for generations, but it was really only discovered in 2011. In 2011? It's pretty recent, yeah. Wow. I love the fact that there are still things on this planet that people are finding and going, "Wow, what's this about?" Yeah. Yeah. Jeez. So- That's amazing how- Yeah, so deep in the Amazon. Yeah. Well, deep in the Amazon. You wouldn't wanna go there I don't think. I don't think so, no. I'm sure there's more things deep in the Amazon that we know nothing about. Oh yeah, probably. Anyway, that is a fun fact. Yeah. And it's probably time for us to go. Yeah. Thanks again folks, for listening. Yeah. We love it. And, remember, if you've got a mondegreen? A mondegreen, that's it. How many times have we said the word mondegreen in the last hour? Yeah, I've got a short memory. Me too. Mondegreen. Yeah. Send it in. Exactly. We'd love to hear. Exactly. Yeah. It is time for us to go. We've had a great time tonight We have. And, we love everyone listening. We have a good time. Yeah and, as always, you know, these are just facts and things that we find and that we love to share. Yeah. Some of them are serious and some of them are quite funny. Some of them are quite funny. Some of them are really funny. We had a lot of trouble getting through the description of the Richard Branson UFO thing. Yeah. So we thought rather than just edit all of that out, we'd probably share it with you... because we're just big kids and we're idiots. So we just thought we'd give you about three minutes of us trying to describe that and not being able to. Yeah, hard to get out . Enjoy. And we'll see you next time. See ya. Bye. This is my personal favourite Mart. I gathered that. (Laughing… I can’t do it) I have to go back to the start. No keep going. Richard Branson is one of the most famous for his April Fool's Day, pranks. Yeah, what'd he do, Al? He had a UFO-shaped hot air balloon created. (Laughing…) He had a UFO-shaped hot air balloon ... created which had all these strobing, flashing lights. Yeah ... and….. Here we go. And he hired a dwarf, or a little person- Yeah ... to sit in it…. Oh, my ... in an ET costume. (Laughing…) How good! OK let’s do it again. (Laughing…) It’s not going to happen Al. No, we're gonna do this. We can do it. We ca- we're gonna do it now. Okay, one of the greatest exponents of April Fools' Day gags is, clearly Richard Branson. Okay, what did he do, Al? Oh, this one cracks me up. He had a UFO shaped hot air balloon created complete with strobing lights. Mm-hmm. And he, he hired (Laughing…)Do you want to... Can you say it? No, I can't say. Apparently he hired, uh, a dwarf, or a little person ... to sit in it in an ET costume. He did it. He did it, yeah. And he'd come out and scare everyone, you know- Yeah ... wherever it landed. Yeah. It was supposed to land in Hyde Park- Yeah but there were poor weather conditions, and he had to land in a field in Surrey. So after it landed, the door opened, and he had dry ice going- Yeah ... so it billowed out. And this, this little person wearing- Yeah ... an ET costume- Yeah ... came down the platform. But by that stage the police were there in force. So, apparently when Branson revealed his prank, they were none too impressed, but it's still hilarious. Oh, that's funny. It is. Imagine if they did that in America. Oh. He would've got shot. Oh, yeah, probably. He would've been dead. Yeah. Goodness. That's so good. That was... Yeah. That was a good story, Al. If we can make anything of it. G'day,

Speaker 0:17

folks, and welcome to Fun Facts and Sidetracks. Hi. We're back again. How are you, Marty? And glad to be back. Glad to be back back in Brizzy. Greatest city in the world. Hey, um, we wanna start by thanking some people who seem to be listening to us around the world. A- all over the world. Mm-hmm. Yeah, which was pretty amazing. We looked it all up, didn't we? And- We did we got people down in South America and- Yeah, in the US and in- Africa Africa, and in the UK and- Yeah some people in Norway and all over the place, so that's great. We have a... I think we've got a pretty fun episode ahead. I guarantee we do. We are talking about some pretty funny topics, so we might get into that. As, as we always say, we're not experts but we're just sharing a lot of stuff that we find online and that we read about, so hopefully you guys like it too. Yeah, that we find quite interesting and funny and- Yeah, we have a laugh. Yeah. All right, Marty Moose. Yoo-hoo, That was supposed to be a moose. We always talk about music first up. That we do. And this time we wanted to have a chat about some misheard lyrics for songs. Oh, that's funny. And there's a ton of fun in this. Yeah, there is. Yeah. These things are called mondegreens. Mondegreens. Mondegreens. Okay. Okay? I think you've been doing some research on- Well, it was a- mondegreens yeah, it was, a lady by the name of Sylvia Wright, an American writer. Mm-hmm. In 1954 it was her, her mother- Yeah read her a story. And she got it mixed up as being, lay him on the green. Yeah, I believe she was reading an old 17th century Scottish ballad called The Bonny Earl of Moray. Yeah. And, and her mum was reading it to her and used the term laid him on the green. And, for her whole life Sylvia Wright thought it was Lady Mondegreen. Yeah, Lady Mondegreen. Yeah. Which sounds very Scottish too. It does a bit. Maybe the mother was speaking Scottish, you know, with that real Glaswegian accent. She She might have been. Yeah. Anyway, that's where Mondegreen comes from Which is interesting, isn't it? There's a load of them. So we might have a chat through some of these, and I think we'll probably do a few episodes because there's, there's a ton of fun to be had with these. Yeah, there's a ton of songs where you've been singing along and realized that really that wasn't the words- Yeah to the song. I have to say, doing some research for this one, I discovered a whole bunch of songs that I've been singing wrongly in the car. Yeah. Yeah. Like, they can get... I think, like, one of the really funny ones that I, that always comes to my mind and to people overseas probably don't know Barnsey. Jimmy Barnes. Yeah, Jimmy Barnes. Like, when he brought out the song cheap Wine and the Three Day Growth. My younger brother, he was only very young, and he was singing along in the background in the back of the car when we were driving along, and he was singing Cheap Wine and a Three Nay Go. Oh. So it was like, "Cheap wine and a three day go." And I thought every time we hear the song now, that's all I hear. The tricky part with Mondegreens is sometimes they're just, well, they're fun things that, that sound better than the actual lyric. Yes. But sometimes songwriters actually made words up too, which doesn't make it easy to get it right. Yes, to fill in the space, to make it rhyme, to make it sound right. Yeah. So a good example of that is Jeff Lynne from ELO. Yeah. Don't Bring Me Down. Great song Yeah. And at the, at the end of the line, there's, "Don't bring me down," and then it goes, "Groos." Oh, that's it? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, everyone thinks it's bruised. That's what I thought it was. Yes, exactly. And, he's been interviewed about it and he said, "No. Well, I just shouted out groos 'cause that was a word that came into my head." So- Yeah how are you supposed to get it right if it's not even a real word, right? No, it isn't. I think when it comes to this stuff, the, uh, captain coach of the modern green team would be, James Reyne from Australian Crawl. I couldn't understand any of his words personal favorite, but yeah, I think, by design his lyrics are pretty hard to pick up on. Yeah. In one of their very early hits, The Boys Light Up, he sings a line which talks about a garden being dorseted. Dorseted? Yeah. And- Yeah people found that pretty hard to grasp because it's not actually a word. Um, He, he was referring to a suburban Dorset Gardens Hotel. Oh, okay. So, you know. Um- In his language oh, man. But, James Reyne, For people who aren't familiar with him, he's got a very sort of choppy, uh- Yeah new wave sound. So things like Beautiful People. Um, often people even think that's Beau- Teefoo Bee Bop. I've often wondered what- But it's, it's actually Beautiful People It's- Um, there's a line that says, "They've got a Robert Palmer T-shirt in their travel bag." Oh, goodness. But a lot of, a lot of people mishear that as, "They've got a rubber politician in their travel bag." The, the, the Bee Bee Bop one. Yeah. Like, I never really knew that. Yeah, Beautiful People. And that's what he's saying, is beautiful people. Yeah. It sounds nothing like that. Like that. I think I used to say, "You, you Bee Bee Bop." E- exactly. And there's a whole bunch of, of his songs. I mean, Down Hearted, Broken Reeds That Never Really Started, or it's Broken Dreams That Never Really Started. Yeah. And Errol is actually sung by one of the other, Was it Craw- band members. Yeah. Yeah. Um, the late Guy McDonough. But he sounds just like- He does like James Reyne, and Reyne sings a lot of those songs in concert now. But the song Errol, Oh Errol- Yeah and a lot of people call that Oh Wero. James Reyne's song Motor's Running Way Too Fast, um, people have misread that as your mother's run away to France. So yeah, there's a bunch of those. I was listening to a pretty good, podcast the other day- Which, is called Behind the Song Okay And they're really good, just as a sidetrack. Yeah. They go for about 10 minutes, but they give you all the info about just one song. Yeah. And this one was about Stone Temple Pilots and the song Vaseline. Vaseline. Yeah, which was a massive hit. As a kid, Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots misheard the Eagles' Life in the Fast Lane- Yeah as Flies in the Vaseline. Oh. So, so for years he thought it was Flies in the Vaseline- not Life in the Fast Lane. So that's totally how that song came about. Is that incredible? Yeah, it's pretty good. And we've all done it. Oh, totally. The interesting thing is that, you know, a lot of songs you know, it might be people like James Rain whose- Yeah diction maybe isn't so- And his accent is- E- exact unusual. But, even just pure pop songs like Abba's Dancing Queen. Yeah. You would think that that's pretty straightforward, but, there's a line in the song that says, "Young and sweet, only 17." Yeah. But apparently a lot of people think that says, "Young and sweet, only seven teeth." Oh, dear and there's another line that says, "Feel the beat from the tambourine," which some people interpret as feel the beat on the tangerine. Oh, God. But it'll If it makes them happier. Oh, totally. Yeah. Um, uh, there's, uh, the last line, See that girl, watch that scene, digging the dancing queen." The mondegreen there is, "See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen." Which probably wouldn't be very good now. No. Mightn't fly. And from one extreme to the other, AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Dirty Oh, Done, Done Dirt Cheap. And, uh, what was the other one where they, um, it's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll. there's a whole sausage roll connection actually in any time rock and roll is mentioned in music it seems like, um- sausage roll. Raises its head there's a bit of a sausage roll thing going on, yeah. So AC/DC, um, things like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. There's a part where Bon Scott sort of speaks it. Yes. And says, "Dirty deeds and-" Done dirt cheap well, apparently it's misread as dirty deeds and they're done with sheep, might be a Kiwi thing. Yeah, it's gone straight through to the keeper, that one. Yeah. Now the Bee Gees. Oh. One of your- And she comes to me on a submarine. Well, that's one of many. So see if you can spot this song I'm ready I got hair in my pants. I can't hide it when I'm walking, and I'll comb it in the dark in the morning. Oh, God, this That sounds like, I got you. Is that the one? No. No. No. What is it? Well, it, I'll, I'll try and say it as high as I can. Oh, okay. I got hair in my pants. I can't hide it when I'm walking. Night Fever. Yeah. Uh, it's actually, I got fire in my mind. I get higher when I'm walking. Oh, it sounds pretty similar anyway. And I'm, and I'm glowing in the dark. Give you warning. I never ever knew that lyric. Wow. Yeah. Night Fever. There you go. More Than a Woman, apparently some people interpret that as bald-headed Fleetwood Mac. Yes. Uh, h- I'll give you the line. See if you can give me the song. And this is sung by Christine McVie. There's a clue for you. Yeah. I'm begging you for a little sip of tea. Say You Love Me. That's it. Yes. Yes. So begging you for a little sympathy, not a little sip of tea. Oh. Oh, dear There's an old song that's sung by England Dan. And it's a pretty old song, but some listeners might know it. Okay. The name's familiar. And it's gonna- And it's I'd Really Love to See You Tonight. Oh. So the- I'd Really Love to See You Tonight. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So the, the main kind of lyric in the chorus is, "I'm not talking about moving in." That's the one, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, a very popular misreading of that is, "I'm not talking about the linen." Yes. Yeah. That's what I thought it was- Yeah until I saw it actually on a clip. I think it was, like, um, I can't remember. It was in an old clip, and they were singing it. And because he was actually there singing it, it m- it, you could see him singing it, and you're watching his lips- Yeah and you realize that's what it was. Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it sounds for all the world like linen. It does. Yeah. Yeah. Um, now here's a good one. Uh, Kiss, Rock and Roll All Nite. Yep. Uh, "I wanna rock and roll all night." Yeah. "And party every day." Yeah. A lot of people apparently hear, "I wanna rock and roll all night and part of every day." Well, they've been rock and rolling all night. Well. So, you know, just tired. But, but I mean, there's an obvious sidetrack here, and that is the Homerpalooza episode of The Simpsons. Yes. Where where, where Homer's lamenting his fading youth, and he's saying to Marge, "I used to rock 'n' roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day." "Now, now I'm lucky if I can find half an hour a week in which to get funky." Yeah. Classic. Yeah. Now, this one, I reckon everyone listening has probably sung this song incorrectly, and I think a lot of people sometimes with these just go, "You know what? That's better than the original." Yeah Elton John, Tiny Dancer. Yeah. I know what I used to hear. What did you hear? Tony Dancer. Yeah. Hold me closer, Tony Dancer. I think it's number one on the list of mondegreens from everything I've heard. Yeah, which is pretty incredible, isn't it? Yeah. Must make him feel pretty special. Who? Tony Dancer? Yeah. Here's another one, and I, I never knew what the line was on this song. You know the Cars song, Drive? Yeah. It's a pretty slow song. Yeah. Um, and- Who's gonna drive you home? Yeah. Yeah So it's the bass player, Benjamin Orr. Yeah And he's going, "Can't go on thinking nothing's wrong." Apparently it says, "But now," but everyone thinks it says, "Pork pie." Okay "I can't go on thinking nothing's wrong" Nothing's wrong pork pie." Yes. Yeah. I actually used to sing that one out. Mm. And I don't remember what I used to say- Oh, dear to be honest. Pork pie Oh, yeah. I think I used to say, "All right," or something. Yeah. Well, it's- sounds better than, "But now." Yeah. Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This. Yeah. Sweet dreams are made of cheese. Sweet dreams are made of cheese Yeah. Yes It works. Bon Jovi, Living on a Prayer. Oh, classic. They don't seem to get that start, do they? That just before they, everyone goes- Living on a prayer Mm. What's the bit before that Uh, we've gotta hold on to what we got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. That's it. Yeah. We got each other, but that's A Lot for Love. See, that could be a mondegreen. I don't know if that's the words. Yeah. But within the, chorus, evidently a lot of people hear, "It doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. As opposed to, "It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not." A lot of people don't even know what he's actually saying there. No. Just make it up. Yeah. All right, I'll throw one at you. I'm guessing you'll get this one. There's a bathroom on the right. Oh, Bad Moon Rising. Yes. I always... Yeah, it does sound so much like that. It, well, it does. Well, when you hear it you know it's not it, but it can't possibly be there's a bathroom on the right. Yeah. Yeah. There's bathroom, bathroom on the right. Bathroom, yeah, exactly. here's one for you. The Clash with Rock the Casbah. Yeah. There's a feeling that it sounds more like cash bar. Yeah. Or that it says Dr. Cashpot. Rock the Casbah. Yeah. So there you go. A classic Dire Straits, Money for Nothing. Yeah. The actual lyric is, "Money for nothing and your chicks for free." Yeah. But, you know, a lot of people interpret that as, "Money for nothing and your chips for free." Yeah. Yeah. That would have to be an English thing, wouldn't it? They love their chips. Maybe. Okay, I'll throw another line at you. On a dark desert highway, cool whip in my hair. Mm-hmm, Hotel California. Exactly. Cool whip being an American kind of non-dairy frosting. As opposed to cool wind in my hair. All right, what about this one? Caught in a trout. Say you. Elvis Presley. Suspicious Minds. And that'd be it. All right, another one. Have a crack at this. We're working for peanuts. It's the final countdown. Yes. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. What a moment in time that song is. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. But the line there being, "We're heading for Venus." Yeah. We're heading for Venus. Oh, dear. Uh, all right, now let's get serious. With the lights out in containers, here we are now, entertainers. Lights out in containers. So this is, obviously, Nirvana- Yep with Smells Like Teen Spirit. Yep. The best part in that is there's a line that no one really knows anyway in the song, which is, "A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but the misinterpretation is, "I'm a lion, I'm a vinyl, I'm a Skittle, I'm a Beatle." Yeah. Which kind of works when you scan it on the song. Yeah. "I'm a lion, I'm a vinyl, I'm a Skittle- And it probably makes more sense Well, it makes as much sense as a mulatto, an albino- Yeah, yeah a mosquito, my libido. And as a sort of a spin-off from that with Dave Grohl in the Foo Fighters, so Pretender, awesome, awesome song there's a line in that song which is, "What if I say I'm not like the others?" Which is a line that he just repeats over and over. Yeah, yeah. "What if I say I'm not like the others?" That's misinterpreted as a Sesame Street line. One of these things is not like the other. Oh, yeah, that's right. Remember that? Yeah, yeah, I do. Sesame Street, they- Yeah did that for years, didn't they? It's a wonder he hasn't got done for copyright, Al. Probably. Like, uh, the other Aussie song. Doo, doo doo doo. Oh, yeah. Um, yeah. Anyway, that doesn't- Down Under. Yeah, doesn't matter. Yeah. So there's a few, but we'll, we'll do more. We could go on forever. Oh, there's a lot of them, Martin. We'll, we'll touch on some more in, in future episodes. And that's the fun thing about music, it brings us all together. Even, even when um, the lyrics are wrong, who cares? Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, good fun there. It is. And of course, if anyone's got a favorite mondegreen of their own, share it with us on Facebook or Instagram, or send us an email to funfactsandsidetracks@gmail.com. Yes. And now everyone knows what a mondegreen is. There you go. Yeah. Hey, Al? Hmm? Are we gonna talk about April Fools' Day? Ah, April Fools'. No, we're not. I told you we were, but we're not. Oh, that's because it's April the 1st. Yeah, somewhere. What is... What is... Yeah, what is April Fools' Day? Oh, April Fools' Day, okay. We- Okay, I know what it's about, but- Yes. We are gonna talk about April Fools' Day. Yeah. It doesn't matter what time of the year we talk about it. No. Because there's been some pretty funny April Fools' Day pranks played- There have been over the years. But to go back the theory is that... Well, there's a few theories about April Fools', but it kind of goes back to the 16th century when, the calendar changed. Everything goes back to the 16th century, doesn't it? So through the Middle Ages, et cetera, a lot of towns celebrated the new year, with a spring holiday that began around March 25th and ended on the 1st of April. Wow. And so the new year was considered to be April 1st. Wow. But when the French moved to the Gregorian calendar, the change officially moved to the start of the new year, to January the 1st. Wow. Yeah. And there's a few other theories around that, but we'll go with that for now. But the, the idea of April Fools is, based around the idea that some people, especially in rural areas, didn't really receive the news that the calendar had changed. Oh, okay. And so they continued celebrating the new year in late March and early April, and so people would actually mock them and- Oh kind of call these traditionalists, April Fools. Wow. Yeah. Um- Dear, oh dear yeah. So there was an edict, by Charles IX who decreed that- Charles IX Charles IX yes, that, the new year would no longer begin on Easter as it had done. So there's another French tradition based around that- Yeah which is all around the April fish, and this involved, um, pranksters secretly taping a paper fish onto the back of an unsuspecting person. Oh my God, like, "Kick me." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah That, that's exactly it. And they were considered to be an April fish, which is kind of a reference to a young fish that's easily caught. Ah. Yeah, so April fish. Yeah, in Scotland, they do a very similar thing where- They put a bit of haggis on your back. Yeah, that's it. It's called Gowkie Day apparently, and I'm- I apologize if I got the pronunciation incorrect. Gowkie Day. Gowkie or cuckoo. Oh. It's a symbol of the fool. That sounds more like it. Cuckoo. Yeah, so, essentially, yeah, on the following day, Tally Day, signs reading, "Kick me" are pinned to friends' back. Oh, dear. So yes, you're bang on. Wow. Yeah. But of course, what's happened over the years is that, everyone gets involved in, April 1 pranks. Yeah. Um- A big American company got behind it and started marketing it. There's a couple of other theories that are based on, April Fools. One of these is around the weather, so because the holiday also coincides with the, equinox when, unpredicted sudden changes in weather were often said to fool mankind. Really? And there was, in ancient Rome, the Romans- Would the Romans have a go at us? I had to include this just, just for that reason. Just for that line. Yeah. Okay. Um, but they celebrated a festival called Hilaria on March the 25th. Hilaria. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. People would dress up in disguises, and they'd play jokes on their neighbors, and that was very much like April 1st. Yeah. April Fools- Wow Day stuff. Dear. Yeah. So there you go. So it goes right back. Yeah. And w- now we've got it today. Today we've got the simple version where you just half It's only half a day, but isn't it? Yeah, until midday, that's right. Till midday. And then after midday- Yeah you're the fool. Yeah. But there's even, even to go on, um, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which is, like, 14th century- Mm-hmm there's a tale in there, a fable involving a fox and a rooster, which I won't go into, but basically it seems to replicate the whole April Fools' Day thing. The Nun's Priest's Tale- Okay in the Canterbury Tales. There you go. So- Doesn't sound like fun to me. No. And, and I can tell you, the fox and the rooster story was even less fun. So we're not going there. But there's lots of possibilities- for why, April Fools' Day came about. Oh, goodness. Could you imagine being back then then? Oh, no. Like pinning fish on the back of people. And kick me. Yeah. But- In a kilt back in those days, they probably would've nailed it to someone's back, wouldn't they? Yeah. And the Scottish guys had a big kilt on. You know, and a big hat they used to wear. Yeah, gnawing on a bit of haggis. And I guess, you know, pranks have always been around, and y- I'm sure any tradies listening to this- might remember- Yeah sending an apprentice out for a left-handed screwdriver. Yeah, left-hand hammer and chisel and- Striped paint. Yeah. And, you know, no workplace is complete without somebody removing the batteries from a computer mouse- when someone goes away. But there are some pranks that really dial it up. Yeah. So we thought- There's some really good ones thought we might have a chat about some of them. And probably one of the best exponents of this over the years has been the BBC. Yeah, they, yeah they've done some amazing stuff. In 1957, they aired a segment on a news broadcast, and it was all about a spaghetti harvest. So they went out and filmed this thing. This fellow said he had this idea for a joke, and got approval he could spend 100 pounds, which back then was probably a fair bit. 100 pound. 100 pounds. They said, "Yep, you can go and film it, but you can't spend any more than 100 pounds." So he created this three-minute video that's set in Switzerland, and- It wasn't a video back then. It was a reel-to-reel. Yeah. And it sounded like this. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But it's great. You can watch it online. It's hilarious because, um, it was claiming that there was a spaghetti weevil that had been eradicated because of the mild winter- Yeah Which led to a bumper crop of spaghetti. Oh, goodness. And so they've got all these people harvesting spaghetti. Yeah and like they're saying, "Oh," and, "How do they get it, you know, to be such a uniform length?" Yeah. And, "Oh, it takes a lot of..." Here we are in Italy. Yeah, no, it was in, Switzerland. Oh, okay. Yeah. No- Here we are in Switzerland. It takes, takes a lot of work to, grow it to this, you know, defined length, and they show all this spaghetti that's been, like, sticky taped onto trees. Oh, dear. And anyway, people were so convinced that they were calling in to the station to, ask how they could grow their own spaghetti and how could they get their hands on spaghetti trees. I would've been one of those people, yeah. Apparently, the BBC reported that the advice was that you should put some spaghetti in a can of tomato sauce and hope for the best. I wonder how many people did that Oh, man. But they, they caught everyone. It was on a- Wow. Yeah, it was on a news show called Panorama, three-minute film. Another great one they did was Smell-O-Vision. Ah. This is 1965. I remember this one. Do you? I don't remember it, as in I remember someone telling me about it. Yeah. So the, the idea was they had this professor who was saying they had this new technology, and that for this transmission he was going to, broadcast aromas that would come through the screen. And so he had, things like onions- Yeah and coffee beans, and he said he wanted people to, call in to the studio if they could actually smell the aromas through their TV. And I guarantee there was... the switchboard was jammed. Yeah, totally. They had people saying that the onions were making their eyes water and all this stuff. Oh my goodness. Yeah. It's just hilarious. The BBC were promoting this concert in 1961 that was happening on April the 1st, and it was by a, continental pianist called Lerpa Loof. Mm-hmm. And they were, you know, encouraging everyone to tune in. Oh. And of course, Lerpa Loof is April Fool spelled backwards. Oh, dear. But they caught heaps of people. In 1977, The Guardian newspaper in the UK, printed a travel supplement for a place called San Serif, which was an island republic in the tropics, and apparently all the text was full of, printing and typesetting terms and things. Yeah. And, um, even the shape of the island was in the shape of a, a semicolon and the island's dictator was described as General MJ Pica, and picas are like a unit of type measure. Okay. Back when they used to use, manual typesetting and stuff. Yeah. But yeah, San Serif, obviously the typeface, so the whole thing was a joke, but people fell for it. I wouldn't have fallen for that one, Ian. No, I know you wouldn't. You would've just chucked it out, right? Uh, Another good one from the BBC was in 1980 they announced that Big Ben was going to be made digital. Yeah. And, what they did was they announced that the hands would be given away to listeners on a first come, first served basis. Oh my goodness. You're kidding me. No. And people were, you know, calling in and queuing up and all sorts of stuff to get the hands. But of course, when, more people heard about it, they were really unimpressed because Big Ben is like a national- Of course icon and nobody even jokes about it. Wow. Yeah. So they had to go into, apology mode pretty quickly. Yeah. They also did this thing in 1976 where they had an astronomer, a guy called Patrick Moore. Yeah. He claimed that Pluto and Jupiter were, in this particular alignment, and it was only going to happen, they knew exactly down to the minute when it was going to happen, at 9:47 AM. Yes. The conjugation of Jupiter and Pluto, and people would be able to feel a reduction in gravity on Earth for a brief time. Oh. So So you could have just people floating around. Yeah, so they encouraged people to jump in the air and feel how weightless it was. Oh. And, and again- I know yeah it turned out to be a huge- Yeah success. I would've been there jumping up. Well, somebody, one woman claimed that she and her, 11 of her friends were sitting and had been wafted from their chairs and orbited gently around the room. Oh, God. Imagine what they were on. I don't know. There's been a bunch of stuff from the BBC which has been great. There's been some pretty interesting, product launches. Yeah. Seedless avocados. A fun one is Hot Wheels. Do you remember Wonder Woman had an invisible jet? Yes, I do. Yeah. So they launched a new product. And this is only fairly recently. They launched Wonder Woman's invisible jet as a, Mattel Hot Wheels thing that you could purchase. So this Mattel social media team put it up- Yep on Facebook saying that they were selling this and they mocked it up to show it, and the problem was everyone wanted one. So they sold this thing for $5, but it was an empty package because it was an invisible jet, right? Oh, goodness hell. This is why we're in the less trouble we're in. BMW- Yes launched a rainproof sunroof. That's a good idea. Yeah. This is on April the 1st, 1983. They said even in the hardest rain, you could leave the sunroof open, because it could be driven through an automatic car wash with the top down, and the occupants would be protected by the new design. Basically, the engineers had created, this system with high volume air blowers that direct- Yeah a jet of air across the opening. If people wanted additional information, they were directed to a customer service line, to direct their call to April 1st. And people did. Fosses das. Oh, man. Good fun. Good idea. That's so good. Yeah there was one, in 1974, a fellow in Alaska, reported that there was a volcano erupting and- Oh, that could be- Yeah. Well, he took a whole bunch of tires- Yeah into, into this dormant volcano and- Oh, you're kidding me lit them. You're kidding me. He told the local authorities that that's what he was doing, he told the police and the FFA, but he hadn't told the Coast Guard, and they had to get out there in a helicopter and- Wow go and observe this thing. So I think he was in a little bit of strife, but he made the papers worldwide one a little bit closer to home. Yes. Some listeners might remember Dick Smith. Yes. We do remember Dick Smith. In 1978, Dick Smith, claimed that he'd towed an iceberg into Sydney Harbor to provide fresh water. Yeah. He was, he was saying it was a practical solution to the city's needs. So, and, and again, you can Google this stuff and there's a, this giant white thing that's on a barge in Sydney Harbor. Oh, wow. And you know, people actually believed it. And of course then it started raining and it was made of foam and shaving cream. I think the shaving cream started washing off. But how good. Yeah. Oh, dear. Power to him for doing that. Yeah. Yeah. This is a sidetrack. Mm. Like if you were on the poles or somewhere really cold with snow and the ice, you can't drink the water that's looks so clear. Oh, really? Well, well some of them it's been frozen for like a lot of years. Oh, okay. And it's got bacteria in it. Yeah. Right. So you could pick up something that you really don't wanna pick up. Yeah, yeah. That really icy, coldly clean looking water that you think that would be the purest water you could drink. Yeah. It could have a dead animal from- however many hundred years ago or so. A dead caveman. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Goodness. Richard Branson is pretty famous for his April Fool's Day, pranks. So he had a UFO-shaped hot air balloon created. Mm-hmm. And, um, it had all these flashing lights and things on it. So it had strobing lights, Apparently he hired, a dwarf, or a little person- to sit in it in an ET costume. Yeah. And he'd come out and scare everyone, you know- Yeah wherever it landed. Yeah. It was supposed to land in Hyde Park- Yeah but there were poor weather conditions, and he had to land in a field in Surrey. So after it landed, the door opened, and he had dry ice going- Yeah so it billowed out. And this, this little person wearing- Yeah an ET costume- Yeah came down the platform. But by that stage the police were there in force. So, apparently when Branson revealed his prank, they were none too impressed, but it's still hilarious. Oh, that's funny. It is pretty- Imagine if they did that in America. Oh. He would've got shot. Oh, yeah, probably. He would've been dead. Yeah. Goodness. That's so good. That was... Yeah. That was a good story, Al. all righty, Al. It's come to that time in the podcast. Mm-hmm. And, um, I know you've got it. So let's have it, the last one. The last. Yeah. Okay. A fun fact. Yeah. All right. This is something I found online not long ago, and that's the fact that there's a river, in the Peruvian Amazon that is boiling. A river? The water is up to 99 degrees Celsius. Wow. Yeah. At this point, you could boil an egg in that. You probably could. They reckon that animals that fall into it are basically burned to death because- Wow the water is so hot. It's in Shanay-Timpishka. It's also known as La Bamba- Oh for people who struggle to say Shanay-Timpishka. But it's a 6.4 kilometer or four mile river in the Amazon- Yeah where, yes, as I said, the temperature is up to 99 degrees Celsius. Wow. The name translates to boiled with the heat of the sun, understandably. So where does La Bamba come in? La Bomba means the pump, referring to all the super geothermal heating that's happening it means ba, la, la, la, la, La Bamba. So they say, "Si, una buca negre, giù." All right. What have the Romans ever done for us? Yeah. Tick. Mart having a sing. Tick. So, yeah, this is crazy. The scientists, theorized that the temperature is caused by a fault-driven geothermal system. There's no volcano for 700 Ks, so it's not like it's, uh, a volcano that's, you know, just- It's obviously a big crevice bubbling away under the, under the Earth's crust. Yeah. There's obviously a big crevice and the water goes right down there. Yeah. Far out. Yeah. It's hot enough to cause severe third degree burns. Wow. And it instantly cooks small animals and insects that fall in, so. Might be a good place to hang around if you're hungry. Good place to do the washing. Yeah. Good takeaway. Yeah. Well, What's on the menu tonight? Whatever falls in. Yeah. Yeah. Apparently the, local people have known about it for generations, but it was really only discovered, in 2011. So- In 2011? It's pretty recent, yeah. Wow. I love the fact that there are still things on this planet that people are finding and going, "Wow, what's this about?" Yeah. Yeah. Jeez. So- That's amazing how- Yeah, so deep in the Amazon. Yeah. Well, deep in the Amazon. You wouldn't wanna go there I don't think. I don't think so, no. I'm sure there's more things deep in the Amazon that we know nothing about. Oh yeah, probably. Anyway, that is a fun fact. Yeah. And it's probably- That's a great fun fact probably time for us to go. Yeah. Thanks again, folks, for listening. Yeah. We love it. And, remember, if you've got a- A mondegreen? A mondegreen, that's it. How many times have we said the word mondegreen in the last show? Yeah, I've got a shit memory. Me too. Mondegreen. Yeah. Send it in. Exactly. We'd love to hear. Exactly. Yeah. It is time for us to go. We've had a great time tonight We have. And, Yeah we love everyone listening. We have a good time. Yeah And, as always, you know, these are just facts and things that we find and that we love to share. Yeah. Some of them are serious and some of them are quite funny Some of them are quite funny. We- Some of them are really funny We had a lot of trouble getting through the, description of the Richard Branson, uh- UFO UFO thing. Yeah. So we thought rather than just edit all of that out, we'd, uh, probably... Because we're just- Share it with you we are just big kids and we're idiots. So we just thought we'd give you about three minutes of us trying to describe that and- Yeah um, not being able to. Yeah. So- It'll be hard to get out uh, enjoy. And, we'll see you next time. See ya. Bye. this is my personal favorite, Mark. Yeah, I gathered that. I can't do it. I'm gonna go back to the start. No, keep going. Oh, no. Richard Branson's one of the most famous exponents of April Fools' Day gags. Yeah, what'd he do, Al? He had a UFO-shaped Come on, you can do it. I know. He had a UFO-shaped hot air balloon- created which had all these strobing, flashing lights- Yeah and things. Here we go. And he hired a dwarf, or a little person- Yeah to sit in it- Oh, my in an ET costume How good. let's do it again. Oh, God. It's not gonna happen now. No, we're gonna do this. We can't do it. We ca- we're gonna do it now. One of the greatest exponents of April Fools' Day gags is, clearly Richard Branson. Okay, what did he do, Al? Oh, this one cracks me up. He had a UFO shaped hot air balloon created complete with strobing lights. Mm-hmm. He hired Do you want to... Can you say it? No, I can't say Apparently he hired, uh, a dwarf, or a little person- to sit in it in an ET costume. He did it. He did it, yeah. And he'd come out and scare everyone, you know- Yeah wherever it landed. Yeah. It was supposed to land in Hyde Park- Yeah but there were poor weather conditions, and he had to land in a field in Surrey. So after it landed, the door opened, and he had dry ice going- Yeah so it billowed out. And this, this little person wearing- Yeah an ET costume- Yeah came down the platform. But by that stage the police were there in force. So, apparently when Branson revealed his prank, they were none too impressed, but it's still hilarious. Oh, that's funny. It is pretty- Imagine if they did that in America. Oh. He would've got shot. Oh, yeah, probably. He would've been dead. Yeah. Goodness. That's so good. That was... Yeah. That was a good story, Al. If we can make anything of it.