April Fools

From the Daily Telegraph 1 Apr 08 – page 5:

Penguins prove evolution is no flight of fancy
By Neil Midgley TV & Radio Editor
THE BBC will today screen incredible footage of penguins flying as part of its new natural history series, Miracles of Evolution.

Camera crews discovered a colony of Adélie penguins while filming on King George Island, 750 miles south of the Falkland Islands.

The programme is being presented by Terry Jones, the former Monty Python actor, who said: “We’d been filming the penguins for days, without a hint of what was to come. But then the weather took a turn for the worse. It was quite amazing. Rather than getting together in a huddle to protect themselves from the cold, they did something quite unexpected, that no other penguins can do.”

BBC1 viewers will see the penguins not only take flight from the Antarctic wastes, but fly thousands of miles to the Amazonian rainforest to find winter sun.

And the editorial linked to this article:

In praise of folly
Children would, until not so long ago. carry stinging nettles on May 29 with which to prod anyone who had neglected to wear a sprig of oak leaves in honour of the Restoration of the Monarchy. Until the Second World War, children could still be seen in the streets of London in early August making little caves with oyster shells and demanding change with cries of “Remember the grotto!”

Such customs disappear like snow, and are replaced by doubtful commercialised rites for Hallowe’en and “Mother’s Day”. At least April Fool’s Day has not been hijacked by the marketing men. Perhaps its minor deceptions and practical jokes do not satisfy us as they did our grandparents. but still the nation is united in cautious awareness of what April 1 brings. We’re quick to find fools in every enterprise. from transport to television. But remember: folly begins at home.

Perhaps they have a point?