As you travel around town on Friday, don’t be surprised if you see some strange things. Holy crocuses! No, we don’t mean the usual variety of weird stuff that happens this time of year, like flowers blooming in toasty planters while 2-feet of snow remains in the hills. That’s just situation normal for a Homer spring. Oh, and the Betster doesn’t mean our everyday colorful characters, like people with lime-green hair and painted XtraTufs. When the Betster says “colorful,” yours truly isn’t using that as a figure of speech.
Nope, look for out-of-the-norm bizarre things on Friday. Prankster alert: it’s April Fool’s Day. On April 1, expect amateur yucksters to pull some fast ones. Since the Betster moonlights as a cynical, hardened reporter, you’re going to have to get up really early to fool the B. Still, that guy who drove around one year with a gasoline pump hose dangling from this tank cap? Awesome. Props to you, dude. You not only fooled me, but going by the police blotter calls, about a dozen other people, too.
Here’s where the Betster inserts the obligatory Journalism Ethics 101 disclaimer: the Homer News does not commit April Fool’s jokes. The Betster learned this from a former editor who one April Fool’s Day slammed down a copy of A Newspaper That Shall Not Be Named that had tried a prank story. “If anyone ever does this, you’re fired,” he said, sounding even meaner than The Donald. If you read a story in this week’s paper that sounds utterly bizarre and strange, don’t blame us. That’s just life at latitude 59 degrees and some change. But grade school clowns and adult comedians — hey, bring it on. Don’t hurt anyone. Be kind. Be clever. April Fool’s Day kicks off an awesome weekend of amazing activities, like these Best Bets:
BEST EXTRAVAGANZA BET: The Betster loves that Paul Banks Elementary School holds an annual spring arts show. Hey, we’re all art nuts here, right? Hurrah to Paul Banks for fostering new artists. You can check out their work from 5-7 p.m. Friday. Don’t miss the other First Friday shows, too. See Arts, pages 10-11, for the details.
BEST BIG HEADS BET: No, we’re not talking a presidential candidate debate. It’s Wonderheads, a tres-cool mask show where the actors wear full-head masks. That would be the “wonder” thing. They perform “The Middle of Everywhere” at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Mariner Theatre.
BEST WORK IT BET: This spring Homer High’s big musical goes in a different direction. We’re not talking Sharks or Jets or Grease, but working stiffs. Based on Studs Terkel’s book, “Working” looks at the lives of regular Joes and Janes trying to make a living. It shows at 6 p.m. today, 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Mariner Theatre. See story, page 10.
BEST LADS AND LASSIES BET: What’s a Ceilidh? How do you even say it? Learn about the dance of the British Isles in a workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday with visiting British artist Gwendolen Chatfield at Bunnell Street Arts Center. Chatfield also performs in concert at 8 p.m. Friday at Bunnell. She’s the Bunnell Artist in Residence this month.
