76 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
76 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
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From dilip@cs.utexas.edu Fri Oct 7 09:11:39 1988
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From: dilip@cs.utexas.edu (Dilip DSouza)
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Subject: MadHatterDay
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Date: 7 Oct 88 14:11:39 GMT
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Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
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Unfortunately, this is a day late, but still, do go out and celebrate.
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cheers,
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dilip.
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===============
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Third MadHatterDay
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October 6, 1988 marks the third celebration of MadHatterDay. April Fools'
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Day isn't enough; MadHatterDay is intended to be a second silly day in the
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year. On MadHatterDay you don't have to be a politician (or even wear a
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suit) in order to go about saying outrageous things that no sane person
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could believe. Non-sequiturs are the order of the day...marketing claims
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and campaign promises merge with reality...television is wisdom...news-
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papers contain news...
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Why October 6? The illustrations (by John Tenniel) accompanying the
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original _Alice's_Adventures_in_Wonderland_ show the Mad Hatter wearing a
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hat with a slip of paper saying "In this style 10/6-". Never mind that
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"10/6-" really meant "ten shillings sixpence" (after all, time IS money,
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right?)--just take it as guidance to behave "in the style" of the Mad
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Hatter on October 6. (That is a US interpretation; in Britain, the
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holiday is celebrated on June 10.)
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Although the date for MadHatterDay is chosen according to the logic (?)
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indicated, it is also set almost precisely six months away from April
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Fools' Day (to provide a well-timed second silly day) and in the full of
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the election season--which seems particularly appropriate this year.
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There's plenty of madness about us, if we just look:
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- the 3-piece suit: Does this REALLY make sense? Do you really
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trust major monetary decisions to people who wear at least three
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layers of clothing in the summertime?...with a special device to
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restrict blood flow to the brain while making the decisions?
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- the automobile: Do you REALLY believe that we distill the juice
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from rotten dinosaur food and explode it in metal boxes in order
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to travel about?
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- exercise: Do you understand why folks strive to get out of
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manual labor and into a desk job...and then join a health club
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because they don't get any exercise otherwise?
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- food: Why do we spend equal amounts on excessive food and on
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diet gimmicks/plans?
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- Daylight Savings Time: Do you really think there's an extra hour
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in the summertime? Does resetting the clock change anything?
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(There are--honest!--proposals for "year-'round DST". People
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actually prefer getting up at 7 on a clock set an hour ahead to
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getting up at 6!)
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The truly mad person is the one who takes our world seriously.
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+---------+
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| In This |
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| Style |
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| 10/6- |
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+---------+
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--
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Dick Dunn UUCP: {ncar,nbires}!ico!rcd (303)449-2870
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...Are you making this up as you go along?
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===============
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--
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You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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Dilip D'Souza. University of Texas, CS Department.
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dilip@cs.utexas.edu
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