What On Earth?-Column #11, April 2003

Well, April is here, and so is Spring. I'll make a good column, no matter what.

The first of the month is April Fool's Day, as in "John, there's an ant behind you." I look. "APRIL FOOL!" I hope you know what this means. If you don't, well, someone tells you something like that, well, and you look around, only to realize it as a joke.

The 15th is Tax Day. My family and I have been filling out those forms like crazy. I've even heard people successfully manage to evade the IRS. Hmm. Is that still going on? Well, for us, those who DO file our taxes, some of us file those taxes early and get some extra cash back. Why not?

5 days after that, and usually, at this month, we've got Easter to talk about. You know when people go on hunts for Easter eggs, colored and patterned to look good. Some other surprises, like Chocolate eggs, bunnies, and other types of candies. Well, this will be a good one.

And, as you know, this month, we start Daylight Savings Time. Ever heard the expression "Spring Forward, Fall Back?" Well, this is where the definition comes in. In the Spring, you LOSE an hour of sleep, by setting your clocks FORWARD. In the Fall, you GAIN that hour, setting your clocks BACKWARD. I hope this makes sense.

Anyone who's a fan of the musical Chicago, will be DANCING WITH JOY! The movie won an Oscar for Best Picture. I'm sure there were other awards that night, but I won't go into detail with them.

And the Oscars went on DESPITE the fact that we're now at War With Iraq. President Bush has just about been FED UP with Saddam Hussein's refusal to leave the country. So, we'll take him out OURSELVES.

Now, I'd like to focus on the "Big Bucks" documentary and the second season of Whammy. Now, I liked the fact that they decided to show clips of the show's actual 1984 episodes, they should've separated the two. That way, when I watch, I get ALL of the action and not just some of it. You see, many of us like what he did. But, when you combine the two, you lose the opportunity to view EVERY nook and cranny, and I don't like that. That's the problem. Many of us WANT to know how Larsen managed to run the board to $110K+, and when you separate the two, you get just that. Now, on the second part of the 2-part premiere of Whammy, Larsen's brother, James was on the show, and he won a digital piano worth $6,695. Not too bad for a half-hour's work. If only he had added the car and some cash to his lot.

Now, for the new season of Whammy. No more Gem Car. This time they're giving away a Suzuki Aerio, and to win that you have to hit the two halves of a car key, etc. Hit a whammy, and all your cash and prizes go into a progressive jackpot known as the BIG BANK, which starts at $3K. If you hit the Big Bank square, and answer a short-answer question CORRECTLY, you will win everything in the Big Bank. Not so bad, I don't think. I'm starting to like that idea, because whoever didn't get the chance to pick up the first car key halve in Round 1, may get that chance in Round 2.

Well, as you know, I'm at the STRETCH, as are many baseball fans. So far, this season is going splendidly as planned, and I look forward to a great season and a great World Series, in the fact that there's not a strike.

Well, that's it for now. I hope your spring is a HOME RUN! This is John Lee saying "Go HOME!"