Get Your Wacky Ideas In NOW!

Time is fast ticking down to a date the entire ANN staff looks forward to every year. See, each April 1st, we have a problem getting our stories straight... we make things up, we get silly, we exaggerate and lampoon. In other words, we act weirder than normal... and in this group, that's really saying something. (At least we get group rates on appropriate professional care... which comes in handy more often than we care to admit -- Ed.)

Once a year it's fun to let it all hang out, and this year is no exception. Rest assured we already have some "doozys" in the can for April 1... but we wanted to give our readers ONE LAST CHANCE to submit their ideas for April 1st, in hopes of seeing their twisted ideas (or better yet, full stories) in pixliated print.

Keep in mind two things: One, we only lampoon the ones we love*. We ask our readers AND sponsors to keep that in mind...

And secondly... since our format doesn't always allow for easy distinction between April 1st stories and stories that are published on April 1st (if ya know what we mean...), we're gonna warn ya. Please note that all stories posted Wednesday, April 1, 2009 that are NOT labeled specifically as REAL NEWS should be read with your funny bone in gear, and all others with a straight face... we hope.

We hate to provide that caveat, but it's been an issue in the past. For example, a few years back when a New York Times reporter once actually thought our story on Sandra Bullock racing bizjets at Reno had a glimmer of truth.

There were also a few questions about last year April's 1st story which saw Boeing giving up on its 787 program... opting instead to introduce the updated 767-500 "Miserliner." While most (but not all!) of you who saw the story figured out Boeing would never really do such a thing (and for the rest of you... really? "Bubbles" Yamagura wasn't a hint? Seriously? -- RF) events have since shown that, perhaps, Boeing should have taken our advice, we're just saying.

Of course, that also gives us further incentive to raise the bar in 2009.

That's the LAST warning you're gonna get. After this, we take no prisoners. We're having a ball putting this one together and after some of the past year's low points, we all could use a good laugh (and a good cry...)

We hope you enjoy our efforts this year and appreciate the work done by ANN Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, ANN Managing Editor Rob Finfrock, E-Media Producer Paul Plack, Associate Editor Scott Evans, Senior Video Producer Sarah Curtiss, Marketing Director Bill Poirier... AND many others!

We also have some REALLY great ANN readers who have already sent us some TRULY good ideas, photos and suggestions. Y'all are some very warped people... and we appreciate it.

Your suggestions for worthwhile April 1st topics and story ideas are ALWAYS welcome. Just click the link below and take your best shot... the weirder the better!

*Well, for the most part...

FMI: I Can't Believe You're Doing This Again!