# Great practical joke for the right person **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 18, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656 "2006-12-18T17:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/1 "2006-12-18T17:26:46Z")
Inspired by this news item [North Carolina couple finds message in a bottle - dated June the 29th 1951](http://www.wbir.com/news/regional/story.aspx?storyid=40269) So, here’s the gag, if you are the type of person who craves attention. Just buy an antique bottle and an old collectable letter, preferably from a seaman of yore. Put the two together and “discover” them after a big storm. Your face will be on TV all over the state. Just be sure the bottle has a wax seal and not a cork that would have rotted away. And be sure the antique dealer selling the letter is someone forgetful 😉 ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/2 "2006-12-19T14:34:46Z")
Even better, if you can stand a little legal exposure, find out who was rich that died on the Titanic, and create a “last minute holistic will” in a bottle giving all their riches to your grandmother, his secret love. What fun 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/3 "2006-12-19T21:43:22Z")
“It had a metal cap on it and if a metal cap had been in the ocean for 50 years it would have been deteriorated altogether,” Sandy Midgett said. True? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/4 "2006-12-19T21:45:03Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] “It had a metal cap on it and if a metal cap had been in the ocean for 50 years it would have been deteriorated altogether,” Sandy Midgett said. True? [/QUOTE] Yes, completely true. The person who said it was 3’5". ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/5 "2006-12-19T21:46:26Z")
Cool story but what an irritating fucking article. What did the note say? ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/6 "2006-12-19T22:45:48Z")
Looks like it said very little, other than he was a sailor aboard the navy oiler Chipola in Norfolk Va. [http://tinypic.com/2h3206v.jpg](http://tinypic.com/2h3206v.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/7 "2006-12-20T03:39:27Z")
This reminds me of a recent story of a biographer who ended up “discovering” a rare [letter](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340567,00.html) during the research of his book. It turned out the letter was a fake and had a nasty message towards the biographer hidden in it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/8 "2006-12-20T15:00:30Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Yes, completely true. The person who said it was 3’5". [/QUOTE] And covered in sand? ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/9 "2006-12-20T16:11:14Z")
[QUOTE=mobo85] This reminds me of a recent story of a biographer who ended up “discovering” a rare [letter](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340567,00.html) during the research of his book. It turned out the letter was a fake and had a nasty message towards the biographer hidden in it. [/QUOTE] The biography of “Sir John Betjeman”. How obscure. But I suppose the prankster knew he would never know another biographer 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/10 "2006-12-20T16:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Yes, completely true. The person who said it was 3’5". [/QUOTE] Brilliant. If I’d been drinking coke, my monitor would now be covered in it…! ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/11 "2006-12-20T17:24:35Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] And covered in sand? [/QUOTE] I was actually picturing [Dorf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Conway) in a sand trap, swinging his sawed-off wedge. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/12 "2006-12-20T19:41:09Z")
Andy Warhol said we’d all have 15 minutes of fame. Here in the UK, failed contestants on reality TV shows can become ‘celebrities’ and even get their own TV shows: The format saw Nikki attempt several jobs in each show, which included various unpleasant tasks such as rubbish collecting, deep sea fishing and waste management. The show’s premise was to see whether or not Nikki would perform the tasks given to her and keep her job for a day, or whether she would quit or be sacked due to her infamous tantrums. The concept of the show was taken from one of the tasks Nikki undertook while in the Big Brother House. > **[Princess Nikki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Nikki)** > > Princess Nikki is a reality television series that stars former Big Brother 7 housemate Nikki Grahame. It ran on Wednesday nights between 10:00 - 10:30pm on E4 from 6 September 2006, for a total runtime of 30 minutes. The show was devised by Endemol, the company that also devised Big Brother. It was narrated by the presenter and comedian, Alex Zane. > The format saw Grahame attempt several jobs, including various unpleasant tasks such as rubbish collecting, deep sea fishing, and waste managemen... But why stop at statewide TV. Just announce you have discovered the Iraq WMD’s or that you are perhaps going out with a Hollywood star: Jennifer Aniston has prompted doubts about her relationship with Vince Vaughn, insisting rebound relationships are a bad idea. … The actress was linked with Vaughn soon after her split from Brad Pitt, after they met on the set of new movie The Break-Up. … Months on, they still haven’t confirmed they are an item. [http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/3503145](http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/3503145) ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-practical-joke-for-the-right-person/384656/13 "2006-12-20T19:45:24Z")
The real joke is a sailor using a bottle labeled “Wildroot Cream Oil” for the message. Heh.