Wikipedia:April Fools' Main Page/Today's Featured Picture/Archive 2009

Please use this page for discussions surrounding the creation of "Today's Featured Picture" for April Fool's day 2009

Areas of work needed to complete the front page are:


 * April Fool's Main Page/Featured Article
 * April Fool's Main Page/Today's Featured Picture
 * April Fool's Main Page/On This Day
 * April Fool's Main Page/In The News
 * April Fool's Main Page/Did You Know

Ground rules for this activity along with a list or participants may be found on the Main talk page. -

The Mission
In order to get a funny/unusual Featured picture onto the front page, it must be both a great picture and be used in a Wikipedia article.

Action Items

 * 1) What picture?  We need to nominate some and vote on them.
 * 2) Whatever we choose has to be used in an actual Wikipedia article.  Can we write an article that NEEDS a WikiWorld cartoon?  Maybe Greg Williams (who draws them for us) is sufficiently notable that we could write a short Bio article on him and illustrate it with a WikiWorld cartoon?  Maybe WikiWorld in itself is notable (it's a bit of a self-ref...but maybe that's OK considering that we only need it to get the image accepted).
 * 3) If we choose to use a WikiWorld cartoon - maybe we want Greg to draw us one especially for the day?
 * 4) We have to usher it through the nomination process and make sure it actually does get onto the front page on April 1st.
 * 5) Rule: Pictures appear on the main page only once, so they cannot have been used on the main page before.

Another idea
"Maison tournante aérienne" (Aerial turning house) c. 1883 by early science fiction writer Albert Robida (1848-1926). A nineteenth century vision of the future published in Robida's book Le Vingtième Siècle (The Twentieth Century). Illustration depicts a dwelling that can rotate on a post with an airship in the distance. Children fly a kite from a balcony, a dog has a doghouse on the roof, a chicken head adorns a gable, and a young couple flirts through the rooftops at lower left. Durova Charge! 19:07, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
 * This one is definitely growing on me, with the caption going something like, "A typical 20th century house, as drawn by Albert Robida..." In other words, leave out any mention that it's speculative.  howcheng  {chat} 04:29, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It's been growing on me too. It's weird and quirky!  Royal broil  10:44, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * This is the winner! Template:POTD/2009-04-01 is now written.  howcheng  {chat} 23:39, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Is there any concern about the fact that the lead image for the April 1 Featured Article is also a painting? Spikebrennan (talk) 13:17, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
 * No, TFA and POTD act independently of each other. Raul654 certainly doesn't consult me about whatever articles he's doing.  howcheng  {chat} 18:09, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Tanks treads on an airplane
Found this while randomly browsing to kill time one day. It caught my attention and I nominated it for FP (and it was recently promoted). --​​ ​​D.B. talk • contribs 02:16, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I like this one. It's odd (and refreshingly uncontroversial/innocent). Follows the spirit of April Fools in a most exquisite way. Out of all the proposals, I like this best. ♠  TomasBat   03:58, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
 * But would it be clear it was on an airplane without the big caption? Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 03:59, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Comedian Josh Blue
Recently passed FPC. Not really funny, but has relationship to AFD. &mdash; Sunday   | Speak  00:00, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I like this one. It's unusual, it's good quality, and links to a comedy related page. --antilivedT 05:53, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
 * "Josh Blue knew the microphone was up to something, but hadn't yet figured out what." Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 11:50, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I really like this one. Spikebrennan (talk) 13:47, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
 * By way of further advocacy, I submit that this image works just as well in the smaller front-page format as in full-size. Spikebrennan (talk) 15:38, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Salvador Dali
This is absurd and wonderful. Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:43, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * This could work! We should describe it in perfectly mundane language. Maybe "A photograph of a perfectly typical day in the life of Salvador Dali." Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 11:49, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Mount Rushmore
It's always seemed like this photo of Mount Rushmore has a bit of juvenile humor that people are too polite to mention. Or if you prefer, I've got a half finished restoration of a cartoon from the French Revolution. Read the description for a sense of what's in there. Best regards, Durova Charge! 21:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)


 * This picture of Rushmore is great. It is factual and already a featured picture, but it is still funny.--Found5dollar (talk) 15:24, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed, love the Rushmore pic. Calliopejen1 (talk) 22:48, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Would someone adjust the image so that it shows up at the same scale as it would appear on the main page?  Royal broil  05:05, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Main page pics run at different sizes. This might approximate it?  Durova Charge! 07:20, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks! At 185px, it's getting harder to see that someone is climbing into the nose. The humorous effect is starting to be lost. It is the best option so far in my opinion. It would be much better if it could be run at 250px.  Royal broil  00:57, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Mystery picture
Run this with no explanation or description whatsoever, or if we must fill some space, go with something along the lines of "This is a featured picture, an image that the Wikipedia community finds beautiful, stunning, impressive, and/or informative..."

There's an added bonus - this one was always going to be difficult to describe for the main page. By running it on April Fools... we don't have to. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 04:17, 24 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I actually like this idea. All is true, this is a FP and this is because the community found it exceptional, informative... --Tone 21:02, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
 * This would be a great April Fool if we suggest it's a special kind of Magic Eye graphic, ie if you sit a certain distance away another image will pop into 3D. We slip in a "Can't see it?" link to the "answer" which of course links to the April Fool article instead. mikaultalk 23:44, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Alas, the idea is that although things on the Main Page might look like jokes, every word is supposed to factually true.  howcheng  {chat} 04:28, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Chorus girls


One of mine that just got promoted. It's slightly risque, in the fairly harmless 1900s way - for instance, what ARE those yellow-dressed girls doing with the pink-dressed girls' dresses? However, it doesn't cross the line into vulgarness, and keeps at the level of cute and fun. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 11:31, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Chrysomya megacephala
There was some mention at the nomination that this could be the POTD on April 1st. It appears in 3 articles, illustrates the feeding well and for those who haven't figured it out yet, no its not chocolate the fly is feeding on. --Muhammad (talk) 03:54, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
 * What happened to "feces will not be going on the Main Page"? Lampman (talk) 13:55, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Its not looking like feces, is it? --Muhammad (talk) 09:25, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

2 pigs
Here ia another one -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 12:38, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I like this. --Muhammad (talk) 13:10, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't like it for April Fool's. They're cute, but not at all funny. Simon Cowell would call it mundane and ordinary.  Royal broil  14:04, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Oh, sh*t!
This: was recently promoted to FP. Spikebrennan (talk) 17:01, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Something smells fishy, and it just sh*t on me! It's perfect! Sh*ts on readers throughout the world!  Royal broil  17:22, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry, feces will not be going on the Main Page -- it's just in too poor taste. Yes, it's April Fool's, but we still want to avoid photos that make Wikipedia look bad.  howcheng  {chat} 23:56, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
 * What could be more interesting and encyclopedic than a defecating seagull! --Tobyw87 (talk) 20:59, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Good choice. It works on several levels. Respect to the photographer. Axl  ¤  [Talk]  10:05, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Howcheng decides which picture appears on the main page, so we need to find another picture.  Royal broil  03:23, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * What's special about Howcheng? What about consensus? Axl  ¤  [Talk]  06:32, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've only been doing this for close to 3 years. There are several unwritten guidelines as to what's disallowable on the Main Page. My guideline has been to imagine what might be allowed on the front page of a major newspaper (e.g., New York Times): Nothing salacious, overly gory/gruesome, or crass.  howcheng  {chat} 19:24, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Oh, come on. I bet I could write up a 300-word description of guano that would be encyclopedic, well-referenced, informative, and excellently described by that picture. The guano-covered rocks of seabird nesting sites, for instance, are important to whole hosts of creatures. Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 19:53, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Right, but this isn't a picture of guano-covered rocks, it's a picture of a bird taking a crap.  howcheng  {chat} 04:28, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * And what d'ye think causes the guano-covered rocks? Shoemaker&#39;s Holiday (talk) 22:37, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I like this.  Azoreg (talk) 20:07, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think this would be good for the occasion. It has high EV - how many people have seen or even realise birds defaecate in mid air?  It is a featured picture and so should be on the front page at some point.  Since when did wikipedia policy not apply to the front page?  Several apply here including WP:NOTCENSORED & WP:CONSENSUS.  |→ Spaully₪† 16:54, 25 March 2009 (GMT)
 * Do you think that even if there was a consensus to put Jenna Jameson as TFA, that Raul654 would do it? Hell no. She ain't never seeing the front page because it makes us look bad. This is similiar. It's indeed scientific, but it's also juvenile and crass, and that's why it won't ever make the Main Page either. As to your question, how many people realize birds defecate in mid-air -- I think anyone who has ever been shat on by a bird (or had a near miss, or knows someone who has) knows this.  howcheng  {chat} 23:15, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
 * If it was a serious consensus with a decent quorum I would like to think it would make TFA. You have answered my query though - you suggest there are other, sometimes overriding, factors in choosing front page material.  Might I also suggest that the whole idea of an April fool's is somewhat juvenile?  Anyway, I think this is not going to progress usefully so I will leave it at that. |→ Spaully₪† 00:00, 27 March 2009 (GMT)

Public indecency
Is this just too awful? It made me laugh, at least. Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:41, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, Howcheng has vetoed this ever appearing on the main page. Durova Charge! 21:00, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Apparently the main page has an excrement embargo. Lampman (talk) 00:20, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Saturn Eclispe


Here is a picture of Saturn in eclipse and fainlty in the background just above the rings to the left is a dot that is the Earth. We could caption this photo as a display of "Earth" in not mention Saturn on the main page. When people click to the larger picture page they can learn the Earth is the dot in the back.-- Birgitte SB  21:03, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That's pretty good. First things first, this photo needs to go into an article, and then pass FP.  howcheng  {chat} 22:16, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It is in the article Eclipse-- Birgitte SB  03:02, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Symbol delete vote.svg The picture is already featured as File:Saturn eclipse.jpg and it has been on the main page. It is not eligible and should be deleted as a duplicate.  Royal broil  03:15, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Gah, I thought that looked familiar.  howcheng  {chat} 03:48, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Some critters that are funny-looking
Some suggestions to throw out... Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:53, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Symbol delete vote.svg All of these pictures have already appeared on the main page, so they are ineligible.  Royal broil  13:44, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Funny sports
Both have been on the main page fairly recently though... Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:57, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Symbol delete vote.svgSymbol delete vote.svg Pictures have already appeared on the main page, so it is ineligible.  Royal broil  13:43, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

360 panorama
Could be funny if we just describe the beach as though it's a normal photo. Calliopejen1 (talk) 04:04, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Symbol delete vote.svg Picture has already appeared on the main page, so it is ineligible.  Royal broil  13:42, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Pluto photo
Image:Pluto.jpg While it doesn't fall under the POTD requirements, it is in fact one of the best images we have of Pluto. -- MacAddct &#xF8FF; 1984 (talk &#149; contribs) 02:38, 29 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Why would we want to put this on April Fool's Day?  howcheng  {chat} 02:33, 29 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, it's not exactly the sharpest/highest quality photo yet still has the quality of being important in terms of astronomy... maybe it's not quite relevant, just something that popped into my head. -- MacAddct &#xF8FF; 1984 (talk &#149; contribs) 02:38, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Normally for April Fool's Day we pick some silly picture. We could probably write a silly blurb too but I'm not much of a comedy writer.  howcheng  {chat} 03:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Plus it has a copyright tag. IIRC Mr. Wales hates copyrighted images on the front page.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 22:54, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't think this image would pass the FP reviewers. Last year we took images that were already FP and chose the most appropriate one for the day. I think we should do the same for 2009 - get it featured first.  Royal broil  04:07, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Red Eye Effect
Here is a good image demonstrating the effects of pure evil. Asmeurer ( talk   ♬  contribs ) 03:33, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I really like this idea, the irony of red eye in a FP would be superb. Rambo's Revenge (talk)  16:21, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Banksy


How about a work by Banksy such as the two here? They are funny in how he takes what you expect and goes against it.--Found5dollar (talk) 18:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Neither are FP, and I don't think they would pass if nominated. Ceran  →// forge 18:25, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Museum of Bad Art
Here is another suggestion. It is of the Work "Lucy in the Field with Flowers" from the Museum of Bad Art's (MOBA) Perminant collection. The copyright of the picture is a little tricky, but if push comes to shove, the MOBA would almost certianly allow this to be presented on the front page if asked. --Found5dollar (talk) 19:01, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry, non-free images can't go on the main page. And the person you need to ask is the artist - the MOBA doesn't own the copyright so any "permission" they give is basically worthless. (removed non-free image per WP:NONFREE.) Calliopejen1 (talk) 20:29, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * This is going to be the featured article, so this picture will be on the main page there.  Royal broil  00:08, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Picture of the year
Of 2008's Picture of the year candidates, this Daniel Mróz illustration for a Sławomir Mrożek book was the silliest I could find. Lampman (talk) 21:39, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That's a fun pic, but I doubt it would pass FP - appears to have been flatted to just B/W with a significant degradation in quality. Calliopejen1 (talk) 22:47, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * It is an FP, on Commons at least. Lampman (talk) 01:14, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Birth of a fly
Looks very much like her mother, doesn't she? -- Alvesgaspar (talk) 18:31, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
 * This image is not featured. Images have to be featured according to the rules.  Royal broil  23:08, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Conceptual Discussions, Not About Specific Images

 * Idea Proposal Howabout for AFMP 2009, we go the opposite direction? Instead of finding a high quality picture to slap onto the front page, we go out and find the most worst picture on Wikipedia? OR, find a lackluster picture, and try to incorporate some truthful yet humorous text? --293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 10:00, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I like the idea, but other's won't. It breaks the Ground Rules because the worst pictures don't have the highest standards. Royal broil  12:19, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * ...I can't find the page now, but someone nominated a closeup of a pixel. Why don't we use that? --293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 05:25, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
 * What about something like motion blur? It's truthful yet not the best quality(?) image. However, the article would need some work. 71.250.23.12 (talk) 21:55, 1 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Idea Why don't we just get a picture of something that everyone knows what it is and just put "This is an x" for the caption. Maybe we could include some more obvious stuff that everyone already knows.   Asmeurer  ( talk   ♬  contribs ) 03:28, 10 February 2009 (UTC)


 * How about something really mundane, like Image:Napkin holder.jpg or something? Bob Amnertiopsis ChitChat Me!  02:07, 19 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Who would support something mundane like a napkin holder for Featured Picture? Featured Pictures are supposed to be Wikipedia's best pictures, so mundane probably won't pass FPC.  Royal broil  04:01, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

Alternative direction
Can we do something more like the FA blurb, where we have a regular FP, but make the caption so that it seems false?  howcheng  {chat} 20:34, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
 * If we don't come up with a real "special" image, that's fine with me! How about we use that approach with Josh Blue's image? His article is pretty short - there has to be some odd content available on a comedian!  Royal broil  03:18, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I'd support the poop one &mdash; and the article used for FAc was Ima Hogg, meaning I'm a Hog, so it wasn't just some random/regular article. Ceran  →// forge 23:01, 4 February 2009 (UTC)