This just in: Randy Johnson kills Bjork with post-Oscar fastball

These pages continue an old Ohio University Post tradition. They spring from the mind of G.L. Marshall, who had way too much OU Postie Fool fun back in the '70s.

Mr. Marshall spent 16 years in the news business before striking out into websmithery, and during that career switch, he made the acquaintance of the Broznews proprietor, Richard Brosnahan.

During a 1997 hallway conversation, Mr. Brosnahan learned that Mr. Marshall missed doing the annual sendups, and floated the idea of doing a Bogus BrozFool sometime. Turns out, this is the third time Mr. Brosnahan has lent his normally reputable site out for some webspoofery.

In terms of legalities, all trademarks and such are protected, but Fair Use copyright doctrine is forgiving in matters of parody or satire, which are constitutionally protected free speech. Parodies offer no protection in matters of libel, obscenity, or the intentional infliction of emotional distress, and parodies also lose some legal protections if they are a for-profit operations as opposed to a worthy review or criticism. Mr. Brosnahan has only one worry, and that's if Mr. Marshall isn't funny.

Roughly 70 percent of the gags come from Mr. Marshall or his muse, M.D. Ozmar. One gag always comes from B.S. Wilson, a couple are stolen from Jay Leno, and at least one is from David Letterman. Craig Kilborn made it just under deadline, as did Chris Rock.

An old OU April Fools rule maintained at least one story must be true, and in fact, there's multiple true stories here. Considering how hard they are to spot, that's probably the biggest foolishness of all.

***

PS: Among the places where you can find "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" (about 1.5 meg, Shockwave Flash Plug-In required) is this link.