Singing Hour

This article is about Space Sim Lore. It contains anecdotes or Spacesim mythology.

Singing Hour was the 2009-10 April Fool's Day joke. It was perpetrated by Samuel Baltz with the knowledge and co-operation of Maclean Rouble, Peter Macdonald, and Dr. Magwood. The idea of a singing hour was Peter Macdonald's idea after Maclean Rouble decided that the first idea for a joke was not funny, and Samuel Baltz filled in the details while explaining the proposition to Spacesim.

The Joke

During the lunch meeting on April 1, 2010, the following story was told to the assembled members of Spacesim:

Samuel Baltz and Stefan De Young wrote a proposal for funding and submitted it to the OCDSB. They received an email back saying that Spacesim was too obviously based at Lisgar, and that in order to receive funding directly from the school board Spacesim should have a much wider base of support from across a large variety of schools. Accordingly, Baltz and De Young wrote another proposal and sent it to Canterbury High School. Canterbury's principal liked the idea, but thought that it was necessary that Spacesim cover more cross-curricular material. Accordingly, the Canterbury guidance department agreed to promote Spacesim to their students on the condition that there be an hour per work session of mandatory singing.

Effect

The perpetrators of the practical joke were immensely surprised to find that a large portion of members immediately believed the joke, and that it started a serious and productive conversation about funding and how each member could help. Baltz spent the rest of the lunch period arguing with various members about whether the singing was worthwhile in order to court extra members, and it was never explained that the episode was entirely fictitious. Stefan De Young was informed of his involvement in the story that night, and by all accounts he thought it was humorous.