[PPRAANet] Let's play Looney Bin

[Dick Thompson]

Does anybody know who Mark Richardson is?  I sent out a short piece on let's 
play looney bin and I got the following response from him (see below).  I 
asked him why he found it in poor taste and he has his e-mail blocked with a 
spam filter from peoplepc.com, so he has to approve anything that comes to 
him.  I'd sure hate to live like that.  I doubt if he's a ham, but who 
knows.  If anybody knows who he is, I'd appreciate a note off the reflector 
to tell me.  All I want to know is what he found offensive about it.    I 
guess he gets a lot of junk from people.  Mike Anderson and Jim Harris have 
said they don't know who he is, and the guy is so paranoid about something 
that he doesn't use a call sign.

He has his opinion of course, but, other than silly or humorous (especially 
to people who like to contest on the air) I can't figure out what is in bad 
taste.  His is the first negative response I have received about it, and was 
just curious.  Obviously he doesn't like contesting or doesn't participate 
in anything other than reading e-mail.

Dick
W0RAA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Richardson" <markyr at peoplepc.com>
To: "Dick Thompson" <w0raa at w0raa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:09 AM
Subject: Re: [PPRAANet] Let's play Looney Bin


> Extremely bad and tasteless analogy.
> find something else to do with your time.
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Dick Thompson <w0raa at w0raa.com>
>>Sent: Jan 15, 2007 3:24 PM
>>To: PPRAA Reflector <ppraanet at mailman.qth.net>
>>Subject: [PPRAANet] Let's play Looney Bin
>>
>>Thought you folks would enjoy the following, if you're into contesting.
>>
>>Dick
>>W0RAA
>>
>>___________________________________________________
>>
>>Let's Play "Looney Bin"!
>>
>>
>>
>>Have you heard about the latest game?  It's called "Looney Bin".  You 
>>could
>>call it "Multiple Insanity", "Super Stupidity", or whatever you want, but
>>here is how it is played:
>>
>>
>>All the players - and there is a great many of them - gather in a large
>>confined area, which is also occupied by people who are NOT playing 
>>"Looney
>>Bin".  Each player arms himself with a club, the size of which is limited 
>>by
>>regulations of the game to one kilogram (that's 2.2 lbs.).  Some players 
>>use
>>a hinged club, the effect of which is to transmit additional energy, so 
>>that
>>their clubs are the equivalent of 2 kilograms - sometimes called "2KG peak
>>effective power."
>>
>>
>>The game has an announced starting time, at which time the players - and
>>there are a great many of them, as we said - proceed to attract the
>>attention of other players by hitting them over the head with their clubs.
>>As the area where the game is played is usually crowded, a great many who
>>are NOT players get hit over the head with one kilogram, which they do not
>>like at all.
>>
>>
>>The objective of the game is to see how many players can be hit over the
>>head with one's one kilogram club.  Each player must keep a record, called 
>>a
>>log (not to be confused with the club, which is a small log of another
>>type).  The best players can hit other players over the head with their 
>>club
>>while keeping their log with the other hand.  Upon being hit over the 
>>head,
>>a player announces (a) how sharp the blow was, rated on a 1 to 5 scale; 
>>and
>>(b) the pressure of the blow, rated on a 1 to 9 scale.  Thus, upon being
>>struck, the player shouts "5-9", and proceeds to exchange blows with the
>>player who has just bounced his club off the first player's head.
>>Obviously, it takes a pretty hard head to play this game, but after
>>partaking in a number of such contests, one's head becomes almost 
>>impervious
>>to the blows.  Many players drop their participation in such events, of
>>course, since they see no point to either being hit on the head, or
>>exercising violence upon others.
>>
>>Some parts of the playing area are more accessible than others, and the 
>>real
>>challenge to a player is to hit the more remotely located players.  When
>>everybody ties to do this, what is known as a "pile-up" occurs, with 
>>dozens
>>of players being hit over the head at once, and hardly anyone ever hitting
>>the head of the player at which he had taken aim.  Such "pile-ups" are 
>>very
>>frustrating, and many players have abandoned the game because of them. 
>>The
>>winner of the game is the player who has swung his club most effectively,
>>hitting more players on the head than anyone else, and in more areas of 
>>the
>>playing space.  Indeed, it is considered a great achievement to have hit
>>people on the head in every square foot of the playing area!
>>
>>
>>A ticklish situation has developed as a result of so many games of "Looney
>>Bin" being played in the playing area.  Indeed, some group or other is
>>sponsoring a game almost every weekend.  The people who don't like to play
>>"Looney Bin" actually outnumber by far those who are avid "Loonie's." 
>>But,
>>when the non-players object to filling up the large confined area, of 
>>which
>>we spoke, with club wielding "loonies", the objectors are called - of all
>>things - "soreheads".  If their heads are sore, it is pretty obvious what
>>made them so.
>>
>>
>>The game is played rougher in some parts of he country than in others.
>>Cheating consists primarily of using a heavier club than the 1 kilogram
>>rules allow.  In California, it is said, clubs weighing several
>>kilograms -as much as 18 kilograms having been reported - are sometimes
>>used, and the hit other players' heads very, very hard.  They hit
>>non-players just as hard, and some non-players would like to abolish 
>>"Looney
>>Bin" once and for all.  How about you?
>>
>>
>>W8AP
>>
>>
>>(The above was sent in by K3WS and is taken from "Auto-Call" (Washington,
>>D.C.) April 1971.  He writes, "There is a lesson here . but I'm not sure
>>what it is!  By the way, W8AP is not anti-contest and is frequently in 
>>there
>>with the rest of us.")
>>_______________________________________________
>>PPRAANet mailing list
>>PPRAANet at mailman.qth.net
>>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ppraanet
>
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