Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Weird role-playing comment

3 views
Skip to first unread message

Joel K. Furr

unread,
Aug 14, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/14/95
to
I was playing miniature golf with an acquaintance, Jim Cambias (author of
more adventures in _Pyramid_ and _Challenge_ than he can count),
discussing the strange things you come across when playing role-playing
games, especially when playing under a game master who's been at it for a
few too many years.

I speculated that somewhere, somehow, some GURPS Time Travel adventure had
taken the adventurers back to the Precambrian Era where they encountered a
strange race of beings, boneless (so they left no fossils) and pasty of
hue, who exactly resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy.

No sooner had I said this than Jim's eyes took on a glassy tone and he
stared off into the middle distance before speaking, in perfect, precise
Game Master tones, the following:

"In the distance, you can make out the beings' savage,
primordial cry of 'hoo-HOO'!"

We spent the rest of the round of miniature golf waving our putters over
our heads in glee after each good shot and crying out "hoo-HOO!"

I think we kind of scared some of the other people playing that night.

--
<a href="http://www.danger.com/index.html">Joel Furr home page</a>
<a href="http://www.dupc.org/index.html">LEMURS</a>

Joel K. Furr

unread,
Aug 15, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/15/95
to
jn...@cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu (James DiGriz) wrote:

>jf...@acpub.duke.edu (Joel K. Furr) wrote:
>> "In the distance, you can make out the beings' savage,
>> primordial cry of 'hoo-HOO'!"
>
>You gotta be careful with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Did'ya see that
>commercial where he invited his friends over for cookies and turned
>them into the main course? Or, how about the teddy bears in the other
>cookies.
>
>I tell you, you'd better watch out for him...

I believe that the Pillsbury Doughboy is a savage, horrible reminder,
embedded in the racial consciousness, of creatures from the past --
presumably now extinct but which may linger on in deep caverns far below
the surface of the Earth or in the swamp-ridden archipelagos of southeast
Asia.

That we use the Doughboy as the symbol of wholesome, tasty baked goods is
but *one* of the horrifying ways in which our unconscious has been twisted
by forces unknown to believe things that They wish us to believe.


Joel

P.S. "James," in the future, please learn to edit down your posts. In
addition to quoting my entire post, you also included a .sig that took up
a full screen.

John Sullivan

unread,
Aug 15, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/15/95
to
In article <40nb4c$9...@news.duke.edu>, jf...@acpub.duke.edu saw fit to say...

:I was playing miniature golf with an acquaintance, Jim Cambias (author of


:more adventures in _Pyramid_ and _Challenge_ than he can count),

.
snip
.

:We spent the rest of the round of miniature golf waving our putters over


:our heads in glee after each good shot and crying out "hoo-HOO!"
:
:I think we kind of scared some of the other people playing that night.


You would have scared me, and I've been gaming too long myself.

john sullivan


James DiGriz

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
jf...@acpub.duke.edu (Joel K. Furr) wrote:

>I speculated that somewhere, somehow, some GURPS Time Travel adventure had
>taken the adventurers back to the Precambrian Era where they encountered a
>strange race of beings, boneless (so they left no fossils) and pasty of
>hue, who exactly resembled the Pillsbury Doughboy.

>No sooner had I said this than Jim's eyes took on a glassy tone and he
>stared off into the middle distance before speaking, in perfect, precise
>Game Master tones, the following:

> "In the distance, you can make out the beings' savage,

> primordial cry of 'hoo-HOO'!"

You gotta be careful with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Did'ya see that
commercial where he invited his friends over for cookies and turned
them into the main course? Or, how about the teddy bears in the other
cookies.

I tell you, you'd better watch out for him...

--
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X James DiGriz X
X X
X jn...@cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Oceania: A New Country In Development -> wel...@oceania.org |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2

mQCNAzAF2i4AAAEEALP9itgn9ejj3O0XRBpBU1QvYQw6d+XdICithO4y4DV7X5IB
1cwW4PJXjvH8im+RJ5H1MU/tmyPCy1H5tr8LB3gdGs8R0n3CtJ4McJ4lk7ol/fp2
Liy3K5gjiCX85q7M5NN6NNi2Sq90O25sfY4GnUg6JV5EdWONlFnaUOynKe7tAAUR
tC5KYW1lcyBEaUdyaXogPGpuZG15QGNvdHRvbi52aXNsYWIub2xlbWlzcy5lZHU+
iQCVAwUQMAb8V1naUOynKe7tAQEaHQP/Zk6wCc2ckPUmWMbLutqXTfeFR3UhB3sU
YAl9mcY4NG1IO0MFiugxKJUjwA32GGvqWteeMgM8nBe6D9O51P35xR2t/sY+1Z1I
bGet9ympfk5VF49LKdB0DgyOgqZ+xWxtdgyiJAo3FoZUszBIT7lz53CUVyuxyFJx
LIhSgBSzTms=
=sCx2
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----


Daniel Pawtowski

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
In article <40r18r$6...@news.cais.com>,

John Sullivan <jo...@phillips.com> wrote:
>
>:We spent the rest of the round of miniature golf waving our putters over
>:our heads in glee after each good shot and crying out "hoo-HOO!"
>:
>
>You would have scared me, and I've been gaming too long myself.
>
I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
Mundanes". Heck, two weeks ago, my brother was involved with the filming
of a cheesy SF fan-film, and got to freak out an entire McDonalds when the
cast went to lunch in costume.

Daniel Pawtowski
dpaw...@vt.edu
Katsucon Two: Anime and Manga return to Virginia Beach, USA, in March, 1996!

Jay Payment

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
In article <40ro4d$2...@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu>,
jn...@cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu says...
My ex-girlfriend slept with the dough boy in a rebound after me.


Bruce Baugh

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
In article <40sgme$4...@access5.digex.net>,
dpaw...@access5.digex.net (Daniel Pawtowski) wrote:

: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
:Mundanes".

This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and I'll
repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too narrow a sense of
what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just how many fen who glory in
freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a strange
world.

And I think my gaming has gotten better since I gave up on trying to freak the
mundanes. These days I observe and listen, and learn a whole lot of
interesting stuff: the bus driver who whistles duets with his parrot, the
Cambodian refugee who became fascinated with Twain during her citizenship
classes and is working on a stage play introducing Twain to some of the
literary greats of her culture, the housewife with two small kids who
discovered a talent for accounting and now runs the books for two local
avant-garde art galleries (and has hilarious descriptions of the patrons), the
wimpy-looking guy who turns out to be one of the guys in charge of endangered
species breeding efforts at the local zoo.

Mundanity is largely a state of mind. I find that if I give them a chance, a
lot of people can offer me interesting things. Even if I don't have the time,
better to err on the side of courtesy - just the other week I had a fast food
clerk I've seen countless times notice me carrying a book about sailing ships
and launch into an enthusiastic description of his hobby, which is building
model ships in bottles. He says that a lot of people just don't care, but he
thought I was friendly, and so he was happy to share.

Reality: More complex than my mind.

bru...@teleport.com _____________ http://www.teleport.com/~bruceab/
List Manager, Christlib, for Christian and libertarian concerns
Preview S.M. Stirling's forthcoming novel DRAKON at my home page
"Encrypt! Encrypt! OK! All-One-Key-Steganography-Privacy!
God's law prevents decryption above 1042 bytes - Exceptions? None!"

Sue and Sean

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
Thus spake bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh):

>In article <40sgme$4...@access5.digex.net>,
> dpaw...@access5.digex.net (Daniel Pawtowski) wrote:
>
>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
>:Mundanes".
>
>This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and I'll
>repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too narrow a sense of
>what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just how many fen who glory in
>freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
>queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a strange
>world.

I encounter a flip side of this smug "weirder than thou" attitude
fairly regularly. I look rather mundane: conservatively dressed,
moderately fit, &c. Many fringies (gamers, SCA members, Faire-folk,
fen of all sorts) take me for one of the management. They seem to feel
it therefore to be their bounden duty to try to freak me out.
--
Susan and Sean (order optional) Everything should be made as simple
S & S Enterprises as possible, but no simpler.
sa...@netcom.com

Joel K. Furr

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
>:Mundanes".
>
>This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and I'll
>repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too narrow a sense of
>what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just how many fen who glory in
>freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
>queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a strange
>world.

We weren't out to freak the mundanes when we were crying "hoo HOOO" at the
miniature golf course; we were just having fun. While I will occasionally
act a little bit weird to confuse people around me, I don't consider them
the mundanes and me the higher form of life.

This is partly because I have better things to do and partly because I
have enough perspective to know that when a typical bunch of gamers sets
out to "freak the mundanes," the mundanes aren't so much freaked as they
are pitying of the strangers in WHO-MAN costumes who've roamed into view
acting as weird as possible. I've *seen* the people Herr Pacowski was
talking about -- some of the Virginia Tech fen are seriously strange-
looking people.

But, in fact, just about the only crowd of people I've ever felt
*seriously* out of my depth in and uncomfortable in was a crowd of very,
very fat people who were heavily into body piercing and who had studs and
pins and shit sticking out of every visible part of their bodies. It gave
me the crawls something fierce.

Fortunately, I haven't been back to that part of Boston in eight months
and the nightmares are beginning to fade.

Joel K. Furr

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
sa...@netcom.com (Sue and Sean) wrote:
>I encounter a flip side of this smug "weirder than thou" attitude
>fairly regularly. I look rather mundane: conservatively dressed,
>moderately fit, &c. Many fringies (gamers, SCA members, Faire-folk,
>fen of all sorts) take me for one of the management. They seem to feel
>it therefore to be their bounden duty to try to freak me out.

Ditto.

From what I hear, I tend to look extremely white-bread (provided I've
shaved recently) and I've gotten asked more than once if I'm lost or if
I'm looking for some other event when I'm at some sort of game or con.

Daniel Pawtowski

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
In article <40tmnt$f...@news.duke.edu>,

Joel K. Furr <jf...@acpub.duke.edu> wrote:
>
>out to "freak the mundanes," the mundanes aren't so much freaked as they
>are pitying of the strangers in WHO-MAN costumes who've roamed into view
>acting as weird as possible. I've *seen* the people Herr Pacowski was
>talking about -- some of the Virginia Tech fen are seriously strange-

Actually, the instance in question occured in Ohio, and the project was
called Space Rogues.

Daniel Pawtowski
dpaw...@vt.edu


Joel K. Furr

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to
dpaw...@access5.digex.net (Daniel Pawtowski) wrote:
>Joel K. Furr <jf...@acpub.duke.edu> wrote:
>>out to "freak the mundanes," the mundanes aren't so much freaked as they
>>are pitying of the strangers in WHO-MAN costumes who've roamed into view
>>acting as weird as possible. I've *seen* the people Herr Pacowski was
>>talking about -- some of the Virginia Tech fen are seriously strange-
>
> Actually, the instance in question occured in Ohio, and the project was
>called Space Rogues.

Well, enough similar incidents happened at Bogen's in Blacksburg that,
nonetheless, I feel fairly sure I know what sort of reaction took place.

Man, I'm surprised the VTSFFC people weren't rounded up and taken in big
cattlecars to preserves out in North Dakota, given the reactions of the
rest of the world to some of the primitive Bogen's rites y'all engaged in.

sd...@uno.edu

unread,
Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95
to

>bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
>>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
>>:Mundanes".
>>
>>This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and I'll
>>repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too narrow a sense of
>>what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just how many fen who glory in
>>freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
>>queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a strange
>>world.
>
Ok, I could handle all of those but the last........but I kinda thought the
term 'mundane' was restricted to people.....
dstar
sd...@uno.edu


Kurt Bond

unread,
Aug 17, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/17/95
to
In article <40rpa1$n...@news.duke.edu>,

Joel K. Furr <jf...@acpub.duke.edu> wrote:
>I believe that the Pillsbury Doughboy is a savage, horrible reminder,
>embedded in the racial consciousness, of creatures from the past --
>presumably now extinct but which may linger on in deep caverns far below
>the surface of the Earth or in the swamp-ridden archipelagos of southeast
>Asia.
>
>That we use the Doughboy as the symbol of wholesome, tasty baked goods is
>but *one* of the horrifying ways in which our unconscious has been twisted
>by forces unknown to believe things that They wish us to believe.
>
>
>Joel

On the contrary, it is indicative of how thoroughly humanity has
overcome those savage creatures from the past that we use the Pillsbury
Doughboy as the symbol of yummy things to rip apart and devour.

:-)


--
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Launchpad is an experimental internet BBS. The views of its users do not
necessarily represent those of UNC-Chapel Hill, OIT, or the SysOps.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

True Names

unread,
Aug 17, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/17/95
to
sd...@uno.edu wrote:
: >bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
: >[snip] I wonder just how many fen who glory in
: >>freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
: >>queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a
: >>strange world.

: Ok, I could handle all of those but the last........but I kinda
: thought the term 'mundane' was restricted to people.....

You may have been joking, but I think there is a bit of truth to
this. Psychologists, especially the ones that believe in the "old
theories" are some of the most unsettling people I've ever met.
What really bugs me is when one of them thinks they've "figured you
out" ... It makes me want to scream.

Of course, there are some people that dabble in psychology that
are just as annoying, sometimes moreso because they're usually
wrong. :)

--
In the darkness of future past ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
The Magician longs to see. > Dave OHearn <
One chants out between two worlds, > ohe...@max.tiac.net <
"Fire, walk with me." - David Lynch, _Twin Peaks_ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Devon Sharkey

unread,
Aug 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/18/95
to
sd...@uno.edu wrote:

: >bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
: >>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the


: >>:Mundanes".
: >>
: >>This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and I'll
: >>repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too narrow a sense of

: >>what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just how many fen who glory in

: >>freaking the mundane could keep their cool in, say, a gathering of drag
: >>queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or humanistic psychologists. It's a strange
: >>world.
: >
: Ok, I could handle all of those but the last........but I kinda thought the
: term 'mundane' was restricted to people.....

I believe "Freaking the Mundanes", as a term, originated within the SCA
(Society for Creative Anachronisms), which draws a distinction between
"The Society" and "Mundanity" (that is to say "real life".) You may notice
SCA members who sign with their SCA name, and underneath have an "mka"
for "mundanely known as".

Freaking the mundanes, within the Society, means making shopping runs or
beer runs while still in costume/armor.

Scott A. H. Ruggels

unread,
Aug 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/18/95
to
I think the worst one of my career happened in A little town east of
Reno, Nevada. I do WW2 re-enacments, and a couple of years back we had a
large Afrika re-enactment in the BLM land north of this town (near the
Paiute reservation. We had a halftrack and it needed gas so dusty troops
in Afrikakorps uniforms ground to a halt next to the pumps at a BP
station next to I-80. the truck and the various other dust caked period
vehicles stopped in line to the rear. It took $70.00 in gas to fill, so
wiht the quote, "Feldwebel, use yer bank card for the pumps, and pick up
a couple of bottles of water". And our <Feldwebel> (sergeant) trotted
inside, hobnails scraping on the concrete, past the front of a Ford
stationwagon wherin a family watched the show with wide silent eyes. The
big crosses on the side of the haltrack, and the unmistakeable helmets
and rifles were, I guess not a comforting sight. We fuels up, and left
in a cloud of dust under the underpass, and north into the High desert.
leaving a lot of puzzled travellers staring after us. No one came up and
asked what we were up to.

Scott

Xiphias Gladius

unread,
Aug 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/18/95
to
bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) writes:

> This was discussed not too long ago over on rec.arts.sf.written, and
> I'll repeat myself. Most fen, of whatever category, have way too
> narrow a sense of what the rest of the world is like. I wonder just
> how many fen who glory in freaking the mundane could keep their cool
> in, say, a gathering of drag queens, or genuine sadomasochists, or
> humanistic psychologists. It's a strange world.

*nod*

This is true, I suppose, but, well, heck. *Most* of my friends are
some combination of drag queens, genuine sadomasochists, theologians,
humanistic psycologists, science fiction fans, philosophers, avant
garde artists, or what-have-you. Some are all of the above.

I've seen people attempt to play "freak-the-mundane" at entirely the
wrong time -- one of the cheeriest sights in the world is to see some
semi-clueless fen start playing "freak-the-mundane" at some apparent
banker-type (three-piece suit and all), only to have the banker turn
around in annyance, complaining that their garb is completely out of
period, they've mispronounced "beryllium", and they got all the verses
of "Callifornia Uber Alles" out of order. . . .

I think a lot of fen aren't quite as weird as they think they are.

But what *really* upsets me is when I see fen being disrespectful to
the *actually* weird. My parents raised me to believe that, as
beggars and the insane are both holy, crazy homless people are even
more so, and I've always treated them as such. You can learn a lot
from a lunatic, if you bother to listen and spend the time.

And most fen are completely weirded out by this. I think this is why
there's such an anti-fen prejudice in a lot of places -- there's a
perception that anyone who considers hirself strange but can't deal
with a simple incoherent conversation is somewhat self-delusional.

- Ian

Frank Pitt

unread,
Aug 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/18/95
to
In article <sandsDD...@netcom.com> sa...@netcom.com writes:
>
>I encounter a flip side of this smug "weirder than thou" attitude
>fairly regularly. I look rather mundane: conservatively dressed,
>moderately fit, &c. Many fringies (gamers, SCA members, Faire-folk,
>fen of all sorts) take me for one of the management. They seem to feel
>it therefore to be their bounden duty to try to freak me out.

Try freaking out all the "wierdo's" by wearing suits, ties,
being clean shaven and generally normal, until they've fallen for it.

Then pull out a matte black Uzi water pistol, scream the war-cry
of the Watuzi, and mow them all down with cherryade.

Plays havoc with white face paint, them arty vampires look funny
with pink faces.

Or get them really worried by revealing (clandestinely, of course)
that under your suit you're wearing a garter belt.

It's amazing how easy it is to shock these people.

> Susan and Sean (order optional) Everything should be made as simple
> S & S Enterprises as possible, but no simpler.
> sa...@netcom.com

You don't happen to have a wargaming relation named Stephen do ya ?

Frankie


Bruce Baugh

unread,
Aug 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/19/95
to
In article <412unu$a...@news.cs.brandeis.edu>,
i...@cs.brandeis.edu (Xiphias Gladius) wrote:

:This is true, I suppose, but, well, heck. *Most* of my friends are


:some combination of drag queens, genuine sadomasochists, theologians,
:humanistic psycologists, science fiction fans, philosophers, avant
:garde artists, or what-have-you. Some are all of the above.

Likewise. I prefer people who wear more than one perceptual hat.

:wrong time -- one of the cheeriest sights in the world is to see some


:semi-clueless fen start playing "freak-the-mundane" at some apparent
:banker-type (three-piece suit and all), only to have the banker turn
:around in annyance, complaining that their garb is completely out of
:period, they've mispronounced "beryllium", and they got all the verses
:of "Callifornia Uber Alles" out of order. . . .

That sort of thing never ceases to amuse me. It's one of the reasons I gave up
the sport myself, actually (that and realizing that I could have more fun
listening and learning).

:And most fen are completely weirded out by this. I think this is why


:there's such an anti-fen prejudice in a lot of places -- there's a
:perception that anyone who considers hirself strange but can't deal
:with a simple incoherent conversation is somewhat self-delusional.

That's a tidy summation, and not quite the way I would have thought to put it.
Thanks!

Terry Austin

unread,
Aug 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/19/95
to
i...@cs.brandeis.edu (Xiphias Gladius) wrote:

>I think a lot of fen aren't quite as weird as they think they are.

You have hit the nail on the head. American culture has developed a
perception that weird is good, and that individualism is divine. As a
result, most Amercians feel an intense need to be *different*. They
think that being weird is a good thing, a lofty goal.

I have yet to meet anyone, in my entire life, who thought they were
weird and actually were. I have known some pretty weird people, but
they thought they were relativley normal, or maybe just a little
different. But not weird. Those who think they are weird are
normally just obnoxious jerks. Their idea of weird is to be as rude
as possible to everyone, because rude is funny. The only people who
think they are weird are others like themselves; obnoxious jerks.

For a good example, read any post from Slacker boy.


Terry Austin

unread,
Aug 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/19/95
to
I had a friend who, when in a grocery store, would pick up the first
tabloid he saw and wander around asking people (in a loud voice) if
they believed the headlines. We would pretend not to know him.
Course, we never had to stand in line long, everyone else was at the
other end of the store.

I don't think he was trying to freak people out. I think he really
wanted to know if people believed the headlines. But no body would
answer his questions.


Sue and Sean

unread,
Aug 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/19/95
to
Thus spake i...@cs.brandeis.edu (Xiphias Gladius):
>... anyone who considers hirself strange but can't deal

>with a simple incoherent conversation is somewhat self-delusional.

Cf. the young suburban vampire-wannabes' gripes about how terrifying
the Origins location was because it got dark at night, and some tender
soul thought he saw a <gasp> hooker.
--
Susan and Sean (order optional) If you have to advertise how
S & S Enterprises baaad you are, you aren't.
sa...@netcom.com

True Names

unread,
Aug 20, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/20/95
to
Terry Austin (tas...@ni.net) wrote:
: i...@cs.brandeis.edu (Xiphias Gladius) wrote:

: >I think a lot of fen aren't quite as weird as they think they are.

: You have hit the nail on the head. American culture has developed a
: perception that weird is good, and that individualism is divine. As a
: result, most Amercians feel an intense need to be *different*. They
: think that being weird is a good thing, a lofty goal.

Well, yes and no. There is a large American sub-culture that puts a high
value on weirdness, but it is by no means a majority. I hate to tell
anyone this, but I am in high school. And I would have to say that
over half of the people I know fit the sterotypical "normal"
definition. The other half are slightly more openminded, but there are
only a few people that I would considder "weird".

: I have yet to meet anyone, in my entire life, who thought they were


: weird and actually were. I have known some pretty weird people, but
: they thought they were relativley normal, or maybe just a little
: different. But not weird. Those who think they are weird are
: normally just obnoxious jerks. Their idea of weird is to be as rude
: as possible to everyone, because rude is funny. The only people who
: think they are weird are others like themselves; obnoxious jerks.

This is a tragity in our culture. We don't considder someone to
be special until they "prove it" by doing something like killing
themselves. This is why so many people like Kurt Cobain now. He's
proven that he wasn't "faking".

Some people "prove it" by being obnoxious, some by being as
different as possible, some by hurting themselves, and some
by all three. Not everyone who thinks they are weird is rude,
but a lot of them are.

J.D. Falk

unread,
Aug 20, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/20/95
to
In rec.games.frp.misc, rec.games.frp.gurps, alt.fan.joel-furr,
Sue and Sean <sa...@netcom.com> wrote...

> Cf. the young suburban vampire-wannabes' gripes about how terrifying
> the Origins location was because it got dark at night, and some tender
> soul thought he saw a <gasp> hooker.

This, my friends, is why I've been avoiding both gaming and sci-fi
cons all my life. I may go to one soon, because a good friend of mine
works for a game store -- but we'll be the ones in normal clothes, helping
keep the company reps sane.

--
---------========== J.D. Falk <jdf...@cybernothing.org> =========---------
| Give the 'net a pathway to the media: cast your YES vote to create |
| misc.news.internet.announce and misc.news.internet.discuss |
| after you read the CFV in news.announce.newgroups! |
----========== http://www.cybernothing.org/jdfalk/home.html ==========----

Mark Anthony BROWN

unread,
Aug 23, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/23/95
to
de...@photobooks.atdc.gatech.edu (Devon Sharkey) writes:

>sd...@uno.edu wrote:

>: >bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
>: >>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
>: >>:Mundanes".

da da da da da

>Freaking the mundanes, within the Society [for Creative Anachronism], means


>making shopping runs or beer runs while still in costume/armor.

Of course, this is a role-playing newsgroup so for us it means making shopping
runs or beer runs while still in character (and possibly costume/armor). :*)


James A Renn

unread,
Aug 27, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/27/95
to
do...@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Mark Anthony BROWN) writes:

> de...@photobooks.atdc.gatech.edu (Devon Sharkey) writes:
>
> >sd...@uno.edu wrote:
>
> >: >bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
> >: >>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking th

> >: >>:Mundanes".
>
> da da da da da
>
> >Freaking the mundanes, within the Society [for Creative Anachronism], means
> >making shopping runs or beer runs while still in costume/armor.
>
> Of course, this is a role-playing newsgroup so for us it means making shoppin

> runs or beer runs while still in character (and possibly costume/armor). :*)
>

I'm a member of the SCA. While going to an event sight (in garb) my
fellows and I stopped at a Mcdee's. Upon walking in we found ourselves
confronted by six large men in full US Army combat uniforms from a local
base. You could read their faces, "Who are these wierdos?", as *we* were
thinking "What war are these guys dressed for?". And everyone else in the
place just sat there and stared at all of us. Guess "odd" is a subjective
word. ;->

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Lord James Edmund of Aberedw, Barony of Stonemarche, East Kingdom
Device: Azure, a hand in benediction, and on a chief invected
argent three decrescents azure
mka: James Alex Renn
Address: 310 E. High St. 2nd Flr, Manchester NH, 03104
Email Address: ja...@isaac.stonemarche.org

CAPIO OFFICIUM PRO VESTER MEUS ACTIO

MitchGit

unread,
Aug 29, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/29/95
to
>>>>Freaking the mundanes, within the Society [for Creative Anachronism],
means
>making shopping runs or beer runs while still in costume/armor.

To me it means "running around looking like a fucking goober."


Mark Ayen

unread,
Aug 29, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/29/95
to
do...@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Mark Anthony BROWN) wrote:

>
>de...@photobooks.atdc.gatech.edu (Devon Sharkey) writes:
>>
>>Freaking the mundanes, within the Society [for Creative Anachronism],
means
>>making shopping runs or beer runs while still in costume/armor.
>
>Of course, this is a role-playing newsgroup so for us it means making
shopping

>runs or beer runs while still in character (and possibly costume/armor).
:*)
>
Or, you can try rec.games.frp.live-action and get the best of BOTH
worlds!

Mark

===========================================================
Home: /\
mark...@eworld.com || "Now I believe in unity, and I am
eni...@aol.com || willing to compromise, but I'm
Work: ==== not gonna lie or sell my soul."
uum...@prodigy.com () - Bad Religion

Ray Cochener

unread,
Aug 30, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/30/95
to
James A Renn (ja...@isaac.stonemarche.org) wrote:
: I'm a member of the SCA. While going to an event sight (in garb) my
: fellows and I stopped at a Mcdee's. Upon walking in we found ourselves
: confronted by six large men in full US Army combat uniforms from a local
: base. You could read their faces, "Who are these wierdos?", as *we* were
: thinking "What war are these guys dressed for?". And everyone else in the
: place just sat there and stared at all of us. Guess "odd" is a subjective
: word. ;->

It wouldn't suprise me if a few of the people there half expected
you to whip out the swords and go hand to hand with the soldiers...
It's almost a classical confrontation between what are obviously
two groups of warriors with their comraderie groups..

--
To Give Pleasure is to beget pleasure.
To beget pleasure is to recieve pleasure.
May joy be your eternal cycle of ecstacy.
Silveroak

Matti Reflection Laakso

unread,
Sep 4, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/4/95
to
Organization: University of Turku, Finland
Distribution:

Mark Anthony BROWN (do...@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU) wrote:
: de...@photobooks.atdc.gatech.edu (Devon Sharkey) writes:

: >sd...@uno.edu wrote:

: >: >bru...@teleport.com (Bruce Baugh) wrote:
: >: >>: I donno, I've done things like that myself. It's called "Freaking the
: >: >>:Mundanes".

: da da da da da

: >Freaking the mundanes, within the Society [for Creative Anachronism], means


: >making shopping runs or beer runs while still in costume/armor.

: Of course, this is a role-playing newsgroup so for us it means making shopping
: runs or beer runs while still in character (and possibly costume/armor). :*)

Summer, 1992:

In an RPG-Camp arranged by a local gaming club, we ran out of food, so we
drove to a nearby small town to raid the local Pizza Hut, in full
cyberpunk costume; we had a netrunner, a couple of solos plus a suit, so
we thought it'd be nice to freak the other customers. Went in "by thye
book", first a solo goes in to check the place is secure, then he opens
the door for the suit and the rest of the folks come in, with the other
solo covering the parking lot.

Yes, there were guns (replicas, mostly) visible. Guess they were about to
call the cops when another bunch of gamers joined the same place, in
viking suits, singing the Spam song... :)

--
Reflection (RFXn) "I'd be a fool not to admit that in this city,
anything can happen to anybody." -Plato
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mat...@polaris.cc.utu.fi mat...@sara.cc.utu.fi refl...@freenet.hut.fi
In The Big Room: Matti Laakso
YO-Kyla 19 A 11
FIN-20540 TURKU, Finland
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Geekcode v.3.0: GB/H/FA>AT d+ s++: a-- C++(++++) US P? L E---- W+>++
N++ K- w !O>++ M-- V-- PS++(+++) PE- Y+>++ !PGP>+++ t
5++ X++ R+>+++(*) !tv>- b+++ DI? D G e* h--- r++
z*=purity%56.7

por...@gems.vcu.edu

unread,
Sep 5, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/5/95
to
In article <42ep3q$d...@katiska.clinet.fi>, mat...@utu.fi (Matti "Reflection" Laakso) writes:
> Summer, 1992:
>
> In an RPG-Camp arranged by a local gaming club, we ran out of food, so we
> drove to a nearby small town to raid the local Pizza Hut, in full
> cyberpunk costume; we had a netrunner, a couple of solos plus a suit, so
> we thought it'd be nice to freak the other customers. Went in "by thye
> book", first a solo goes in to check the place is secure, then he opens
> the door for the suit and the rest of the folks come in, with the other
> solo covering the parking lot.
>
> Yes, there were guns (replicas, mostly) visible. Guess they were about to
> call the cops when another bunch of gamers joined the same place, in
> viking suits, singing the Spam song... :)
>
Just in case I'm visiting Finland in the near future, is that "guns (replicas,
mostly) visible", or "guns (replicas) mostly visible"? If it is the former,
I'd like to hear other tales from this summer camp!

Greg

Bill Seurer

unread,
Sep 6, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/6/95
to
In article <42ep3q$d...@katiska.clinet.fi>, mat...@utu.fi (Matti "Reflection" Laakso) writes:
|> NNTP-Posting-Host: polaris.cc.utu.fi
|> X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
|> Xref: locutus.rchland.ibm.com rec.games.frp.misc:83373 rec.games.frp.gurps:3732 rec.games.frp.advocacy:25913

|>
|> Organization: University of Turku, Finland
|> Distribution:
|>
|> Mark Anthony BROWN (do...@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU) wrote:
|> Summer, 1992:
|>
|> In an RPG-Camp arranged by a local gaming club, we ran out of food, so we
|> drove to a nearby small town to raid the local Pizza Hut, in full
|> cyberpunk costume; we had a netrunner, a couple of solos plus a suit, so
|> we thought it'd be nice to freak the other customers. Went in "by thye
|> book", first a solo goes in to check the place is secure, then he opens
|> the door for the suit and the rest of the folks come in, with the other
|> solo covering the parking lot.
|>
|> Yes, there were guns (replicas, mostly) visible. Guess they were about to
|> call the cops when another bunch of gamers joined the same place, in
|> viking suits, singing the Spam song... :)

This is really, really stupid and a good way to get yourself killed.
There's a good reason why every convention I have been to in recent
memory has completely banned weapons and anything that looks like a
real weapon.
--

- Bill Seurer ID Tools and Compiler Development IBM Rochester, MN
Business: BillS...@vnet.ibm.com Home: BillS...@aol.com

John P. Raynor

unread,
Sep 7, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/7/95
to
Bill Seurer (seu...@nordruth.rchland.ibm.com) wrote:
: This is really, really stupid and a good way to get yourself killed.

: There's a good reason why every convention I have been to in recent
: memory has completely banned weapons and anything that looks like a
: real weapon.

Yeah...as much as I hate to be an old stick-in-the-mud, I've got to agree.
The world is a nervous place, and people are far more willing to jump to
conclusions and over-react (violently!) than they once were.

- J. Raynor

Ray Cochener

unread,
Sep 8, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/8/95
to
Bouncing Baby Budha (nigh...@netcom.com) wrote:
: : viking suits, singing the Spam song... :)
: Most of us were dressed as vikings with two dressed normally. We did the
: whole Spam sketch with our friend as the waiteress at two in the

I'll probably regret asking this, but could someone send me a
copy of the spam song/sketch? I'd like to know what's being discussed...

Scott A. H. Ruggels

unread,
Sep 8, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/8/95
to
Back in 1981 There was a Pacific Origins at the Dunfey Hotel in San
Mateo (15-20 miles south of San Franciso, on the Peninsula). At that con
Steve Jackson Car Wars, and Hero Games Champions debuted. Also
introduced were the organized Killer rules published by Steve Jackson as
Well.

People decided to have a killer game, and participants were identified
by an inverted "Drive Offensively" sticker on their con badges. A number
of these participants wore ninja costumes, and others were vague about
the badges. In true contravention of the rules, some people produced
Fireworks and on Saturday night, several M-80's detonated in garbage
cans, and the sound of running feet thundering through the halls kept
many awake. About 1:30 am, San Mateo Police arrived and started rresting
people for disturbing the peace, and wreckless endangerment, and
possession of fireworks. Several people were carted away. The next day,
con security, was throwing anyone out of the con, who was wearing a
ninja suit. The ban of masks and killer games was directly attributable
to that event. I was there, and even though i was not participating, I
was poked in the ribs by a ninja, who thought I was someone else.
Weapons on the otherhand, are usually banned by local ordinances, though
I heard there was a good event called "weapons con" held in Tennessee,
where a requirement was to attend armed, and all the participants I
talked to, said it was a fine show.

Scott

Don Juneau

unread,
Sep 10, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/10/95
to
Scott A. H. Ruggels (scott....@3do.com) wrote:
> Back in 1981 There was a Pacific Origins at the Dunfey Hotel in San
> Mateo (15-20 miles south of San Franciso, on the Peninsula). At that con
> Steve Jackson Car Wars, and Hero Games Champions debuted. Also
> introduced were the organized Killer rules published by Steve Jackson as
> Well.

(Hey Steve! Got the ballad "BANNED FROM BILLINGS" handy?)

SJ knows _all_ about funky Killer activities... <G>

> Weapons on the otherhand, are usually banned by local ordinances, though
> I heard there was a good event called "weapons con" held in Tennessee,
> where a requirement was to attend armed, and all the participants I
> talked to, said it was a fine show.

The bits I saw on that (including a flyer) were for Atlanta over a
July-4th/NASFiC/DragonCOn weekend. Was in a a back-ish of TWH, and I know
there were assorted flames running before and after that flyer.
JTSapienza was one of the more prolific toasters, as I recall.

Don (Sir Lurksalot) Juneau


George W. Harris

unread,
Sep 10, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/10/95
to
In Thu, 7 Sep 1995 22:27:04 GMT of yore, nigh...@netcom.com (Bouncing Baby
Budha) wrote thusly:

=Matti "Reflection" Laakso (mat...@utu.fi) wrote:
=: Yes, there were guns (replicas, mostly) visible. Guess they were about to
=: call the cops when another bunch of gamers joined the same place, in
=: viking suits, singing the Spam song... :)

= We once invaded a local Deny's where one of our friends worked.
=Most of us were dressed as vikings with two dressed normally. We did the
=whole Spam sketch with our friend as the waiteress at two in the
=morning just after the bars closed. We rearanged a few peoples view
=of reality... 8)

I hate to break it to you, but in all probability you merely lowered their
estimation of your maturity. "Mundanes" aren't usually "freaked" by such
behavior as they are annoyed.

= HS

--
Doesn't the fact that there are *exactly* 50 states seem a little suspicious?

George W. Harris gha...@tiac.net


Douglas Berry

unread,
Sep 10, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/10/95
to
During the mid-80's, I was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, where I
played in a Call of Cthulhu game. A group of the players were in downtown
Honolulu at a Denny's-type-establishment when our conversation turned to
the predicament our PCs were in (basically, we had run *completely* out of
cash in the middle of an investigation). Our plan was to rob the First
Bank of Arkham, so we were quietly - at first - discussing the plans. We
forgot where we were.

The situation came to a head when I stood up and, at the top of my
Corporal, US Army lungs, shouted, "There is NO WAY we're ever going to get
away with robbing that bank without more firepower!"

There were four Honolulu police officers who took a *great* interest in
that comment.... We found ourselves doing some quick explaining and
flashing of military IDs. It turned out that three banks in the Islands
had been robbed in the past month by a group of young men with
_very_short_haircuts_. Oops....

Thereafter we confined our discussions to the roleplaying sessions.
--
Douglas E. Berry - dbe...@hooked.net
I would gladly become a Christian, if I could but
find one... -Ghandi

Terry Austin

unread,
Sep 11, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/11/95
to
dbe...@worm.hooked.net (Douglas Berry) wrote:

>cash in the middle of an investigation). Our plan was to rob the First
>Bank of Arkham, so we were quietly - at first - discussing the plans. We
>forgot where we were.

We were playing Top Secret, sometime in the early 80s. We had decided
to have a "throw away" game, just for fun. So we rolled up characters
from the US, who decided to hijack a Lybian airliner. Most of our
planning was done in our favorite restaraunt over dinner. Course, we
were regulars there, and the waitresses usually gave us a table as far
from other patrons as possible. We still got a few strange looks with
that one.

There was also a fantasy game where we were having trouble getting
info from a female NPC. Unfortunately, we were not in our usual
restaraunt at the time. I suggested that "we could always torture
her." At the same time, the waitress coincidentally spilled some
cofee, nearly in on of our laps. She looked a little disturbed as she
walked away, but it took a few seconds for any of us to realize what
had happened. Then, of course gales of laughter. We had no service
the rest of the night, and there was a busboy standing at the end of
the row of tables we were at, and no other patrons were seated within
hearing of us.

We left a BIG tip.


Terry "I finally made it into Larry Smith's killfile" Austin
What does USG stand for anyway, Larry? Unusually Stupid Guy?
What proof do we have that Larry Smith and Slacker01 are not,
in fact, the same person. Has anyone ever seen the two of
them together?


Rodney Payne

unread,
Sep 11, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/11/95
to
gha...@tiac.net (George W. Harris) writes:

> I hate to break it to you, but in all probability you merely lowered

>theirestimation of your maturity. "Mundanes" aren't usually "freaked" by such


>behavior as they are annoyed.

Or just bemused.

Or touched with pathos.

--
Rodney Payne | What is the meaning of life? Life has no
| meaning. It's just a fortunate coincidence
spur...@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au | of carbon chemistry. Forget about it.
rgp...@cfs01.cc.monash.edu.au | Anonymous

Anthony Taylor Stanford

unread,
Sep 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/18/95
to
In article <43iv0l$5...@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>, sr...@ucs.indiana.edu (Echo) writes:
> Actually, my favorite "Freaking the Mundanes" stories have come
>with Mundane friends of mine finding themselves with me and a group of my
>gaming friends. I'm in an FRP that has been running for about 2 1/2
>years, and the characters are very developed.

I may be late joining this thread, but I cannot resist.....

The best "freaking the mundanes" scene I ever lived through was on a bus. We
were playing a multi-group game, where there were perhaps 3 groups which had
split up and completely lost contact with each other in the same campaign. We
had a very understanding GM, who ran basically 3 seperate games.
Unfortunately, while understanding, this GM had some extreme problems, and
certain characters went through some very difficult times (esp. the female
ones, is it not ever thus?).

The only female player in that game (no wonder) and I were riding the bus to an
adjascent town together when the following discussion took place....

"How is it going?"

"You wouldn't beleive it: I was raped."

"You MUST be kidding."

"No, I am very serious, it is not like I had even MET the guy before. He
followed me home from the bar."

"What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure: I was asleep when I was suddenly woken by the sound of
my bedroom door crashing to the floor...."

I trust you can see where it went. What with her father being in the
"hospital" (as we called the healers') from multiple knife wounds, and a rather
graphic description from the victim's veiwpoint, we noticed that an awful lot
of the people who had gotten up from the seats around us had not left the bus,
but merely moved to the other end, where they were trying very hard to not look
at us.

I had already dumped that game (my party was the first to split off, and was so
far out of contact it played whenever the PCs felt like getting together), for
entirely different reasons. The game died completely a week or two later.
--
Nuclear winter is just a cure for global warming.

Scott Raun

unread,
Sep 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/18/95
to s...@barr.com
My favorite Freak the Mundanes story:

And I didn't even get to _see_ it!

Background: Campaign was using a home-brew rule system, we were running
ourselves. Multi-universal, lots of jumping around, _stuff_ had happened
to us in the campaign.

We always talked about what was happening in first person. 'I'm doing
this, John does that, etc.'

After any given session, 3-8 of us would go out to an all night
restaurant and have coffee, dessert, and talk for a couple of hours -
typically from 2-4AM.

We were an Embers, it was about 3AM. The GM was on one side of the booth
(facing the door), another player and I were facing her (and incidentally
the kitchen). The GM saw the waitress seat a pair of policemen in the
booth right behind me - and didn't tell us.

The party had recently returned to Earth from an alternative universe.
One of our colleagues was in an insane asylum, we had to break him out.
The party was being tailed by the FBI and a reporter from the National
Enquirer. (This is the same campaign - actually the same storyline -
that later led to the aphorism "Don't drop bricks on the FBI.") Friend
and I are talking about "breaking so-and-so out of the insane asylum",
"killing such-and-such" (we were being chased by non-human bad guys with
reasonable sounding names), "get away from the d*&% National
Enquirer reporter", "get away from the FBI".

Apparently the first sentence the cops _heard_ was the other player
saying, "I'm going to kill so-and-so." Their ears perked up at this.
The GM _very_ carefully started to lead the conversation. We were
talking all in pronouns for about 15 minutes, and the cops were
apparently getting more and more interested/concerned/nervous, until one
of us said something (I never did find out exactly what) that caused the
cops to realize we were talking about FRP.

The GM had lots of fun. I really wish I could have watched...

Scott Raun

unread,
Sep 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/18/95
to s...@barr.com

Scott Raun

unread,
Sep 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/18/95
to s...@barr.com

Angela M.

unread,
Sep 18, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/18/95
to

Actually, in my best FTM story, I'm the mundane being freaked :).

The first time I gamed with some people from college a few years ago,
three of us decided to go to Wendys to grab dinner before everyone else
was out of class. Now, mind you, I really didn't know these people very
well yet. I had met them at the Gaming Club, and thier game, a Champions
game based loosely on the New Mutants comic book, sounded fascinating, so I
asked to join them.

On the way to Wendys, Dave and John started talking. I was in the back
seat watching the scenery go by, only half paying attention to thier
conversation. When my interest wandered back to thier conversation, I
had no clue as to whether these two were insane or not. They wandered in
and out of reality, talking about current events in concurrence with the
game world. I was so confused by the time we got to Wendys that I was
beginning to wonder if I was going to regret joining up with them.

Well, years later I'm still friends with those two, and we laugh everynow
and then about how they had me so confused.... :)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angela M. Murray |"Darkness has a hunger that's
Nazareth College of Rochester, NY |insatiable, and lightness has a call
Art Education * (ammu...@orion.naz.edu)|that's hard to hear..." -I. Girls
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
___
___


David Llewellyn

unread,
Sep 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/19/95
to
My favorite story in these lines was about a year ago, when I was playing
a live game called The Precipice Club. My character was Tris Fro Wah,
the pope of the lizard people. There were five of that species in the
game, and we tended to try looking the part. Two of us learned that
another player's birthday was coming up, so we went to the grocery store
to get a cake. We didn't have a chance to change. In my case, I hadn't
bothered putting on green makeup or hairspray, as everyone had
ascertained the night before who I was, and it just felt like overkill.
My friend, on the other hand, was in all that, plus a jumpsuit with a
large green tail sticking out. I must have looked normal, wearing the
(real) priest's vestments . . .

David Llewellyn


Karen J. Cravens

unread,
Sep 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/19/95
to
My best freak-the-mundanes story is more of a freaked-by-mundanes
story...

It was a company picnic, at an export company that was about two-thirds
Central and South American (none were Mexican, so we can be spared that
argument), including ownership. There were two largish picnic-tables
worth of English speakers, one of mundanes and the other of various
gamers, SCA types, and so on; I was at this last table. We were all
chatting happily about various non-mundane stuff when suddenly one of
those weird silences hit... you know, the type where coincidentally the
entire crowd pauses in conversation all at once, except for one guy over
at the mundane-American table, standing up, who proclaims into the
sudden silence:

"And then I shot the priest."

Naturally, the silence went on a little longer than usual, as the entire
Latin (and mostly Catholic) contingent got suitably freaked, and us
gamer/SCAers all looked at each other. ("Hey. That *wasn't* one of us
that said that.") His table-mates started snickering, he suddenly
realized EVERYONE was staring, and began hastily explaining: "It was a
WEDDING, I was a PHOTOGRAPHER... okay? Wedding? Taking pictures of
the priest? You know? Shot a picture of the priest? Okay?"

"And then I shot the priest" has become kind of a catchphrase for our
group, denoting saying something embarrassing louder than you meant
to...

Silver
--........................................................................
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?

J. Kearney

unread,
Sep 20, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/20/95
to
Live roleplaying is excellent for freaking mundanes. While I was at
Aberystwyth University we were having a nightime bash on a road behind
the seafront, when some nice policemen pulled up in a car to ask us what
on earth we were doing. The adventurers replied `We're having a lot of
trouble dealing with this lich. Could you arrest him for us please?'
After smiling and nodding they drove off.

An interesting case of mundanes not being freaked is one that happened to
some friends of mine on the way back from the Gathering live roleplaying
weekend in Derby. They stopped off at several Little Chef restuarants
before they found one where they wouldn't have to wait for half an hour
to get a table. They hadn't bothered to change out of costume - the two
blokes were dressed as a Norman and a Viking, and the girl was in a
figure hugging medieval style dress. None of the staff batted an eyelid
as they calmly explained that they'd have to wait for a table and drive
on. Only at the last place when there was room to eat were they asked
what the hell they'd been up to.

John.


Nancy M. Sauer

unread,
Sep 20, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/20/95
to

Well, I don't have anything as good as Karen's "I shot the
priest" story, but I too have been freaked by a mundane.

Two weeks ago, I discovered that my *mother*, my mainstream
novel-reading, I-don't-like-that-space-stuff (I had to _drag_ her to
see Star Wars), mundane mother had become a huge fan of....Red Dwarf.
She loves it. She thinks its the funniest thing on TV. She never
misses an episode.

And I thought I knew her....


Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in
Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the
The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.
Flour Warrior In the dough there is virtue, and no evil."


mabeyke

unread,
Sep 22, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/22/95
to

The most outstanding example of this I have encountered was at Chattacon
this year, a SF con in Chattanooga Tenn. A fellow there had a drinking
vessel made out of a ~2 foot length of PVC pipe, capped on both ends,
with a hole drilled in for a drinking straw. He also had a flourescent
Nuclear Waste sticker on the side.

Well, apparently he had too much to drink Friday night at the con, and
dropped his "flagon" in the parking garage. It was discovered the next
day by mundanes, who truely freaked. The police were called, who called
the fire department, who called the Browns Ferry Nuclear Reactor Waste
Disposal Unit. They brought a giger counter, which apparently reacted to
the decal. A cherry picker was brought in to lower this ~8 ounce
pipe to the street. Mind you, several (somewhat) responsible con members
told the authorities that it was nothing to worry about, but they were
ignored.

I have no idea whether Chattacon will return to the hotel next year.
----
Boris

Mark E. Anderson

unread,
Sep 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/26/95
to
Frank Cheeseman (chee...@dilbert.lrmi.com) wrote:
: In article <43q2d3$n...@crcnis3.unl.edu>, nsa...@unlinfo.unl.edu says...

: > Two weeks ago, I discovered that my *mother*, my mainstream
: >Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in

: >Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the
: >The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.
: >Flour Warrior In the dough there is virtue, and no evil."

: I repeated this one to a martial artist friend. He loved it, and asked

sheesh, another one of those yeastern philosophies...

--
mark anderson * Incorrigible punster. *
wom...@nmrfam.wisc.edu * Please do not incorrige. *
http://www.nmrfam.wisc.edu


Geoffrey C Grabowski

unread,
Sep 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/26/95
to
In article <43ool7$q...@geriatrix.bangor.ac.uk>,
J. Kearney <elp...@clss1.bangor.ac.uk> wrote:

>Live roleplaying is excellent for freaking mundanes. While I was at
>Aberystwyth University we were having a nightime bash on a road behind
>the seafront, when some nice policemen pulled up in a car to ask us what
>on earth we were doing. The adventurers replied `We're having a lot of
>trouble dealing with this lich. Could you arrest him for us please?'
>After smiling and nodding they drove off.

Similar in some ways, a non-gaming friend of mine dragged an
acquaintance of his over to my place a few weeks ago in the hopes of, I
don't know, expanding his social circle or something. We sat around and
discussed fairly mundane topics for a about and hour, when she picked up
the Ars Magica book I had left laying on the table beside my overstuffed
chair. Seeing the question in her eyes, and dreading the explanation and
the inevitable, "is that like Dungeons nad Dragons?", I got ready to
explain /roleplaying, when she suddenly asked, "Wow! I've never seen this
system before! When did it come out?" My non-gaming friend then got to
sit with a fairly pained expression on his face while I did an expo of
recent developments in gaming (she had been Out Of Gaming for a few
years for lack of a group) and swapped adventure stories for a few hours.
;-)

>John.

G.
--
|Geoffrey C. Grabowski|gcg...@pitt.edu|Undergrad, U.Pittsburgh|Swing Heil!|
[O] "Let me fall out of the window with confetti in my hair.
[O] Deal out jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs.
[O] I tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past."

SEAN BLANCHARD

unread,
Sep 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/26/95
to
In article <446em6$l...@Owl.nstn.ca>, chee...@dilbert.lrmi.com (Frank Cheeseman) writes...

>In article <43q2d3$n...@crcnis3.unl.edu>, nsa...@unlinfo.unl.edu says...
>
>>Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in
>>Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the
>>The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.
>>Flour Warrior In the dough there is virtue, and no evil."
>
>I repeated this one to a martial artist friend. He loved it, and asked
>if I was familiar with Chi-Ching, the Art of Budda...
>
><miming slide action of automatic weapon> chi-ching
><miming spraying machinegun action> buddabuddabuddabudda...
>
Of course Chi-Ching is merely a modern (although powerful) variation
on the ancient Chinese art of Gun-Fu. It is said that Gun-Fu masters
can kill a man by merely pointing at him. Some of them can kill
their opponents from as far away as a kilometer. Now that's a powerful chi!
Many different styles of Gun-Fu are practiced throughout the world.
These styles include .45ACP, .357mag, .44mag, and 5.56mmNATO. Mixing
styles is considered very dangerous to the practitioner except in
very special cases (ie. 5.56NATO and .223).

Sean
"That which does not kill us, must have missed us." - Miowara Tomokato
If "No matter where you go there you are.", then I must always know where
I am. However, if I know where I am, I know nothing about my velocity.
So I guess I'm outta here.

Phil Goetz

unread,
Sep 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/26/95
to
I've heard these stories at conventions. I'd appreciate it if anyone
can remind me who the participants were.

1. Two men were coming back from some costumed event, and were outfitted
as rather dandified swordsmen -- lacy sleeves and collars, etc.
They stopped at a truck stop for lunch, and some guy(s?) walked up to
them and started making fun of them. One asked what was wrong with them.
One of the swordsmen pulled his (real) sword, pointed it at the man, and said,
"We're queer. Have a problem with that?" And they had no further trouble.

2. Some well-known SF author was out walking the city streets at night,
and a mugger pulled a knife on him. The author pulled out his cane sword
and said, "I see your six inches and raise you thirty." The mugger folded.

Phil

"If I broke up with her now, she'd think it was because she's a werewolf.
That seems so cheap and middle-class."

- Ferrel, "Lila the Werewolf", Peter Beagle


George W. Harris

unread,
Sep 26, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/26/95
to
In 26 Sep 1995 15:17:10 GMT of yore, wombats@rana (Mark E. Anderson) wrote
thusly:

=Frank Cheeseman (chee...@dilbert.lrmi.com) wrote:
=: In article <43q2d3$n...@crcnis3.unl.edu>, nsa...@unlinfo.unl.edu says...

=: > Two weeks ago, I discovered that my *mother*, my mainstream
=: >Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in
=: >Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the
=: >The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.
=: >Flour Warrior In the dough there is virtue, and no evil."

=: I repeated this one to a martial artist friend. He loved it, and asked

=sheesh, another one of those yeastern philosophies...

Are you trying to get a rise out of us? We doughn't knead this kind of abuse.

=--
=mark anderson * Incorrigible punster. *
=wom...@nmrfam.wisc.edu * Please do not incorrige. *
=http://www.nmrfam.wisc.edu


--
1. Keep your hand moving. 2. Lose control. 3. Be specific. 4. Don't think.

George W. Harris gha...@tiac.net


TheyC

unread,
Sep 27, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/27/95
to

On 18 Sep 1995, Scott Raun wrote:

> that later led to the aphorism "Don't drop bricks on the FBI.") Friend

This is an interesting RPG dynamic. Tony and I got more in-jokes
and obscure references to things that never happened from RPG's than
most people get from real, daily life.

> Apparently the first sentence the cops _heard_ was the other player
> saying, "I'm going to kill so-and-so." Their ears perked up at this.
> The GM _very_ carefully started to lead the conversation. We were
> talking all in pronouns for about 15 minutes, and the cops were
> apparently getting more and more interested/concerned/nervous, until one
> of us said something (I never did find out exactly what) that caused the
> cops to realize we were talking about FRP.
>
> The GM had lots of fun. I really wish I could have watched...

Hehe. Me too. That's a neat story. :)


Nancy M. Sauer

unread,
Sep 27, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/27/95
to
George W. Harris (gha...@tiac.net) wrote:
: In 26 Sep 1995 15:17:10 GMT of yore, wombats@rana (Mark E. Anderson) wrote

: thusly:
: =Frank Cheeseman (chee...@dilbert.lrmi.com) wrote:

: =sheesh, another one of those yeastern philosophies...

: Are you trying to get a rise out of us? We doughn't knead this
: kind of abuse.

I can't bewheat you people are making all these corny puns.
Give me a millet and maybe I'll come up with a rye comment. Of
course, I'll probably get panned, but I can roll with the punches.


Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in

Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the

The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.

Frederic Bush

unread,
Sep 27, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/27/95
to
In article <449f9p$h...@news1.halcyon.com>, da...@coho.halcyon.com (Dane
Johnson) wrote:

> Perfidious Zhodani Agents report wombats@rana (Mark E. Anderson) said:


> >Frank Cheeseman (chee...@dilbert.lrmi.com) wrote:
> >: In article <43q2d3$n...@crcnis3.unl.edu>, nsa...@unlinfo.unl.edu says...

> >: >Nancy M. Sauer <*> "Then you will come to think of things in

> >: >Disciple of Bread Do: a wide sense and, taking the dough as the
> >: >The Way of the Way, you will see the Way is dough.
> >: >Flour Warrior In the dough there is virtue, and no evil."
> >

> >: I repeated this one to a martial artist friend. He loved it, and asked
> >

> >sheesh, another one of those yeastern philosophies...
>

> What, are you trying to get a rise out of him?

Oh, I loaf puns, but I think we should be leaven them out of this
newsgroup. Someone might take them a rye. It takes a crumby person to pan a
thread just 'cause of puns, but it's bun known to happen. If we keep on
like this, we might dig ourselves into a whole. Wheat better just take this
thread and baguette.


--Fred, doing some roll-playing :)


Fred Bush
fbu...@cc.swarthmore.edu Dream. Imagine. Wonder.
Swarthmore, PA

Michele Ellington

unread,
Sep 28, 1995, 3:00:00 AM9/28/95
to
I am in a live action fantasy medieval combat club. We were
at a rented campsite in Colorado a year or two ago. It was
about midnight, and we were in the middle of a zombie battle.
The zombies were really into it, dragging their feet, shambling
through the heavy brush muttering "Brains! More brains!".
Seeing someone highlighted by moonlight in a small clearing,
one of the zombies leaped out in front of him and took up
a threatening stance with his foam weapon, growling "Need
brains!". Realizing it was a park ranger, he mumbled in a
disappointed voice, "No brains here..." and shuffled away.
The park ranger was not amused. We were.

--
Michele Ellington
AD...@rgfn.epcc.edu

0 new messages