The 2012 Steampunk Olympics - what events?

[ladyelsie]

Gin-nastics, as discussed on book of face. How much gin can be drunk and points given for falling over with style.

I have been in training for this since 1878. I do believe there are a couple of team events as well.

L.E.

[Capt. Dirigible]

Gin-nastics, as discussed on book of face. How much gin can be drunk and points given for falling over with style.

I have been in training for this since 1878. I do believe there are a couple of team events as well.

L.E.

Could it be taken a stage further with Gin-khana? How much gin can be drunk  and then try to get on (and stay on) a horse..

[greensteam]

Gin-nastics, as discussed on book of face. How much gin can be drunk and points given for falling over with style.
I have been in training for this since 1878. I do believe there are a couple of team events as well.
L.E.

Could it be taken a stage further with Gin-khana? How much gin can be drunk  and then try to get on (and stay on) a horse..

Lady Elsie's game sounds a lot like a russian drinking game I was taught by the cargo master at Novorossiysk in about 1987. This is what workers play in Siberia and similarly boring places and it is called Bear (well, the russian word for bear). The players all sit round a table with a bottle, presumed vodka. Anyone of them can at any time shout out "Bear", whereupon everyone must down a slug of vodka and get under the table. Then everyone sits back up into their seats. Repeat until the winner is the last one able to return to his seat.

Considering that the cheap russian vodka is more or less petrol, this is what I consider to be the real russian roulette.

[Miranda.T]

I've been really enjoying the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, so I though I'd add a few more suggestions...

Spring-Heeled Jack high jump. Just remember your parachute as it's a long way down.

Invaders trap shooting - shooting down Martian landing vehicles using 15" naval guns.

Great Aunt time trial. Fastest to send a least favourite Great Aunt on their way after they have dropped in unexpectedly in the afternoon whilst still maintaining the polite conventions of offering tea, cake and civilised conversation.

Seamstress sprint. Most complete outfit made from scratch in the last two hours before an event.

Thread necromancy. Oldest forum thread brought back from the dead...

Yours,
Miranda.

[E.J.MonCrieff]

I've been really enjoying the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, so I though I'd add a few more suggestions...

Spring-Heeled Jack high jump. Just remember your parachute as it's a long way down.

Invaders trap shooting - shooting down Martian landing vehicles using 15" naval guns.

Great Aunt time trial. Fastest to send a least favourite Great Aunt on their way after they have dropped in unexpectedly in the afternoon whilst still maintaining the polite conventions of offering tea, cake and civilised conversation.

Seamstress sprint. Most complete outfit made from scratch in the last two hours before an event.

Thread necromancy. Oldest forum thread brought back from the dead...

Yours,
Miranda.

I do like the idea of thread necromancy, though I doubt whether it should be classified as an Steampunk Olympic Sport.

On the lines of the Winter Olympics Modern Biathlon (Cross-country Ski-ing, and Rifle Shooting) I'd suggest a Steampunk Biathlon with Tea Duelling and Parasol Duelling.  Or possibly a Steampunk Triathlon, with the Tea Duelling and Parasol Duelling separated by a Steampunk Fashion Parade. 

Ideally Steampunk sports should not be gender-specific, so this might rule out the Seamstress Sprint.

I like the idea of Steam Fencing, suggested in an earlier post on this thread.  As someone who used to fence (foil and epée, though not sabre) when I was young, I'd support fencing as the ideal sport for steampunks.  The customs and courtesies have changed somewhat, but it always used to be the case that you always acknowledged a hit scored against you, even if the judges didn't see it.  It was then up to the President of the bout to rule on its validity.  Furthermore, you never, ever WON a match, you only LOST it.

Now that climbing has become an Olympic sport, I'd suggest Alpinisme - hemp (or just possibly silk) ropes, hobnailed boots, tweed jackets and breeches (Ladies should wear detatchable long skirts over their breeches, but remove these at the foot of the route); only plate cameras to be carried.  All participants to carry at least one block of Kendal Mint Cake. (Query: is Kendal Mint Cake in the list of Victorian Food Brands Still Extant?)

[E.J.MonCrieff]

I realised this morning that the two sports that should comprise the Steampunk Biathlon are of course Tea Duelling and Penny-farthing cycle riding.  Ladies who compete in the latter sport should of course wear bloomers and lisle stockings; all competitors should wear goggles and a hat. 

I have rather gone off the idea of a Steampunk Fashion Parade, as it involves a certain amount of subjectivity in the assesment.

Some suggestions for a Steampunk Pentathlon might include Tea Duelling, Parasol Duelling (as mentioned above) Penny-farthing cycle riding, Air-rifle shooting (after all, an air rifle appears in at least one Sherlock Holmes story), and of course Miranda T's suggestion of the Great Aunt Time Trial. 

[E.J.MonCrieff]

I have just taken delivery of a reprint of a large-scale map of part of London in 1870 - and in Regent's Park, just to the south of the Inner Circle is the Toxophilite Society's Grounds!  Clearly, Archery is one of the sports to be considered for any Steampunk Olympics.


For anyone interested, the map concerned is London Large Scale Plan 7.41, part of a much larger series, and obtainable from the publisher's website 

https://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/

[Miranda.T]

I do enjoy archery (although I haven't shot for a few years now), so yes, definitely to be included. Of course, you'd have to have separate competitions for normal arrows and second stage rocket propelled ones (requiring of course the wearing of fire-resistant clothing in case they ignite too soon after the loose). Explosive heads would of course be banned as it's quite difficult to score once the target has been atomised. Points may only be gained from wrist-worn mini crossbows if the contestant correctly identifies the enemy agent in the audience and cleanly dispatches them via a curare-tipped bolt.

Yours,
Miranda.

[E.J.MonCrieff]

I think it would not be asking too much to have a steam-driven device to set up the targets in the buts.  Indeed, if it were fitted to a narrow-gauge railway, the targets could be brought back for inspection.

[Sorontar]

Perhaps the archery should be against moving targets like clay pigeons, but rather than flinging them, maybe use steam pressure to expel them up from a chimney. Who knows how fast and high they will go! Make it a one-on-one competition, so the first to shoot the clay kraken gets the point.... or maybe they should be teacups that are propelled to be shot.

Sorontar

[Mercury Wells]

(Query: is Kendal Mint Cake in the list of Victorian Food Brands Still Extant?)

It is on the list. 

[E.J.MonCrieff]

Perhaps the archery should be against moving targets like clay pigeons, but rather than flinging them, maybe use steam pressure to expel them up from a chimney. Who knows how fast and high they will go! Make it a one-on-one competition, so the first to shoot the clay kraken gets the point.... or maybe they should be teacups that are propelled to be shot.

Sorontar

I think this should be the subject of a separate, and distinct, competition.  We are working towards a Steampunk Olympics Decathlon!   

[Antipodean]

Just found this: 1st London Olympics

[Miranda.T]

They Olympics may be gone but next year has the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, so a few of us are contemplating the Cogworth Games. Archery has already been considered, as has full-contact croquet (there may be some need for steel spats to protect one's ankles). Time trials for donning of a corset and crinoline is another idea, although I feel some of us may rather have the advantage in this.

Yours,
Miranda.

[Cora Courcelle]

They Olympics may be gone but next year has the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, so a few of us are contemplating the Cogworth Games. Archery has already been considered, as has full-contact croquet (there may be some need for steel spats to protect one's ankles). Time trials for donning of a corset and crinoline is another idea, although I feel some of us may rather have the advantage in this.

Yours,
Miranda.

And for the marathon you could always do 'negotiating the M6 through Birmingham without using the toll road'.  Of course the event would probably take several days so would have to be done in stages ...

[E.J.MonCrieff]

They Olympics may be gone but next year has the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, so a few of us are contemplating the Cogworth Games. Archery has already been considered, as has full-contact croquet (there may be some need for steel spats to protect one's ankles). Time trials for donning of a corset and crinoline is another idea, although I feel some of us may rather have the advantage in this.

Yours,
Miranda.

How about punting on the extensive Birmingham canal system?

[Miranda.T]

How about punting on the extensive Birmingham canal system?

Made even more challenging by having to negotiate the submerged shopping trolleys, bikes and the occasional car which has taken a wrong turn off the one-way system*

Yours,
Miranda.

Brum's one-way system is so fiendishly complicated it can only be described using n-dimensional topology, where n is an arbitrarily large number. Suffice it to say that whatever your destination, the road system will always take you in exactly the opposite direction.