Monday, May 07, 2012

Was there ever a recorded hula hoop death?

Fads come and go, especially with kids. I'm pretty sure however, neither pogs, parachute pants, the Material Girl look, nor friendship bracelets contained the inherent danger of leaving the participant a greasy red smear on the sidewalk.

I'm sure that after a few kids crater in, the fad will fizzle and they'll be on to something saner and safer, like driving the wrong way 'round the МКАД half a bottle of Stoli in the bag and blindfolded.

18 comments:

Mikael said...

I guess this is what comes after planking(another fad that caused deaths).

Anonymous said...

When I was a kid, there was this fad where you put a fission reactor in a densely populated urban area... well fortunately that didn't last too long.

:)

Samsam von Virginia

Bram said...

There is something suicidal in the Russian character.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz32kXTPZqU

Weer'd Beard said...

Man, As if writing the "Gun Death?" files at Weer'd World wasn't easy enough.

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

So what's Roomie got to say about this? :)

Keith said...

RAM remembers POGs?!?! I remember them, but I was 10 at the time. I think my parents still have mine.

Joel said...

I'm sure that after a few kids crater in, the fad will fizzle and they'll be on to something saner and safer, ...

I dunno. American kids have this idiotic fad of riding skateboards and bicycles in places where such things were never designed to go and no sane person would take them, like stairway railings. As far as I know, that's still around despite certain pain and possibly worse.

Granted, this new thing promises certain death rather than a trip to the orthodontist...

Sport Pilot said...

I doubt that the freefaller will have enough time to enjoy the ride before impact. Gravity is a reminder of one's mortality...

Kristophr said...

How many col plants are being built to replace those shut down nukes, Samsam?

The proper response to nuke power plant failures is to build better ones.

Anonymous said...

Kristopher

The Colon Close Paren indicates a joke. I was amused by the juxtaposition of two of our host's posts.

Pendulums swing, and in a few years the Japanese and Germans will be scrambling to build new nuke plants. Yes, hopefully they will be vastly improved designs.

The only way we don't get new fission plants is if fusion becomes a reality. Some folks ("Sun in a Bottle") think fusion will never happen. But they fail to understand the slow steady progress that has occurred over the past few decades.

As a parallel example of slow & steady, look at internal combustion engines. The improvements over the last 120 years has produced a device that can't be beat by any current technology, however much the greenies wish it weren't so.

I'm hoping fusion becomes a reality soon, but welcome the drive to produce improved fission plants.

Shit, too much writing for a joke.

Samsam

Sigivald said...

That reminds me of a story I heard.

Friend of mine was in the Army over in the Balkans, Keeping The Peace.

They also have Russians over there in KFOR, doing the same thing.

Evidently, the crazier of the Russians, when drunk, would play Russian Roulette.

With Kalashnikovs.

It's said to involve only partially seating the magazine, running the charging handle a few times, and then trying your luck.

(Guess how people know they were doing that? You guessed right.)

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei-RkX8FsQA

They're not suicidal, they don't give in to fear the way others do.

Jeff said...

Russians tend to be a bit crazy.

They REALLY like to drink (never try to drink with Russians)

They also have a strong circus culture which tends to make them try crazy shit. (It was the only thing to do for fun under the commies)

That doesn't surprise me.

Bubblehead Les. said...

So what do you have against Evolution being in Action?

Ken said...

Vodka and ennui are a potent combination.

Jerry said...

@ Les, evolution rules. The problem is that it happens over a LONG period of time. It goes unnoticed, just like the price of oil. Evolution means that what we do now will effect something later. And no, my name is not Earl. The same thing happens when criminals try to steal your stuff.

Just a thought,
Jerry

mikee said...

Pet Rocks were a dangerous fad, at least in the hands of my rotten older brother.

That said, I see absolutely nothing wrong with kids going places and doing things that are dangerous. There are plenty of kids around, and if a few get lost to gravity, the rest have great experiences to remember as they grow older, such as "I didn't fall off the tower!".

Farmee said...

Glad to see some kids willing to push the boundaries. No needles, hurting nobody, living life.