devi: (Default)
devi ([personal profile] devi) wrote2003-09-19 09:41 pm

creation myths

So I've got myself a set of poi, having had a lot of fun twirling the glowstick variety at the birthday party for the two Adams in Norfolk (and admittedly a lot of glowstick-shaped bruises on my legs the next day). They've got long white tails and when in mid-air they remind me of Haku in his dragon-form in Spirited Away. I went online yesterday to search for lessons.

The amusing thing is that everyone seems to have a different story as to who invented poi and why. One site makes vague noises about Eastern mysticism, whirling dervishes and the like. Another says they were used by Maori warriors to increase coordination in training. The funniest one says there's a plant in Hawaii called the poi root which was softened to an edible state by tying a string to it and repeatedly swinging it against a rock. "Two were done at once to prevent one side of the body becoming overdeveloped." Hmmm.

Your challenge, readers, is to choose a common household object, well-known game or hobby and invent a completely fictitious origin story for it, the sillier the better. Off you go.

(Those of you who invent games - [livejournal.com profile] kauket, [livejournal.com profile] strange_powers and [livejournal.com profile] the_heiress, I'm looking at you - feel free to tell me where you got your ideas from, or indeed how you were handed down your game by an old and wise relative who invented it in a bomb shelter in the Blitz etc etc.)

Re: Hmm, I'll have a try.

[identity profile] verlaine.livejournal.com 2003-09-19 01:57 pm (UTC)(link)
What's the newsletter of the Joyriders Foundation called?

Re: Hmm, I'll have a try.

[identity profile] the-heiress.livejournal.com 2003-09-19 02:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Hotpants. Everyone knows all joyriders dress like Daisy Duke.

Re: Hmm, I'll have a try.

[identity profile] mooism.livejournal.com 2003-09-19 02:39 pm (UTC)(link)
They don't have a newsletter. They communicate amongst themselves by burning rubber onto tarmac, tooting their horns, by dancing til dawn (and if you've never seen a pair of Ford Capris dosidoing in a handbrake-turn-style, you've never appreciated the value of personal injury insurance). Did they teach you nothing at Oxford? ;-)