Amusing tortures for "pianos"

[Robin Blankenship]

Wonderful episode. But, it was NOT a catapult. It was a trebuchet. PBS
recently aired a documentary on ancient technologies in which two teams of
Americans, in Europe, built and fired (at relatively small targets a couple
of hundred yards off) full-sized trebuchets. They were amazingly accurate.
Robin (Southern exposure) Blankenship
----- Original Message -----
From: John Musselwhite <john@musselwhite.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2000 4:08 PM
Subject: Re: Amusing tortures for "pianos"


>At 07:39 AM 2/27/2000 -0500, Dale wrote:
>
>>Hi Kristinn,
>>     There was a popular TV series here in the states a while back called
>>"Northern Exposure".....set in a small village in Alaska.
>>One of the episodes portrayed a "Flinging" of a piano by the use of a
>>catapult.
>
>See this page:  http://www.eskimo.com/~verne/treb.htm  for more info on the
>Northern Exposure Treb.
>See also: http://trebuchet.com/
>,  http://members.iinet.net.au/~rmine/gctrebs.html
>and if you're REALLY interested there's a Windows trebuchet simulator at
>http://ftp.usma.edu/cme/civilsoft.htm
>
>There was an article on a fellow in England who flings pianos and dead farm
>animals but I can't locate it at the moment. It was quite interesting and
>his "back 40" must really be a sight!
>
>>The piano, a vintage Mason & Hamlin had already been through a fire in a
>>prior episode. The local artisan, "Chris" needed something to fling with
his
>
>In that same episode... called "Burning Down The House". In a later episode
>Ruth-Ann describes it as a "Baldwin Upright" although Maggie says it's a
>Mason in BDTH.
>
>>self made catapult. He was going to fling a cow but it had already been
done
>>by an artist in Europe.
>
>Monty Python. IIRC it was the movie "Holy Grail"
>
>>     By the way, if anyone on the list has a copy of that episode, (and I
>> know
>>you're out there)! I would gladly pay for a copy of it!
>
>Well... you're *supposed* to call/write/email A&E and see if that episode
>is on one of the Northern Exposure Collections and pay the $99 (plus
>shipping and handling) for that particular 5 episode set. B-})   Email me
>and I'll see if I can get you a copy on loan.
>
>                 John
>
>John Musselwhite, RPT -  Calgary, Alberta Canada
>Registered Piano Technician   http://www.musselwhite.com
>email: john@musselwhite.com
>