Forget intelligence, lets try testing for social skills as an entrance requirement for Pennsic. Ah, but that would decimate attendance even further than an intelligence requirement.

Rules are usually formed when someone does something stupid. If only we could agree on a consistant universal definition of stupid... I see a number of things that I think are stupid (and sometimes beyond) but there are no rules against them. Then again, there are rules against things I would consider safe or acceptable.

Now, if I were the Grand Poobah...

If I must...

Since some of you feel the tower was "something stupid", let me explain again for those too dense to comprehend the first dozen times we've explained.

The seige tower was built with safety in mind. For starters, it's structure was OSHA standardized scaffolding. It had many platforms to stand on and ladders to get up to them. The outside was simply paneling ziptied to the scaffolding, with 1x6s to frame the corners. The entire tower stood about 23' high. Because of this height, we had our NASA engineers in camp devise the safety rigging, aka steel cable guide wires which attached via OSHA standard bolts at the top, and OSHA standard 2 1/2 foot wind anchors which were drivin into the ground at the bottom. These guide wires, one at each corner, solidified the entire tower to the earth. Our engineers did the math, and it would have taken some 750+ mph winds to make it even move at it's highest point.

I can't recall the last time we had 750mph winds at Pennsic... how bout any of you know-it-all old timers? Shake that turban, maybe it'll come to you.

As far as us taking it down, we were requested by Lady Sedalia to do so, because SHE felt it was unsafe. Even though we attempted to prove to her, with all our OSHA gear, our engineers, our schematics, or mathmatically equated drawings, and even physically climbing to the top of it and with all our might trying to shake it (without it budging); Lady Sedalia felt her mechanical knowledge outweighed our NASA engineers. I'm sorry... what does Sedalia do for a living? OH, yeah, she's an engineer... NOT.

SO we obliged, and took it down.

Upon later discussion with the land o crats, the Coopers, and all the other higher officials, the TRUE reason the tower had to come down was divulged to us. This is the reason;

Though they (The Coopers, the Land o Crats, all other higher officials of that Pennsic, and the Pennsic following) DID FEEL IT WAS SAFE, the asked we take it down, as an example, so that not just ANY other Joe Shmo with a hammer and (in some cases) a Turban could decide they too were going to build such a high structure, most likely leading in disaster. You know, one of those "Here, hold my beer and watch this" incidents. They felt our building was safe, but didn't want to incite others to attempt the same. They felt having US take ours down and making the 16' rule was a future safety measure to avoid such "Know it all turban wearing muckity mukhs" from killing themselves, and possibly others.

Now, having said this... again... HAVE I MADE THIS INCIDENT CLEAR?

D'ner, I don't think she was being mean-spirited about it at the time. Part of the problem arose when the former campmaster was not very polite in his response to being asked to take it down. As Jackal said, it was not deemed unsafe. It was requested that we dismantle it so that others would not attempt such an elaborate project withOUT taking all the safety precautions that we did.