Flamewars...
I engaged in a good-natured one with a great friend from college. The rules were simple- diss the other using limericks as the device.
I got bored one night, and ripped off 2 or 3 limericks about orchestral musicians, and sent them out to all my musical colleagues. I encouraged them to write back with their best slams against other players and their instruments. I started the e-mail tree on April 1. I was still getting submissions in August that year. Couldn't believe the responses. But one submitter caught my eye... Gary. He not only jumped into the fray with both feet, but chose to personally attack me in the process. It led to a personal war that transcended the original e-mail tree. In other words- it got personal. It's still a source of big laffs any time I read the archives.
I play cello. He plays violin. Each of us got off our shots on the other, but anyone from the outside got it from both of us. (Mess with my family, and you mess with me...)
When a horn player tried to get in the mix, and dissed the cello, Gary responded to her:
"When the Enterprise crew reached the planet,
They encountered a hornist named Janet.
When they asked, "Why play horn?"
She replied, "I was born
With no skills... and two hands made of granite."
When a guy who played Church Organ took a shot at violinists, I responded:
"The Organist's sound is a thriller...
It can rattle from post up to pillar.
But their lot make me trmble,
For many resemble
A pervert... or serial killer."
(Next time you're in church, take a long look at your Organist....)
Gary and I played this little flamewar out for 4 years... April 1 thru April 30. I couldn't wait to open my e-mail each day, to see what new insult would be waiting for me.
We've since lost touch, because of moves/ e-mail address changes. I hope we can hook up again some day, so we can recapture the rivalry. (It's kind of like a Steelers/Browns rivalry between old, close buds...)
Do any of you Dawgs have a similar "Diss Rivalry/Friendship?"
