Pin Pin & Timothy Torture

Pin Pin is a childish, pointlessly violent game of pain that has recently come to light most famously on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show. On the show Russell's friend/co-presenter, Matt Morgan, has recounted the tale of when he was 10, walking home from scouts and his friend Darren French came up behind him, shouted the immortal phrase, "pin pin" and jabbed him hard in the upper arm with a naked pin. And so the game has been rejuvenated and taken off across the nation's playgrounds with cries of 'pin pin' being heard... swiftly followed by ones of 'Ow, you bastard, I'll get you for that'. There are no rules except the shout of 'Pin Pin' must be made when an attack takes place.
I can recall a similar 'sport' being played in my childhood, albeit without the 'pin pin' chant, but with a standard Blue Peter badge (one of the few pinned badges you were allowed to wear to school) being used. Assailants would come upon you unannounced, jab you hard with the pointy end and run off to avoid capture. No doubt they never achieved their Silver Blue Peter Badge.
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Writing about Pin Pin reminds me of another painful childhood punishment type game from the 70's which could easily take off again:-


Timothy Torture
Timothy Torture is a bit like a green, rural equivalent of the urban Pin Pin. So called because it uses as its weapon of choice a stalk of Timothy Grass. The common meadow grass (Phleum pratense) grows almost everywhere in Europe and Timothy is its common name. To assail, simply pull out a mature stalk and slide your thumb and forefinger from the base of the seed head to the tip - pulling all the seeds off as you go. The section of stalk exposed doesn't seem much to look at but if you pass by someone with long hair (the game is almost useless against skinheads) thrust the stalk tip into their pride and joy, twizzle, then pull hard. The naked Timothy stalk is like velcro for hair with strands instantly attaching themselves to it and if done correctly this procedure is very painful indeed with the assailant uprooting lots of hair or at the very least causing much pain and anguish. Obviously Timothy Torture is seasonal in nature, due to the flowering time of Phleum pratense but if you can get hold of this abundant perennial grass much fun (and pain) can be had.

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