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Cool Playgrounds and annoying liability laws

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Posts

  • The CheeseThe Cheese Registered User
    man

    They should totally have playgrounds like these for adults

    Dinosaur slides and all
    when I'm rich and old I am setting up a giant playground like that in Ottawa.

  • foursquaremanfoursquareman Registered User regular
    My favourite park used to have this massive rope structure that was basically this:

    tom_brown_park_spacenet.jpg

    It was twice as tall, and there were two poles connected to each other by the ropes. Playing tag on this would last all day. Then they got rid of it, and all that was left was a huge empty sand pit.

    What hurts the most is that my kids won't ever get to experience the joy :(

  • redxredx Dublin, CARegistered User regular
    man, I wound how dangerious opening up a private playground would be. You could ask people to sign liablity waivers, but those tend to not be too effective.

    Can't imagine what it would be like if you had to staff it either or take responsiblity of the actions of little shit kids. Between fights between kids and molestation allegations, you'd probably loose everything you owned.

    really a fucking shame too. Even if someone wanted to open stuff like that junk in japan, it would probably get ruined by assholes.

    RedX is taking a stab a moving out west, and will be near San Francisco from May 14 till June 29.
    Click here for a horrible H/A thread with details.
  • YodaTunaYodaTuna Registered User regular

    Hey, didn't the creator of "Katamari Damacy" quit the buisness and go off to design playgrounds?

    Yea, I was actually if any of the ones pictured above might have been his design.

  • ALockslyALocksly Registered User
    I'm having trouble finding a picture of it to post here but the college I went to, Western Washington U. had a large sculpture on campus that formed something like a large tripod with the apex being 20 or so feet off the ground.

    When the sculpture was origionally built the artist included a large, suspended platform hanging a foot off the ground and attached with chains to the apex. That info in not included in the current campus tour guide but my parents both went there as well and they showed me pictures of it back when. You could lounge on the platform and study or swing or whatever. The university removed the swing without telling the artist and in retaliation for them mutilating his work he returned and painted the whole thing a bright orange.

    I considered several times of building a new platform as a prank (the attachment ring is still welded to the structure) but never got around to it.

    Yes,... yes, I agree. It's totally unfair that sober you gets into trouble for things that drunk you did.
  • GimGim Registered User
    Do it, Locks!

    Organichu wrote: »
    NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH FUCKING KIDS
  • ALockslyALocksly Registered User
    Gim wrote:
    Do it, Locks!

    maybe when I get home :wink:

    Yes,... yes, I agree. It's totally unfair that sober you gets into trouble for things that drunk you did.
  • desperaterobotsdesperaterobots Registered User regular
    redx wrote:
    man, I wound how dangerious opening up a private playground would be. You could ask people to sign liablity waivers, but those tend to not be too effective.

    Remember when Homer gets the trampoline and results in hundreds and hundreds of children laying injured on his lawn? Yes!

  • MegaMan001MegaMan001 Registered User regular
    The thing that upsets me most about new playgrounds is that it doesn't allow for any sense of adventure or exploration. Everything is so low to the ground that you can't really explore the structure.

    Old time playgrounds like everyone is describing here rewarded the bold and punished the unskilled. You got a lot of respect for climbing to the highest tower.

    However - a lot of kids did get killed as a result. Falling head first off of a large structure (regardless of sand or wood chips) is a real fast way to the emergency room and lifelong problems - if not death.

    So, in that sense, I have to support the change to safer equipment. I couldn't say with a straight face to any parents who lost their kids in a playground incident "lawl, too bad - darwin at work mi rite?"

    I am in the business of saving lives.

    camo_sig2.png
  • ALockslyALocksly Registered User
    MegaMan001 wrote:
    The thing that upsets me most about new playgrounds is that it doesn't allow for any sense of adventure or exploration. Everything is so low to the ground that you can't really explore the structure.

    Old time playgrounds like everyone is describing here rewarded the bold and punished the unskilled. You got a lot of respect for climbing to the highest tower.

    However - a lot of kids did get killed as a result. Falling head first off of a large structure (regardless of sand or wood chips) is a real fast way to the emergency room and lifelong problems - if not death.

    So, in that sense, I have to support the change to safer equipment. I couldn't say with a straight face to any parents who lost their kids in a playground incident "lawl, too bad - darwin at work mi rite?"

    I really think that a play structure doesn't have to be tall to be cool or stimulating. The wooden one I miss from near my old school was not any taller than it's plastic and metal replacement but it was big, and complex and dammit it was unique; you could tell that the designer put some thought into it. It took awhile to explore fully. Kids who had never seen it before would tear from their parents and bolt for it when they saw it.

    Most of the repacements for these wooden creations are the same thing over and over: four steps up and a slide and pole, swings on the side. A kid doesen't have to explore it because he's already seen it a dozen times before.

    Yes,... yes, I agree. It's totally unfair that sober you gets into trouble for things that drunk you did.
  • ALockslyALocksly Registered User
    OK, I found a picture of the sculpture on my old campus as it stands now, minus the swing

    171069421f5f316f279oa.jpg

    my campus did have a lot of "sculptures for climbing on"

    17245583109418f7a20dw.jpg

    Yes,... yes, I agree. It's totally unfair that sober you gets into trouble for things that drunk you did.
  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    How are indoor play structures nowadays? I remember some place near my house called Sports Plus or something like that having an awesome setup, but I don't think that's open any more.

  • LadyMLadyM Registered User regular
    MegaMan001 wrote:
    So, in that sense, I have to support the change to safer equipment. I couldn't say with a straight face to any parents who lost their kids in a playground incident "lawl, too bad - darwin at work mi rite?"

    Yeah, but don't more kids get killed riding bicycles?

    Reminds me of an article I read where a mom was all, "I won't let my child drink orange juice, it might cause CANCER!" and they had a picture of her on a bicycle . . . with her helmetless child riding unstrapped in the "child seat" behind her.

    Oh man, when I was a kid there was this one playground with a huge "ship" made out of the standard rounded playground logs. The "mast" had metal bars for climbing and was high enough that it gave me vertigo. All kinds of awesome.

    Also, vivid memories of a playground with the impossibly long Seesaws of Death.

  • TankHammerTankHammer Extreme Ghostbuster Registered User regular
    My mother, when she did not work (presumably to stay at home with me and my siblings and cook and clean and try hard not to be more successful than my dad) was virtually a part of every committee in my town. She ran most of them too. As head of the "Playground Committee" she spearheaded no less than 2 major playground constructions.
    Unfortunately she works full time now and one of her two playground projects has been taken apart because it needed restoration the town could not afford. It was a wood/steel hybrid construction and had a club-house, no less than 3 slides, a space-trolley/zip line, jungle gym, the works. Random steering wheels and other miscellaneous items were installed all around which added to my childhood imagination.

    My favorite part by far was the 2-story, 3-part fire-pole on one of the towers. Theoretically you could have 3 kids slide down at once or one kid could grab two poles and ladder-slide. Growing up on Ghostbusters and the old Adam West Batman reruns made me love this part of the playground the most. I hope they get the last few grand in donations, otherwise they'll probably put up a few plastic slides and call it a day.

    4icmw.jpg TankHammer | 2zivq6q.jpg JoeJRicc
  • Andrew_JayAndrew_Jay Registered User
    Jandaru wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    The best part was a this thing like a gondola (can't think of any better name for it) - a long rope between to pylons on a slight slope. Hanging from it was another rope and a platform for you to stand on as you flew down its length, running in a little trench lined with that padding stuff.
    Flying Fox is what we call those here.

    I also remember hearing one referred to as a "zipline" or something on American Gladiators.
    Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking for - zipline. Just slipped my brain at the time I guess.

  • TankHammerTankHammer Extreme Ghostbuster Registered User regular
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    Jandaru wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    The best part was a this thing like a gondola (can't think of any better name for it) - a long rope between to pylons on a slight slope. Hanging from it was another rope and a platform for you to stand on as you flew down its length, running in a little trench lined with that padding stuff.
    Flying Fox is what we call those here.

    I also remember hearing one referred to as a "zipline" or something on American Gladiators.
    Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking for - zipline. Just slipped my brain at the time I guess.
    Space Trolley here. I don't know who came up with that name, but I knew a family that had one that stretched the entire distance of their back yard between two trees. You had to really launch to get to the end and only the lightest kids could rebound off the tree hard enough to make it back up the the starting point.

    4icmw.jpg TankHammer | 2zivq6q.jpg JoeJRicc
  • redxredx Dublin, CARegistered User regular
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    Jandaru wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    The best part was a this thing like a gondola (can't think of any better name for it) - a long rope between to pylons on a slight slope. Hanging from it was another rope and a platform for you to stand on as you flew down its length, running in a little trench lined with that padding stuff.
    Flying Fox is what we call those here.

    I also remember hearing one referred to as a "zipline" or something on American Gladiators.
    Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking for - zipline. Just slipped my brain at the time I guess.
    Space Trolley here. I don't know who came up with that name, but I knew a family that had one that stretched the entire distance of their back yard between two trees. You had to really launch to get to the end and only the lightest kids could rebound off the tree hard enough to make it back up the the starting point.
    man... I went to this mennonite camp, in addition to playing around repelling, cannoes, full contact street hockey. They had a huge freaking zipline that went down hill. Totally one way, but something like 600ft long.

    Fucking badass.

    RedX is taking a stab a moving out west, and will be near San Francisco from May 14 till June 29.
    Click here for a horrible H/A thread with details.
  • TankHammerTankHammer Extreme Ghostbuster Registered User regular
    redx wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    Jandaru wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    The best part was a this thing like a gondola (can't think of any better name for it) - a long rope between to pylons on a slight slope. Hanging from it was another rope and a platform for you to stand on as you flew down its length, running in a little trench lined with that padding stuff.
    Flying Fox is what we call those here.

    I also remember hearing one referred to as a "zipline" or something on American Gladiators.
    Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking for - zipline. Just slipped my brain at the time I guess.
    Space Trolley here. I don't know who came up with that name, but I knew a family that had one that stretched the entire distance of their back yard between two trees. You had to really launch to get to the end and only the lightest kids could rebound off the tree hard enough to make it back up the the starting point.
    man... I went to this mennonite camp, in addition to playing around repelling, cannoes, full contact street hockey. They had a huge freaking zipline that went down hill. Totally one way, but something like 600ft long.

    Fucking badass.
    How fast did that mother go? I'm imagining someone shooting down that baby so fast it pulls their eyelids back.

    4icmw.jpg TankHammer | 2zivq6q.jpg JoeJRicc
  • redxredx Dublin, CARegistered User regular
    redx wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    Jandaru wrote:
    Andrew_Jay wrote:
    The best part was a this thing like a gondola (can't think of any better name for it) - a long rope between to pylons on a slight slope. Hanging from it was another rope and a platform for you to stand on as you flew down its length, running in a little trench lined with that padding stuff.
    Flying Fox is what we call those here.

    I also remember hearing one referred to as a "zipline" or something on American Gladiators.
    Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking for - zipline. Just slipped my brain at the time I guess.
    Space Trolley here. I don't know who came up with that name, but I knew a family that had one that stretched the entire distance of their back yard between two trees. You had to really launch to get to the end and only the lightest kids could rebound off the tree hard enough to make it back up the the starting point.
    man... I went to this mennonite camp, in addition to playing around repelling, cannoes, full contact street hockey. They had a huge freaking zipline that went down hill. Totally one way, but something like 600ft long.

    Fucking badass.
    How fast did that mother go? I'm imagining someone shooting down that baby so fast it pulls their eyelids back.

    it wasn't really that fast. Probably about 25mph or so.

    You were kind hooked into a harness thing, so you didn't have to hold on, or not be upside down.

    RedX is taking a stab a moving out west, and will be near San Francisco from May 14 till June 29.
    Click here for a horrible H/A thread with details.
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