Bagpipes a weapon?

Scottish Highland bagpipesIt seems all the influx of foreigners into the country for the Olympics did not make the Chinese completely culturally sensitive. The BBC reports that an amateur bagpiper was nearly arrested for playing near the "Birds nest" stadium when his pipes were mistaken for "some kind of weapon."

Some will say that listening to the bagpipes is a form of aural warfare (I actually like them and once spent an hour trying to make one play at all -- it is not easy!). But maybe we can cut the Chinese a break here ... it is an awfully odd looking instrument with lots of barrel-like drones sticking out of it. 

 

 


Posted Aug 28 2008, 04:07 PM by Andrew Druckenbrod

Comments

loscil wrote re: Bagpipes a weapon?
on Fri, Aug 29 2008 2:55 AM

This quirky story reminded me of the line "death by stereo," spoken in a  scene from the '80s movie "The Lost Boys."

Trying to prevent a case of 'death by bagpipe,' i can imagine the authority shouting out (as if no one could hear the bagpipes in the first place) "look out, he's got a bag pipe and he's about to blow!"