Talk:Extreme ironing

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Peer review Extreme ironing has had a peer review by Wikipedia editors which is now archived. It may contain ideas you can use to improve this article.
Wikipedian The person who is part of the subject of this article, Extreme ironing, has edited Wikipedia as Steam one (talk • contribs).
Image:WikiWorld_icon.JPG Extreme ironing was featured in a "WikiWorld" cartoon:
(click image to the right for full size version.)

Note: For the archived deletion debate for this article see Talk:Extreme ironing/delete. -- Graham ☺ | Talk 00:35, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Huh?

What the heck?!? - 62.49.65.2

Stop this! Stop this right now! It's silly!
Seriously... I think we need to reword that part about "the satisfaction of freshly ironed clothes". That just sounds ridiculous in context. - Rissa
Oh, that's the ridiculous part! I couldn't figure out why I was ROTFLMAOing. Thanks for clearing that up... --JRM 14:18, 2004 Sep 17 (UTC)

Ummm... Competitors from Austria, Australia, Croatia, Chile, Germany, and the UK participated. The competition included eighty different teams from ten different countries. How can the teams for the 2002 World Championship come from ten countries when the competitors only came from six? Andrewa 13:29, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Erm ... doesn't the text you quote just leave unspecified what the other four countries were? Lupo 13:33, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I see what you mean, but IMO it's still ambiguous at best. If I say the bus is painted red and white and it turns out to be mainly green with lines or patches of red and white, I think that after walking home you'd be entitled to claim that I'd told you a lie. But you're probably right, that's what is intended. I'll try a clarification on this basis. Andrewa 15:00, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
You're referring to the piece that appears on the extreme ironing website, which I wrote. Actually ten countries did compete - we just listed a few at the time. Steam Dec 2005

[edit] Its just one big joke isn't it?

Mine eyes!!!!!!!!!

Anyway

Following the 2004 Summer Olympics, five-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave backed extreme ironing to become an Olympic sport. "It is a fantastic sport. It's a little bizarre in some respect, but in a few years' time, rowing could be chopped from the Olympics and extreme ironing could be in!"

Is this the only thing if Redgrave said, because if it is, it doesn't really sound like an endorsement to me, more a reflection of the pathetic bizzarity modern competitive sport has sunk to (i.e. that rowing could be replaced by something as weird as EI). Maybe you had to be there...--ZayZayEM 14:15, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

If you'd taken the trouble to look at the download on the website www.extremeironing.com you'd see that he did, in fact, say that. As to whether it was tongue in cheek, that's for the viewer to decide Steam Dec 05

Maybe I should head out to the next Olympics and advocate Extreme vacuuming.--Lucky13pjn 03:06, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)

It's a real shame. As the founder of extreme ironing, I sometimes have a look to see how the story has evolved, even put a couple of pictures up that I own the copyright. A few months pass and suddenly a load of "editors" have ripped the guts out of an article that quite a few people added content too (all of which was accurate, I hasten to add). A lot of the debate seems to be whether it's real. Well it is folks. It's appeared in all the UK's media C4 documentary, BBC Breakfast, Sky's Adventure One, The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times as well as media around the world including Fox News and Good Morning America in the States to name but a few. Hundreds of people around the world have tried extreme ironing and there was even a live world championships in Germany a few years ago. Ah well, I guess this is the disadvantage of "everyone's an editor" - simultaneously the best and worse thing about Wikipedia. That's my 2P's worth.

Steam Dec 2005.

[edit] Featured articles and April Fools

If we could get this to featured article status, it would make a great April Fools main page attraction. I think we can't get it done this year... Maybe next year? We'll have to make sure it doesn't end up on the Main Page before April 1st, of course. :-) JRM 16:38, 2005 Mar 26 (UTC)

[edit] Irons

How are the irons powered? —Ashley Y 02:50, 2005 Apr 5 (UTC)

  • Wow Good question. I'm interested in the answer to this too.
    • However they are powered, it is probably ironic. - Lucky13pjn 14:13, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)
    • "In the beginning extreme ironists used (very long) extension cords, but soon realised that unless they wanted to be limited by taking a generator with them, a new solution would be needed. Starch and Hotplate are at the forefront of battery powered irons, whilst in Germany, Dr Iron Q has developed geothermics, a method of tapping in to the earth's energy supply to power the iron - with mixed results." says here [1]--BerserkerBen 02:28, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
I'm suspicious. I don't think you can power an iron with batteries unless you've got huge numbers of them. You never see extension cords or generators in the pictures. And the geothermics sounds like BS. —Ashley Y 10:57, 2005 May 8 (UTC)
Well the geothermic thing does sound like bs, but there are cordless irons.[2]--BerserkerBen 17:18, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
Yeah, but they all have docking stations. I don't think you can get 1.2kW of power out of batteries easily (unless you have a lot of them). And none of the iron reviews on the EI site mention cordlessness or anything like that. —Ashley Y 23:45, 2005 May 8 (UTC)
Well 1.2kw would drain a battery fast, and considering the energy density of batteries it does seem unlikely that you could get iron that weighs a reasonable amount that runs on batteries. None of these cordless irons do specify how they work and it likely they just heat up at the station and run until they cool down. Even so theoretically you could make a portable iron out of an antiquated externally heated iron (consisting of nothing more the slab of steel with insulated handle, plastic or combustible parts should be avoided) and a small propane blowtorch. And there are claims that they do: [3] Perhaps temperature sensors could be added to make sure the iron is at proper temperatures, heck you could even integrate the blow torch into the iron (although were to spew the hot exhaust gas is a good question). Even so it most likely these people simply iron cold and just undergo the act of ironing: honestly it seems more of a stunt then a sport. --BerserkerBen 14:11, 9 May 2005 (UTC)
In the 19th century, coal-burning irons were common (See Ironing). Carrying about 1 Kg of coal, some fire-starting fuel and a matchbox would do. This still looks a joke to me. Extreme Ironing on Volcanos looks worth trying. -- Fbergo 17:59, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
According to another article, Lithium Ion Batteries have an energy density of 150-200 Watt-hours per kg, which should be plenty to iron a single article of clothing with a reasonably sized pack. You'd probably need a customized pack, or at least one bizarre adapter, to run an iron off of batteries. But there don't seem to be any technical barriers.

[edit] Extreme Ironing under water

Ironing under water is surely the most unconventional way of extreme ironing. How are the results of extreme ironing under water measured? How does extreme ironing under water work?

Based on my research via Google they don't actually iron underwater, they just pretend to and take a photo. --Unforgettableid | talk to me 19:55, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] IE or EI

is this a typo? on the first line? --Ballchef 12:39, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I think it is an abbreviation for Extreme Ironing.

[edit] NPOV issue

"Extreme ironing" is not a sport. It is a joke. (Ironing is not a sport, no matter where it is practiced.) "Extreme ironing" is jokingly called a "sport" by the joke's inventors and by those who perpetuate the joke, including the BBC on its website. However, this is done in a spirit of irony.

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Encyclopedias are not a place for jokes. Therefore, Wikipedia is not a place for jokes.

Should this "article" be sent to WP:BJAODN? If not, how can we convey to readers that only a few people believe that it is a sport, and most people believe it is a joke?

There is a consensus to keep the article; it has already been listed for deletion once. I have cut the article back to what can be verified once already however the proponents of "Extreme ironing" returned and, in the course of edits spread out over several days, added much of the junk back in. I believe that the proper thing to do is to cut the article back to material that can be verified using citable sources. I don't have a problem with the article being here but we should not be parroting the "Extreme ironing" press releases any more than we parrot anybody else's press releases. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:07, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I did some more checking. The Rowenta claim is extremely suspect. I cannot find any official press releases by Rowenta on their web site or at prnewswire or through a google search. Rowenta is not actually a manufacturer, it is a brand used by manufacturer Groupe SEB (groupeseb.com), based in France. Their extremely conservative press release history leads me to believe that they are unlikely to sponsor any extreme ironing activities. The only reference for this is a press release issued through prnewswire [4] that appears to be spoofed. There is none of the usual corporate boilerplate nor is there a corporate press contact for Rowenta, for example, two features that would be sure to be present on an authentic news release from an organization as large as Groupe SEB. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:42, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I have contacted Groupe SEB to see whether they will authenticate or repudiate the press release. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:49, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

I received a reply from Cogent PR who, apparently, handles PR for Groupe SEB in the U.S. The representative advised me that there is in fact a relationship between Rowenta and Phil Shaw, and included a copy of a related press release. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 17:44, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] What's really going on here

The root of this story appears to be a 50 minute feature produced by Hot Under the Collar productions], a production company that specializes in eccentric and extreme sports. The feature is for sale to television outlets here and also is being sold on DVD. I suspect that promotional clips from this video are what have appeared on the various news programs that are listed in the article body.

So, we have a couple dozen eccentric attention seekers, a feature made by a TV production company that specializes in the unusual, a bogus press release, and a self-published book. This may still merit inclusion given our extremely broad standards, but we should be very clear about what's happening. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 23:01, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

God, you're hyperly cynical. Perhaps people from outside Minneapolis actually like to have some fun when doing elsewise boring chores? Perhaps that concept was spread by the creator to friends, and then strangers via a website. Perhaps then it caught on, worldwide, people doing this humourous activity. Perhaps then the media started to catch on, and report on it. Perhaps it's real. Perhaps you'd benefit from "a well pressed shirt"? -- user:zanimum
Whether or not the sport originated with "a couple dozen eccentric attention seekers" it now qualifies as a sport under any reasonable definition of sport. It is an event governed by rules that requires practice and skill, and when properly executed is entertaining. Let's not forget this folks, ALL sport is entertainment, and if dispassionately observered fundementally silly. Surfing is just standing on a plank while it's washed into shore. Soccer is just kicking a pigs bladder (or reasonable facsimile) from one end of a field to the other. Sports happen because at some point "a couple dozen eccentric attention seekers" enjoy getting together to do them, not because there is a law of nature telling us what one is. [PS I'm not an Ironist, but I appreciate a well pressed shirt!] Ian 81.144.191.248 13:17, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Phil Shaw

Phil Shaw is notable for nothing except his involvement to this article's topic. Unless someone expands his article with reliable sources in three days, I'll merge him to this one. -- Perfecto 03:03, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Merge done by UninvitedCompany. Thanks. -- Perfecto 00:17, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cited in the news

In case you guys didn't spot it, this article was mentioned in a news article:

Some Britannica officials have publicly criticised Wikipedia's quality in the past. But Panelas praised the free service for having the speed and breadth to keep up on topics such as "extreme ironing", the sport, in which competitors iron clothing in remote locations.[5]

It seems they're using this example in a similar manner to the traditional example crushing by elephant, an esoteric topic not covered in any other encyclopedia. Deco 03:01, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

I was aware that it was mentioned offhand as a bellwether of Wikipedia's breadth by one or more news outlets. The article still leaves much to be desired. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 04:40, 19 December 2005 (UTC)
The article by AP about EI has appeared in at least 112 news outlets. Comparatively, it's a relatively position spin on things. -- user:zanimum
UninvitedCompany, you seem to have a real bee in your bonnet about extreme ironing. I accept that you don't believe Wikipedia should cover things that its editors think are a 'joke'. I know you've probably got more important things to do, but some research on EI will show that it has been pretty much covered by the world's media - some very reputable sources (Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times, Financial Times etc.) I'd happily talk you through some of the background so that you are able to get a story up that you are happy is factually correct, but still captures some of the fun of extreme ironing. As has been pointed out by one of your colleagues, EI has been mentioned 110 times through the Nature survey, so if you deleted the story for good, it might look like Wikipedia is getting on its high horse. Contact me through our website www.extremeironing.com user:steam_one
Make that 291 times, now. [6] -- user:zanimum

[edit] EIB

I'm assuming from the nature of the sport that this stands for "Extreme Ironing Board", but it's not mentioned explicitly in the article, though the acronym is used. Any chance of a confirmation? GeeJo (t) (c) • 08:57, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

It actually stands for Extreme Ironing Bureau - though Extreme Ironing Board would have been funnier...not that we're trying to make out this is some kind of joke or anything. Steam 11 Feb 2005.


[edit] Image credibility?

The extra information included with the file says it was created in photoshop 7... Could just be a crop, but that guy doesn't seem to have a harness or anything either...—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.69.131.172 (talk • contribs) September 2006.

The metadata of Image:Extremeironing.jpg states photoshop has been used--Golden Wattle talk 01:09, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
See discussion on the image talk page. -- Zanimum 18:08, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

There's scores of newspapers who reported on extreme ironing. Could we get a little more independant sources in here instead of links to the official site itself? - Mgm|(talk) 11:38, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I endorse that confirmation from reliable sources is required--Golden Wattle talk 00:56, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
This 2002 BBC article is no better than the wikipedia article - somebody has merely persuaded the BBC to publish a few photos as a joke. Other refs seem merely publicity for http://www.extremeironing.com/ or college level humour --Golden Wattle talk 01:04, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] An idea

See also: Darwin awards. I am sure high performance in this sport greatly increases one's chances for the award ;p -- Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk  22:43, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not a hoax

This article was the subject of the recent WikiWorld, so I came to take a look. I was rather surprised to see it tagged as a hoax article; however, after only a minute of Googling, i came to the conclusion that it is real. For example, here's a New York Times article from 2004: [7]. There's also some BBC links: [8] [9]. The Times article mentions the corporate sponsorship.

In any case, this article could be better referenced. I haven't thoroughly gone over the article to check the details. But the person alleging hoax is plainly mistaken. Therefore I have removed the tag. --Chan-Ho (Talk) 05:46, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

The New York Times article is only a publicity blurb for the same two men. Where are the articles about these vast numbers of practitioners. Where is some evidence other than photoshopped or staged images? One or two men with a publicity spin doesn't seem to be encyclopaedic to me. They claim that there are 1500 "ironists" world wide - surely some of the others should be written about sometimes too. I won't replace the hoax tag just yet, but a reliable source probably needs to be something other than a regurgitation or similar of a press release from the same two people.--Golden Wattle talk 09:43, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
What are you talking about? Publicity blurb? You have a misguided idea of reliable source. The NY Times article is definitely one. You seem to think a reliable source is one that has been personally vetted by you to not be a "press release". You're making unsupported claims. For example, with only a few minutes of searching, I found an article about other "ironists": [10]. If you would like specific statements sourced, you can add a citation needed tag, but adding a hoax tag is completely unjustified. --Chan-Ho (Talk) 10:43, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
I didn't add the hoax tag, please commetn on content onot contributers. Read the NYT article, it is featherweight journalism, even if from a reputable source about two Englishmen touring America providing a few photo opportunities, I read it as self-promotion, not the subject of investigative journalism, hence my reference to press releases - do you think the NYT went out and found them? -- Golden Wattle talk 10:48, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Is that a rhetorical question? Because it's completely irrelevant. You continue to dismiss valid sources as self-promotion, which is wrong. (I never said you added the hoax tag, but you implied you would re-add it.) --Chan-Ho (Talk) 10:58, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
What are they self-promoting? Are you suggesting it's an attempt to sell books and tapes? Look, there was a full documentary about the sport, and an international competition. -- Zanimum 18:07, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I found a nice Wall Street Journal article on extreme ironing, "Extreme Ironing: Adding New Wrinkles To an Age-Old Chore" (WSJ online requires a subscription, but the article can also be found on [11], after scrolling down a bit). The global nature of the competition is better described than in the NY Times article, and several competitors (other than Steam and Starch) are mentioned by name. Hopefully these sources are useful for people editing the article. I will pitch in when I get the chance. --Chan-Ho (Talk) 11:38, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Even if...

Even if this sport isn't really a sport, and people only do it when cameras are around, what's the problem? It's still an activity that people do, just with their tongue firmly implanted in their cheek. And I don't think the founders of the sport have ever denied that they're doing all of this with a sense of humour. -- Zanimum 18:11, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Found unreal info

“ Additionally, Extreme Ironing has been a frequent topic of discussion of "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who on recent occasions has mentioned his interest in the sport, going so far as to claim it can "easily trump professional wrestling ... when the time is right". ”

This is the only false part of the article I found... there's no good references for this rumour. -- Zanimum 18:27, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] There's unsourced, and then there's unsourced.

This really pretty extremely unlikely (and quite probably impossible) claim has been here since the 20th of February. What's really astonishing is that people copyedited it without, apparently, actually reading it. (In fact, the copyediting leaves something to be desired too.) Well, per WP:BLP, I'm removing it. You can do what you like with it.

On 12 November 2006 Adam Pearce, known in the wrestling world as "Scrap Iron Adam Pearce", launched himself and an industrial ironing press from a plane flying at 25,000 feet and firmly pressed a shirt, his parachute (which he repacked in mid air), the pants he was wearing, a pair of wrestling tights; he then landed safely, drank a Dr. Pepper and was generally smug. Subsequent to this event he was awarded the coveted "Champion Of The Universe" title in extreme ironing.

As this is the sort of thing that tends to attract media attention, I'm sure someone can point to a good source for it. 69.140.12.199 19:03, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

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