[extropy-chat] Sanity-Stealing Penguins?

[BillK]

On 9/24/06, Damien Broderick wrote:
> [a friend writes:]
>
> I saw a pub with a "Specials"
> board outside on which somebody has written "One by one the penguins
> are stealing my sanity".  This struck me as a delightfully surreal
> comment but, at the same time, a trifle too surreal to be an off-the-
> cuff remark from a local inebriate so, on returning home, I googled
> the term to see if it came from somewhere.
>
> Rather to my surprise it seems to turn up everywhere, albeit with
> subtle variations, from bumper-stickers for sale on Amazons, to
> slogans on penguin sweat-shirts, to taglines on bulletin boards, to
> random comments made in passing.  However, I can't find any trace of
> quite where the quotation comes from, or what it means :-(
>

As you have discovered, the quote is now part of pop culture.

I think the origin lies in HP Lovecraft's story "At the Mountains of Madness".
Full text here:
<http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/mountainsofmaddness.htm>

A trading card game called Mythos was developed based on his tales.
Rules here:
<http://www.chaosium.com/mythos/rules/rulesbook.shtml>

Rule Excerpts:

Your Investigator's Sanity is the most important value in the game.
Sanity Points reflect your Investigator's capacity to withstand the
shock of encountering the unutterable horrors that comprise the
Cthulhu Mythos. Each Investigator begins a MYTHOS game with the number
of Sanity points indicated on his or her Investigator card.

Sanity will be gained and lost during the course of play.
------------------

Now it gets funky.
Some searcging in Groups, discussing tactics for this game, yields
some real gems, like:

STRATEGIES
----------

* Drive Yourself Insane - As bizarre as it sounds, you can
  occasionally win the game after you've gone insane. This occurs if
  your number of points of completed adventures exceeds your
  opponent's adventure points plus his Sanity. Usually, even when you
  get the opportunity it's hard to pull off. You have to avoid
  Sanitariums, desperately cast spells, and even that's often not
  enough. Giant Albino Penguins can reduce your Sanity really
  quickly. Not only can each one cost up to 2 points (meaning that you
  can blow 8 Sanity if you have four in your hand), but they'll also
  make your opponents over-react, and put big Monsters opposite
  you. When you're sitting at 8 Sanity, but will win if you go insane,
  you can put down a two Sanity Penguin, and then take it in the teeth
  when your opponent reveals the Shoggoth he mistakenly pointed at
  you. 8 Sanity points are gone, and you win!
---------------------

* Bait! - If you're putting enough Monsters out to attract Instability
  in the Mythos, Penguins are very helpful. If you're playing other
  Lesser Independents into your threat, and your opponent is sitting
  on top of a Summon/Control Lesser Independent Spell, Penguins will
  also be useful. Decks heavy in Joining Monsters or in Lesser
  Independents can both be supported by Penguins for this reason.
-----------------------


I trust this is all now perfectly clear to you.  :)


BillK