More from Japan...

[serai]

.

...these on a completely different tack.

These are collections of little clips which apparently run between segments of a Japanese children's program. According to one commentor at YouTube, the show has been running at least 30 years, and so their library of these clips must be truly mind-boggling.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

The constructions you see in these clips are called Rube Goldberg machines in the West, after Rube Goldberg, a famous cartoonist of the first half of the 20th century. Basically, a Rube Goldberg machine is any construction that accomplishes a simple task in an extremely complicated way. (If you've seen any Wallace & Grommit cartoon, you've seen one of these in action.)

These clips fill me with delight and awe. Making these things requires artistry of a very specific kind, and I'm always amazed at the inventiveness involved. I envy the ability to take ordinary objects and press them into such artful service.

Besides, they're just plain fun. And pretty!

Comments

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

My lord, those are amazing. You may get hits from my nephew and the kids I work with... Or would you rather I sent them straight to Youtube?

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Since these are public posts, I don't mind. However, keep in mind the other sorts of things I have here, like slash fics and such (all my fics are posted publicly), before doing so. If they're kids, you might want to direct them straight to YouTube instead.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Ayuh. Is there a good search term to find these there, then?

[serai1.livejournal.com]

As far as I've seen, they're the only two videos from this series, and I posted the second one myself. Earlier this year, a group of Japanese media companies got down YouTube's throat and made them dump all 50,000 or so videos clips from Japan that had been posted over there. So the Japan content has been rebuilding slowly, and there isn't as much stuff up as there used to be. Since the big dump, posters have been chary about their video titles and search terms - the first one is simply titled "Japan", and I titled mine "more" - because we don't want them found and dumped again.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Okay. I'll get the properties on these two, then. The media companies really don't get it. I keep discovering things I would never have heard of otherwise because of YouTube and they could make money off of me if they'd just give me a way to follow through!

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Yep. It's so freaking silly. How can showing the clips in other countries hurt their interests? After all, it's not like they broadcast outside of Japan!

But then, I don't understand that attitude on the part of American companies either. How is my watching a Daily Show clip on YouTube going to cut into their profits? It's not like I'm gonna get cable if they take the clips down.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

If they posted the clips on their own website, where I would see the advertisers they want me to see, I could see the point... But pulling it off of Youtube is silly.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

By the way, ask your kids if they can figure out what the voice at the end of the little clips is saying. I finally got it today, and feel rather proud of myself for having sussed it. *buffs nails on lapel*

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I will! I don't think any of them know Japanese, though...

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Heehee! I'll give you a hint (don't tell them, though): It's not Japanese. ;)

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Actually, scratch that. I just remembered it's a moot point, since I posted it in a comment there. But it might be off the first page of comments by the time they see the vid.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Well I'll keep trying to figure it out then, because I keep rewatching them at your journal anyway. I popped over to ebaumsworld since the first video had the link and found another Rube Goldberg there which was pretty amazing.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I searched "Pythagoras switch" at YouTube and found more of these, plus an amazing thing called the Algorithm March. The show's only been on since 2002 according to Wikipedia, but I'm going to start hassling my PBS station to show it...

This is absolutely addictive.