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This week: Heyyyyy, Rube! Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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It just happened that the public happened to, uh, appreciate the satirical quality of these crazy things.
-Rube Goldberg |
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Some of you might know that my background is in engineering. That is to say, I've been educated and trained to come up with simple, efficient solutions to complex problems.
But what happens when you come up with complex solutions to simple problems? Well, one, that's the polar opposite of engineering; two, you get a Rube Goldberg contraption .
Rube (Reuben) Goldberg (1883-1970) came up with these inventions. He, too, had an engineering background. But apparently, his inventiveness took him in... other directions, leaving us with the cultural legacy of the Rube Goldberg Machine.
In fact, he didn't last long as an engineer, becoming instead a cartoonist. I'm not going to say much more about the guy - you can follow the links above to Wikipedia articles - but I did want to talk about the comedy qualities inherent in his namesake devices.
As I noted, a Rube Goldberg machine (hereafter RGM) operates on the principles of maximizing complexity. And that, I assert, is almost always funny. Not usually in a side-splitting, laugh-out-loud way, but in a more quiet contemplation of the absurdities of everyday life. And what else is comedy really about? Well, I mean, besides fart jokes.
The continuing popularity of these contraptions, after over 100 years, is a testament to this.
So let me just link to some examples, both historical and modern.
This is a description of what might be the prototypical RGM:
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-rube-goldberg-machine
Here's one hilariously titled "Simple Orange Squeezing Machine:"
http://users_v2.section101.com/memberdata/ru/rubegoldberg/photos/rubegoldberg_ph...
Of course, there are real-word examples as well. Here's one from an RGM contest last year:
http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/02/rube-goldberg-machine-contest-students/
And a well-known music video from OK Go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w
Even the Harlem Globetrotters got in on the action:
http://geekologie.com/2018/02/the-harlem-globetrotters-rube-goldberg-t.php
So as you can see, some of these things get incredibly complex. Here's the thing, though - the basic ideas of a real-life RGM come from very simple ideas of transfer of energy, conversions between potential, kinetic and rotational energy. Scale these up to an absurd degree, and you can get comedy - something with which we engineers are rarely associated. And yet, the core concepts are in use all around us, in technology and in nature. Hell, even the way the Sun converts simple hydrogen atoms to energy, which radiates out from its core, transfers in convection cells to the surface, shines out into space, hits Earth and causes plants to grow, which we then consume to power our bodies and brains so that we can come up with such contraptions (not to mention all the processes interior to our bodies that makes this happen) - well, that's nothing if not a Rube Goldberg Machine.
And we all know there's nothing more hilarious or absurd than life itself. |
A few funnies for you:
| | | Schmoo [E] #1912543
My mistake: through a door marked, "For Authorized Personnel Only."
by Don Two  |
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Last time, in "Withdrawal" , I talked about some computer issues I was having.
Prosperous Snow celebrating  : After moving my old XP machine, twice, I finally got rid of it. I took it to a salvage place. Now I have more room on my desk, and (if I ever decide to move again) I have only one machine to take with me.
Some people fear spiders, clowns, open spaces, closed spaces, nuclear war, or alien invasion. Me? It's the prospect of having to move. I don't even know if there's a Greek-derived word for that phobia. Hey, I wonder what they call the irrational fear of Greek-derived words?
Monty  : I'm leaving laughing. Great News Letter.
Good. I'd hate for anyone to leave wailing. Thanks!
JayNaNoOhNo  : I don't how Michael Buble cornered the market on Christmas AND Valentine's Day, I just know I have to do all my shopping online until March.
Sorry about the computer.
I guess some artists just have better agents.
Azrael Tseng  : I'm glad to find another fellow gamer/writer! It's hard to strike a balance, especially when you're holding down a job, responsible for most of the household chores, and bringing up a three-year old as well, but I find that getting by on four hours of sleep a day helps. Honestly I get inspiration from playing RPGs more often than from reading novels, but maybe that's because I play games more than I read novels? One of my dreams is to be hired to write for a good game company -- imagine if your stories got made into a game that everyone loves playing!
Yes, it's easier when you're retired, live in a pig wallow, enjoy a child-free existence, and get to sleep nine hours a day, and yet I still find things to kvetch about. And yeah, the best games have great stories - writing for video games is its own art, one which I covered in a newsletter some time ago. (Honestly, I've been at this for over a decade now, and I have no idea how long ago that particular one was, or even whether it was Comedy or Fantasy, so I might revisit it sometime.)
Elfin Dragon-finally published  : I feel for you with the gaming. I'm an avid RPG'er. And then there's Zelda. Right now I'm playing through "Zelda, Twilight Princess". Arguably the best one ever made. And, of course, my nemesis in all the Zelda games has been the Water Temples. Whoever designed these things should be taken out and shot. I ALWAYS get stuck in them, wandering around FOREVER before finding the boss. Even now my fingers are itching to get back to the game. lol
It occurs to me that I might have an easier time gaming if I had a console, but I never could get the hang of those blasted controllers. And I like to travel. So I got the highest-powered laptop I could find.
Cheri Annemos  : This newsletter was so funny. You have a new fan.
Folks, this is how you guarantee your comment will show up in the newsletter. (I'm kidding. I usually put in every comment from the official Newsletter Feedback System.)
And that's it for me for now - see you after April Fool's Day! Until then,
LAUGH ON!!! |
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Comedy: March 07, 2018 Issue [#8789]
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