Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Building a Better Mousetrap


Several Christmas mornings of my childhood saw a repeat present--the Ideal Toy company's MOUSETRAP. I was fascinated by the Rube Goldberg-esque game with the shiny silver ball that seemed to careen out of control, traveling down blue plastic stairs, through oddly-angled hoops, and inside bathtubs with the ultimate object of trapping the mouse underneath the plastic net. The timing and precision of the simple tasks that would lead to the end of the mouse's freedom left me breathless. Unfortunately, as is the way with some children's toys (even or especially on Christmas morning), my Mousetrap game never lasted out the day. I believe that my grandfather, in his zeal to help and possibly shield what might be his own enthrallment with the game...umm, how do I say this? He broke it. His large hands could never quite manage the small, delicate plastic replicas and somehow turned them into useless, broken game pieces.

My Mousetrap failures are at the forefront of my mind today because my You Tube recommendations posted this:







This video renews the wonderment of my childhood and all those Christmas mornings where I crossed my fingers that this would be the year I'd get through St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26) without having to give up my Mousetrap game to the Island of Misfit toys. Mostly, it's just cool and I thought it would be nice to share.

4 comments:

Marilyn Brant said...

I loved that video!! I saw it for the first time just a couple of days ago and...wow! Did you see the other one they did with the treadmills? Also amazing, but the one you posted was truly incredible. Thanks for sharing it with everybody! Looking forward to chatting with you soon ;).
xoxo

Pamala Knight said...

Thanks Marilyn. That video is a wonder isn't it? It looks like it was all shot in one long take too. And YES, I did see the treadmills video from OK GO. They're definitely talented.

I look forward to chatting with you too and THANKS for the chocolate. It was much appreciated and very necessary ;-).

Pamela Cayne said...

I loved that video--those guys get extra, extra credit for being so creative. Yowza!!!

Pamala Knight said...

Hey Pamela! That video is cool, yeah? I agree--OK GO definitely deserves cool points for that creativity.

*waves*