Wednesday, October 29, 2014

OK Go in Japan, The Largest Rube Goldberg Machine in the World, and a Park


"I Won't Let You Down" by OK Go.

I love OK Go!  They have the most innovative music videos.  They're crazy brilliant.  And their new music video, released just a couple days ago, takes place in Japan, which simply ups the video's cool factor.

You HAVE to watch till the end.  It may seem like CGI digital or something, but it's not.  It's all real.  And that final aerial shot of Japan . . . breathtaking.

And now for an OK Go classic: "This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine"


Here's some fun facts: My alma mater Monache High School from Porterville CA set the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Rube Goldberg Machine on July 31, 1997, between my Freshman and Sophomore year, and maintained the record until 2005, which was broken by Purdue University.

My High School maintained the record for 8 years, which is really cool.

My HS Physics teacher Blomgren wrote this in 2010

"Thought you might be interested in knowing that the original Guinness World Record for a Rube Goldberg Machine was set by a team of students at Monache High School in Porterville, California.

"This record was set July 31, 1997. In keeping with the spirit of Rube Goldberg’s cartoons, the machine was built entirely from common objects. The machine included a phonograph, bicycle, film projector, sink, rocket, cannon, bow and arrow, toaster, blender, coffee maker, rubber chicken, etc. etc. etc. In all the machine had (according to the rules established by Guinness) 113 steps. Its function… to give 50 pennies change (one at a time) for two quarters.  In 2005, Purdue University students broke the Monache record. Two years later, a new record setting machine was built by students at Ferris State University. I believe they still hold the record."

The record was taken back in 2012 by Purdue, which you can read about on the official Guinness World Record page.  This new record was set by the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers Rube Goldberg Team, and has 300 steps.

You can see the video below.

I still think it's cool that the Guinness World Record was held for 8 years by High School students.


And lastly, the very first OK Go music video I ever watched, which so happened to be while eating lunch at the Ventura mall.  The TV screens in the food court don't always state the name and artist behind the videos they show, so it actually took me a couple months to find the video online.

3 comments:

  1. Yes Monache High Schools "Rube Goldberg Society" was the first to set the record in 1997. I was there during most of the process of creation and I have to say these guys are crazy! I love them. I am very proud to say I know all involved including Dustin Maddox who was one of the main creators of this contraption. It also included a toilet atop about a 10ft pole making it quite the attention grabber to look at lol!

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    1. I was on that team. My God, that feels like a million years ago. Dustin was a very intelligent and, more importantly, kind guy. I wonder whatever happened to him, to us all.

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  2. Hi Sarah! Been a million years. Thanks for posting about this. I was trying to find information about when we did that, and your blog was the only thing that came up when I googled it. XD

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