To add to our past post about the fabulous mimicry of the lyrebird, here’s another sample from Chook, a male Superb Lyrebird from the Adelaide Zoo in Australia. There had been a lot of construction nearby, and now Chook faithfully reproduces everything from hammers and power drills (having heard a lot of power-driven screws in my home-owning life I find the last few seconds of the clip to be hilarious) to bits of human conversation and workmen whistling.

Who doesn’t love Rube Goldberg machines? Those improbable contraptions where one moving object sets off another, which then causes another object to move, and on and on until some (usually simple) action is performed. These very silly devices started out as cartoons by Reuben Goldberg in the early 20th century. (The British equivalent were drawn by W. Heath Robinson, and to this day in the UK these devices are known as “Heath Robinson contraptions”.)

Nowadays there are contests to build real-life Rube Goldberg machines, and there’s something fascinating in watching a complicated, creative one perform its tricks. A couple of notable devices have become extremely popular on YouTube:

Honda ad “The Cog”, where parts of a disassembled Honda Accord are used in interesting ways.

Though the ad looks as though it was done in one shot, it was actually done in two separate halves because the studio lacked space to do it in one setup. The halves were stitched together digitally at around the 1:00 min mark (when the muffler is rolling along the floor), but otherwise there is no CG hanky-panky.

Another great example is the brand-new music video “This Too Shall Pass” from the always-creative popsters OK Go (they of the cleverly-choreographed video on treadmills that went viral a couple of years back).

This took three months of preparation and more than 60 takes over two days of filming. The finished video is one single shot using a Steadicam filming a very precisely-timed device (watch how things happen in real time to the music!) covering two floors of a warehouse.

For both the ad and the video, notice how the really fiddly bits that require much delicacy and accuracy are featured up front. This is so if they go wrong (a common occurrence) the filmmakers don’t have to re-set the entire works. Many of those 60+ takes for OK Go’s video were a minute or less.

Added: Here’s a great article at Make Magazine about the nuts and bolts of making the video. Quote:

I think we did that first sequence about 70 times. When we got past the tire, we knew we had a chance. When the piano dropped without triggering the flags or chairs, we started getting excited. If the sledgehammer blew up the TV we were in the home stretch. It was a tense video to film!

Most coffee drinkers I know acquired the caffeine habit during university all-nighters. I never did—only to start succumbing during my umpty-ump-year stint at a boring downtown office job. I followed the usual course: sweet, milkshake-like frappuccinos became the gateway drug to the harder-core stuff.

After getting an espresso maker for Christmas a few years ago I read up all I could about making espresso-based drinks: How old the beans should be; the proper espresso/milk/foam proportions; the best way to foam milk; grinder do’s and don’ts. I can make a passable cappuccino—on a good day I can crank out one better than some I’ve had at Starbucks—but my skill and my machine are simply not good enough to produce a truly celestial espresso. For that I have to go to the professional shops.

Toronto seems to be going through an independent-coffeehouse boom these days. I recently read that there are at least 25 new cafés opening in T.O. this year. (It’s about time—Vancouver’s coffeehouse scene is miles ahead of what Toronto currently offers.) Two of those are very close to our house: Rooster Coffeehouse (479 Broadview, at Withrow) and Si Espresso Bar (748 Broadview, just below the Danforth). This adds to the three relatively near our place (Broadview Espresso, Mercury Espresso Bar and Dark Horse Espresso Bar.) I visited the two new Broadview Ave. shops, and these are my quick impressions (by no means an extensive review, since I only order cappuccinos, and I didn’t have any pastries):

When Rooster Coffeehouse opened about a month ago, it replaced a rather useless corner-grocery-store-cum-sculpture-gallery (yes, it was as stupid as it sounds). It features huge windows with a terrific view of Riverdale Park and downtown Toronto. There’s a big worktable at the back, and smaller tables and comfy chairs throughout, as well as a bar and stools at the front (letting you easily keep an eye on your dog). The whole vibe is easy-going and neighbourly. The cappuccinos are excellent, both to look at (lovely latte art) and to taste, and are the correct size (small) and consistency (creamy microfoam throughout, rather than separate layers of milk and foam). And sooo much more convenient than the Queen Street shops; when the weather gets warmer I can see a lot of dog-walking to Rooster’s patio!

Si Espresso Bar is not built for hanging around all day: It’s tiny and sports only narrow bar tables and stools. It would be tricky to read a broadsheet newspaper while drinking your coffee. The owner is friendly enough, in a hipster-dude kind of way. The day I was there two young guys (evidently friends of the owner) were lounging about, and though they seemed nice it reminded me—unpleasantly—of some of the stores on the Danforth that are always decked out with lounging geezers, making the establishment feel a bit like a private men’s club. I could put up with this, though, if the coffee was excellent. Unfortunately the cappuccino I had there was definitely mediocre: Large cups (too much milk), with big bubbles in the cap of dryish foam. How disappointing!

I like this little ad for a sweater—erm, jumper—manufacturer in Scotland. Enjoy.