Rave About the Machine, Renegades of Junk

When I was a wee lad (today, I’m a full grown leprechaun), my beloved psychotic aunt would often take me to the Liberty Science Center, a hands-on, interactive playground of a museum that purported to make learning FUNdamental. At the center of LSC stood this impressive structure made up of coiled metal, wooden chutes, pulleys, wires, and brass metal balls. It was a Rube Goldberg machine according to the handy placard beside it. Wikipedia describes such a machine as “a deliberately over-engineered apparatus that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually using a chain reaction.” It’s kind of like that board game Mouse Trap or that rudimentary alarm system you once fashioned to protect your valuable stash of comic books and Ninja Turtles. In any case, I was fascinated. Its inherent duality of complexity and simplicity just tickled my imagination…tickled it with a broad quill feather. Oh yes, that’s the spot…

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