Vietnam Flashback: The Domino Theory

March 28, 2011 3:41 PM

There is more than one way to knock down dominos: there are at least SIXTY-EIGHT of them.

Just don't knock down this one. (yeah, obvious, but it kept it from being a SLYT)

posted by oneswellfoop (33 comments total)

This is the best thing I've seen on the internet in ages. Thanks for sharing!
posted by Magnakai at 3:50 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

That seems more like Domino Practice than Domino Theory. Hypnotizing, really.
posted by chavenet at 3:53 PM on March 28, 2011

It could have stood as a SLYT
posted by wheelieman at 3:54 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Do those count as dominoes without pips on them?

Anyway, I love everything Rube Goldbergy so I like this. Q.E.D.
posted by aubilenon at 3:55 PM on March 28, 2011

Always fascinating how fast things that took ages to put together can be made to fall apart.

But I like my dominoes better with dots.
posted by emhutchinson at 3:55 PM on March 28, 2011

I loved this so much. Thank you!

I love that feeling when you see a really big set-up that promises to look good and you're waiting for the single line of dominoes leading up to the big action to get to the trigger and sometimes there are twists and turns that make it take longer than it looks like it will and make it fall make it fall MAKE IT FALL!!! WHEEEEE!
posted by peachfuzz at 3:56 PM on March 28, 2011

Phew. That aside, I was most charmed I think by the smaller, less-flashy ones that made a few or even single dominoes fall in interesting ways. I especially liked the zipper-like set-up.
posted by peachfuzz at 3:57 PM on March 28, 2011

I prefer when the dominoes slip out the back, Jack. 
posted by GuyZero at 4:05 PM on March 28, 2011

Dominoes vobiscum! sorry

I had to go back and rewatch a few of those... impressive. The wave velocity variations are really interesting, especially when they seem to be used deliberately.
posted by Xoebe at 4:12 PM on March 28, 2011

The only way to knock down dominoes is five seconds before my little brother is about to set the last piece.
posted by backseatpilot at 4:16 PM on March 28, 2011

I liked the part where the dominos fell over.
posted by LordSludge at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2011

A fun way to watch is to pause at the beginning of each scene and try to figure out what was going to happen. (Some of them I couldn't tell quite what had happened, even after rewatching a few times!) You can't really do this the second time through though.
posted by aubilenon at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2011

Some of the criss crossing ones kind of look like logic gates.
posted by empath at 4:36 PM on March 28, 2011

That's interesting. There are also exactly 68 sexual positions.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:36 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wasn't this supposed to be the latest OK Go video?
posted by barrett caulk at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

It is because of things like this on the internet that I feel simultaneously much better informed and dumber than ever.
posted by piratebowling at 4:47 PM on March 28, 2011 [4 favorites]

I so want to see a slow motion version of this.
posted by ErWenn at 5:03 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I like the patterns that fall over really slowly. Idea for a contest: you have 1000 dominoes - make them all fall over as slowly as possible!
posted by moonmilk at 5:05 PM on March 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

My favorite sequence is at 1:29. Kept having this feeling I was looking at a not so subtle Diet Coke viral ad though.
posted by bobo123 at 5:31 PM on March 28, 2011

Do you think this would be a good place for a link to a website selling bulk dominoes?
posted by cyphill at 5:33 PM on March 28, 2011

The guy who made this video has a bunch of domino videos on YouTube. I wanted to focus on this one, because it didn't make a big deal of a long continuous run, instead showing every kind of domino technique from a good camera angle. You gotta give the guy credit, he even posts the video when his dominos don't fall the way they intended (at 1:25)
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:47 PM on March 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I kept getting fascinated by the different configurations.

A friend of mine is a science teacher who's always looking for ideas for "extra credit" projects. I feel like sending her a link and asking "you need an idea for a class on kinetic energy?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:02 PM on March 28, 2011

Is it just me, or is the person doing all this a middle school kid?!

Most impressive if so.
posted by keep_evolving at 6:22 PM on March 28, 2011

This is going to sound overblown, but I mean it: it's profoundly inspiring to see that, even in a medium like making dominoes fall over, which people have been doing for ages and which is a pretty shallow exercise in terms of what expressive possibilities are even possible for you -- there's still innovation. People are still figuring out new things to do, and new ways to say what they have to say. I'm really inspired by that.

Dominoes. Who knew?
posted by penduluum at 6:30 PM on March 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

Dang it. Now I'm going to have to watch The Way Things Go again.
posted by dansdata at 6:46 PM on March 28, 2011

That was just so much awesome.
posted by slogger at 6:49 PM on March 28, 2011

Well done. Thanks. So much win is contained in this video it should have a disclaimer. As a matter of fact, this is it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:39 PM on March 28, 2011

eww. diet coke.
posted by rainperimeter at 10:26 PM on March 28, 2011

"... and that's how I learned that I'm intensely allergic to dominoes."
posted by logopetria at 11:02 PM on March 28, 2011

dances_with_sneeches: That's interesting. There are also exactly 68 sexual positions.

There's one more. I'd describe it for you but it's a bit of a mouthful.
posted by spectrevsrector at 2:40 AM on March 29, 2011

rainperimeter: "eww. diet coke."

You spelled yum wrong.
posted by Splunge at 4:54 AM on March 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm thankful that there are people who enjoy spending their time setting these things up, so I don't have to.
posted by alms at 5:53 AM on March 29, 2011

There's something weirdly thrilling about this - some of the set-ups are so sweet I feel all tingly.
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:52 AM on March 29, 2011