Television Discussion: Domino Day 2008
Domino Day 2008
Domino Day has long been the culmination of skill for domino-setters across the globe. No other production has put on more complex, artistic, and creative displays using dominoes. Domino Day also includes build-it-on-the-spot challenges which, if successful, will serve to knock down a large field of dominoes. If the challenge is not completed, the large field of dominoes will not fall and the chances of beating the world record for most dominoes felled from a single starting domino will be severely diminished.
The first video, below, displays the starting domino. This single domino will push forward into the next, and, over the course of a little over an hour, cause an immense amount of dominoes to fall, hopefully breaking nine world records!
The initial spiral is a world record in itself. If the spiral completely falls, the world record "Longest Domino Spiral" will be beaten and 2008's domino team will be the current record holders.
In this video is a turtle which displays the great adventures throughout the years involving turtles. Unfortunately, there is a small portion which does not fall, but the amount of unfelled stones is nigh negligible.
The next part of this video is the world wonders portion.
The first of the three world wonders is the the Pyramids at Giza. Pyramids made of dominoes crumble. Next is Stonehenge, which, unfortunately, fails to fall, as well as the sign below it. The third wonder is in Gobekli Teki, which falls completely.
DOMINO CHALLENGE #1
This video ends with the beginning of the First domino Challenge. The dominoers must complete a row of dominoes on a slowly rising platform. They are racing the dominoes which are on the way to fell th entire row. If they do not complete the row before the dominoes begin to fall, they will have lost out on a field of several thousand stones. Every large field lost means a much smaller chance of beating the world record.
See if they make it in video 2!
After the Domino Challenge, a giant spider falls on an iridescent web. Unfortunately, the entire web does not fall, and only the few inter spiral arms fall. This is not a terribly big loss, however, and we move on to the next portion.
Moving, next, to the Tomb Raider section, we see a group of large stone blocks weighing down the main domino path. The blocks are only slightly perturbed by the dominoes flowing underneath when the great walls of the temple begin to crumble. Just when we think we've seen it all, the main plateau of the temple crumbles after dominoes have already crossed over unharmed. Not all of the 67,502 dominoes fall, but nobody is perfect.
Moving forward to the space theme, we see the black hole feature. With 48,493 stones at stake, the domino team used a very unique method of domino felling. Once enough dominoes fell onto the center plate, the weight pushed it in, reeling in all of the dominoes left on the sheets above it. In n unexplained method, the surrounded dominoes also were pulled into the center.
WORLD RECORD #2
The world record to be beaten here is titled "Most dominoes stacked on a single domino". Here, the domino to beat the world record will be placed on on the single strongest domino. In the event that the entire tower does not collapse before an hour is up (by the end of the event), the world record will be claimed for Team 2008.
Then, in a garden theme, the team utilizes catapults for which the stimuli are dominoes. The catapults are used to launch small, presumably plastic balls into other domino piles. Unfortunately, the field is not even close to a success, but it was a nice thing to watch.
The next thing we see is a domino-climb up an obelisk. Using a stringed domino technique, what we get is an interesting effect.
Finally for this video, we see an eagle which is done in beautiful colors. This continues into the following video wherein a bird is brought up on a string to a throne in the sky.
WORLD RECORD #3
This world record is the world's tallest toppling domino climb. At 12 metres, this domino climb takes the world record.
DOMINO CHALLENGE #2
For this challenge, the participants must place dominoes around a funnel so as to make at least one fall in. Unfortunately, they fail this task and lose a large domino field.
This next portion is an interesting one where a great being (representing a wind spirit) blows upon the dominoes creating a fountain (Yes, actual water) which serves to fell the remaining dominoes in the field.
The next group of dominoes is satirizing Paris Hilton's lost dog and that whole mishap. If you're not familiar with it, consider yourself lucky - but take a look at it here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-08-18-hilton-dog_x.htm
WORLD RECORD #4
This world record is for the largest field of mini-dominoes toppled. That is to say, the most mini-domino field toppled at one time. These dominoes are less than 1 centimeter tall, less than half a centimeter wide, and nearly a millimeter thick. These are some tiny, tiny dominoes.
The next portion of the display is the Winchester Mystery House. If you don't know about the Winchester Mystery House, you simply MUST look it up. Wikipedia has a nice article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mystery_House.
The first display we see in this video is a domino interpretation of La Tomatina Valencia Festival in Spain.
Moving quickly to a soccer field made of nearly 78,000 dminoes, we see an elaborate display here, also.
WORLD RECORD #5
Largest toppling domino stack: These dominoes are nearly eighten feet tall! And, yet, they fall with ease.
Next we see a hot-air balloon theme. A balloon needs to clear a very high wall to make it to the other side to knock down the next field.
WORLD RECORD #6
Largest domino wall: This is quite an interesting set up because each vertical stack of dominoes is resting on the three rows in front and three rows behind, simply toppling a single column is often enough to topple the whole wall.
DOMINO CHALLENGE #3
In this challenge, one brave dominoer is to be belayed over a large field of dominoes. They must pick up dominoes resting on platforms throughout the field. If they mess up even once, they sacrifice the field, and if they cannot complete the row, they also sacrifice the field. Several thousand stones ar at stake. Will they succeed?
The next domino field is quite interesting. It keeps a running mechanical tally of the dominoes felled in that particular field. This section ends with a fiery domino inferno. Unfortunately, they don't actually set the dominoes on fire. They're saving that idea for Domino Day 2009. (Once it's on YouTube, I'll document it in another hub.
WORLD RECORD #7
Fastest Toppling Domino Setting: Interestingly enough, the dominoes are racing against an actual athelete for fastest time down a track. The athlete wins.
World Record #2, listed above, is completed in this video. However, the hammer designed to topple the entire stack fails to fall.
The next field to fall reveals the Statue of Liberty in New York, United States.
The next, very interesting field was designed to resemble a national wonder in peru. The dominoes are arranged in such a way as to fall very slowly.
The next domino field is a vertical field representing the Dubai Building completed just this year (2009). It is, as of this writing, the tallest building in the world.
WORLD RECORD #8
Longest Domino Mosaic: This domino mosaic is comprised of nearly a million dominoes itself.
DOMINO CHALLENGE #4 (FINAL CHALLENGE)
This challenge is truly worthy of the title. Two unwary domino artists were chosen to complete an elaborate table setting sculpture with transparent dominoes and champagne glasses. How is their sense of balance? This challenge allows for the final field to crumble. Several thousand dominoes added to their total due to the success of the final challenge.
Also in this video is a much unexplained "Slowest Toppling Domino Trail". Dominoes are filled with sand which slowly empties causing it to become lighter and topple more easily.
WORLD RECORD #9 (FINAL RECORD)
Most dominoes toppled from a single starting domino.
4,345,027!!! Success!!
