LEGO for grownups | Hillel Cooperman

157,120 views ・ 2010-06-25

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:17
So, these are
0
17260
2000
00:19
the Dark Ages.
1
19260
3000
00:22
And the Dark Ages are the time between
2
22260
2000
00:24
when you put away the LEGO
3
24260
2000
00:26
for the last time as a kid,
4
26260
2000
00:28
and you decide as an adult that it is okay to play with a kid's toy.
5
28260
3000
00:33
Started out with my then four-year-old:
6
33260
3000
00:36
"Oh, should buy the kid some LEGO.
7
36260
2000
00:38
That stuff's cool."
8
38260
2000
00:40
Walked into the LEGO store.
9
40260
2000
00:42
Bought him this.
10
42260
2000
00:44
It's totally appropriate for a four-year-old.
11
44260
2000
00:46
(Laughter)
12
46260
3000
00:49
I think the box says --
13
49260
2000
00:51
let's see here --
14
51260
2000
00:53
"8 to 12" on it.
15
53260
2000
00:55
I turn to my wife and said, "Who are we buying this for?"
16
55260
3000
00:58
She's like, "Oh, us." I'm like, "Okay. All right. That's cool."
17
58260
3000
01:01
Pretty soon it got a little bit out of control.
18
61260
3000
01:04
The dining room looked like this.
19
64260
3000
01:07
You walk there, and it hurts.
20
67260
3000
01:11
So we took a room downstairs in the basement
21
71260
3000
01:14
that had been used as sort of an Abu Ghraib annex.
22
74260
3000
01:17
(Laughter)
23
77260
5000
01:22
Torture, very funny.
24
82260
2000
01:24
Wow, you guys are great.
25
84260
2000
01:26
And we put down those little floor tiles,
26
86260
3000
01:29
and then I went onto eBay
27
89260
2000
01:31
and bought 150 pounds of LEGO --
28
91260
3000
01:34
(Laughter)
29
94260
2000
01:36
which is insane.
30
96260
2000
01:38
My daughter -- the day we got it, I was tucking her in --
31
98260
3000
01:41
and I said,
32
101260
2000
01:43
"Honey, you're my treasure."
33
103260
2000
01:45
And she said, "No, the LEGO is the treasure."
34
105260
3000
01:48
(Laughter)
35
108260
2000
01:50
And then she said, "Dad, we're LEGO rich."
36
110260
3000
01:53
I was like, "Yeah.
37
113260
2000
01:55
I suppose we are."
38
115260
3000
01:58
So then once you do that
39
118260
2000
02:00
you're like, "Oh, crap. Where am I going to put all this?"
40
120260
2000
02:02
So you go to The Container Store
41
122260
2000
02:04
and spend an enormous amount of money,
42
124260
2000
02:06
and then you start this crazy sorting process
43
126260
3000
02:09
that never --
44
129260
2000
02:11
it's just nuts.
45
131260
2000
02:13
Whatever.
46
133260
2000
02:15
So then you realize there are these conventions.
47
135260
2000
02:17
And you go to one of these conventions, and some dude built the Titanic.
48
137260
2000
02:19
And you're like, "Holy shit!
49
139260
2000
02:21
He had to come in like a truck,
50
141260
2000
02:23
a semi, with this thing."
51
143260
2000
02:25
And then someone built this -- this is the Smith Tower in Seattle.
52
145260
2000
02:27
Just beautiful.
53
147260
2000
02:29
And there's a dude selling these
54
149260
2000
02:31
aftermarket weapons for LEGO,
55
151260
3000
02:34
because LEGO -- the Danish --
56
154260
2000
02:36
no, they're not into guns.
57
156260
2000
02:38
But the Americans? Oh, we'll make some guns for LEGO, no problem.
58
158260
3000
02:42
And at a certain point, you look around,
59
162260
2000
02:44
you're like, "Whoa, this is a really nerdy crowd."
60
164260
3000
02:48
And I mean like this is a nerdy crowd,
61
168260
2000
02:50
but that's like a couple of levels above furries.
62
170260
2000
02:52
(Laughter)
63
172260
2000
02:54
The nerds here, they get laid --
64
174260
3000
02:57
except for the lady with the condoms in her pocket --
65
177260
2000
02:59
and you say to yourself at some point,
66
179260
2000
03:01
"Am I part of this group? Like, am I into this?"
67
181260
3000
03:04
And I was just like, "Yeah, I guess I am.
68
184260
2000
03:06
I'm coming out.
69
186260
2000
03:08
I'm kind of into this stuff, and I'm going to stop being embarrassed."
70
188260
2000
03:10
So then you really get into it,
71
190260
2000
03:12
and you're like, "Well, the LEGO people in Denmark, they've got all this software
72
192260
2000
03:14
to let you build your own virtually."
73
194260
3000
03:17
And so this is like this CAD program where you build it.
74
197260
3000
03:20
And then whatever you design virtually,
75
200260
2000
03:22
you click the button and it shows up at your doorstep a week later.
76
202260
3000
03:25
And then some of the designs that people do
77
205260
2000
03:27
they actually sell in the store.
78
207260
2000
03:29
The LEGO guys don't give you any royalties, strangely,
79
209260
3000
03:32
but some user made this and then it sold.
80
212260
3000
03:35
And it's pretty amazing actually.
81
215260
2000
03:37
Then you notice that if that
82
217260
2000
03:39
LEGO-provided CAD program isn't enough,
83
219260
2000
03:41
there's an entire open-source, third-party,
84
221260
2000
03:43
independent LEGO CAD program
85
223260
3000
03:46
that lets you do 3D modeling
86
226260
2000
03:48
and 3D rendering
87
228260
2000
03:50
and make, in fact, movies out of LEGO,
88
230260
3000
03:53
3D films
89
233260
2000
03:55
of which there are thousands on YouTube,
90
235260
2000
03:57
and some of them sort of mimicking famous films
91
237260
2000
03:59
and some totally original content --
92
239260
2000
04:01
just beautiful --
93
241260
2000
04:03
and people recreating all sorts of things.
94
243260
2000
04:05
I have to take a moment.
95
245260
2000
04:07
I love the guy who's like running away
96
247260
2000
04:09
with his clasps, his hooks.
97
249260
2000
04:11
Okay. Anyway.
98
251260
2000
04:13
(Laughter)
99
253260
3000
04:16
There's a whole programming language and robotics tool,
100
256260
2000
04:18
so if you want to teach someone how to program,
101
258260
2000
04:20
kid, adult, whatever it is.
102
260260
2000
04:22
And the guy that made this,
103
262260
2000
04:24
he made a slot machine out of LEGO.
104
264260
2000
04:26
And I don't mean he made LEGO that looked like a slot machine;
105
266260
3000
04:29
I mean he made a slot machine out of LEGO.
106
269260
2000
04:31
The insides were LEGO.
107
271260
2000
04:33
There's people getting drunk building LEGO,
108
273260
2000
04:35
and you've got to finish the thing before you puke.
109
275260
3000
04:38
There's a whole gray market for LEGO,
110
278260
2000
04:40
thousands of home-based businesses.
111
280260
2000
04:42
And some people will fund their entire LEGO habit
112
282260
2000
04:44
by selling the little guy,
113
284260
2000
04:46
but then you have no guys in your ships.
114
286260
2000
04:48
And then, just some examples. This stuff really is sculpture.
115
288260
3000
04:51
This is amazing what you can do.
116
291260
2000
04:53
And don't kid yourself:
117
293260
2000
04:55
some architectural details, incredible organic shapes
118
295260
3000
04:58
and just, even, nature out of, again, little blocks.
119
298260
3000
05:01
This is my house.
120
301260
2000
05:03
And this is my house.
121
303260
2000
05:05
I was afraid a car was going to come smash it
122
305260
2000
05:07
as I was taking a picture for you guys.
123
307260
2000
05:09
Anyway, I'm out of time.
124
309260
2000
05:11
But just very quickly --
125
311260
3000
05:14
we'll just see if I can do this quick.
126
314260
3000
05:17
Because there aren't enough TED logos around here.
127
317260
3000
05:20
(Laughter)
128
320260
5000
05:27
Let's see here.
129
327260
2000
05:32
Okay.
130
332260
2000
05:38
Ta-da.
131
338260
2000
05:40
(Applause)
132
340260
2000
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7