Word: rubes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...distinguished dining room, in its last years it had grown tawdry. The famous butter-patted ceiling was looking more dirty than distinguished; the paint was peeling off the walls; the rotunda was encased with God-awful green-blue floral curtains; and the tray return area was a steam-filled Rube Goldberg contraption...
WEAK POINT: Rube Goldberg-like take-offs and landings, utilizing a flimsy bicycle landing-gear arrangement. Pogo outriggers support the wings and drop away when the plane lifts off. On landing, "it's like riding a bike off the back end of a flatbed truck at 70 m.p.h.," says U-2 pilot Major Jeff Jungemann. As the plane descends, another pilot races behind it in a Chevy Camaro, radioing to the plane's pilot his distance to the runway...
...distinguished dining room, in its last years it had grown tawdry. The famous butter-patted ceiling was looking more dirty than distinguished; the paint was peeling off the walls; the rotunda was encased with God-awful green-blue floral curtains; and the tray return area was a steam-filled Rube Goldberg contraption...
...stunned by the crass reference to the Russian space station Mir as a "Rube Goldberg contraption" [NOTEBOOK, July 28]. Mir was built and has operated on a virtual shoestring for more than twice as long as intended by its original design specifications. While it is not sophisticated by U.S. standards, it has made valuable contributions to the body of scientific knowledge. By comparison, America's aerospace program has been historically bloated, redundant and rife with its own spectacular failures, including the Hubble Space Telescope, Apollo 13, failed Vanguard launches and, yes, the unfortunate deaths in the Challenger disaster. I applaud...
...model, which he manipulates with rods and wires. Others in the cast wear elaborate headpieces representing the animals they are portraying. Indeed, Taymor's entire production is highly stylized and impressionistic. A rushing waterfall is conveyed simply by a rippling stream of silk. Leaping gazelles are suggested by a Rube Goldberg contraption of wheels and spokes. "The poetry of the theater is that it allows the audience to use its imagination to fill in the blanks," says Taymor. "They become complicit in the theatrical experience...