Everyone was very literal with this months challenge. I always understood "build a better mousetrap" to not mean actually building a mousetrap, it's a just a metaphor for improving on something that's already been invented, or for creating something to do a task in a new and better way. Interesting that everyone chose to actually build a mousetrap. :-) I had a few ideas floating around (that I never completed) and none involved catching meeses. Did I kinda have the wrong idea?

I thought the same thing.

What ideas did you have Phil??.... I just read into it as 'Build a better mouse trap'...was I wrong and you where right?? Well, at least you had ideas.........i drew a blank and worked from there :( Marc

Ideas that have been put back in the vault for me to play around with when I'm really stuck for ideas. Dunno if you were right or not, but I knew it as an old expression meaning reinvention in general and not just a way to incapacitate rodents.

Well, the saying 'Go by the letter' may have been adhered too by others (Including me) and perhaps a 'Read between the lines' may of had been better instead..... I would think this could be learnt in the advertising world for ideas in selling and I suppose, not just adverts where many things in the film/mags/cars industry and so on would too.......something to think about in later designs/contests. Marc

Rodent obliteration was not my literal intention in this theme, although I guess I should have been a bit more detailed. I had some great starts too, yet a cross over of work and this dino-pc, my efforts fell short. Great entries from everyone. Rod (lesson learned)

I was very litteral because english/american is not my native language.. and to me a mouse trap is just a mouse trap ...

Thats interesting, I kind of thought of it as building a Rube Goldberg type of contraption.

Exactly!

maybe we should have a Rube Goldberg contest, then..;)

who's Rube?

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist/illustrator who was very popular starting around 1915 until his death in the mid 1960s. He was known for a series of wild, wacky inventions that did everyday things, like watering your flowers or lighting a cigar. Very involved and complex and wildly inventive. He was also well known for his early comic strips, such as Boob McNutt which was a social commentary strip, something along the lines of Bloom County. Nobody was safe from his caustic barbs. His work is not for all tastes, but if you've got any interest in the early part of the 20th century and what the fads and follies were, it's a great resource. Towards the end of his life he turned to doing political cartoons and is regarded as one of the deans of American cartooning. ...okay, so I'm a comics goof...

Yeah,........I thought about doing something else,......but we just moved into a new house and it's lousy with mousies ! Our "cat" (and I use the term loosely) Rusty only seems interested in engaging them in conversation,(last night they were discussing de Touqville and the vageries of democracy) !

ROFL! Sackrat, thats funnythe cat that wasnt. Good luck in your new house.

lol @ sackrat One of my cats used to be scared of meece. The other one would catch them OK and then bring them, still alive, up to us and drop them at our feet. Normally then one of the dogs would come over and eat it. Or at least most of it. Just leave a few entrails or the odd organ laying on the dining room floor.

Thanks Ganthor LOL@Sackrat

Just FYI: The other "Rube Goldberg" was Heath Robinson, who also illustrated many superbly rediculous contraptions.. Having said that, I'm beginning to think that Nick Parkes (the animated plasticene man) is catching up fast (eg, the short film "The Wrong Trousers")... Cheers, Diolma

I came to the challenge late and when I got here it was full of mouse traps. I wanted to go the Rube Route but I didn't have time...so I had an old friend for dinner instead.

Well hello Claymor,.........don't worry, I have no plans to call on you, the worlds a much more interesting place with you in it.

Phil, I got the samething out of the description you did. Esp. when it said something like "Has to look like is has a purpose". I thought about some ideas too, but when I saw the direction all were taking it, I figured mine may have been misunderstood by those voting... Oh well. lol Anyway, you were not the only one that saw Mouse trap as a metaphor.

"Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." This saying is usually attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson(although he didn't coin it), and is generally understood to mean that when you can improve the quality of a product, there will be a market for it. It could also be interpreted to mean that if you can invent a better (new) product to do something, there will be a market for it. I chose to take the Challenge topic literally because of my fondness of the old Mouse Trap Game, which I had already been contemplating modelling for some time before the Challenge.