Thanks a million to KiwiCo
for sponsoring this video This is a ball of cat food,
and this is a marble run Combine the two and it doesn’t actually fit
But I’ve built a larger one, and it’s quite possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever made You see, my cat Ralph’s favourite hobby is
to meow relentlessly at six in the morning, which of course he’s refusing
to demonstrate on camera, until I have no choice but to get up and feed him
He’s like the world’s fluffiest alarm clock I tried simply leaving enough
food out the night before, but he just eats all of it in one sitting and still meows at me in the morning
[Ralph meows ‘I’m still hungry’] So next I tried a smart cat feeder,
that I can either control with my phone, or program to release food at a set time,
buuuut Ralph’s incredibly scared of it It’s a real pickle
[squelch] Yep, definitely a real pickle! But I’ve invented a solution
I call it: the Mightily Elaborate Overly Whimsical
Sloped Transportation Of Pellets for Pestiferously Early Risers,
the MEOW STOPPER Essentially, it’s a giant cat food
marble run spanning my entire house, and it’s gonna be magnificent
But yeah, if you enjoy this video, please consider subscribing,
and keep an eye out for the bronze silver and golden cat statues
hidden somewhere in the background I want the first section to have a sort
of ‘Wallace & Gromit’ contraption feel, with drainpipes mounted above my bed
I’m gonna be releasing ten cat food balls at once, so to do so, built a simple pulley system All I’ll have to do is pull
the cord, and go back to sleep So it starts above the bed,
turns a couple of corners and into the hallway where it goes above my bathroom,
but I’ve still got enough room to go under, and then into my office where it turns again,
goes down this spiral, and then down the final drainpipe
where the next obstacle will begin It’s simple and efficient, and importantly,
as out-the-way and unintrusive as possible A lot of my previous projects
have been wildly inconvenient, blocking doorways or turning
the stairs into a deathtrap, so the aim is to avoid that this time round But anyway, onto the next section This is a mini-mini-golf course,
featuring as many mini mini clichés as possible I’m talking a windmill,
an open-mouthed crocodile, and three mystery holes
For the crocodile I used a latex mask, which I padded out with paper
stuffing and expanding foam This was my first time using expanding foam
and let me tell you, it was just as fun as I’d always imagined
Next I got a simple windmill garden ornament, and cut a hole in the front
for the balls to pass through Also, the sails weren’t long enough,
so I made my own and spray-painted them red, plus motorised them Let’s see if this works
[laughs] I think that’s probably a bit too fast
I slowed them down using gears That’s way better
And for the mystery holes, I cut three ordinary holes in a sheet of wood
Two will continue on their journey, but one will lead to the final mini-golf cliché,
The sand pit To make it look more like an actual golf course,
I stapled on green felt, and added rope borders so
the balls wouldn’t fall off We have a problem
It seems that the increased friction created by the felt
now means that this section doesn’t actually work anymore
[weird noise??] That wasn’t meant to happen So whilst Bella set about cleaning up the mess,
I set about fixing the problem I raised the back legs to increase the gradient,
and added these wooden barriers to better guide the ball
Finally I set it all up in my office, and we were ready for tee-off
At least until the morning Yeah, Ralph’s left me a
little present in the sand pit Yeah…
Woke me up at 6am AND pooped on my golf course, thanks buddy!
So now the third mystery hole just drops sadly onto the floor
This is why we can’t have nice things But let’s move on to the
jungle-themed stairs section, inspired by the Marmalade machine in ‘Paddington’ I’m using bamboo pipes to guide the
ball down the stairs and into the lounge I had wanted to keep it as
out-the-way as possible, but that quickly went out the window,
and it’s now completely in the way I decorated using fake leaves,
and added a few oranges in honour of the bear himself
This looks so much cooler now Which brings us to the very last section,
which like the MEOW STOPPER as a whole, also has an acronym for a name:
the IRWAH BMCWTTEI Ok, maybe that one doesn’t really work,
but it stands for: I Really Want A Hamster,
But My Cats Would Try To Eat It This whole obstacle’s gonna be hamster-themed,
using tubes, ramps and wheels to finally deliver the food to Ralph’s bowl
I built a crude hamster cage out of wood, and painted a series of colourful
ramps inside for the balls to roll down Add some bars and decoration,
and it looked pretty funky I’m using hamster tubes to
join everything together, and ultimately lead to the final
part of the entire contraption: a giant open-Ralphed mouth,
I mean, a giant open-Ralphed mouth-
no, that’s not right,
a giant open-mouthed Ralph, there we go
I questionably Photoshopped his mouth wider, and had it printed as poster,
which I mounted on a wooden board I then cut a hole where his mouth
is and fed through a hamster tube I call him… Mega-Ralph
On the other side is a large drop, where the balls will fall onto a giant sieve, split open,
and the contents will funnel down into Ralph’s bowl
All that was missing was a real hamster, BMCWTTEI
And I believe that just about concludes it So with industrial, mini-golf,
jungle and hamster themed sections, is the MEOW STOPPER actually
capable of stopping meows, or is it just an overly elaborate trip hazard?
There’s only one way to find out Goooooood morning everybody, you join us here at 6 am where Half-Asleep
Chris is currently Fully-Asleep, but not for long if Ralph
has anything to do with it, a proverbial starting pistol ready to
get this event underway any moment now Come on boy, give us a meow!
[Ralph meows] And we’re off!
Chris pulls the cord to initiate the MEOW STOPPER, and the race is on
We’ve got 10 contestants here all vying for a chance to be cracked
open and their innards feasted upon, and you really couldn’t ask
for a better prize than that, evident by the sheer quality and
speed we’re seeing right out of the gate and as we round the first few corners
This section however has been known to slow even the most experienced of cat-food balls,
and then it’s on to the spiral of doom, something of a misnomer as it’s
essentially a giant fun slide Weeeeee!
Just look at them go! The final drainpipe sees our brave
contestants washed away like spiders and brings us to the mini-mini golf course,
and into the jaws of a crocodile Chilling stuff,
but it doesn’t phase these seasoned athletes, each eager to be the first into the jaws of Ralph
Down the holes they go, and good lord, we have our first casualty,
let’s get a replay of that please Jeff, it’s straight off the side of the green,
oooh, that looked painful, only nine contestants remain
as we approach the windmill And what a remarkable piece of architecture it is, the red sails are nothing short of exquisite,
but can the balls get their timing right and escape being hit?
I’m on the very edge of my seat Hold on to your whiskers, we have another two casualties
if my eyes aren’t deceiving me! First the windmill claims a victim
brutally pushing the poor ball aside, and at such a dastardly sight another
ball seems to lose the will to continue, and stops right there on the green
We had such high hopes for this ball, there was even talk of him
making the national team, but it’s all over now,
and only seven balls continue Let’s catch up with those seven as
they negotiate the mystery holes, subject to an appalling act of vandalism last
night which is why the sand pit’s currently absent And Gordon Bennett,
we’re down to six! at this rate poor Ralph’s
gonna have nothing to eat and will surely being meowing for all eternity Let’s keep our fingers and toes beans
crossed then as we enter the jungle, where the remaining contestants will
have to keep their wits about them This is what all those hours
training have been for, the late nights, the early mornings, and I must say they’re in fine form as they
negotiate the sharp angles and zoom towards impending glory
[zoom] Bam, into the sponge,
bam, there goes another one, and bam, another,
it’s neck and neck as we approach the final obstacle,
which Chris is calling the IRWAH BMCWTTEI? That’s not a real word,
has he completely lost his mind? I guess that’s what not having
a hamster can do to a fellow He’s even built an entire cage,
complete with a water bottle, wheel and even a fake hamster,
this really is quite pathetic, but please forgive me for getting side-tracked,
we’re on the home run now Into the tunnels they go,
racing forwards and so nearly at the finish line, just look at the composure and pure
technical ability on display here, and… yes, we have a victor,
entering the mouth of Ralph, and splitting open like a coconut,
closely followed by the other five athletes. My, what a competition!
It’s been splendiferous, and a true honour to commentate
Back to you Chris good Sir So it works, but will Ralph eat it?
Bella! Once again she’s more than
happy to hoover up the mess, somehow entirely avoiding the bowl itself
and opting for just the pellets that missed But what about Ralph?
Will it finally stop his early morning meows? Nope.
[Ralph meows ‘did you really think I’d use it?'] If anything it seemed to make him meow more!
[Ralph meows ‘I just like meowing for no reason’] He did eat a single pellet, literally just one and once again
from the floor not the bowl, but then went right back to meowing
[Ralph meows ‘you should get a hamster’] Welp, I tried
He seemed somewhat more enamoured by Mega-Ralph however,
and that kept him quiet for a little while at least
But I guess I’m destined to forever be, wait for it… wait for it…
Half-Asleep Now in a video a few years ago, I went to Bruges to film a giant
cylindrical drum atop a bell tower, essentially a giant music
box that controls the bells Well this video’s sponsor KiwiCo have
sent me a miniature version of that, and it’s incredible!
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aimed at exposing kids to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths,
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crates catering for all ages So now I’ve got to slot these
pegs into the holes on the drum to play the Ralph & Tom theme song They’re a great way of learning at home,
and actually making it fun, as well as turning it into a
personal family experience, with hours of entertainment. Here we go
[Ralph & Tom theme song plays on music box] That’s amazing! It’s a domino-laying robot,
seriously, it doesn’t get much cooler than this If you want to learn the STEAM concepts I
use to make the absurd projects in my videos, KiwiCo really is the way forward,
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dot com forward slash Half Asleep Chris Oh, and did you spot the cat statues?
