Donald Duck taught me how to play billiards - Boing … Duck taught me how to play billiards Before...

Donald Duck taught me how toplay billiards

Before the age of YouTube, you cherished the chance to see arerun—and you had to take notes.

BY MICHAEL BORYS

Are you too young to remember the television series, The Wonderful World OfDisney? It ran once a week and you never knew what you were going to get. Itmay have been a classic Disney film, a live action tour of the Disney parks or aset of animated shorts.

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Donald Duck taught me how to play billiards - Boing Boing http://boingboing.net/2015/07/22/donald-duck-taught-me-how-t...

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If you've never seen the show, you're probably also unfamiliar with Donald InMathmagic Land.

Sure the art and storytelling was as beautiful as you'd expect from a Disneyproduction, but this piece was different from the others. Somehow iteducated as perfectly as it entertained.

The first time I saw it I took mental notesand patiently waited a long, long time for itto air again. Each week I would pray to theprogramming gods for my wish to cometrue and one day it did. This time, I wasready with paper and pencil so that I could


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take actual notes.

During the cartoon I learned aboutPythagoras, the golden ratio and thehistory of music. But to me, the most

important lesson was on the game of billiards. I grew up with a pool table and Iplayed a lot more than any kid should. I read my parent's books on the game, Idrained the local library of what they had on the subject but this cartoontaught me more about the table and angles than any book ever could.

I think it was because in the story, Donald Duck himself was learning andplaying the game with me. Because it took so long between viewings, Donaldand I were evolving together.


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See Michael, a passionate collector of artifacts anddesigner of unique puzzles, at Boing Boing'sthree-day extravaganza, the Weekend of Wonder,running Sept. 18-20. A weekend of workshops, techdemons and wild performances, there'll be plenty offun surprises!

And here's the thing...I guarantee that if you are not already an advanced poolplayer, you will become better just by watching this masterpiece. For me, itturned on a giant light bulb over my head.

I remember running downstairs withmy notes to try out the new conceptsI had just learned. The angles of thegame were no longer a completemystery after experiencing thismagical cartoon. I also found that thenew knowledge could be applied toother games that dealt with spheresand angles like racquetball, squashand wallyball. In fact, getting betterat that game had an upward spiraleffect on other aspects of my life. That game, during difficult times wasmy best friend.


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Once you've seen this animated short you will think about billiards in a wholenew way. You may even see shots and angles in your sleep...not that I do.

If you haven't experienced Donald In Mathmagic Land, you don't have to hopeand pray for it to be the episode of the week. Just go to Youtube and watch itnow.


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And if you ever want to play a few games, just look me up.

I'll be the guy at the table with the talking duck.

PUBLISHED 4:00 AM WED, JUL 22, 2015

BILLIARDS, DONALD DUCK, MATH, MATHMAGIC LAND

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R


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Michael Borys is the Vice President of Interaction and Game Design at 42Entertainment – responsible for online, mobile and real-world puzzles, games andsocial activities. He has a passion for magic, history and storytelling and has ledvarious teams within the Walt Disney Company. Oh...and his IOS puzzler Skabookiwon some awards way back when.

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