002 - High Stakes Coin Pusher
You know those coin pusher arcade games that they have at the laundromat? There's like shelf that moves back and forth and you drop quarters onto it and they displace other quarters and then those quarters, you keep. Like all gambling machines the odds are against you winning-- the quarters mostly jostle into a slightly more compact arrangement without falling. But DID YOU KNOW that there are high-stakes coin pushers deep in the secret rooms of American casinos where elite coin jockeys pay $100,000 just for the opportunity to play? There almost certainly are not, but that's the premise of this entire channel, which is cute and relaxing.
The main guy here (Dalton) narrates the whole thing with the precious excitement of someone who is playacting the slow winning of a long and inevitable jackpot. I'm guessing this machine is inside his house or garage and he spends hours setting up the elaborate towers of coins inside only to slowly nudge them with quarters until they fall down.
The sounds are limited to Dalton's pleasant Ohio accent, quarters dropping into a chute, and a loop of muted casino sounds reminiscent of the idling sound of the starship Enterprise. There are no bells or sirens. Visually it's a range of plastic money colors on a wash of dull silver, starting in magnificent symmetry and ending in a wonderfully devastated landscape. It's like watching an Edie Fake painting slowly turn into a Breughel the younger. There's always a tower and it always falls, we love that.
As one could imagine, comments on the videos are divided between people knowingly playing along ("this is very relaxing"), unknowingly playing along ("wow, where do you find these machines???"), and rudely dismissive ("fake"). I find the whole thing cute and harmless and quietly engaging. Lots of people in our society try to make a job out of posing with fake money, I appreciate the fresh spin he puts on it (they’re coins not bills, and they’re always in motion). While I do feel happy for his wins it does not inspire me to gamble. There are hours and hours of these videos on his channel and it seems some people in the comments love falling asleep to them. To Dalton’s measured joy and the sound of coins falling into a hopper. Peace everyone.
This is Pleasant Realms, a weekly newsletter for mild non-narrative unprofessional video worlds on YouTube. If there's a YouTube channel like this that you love please let me know! And if someone forwarded you this email and you liked it, you can subscribe for more here: pleasantrealms.substack.com. Thank you!