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September 11, 2008 4:08 PM PDT

Diet Coke and Mentos guys switch to Post-it notes

by Daniel Terdiman
  • 2 comments

The famous duo, Eepy Bird, have moved on to Post-it notes after gaining worldwide notoriety with their exhibitions of Diet Coke and Mentos fountains.

(Credit: Eepy Bird)

As reported by my colleague Greg Sandoval in July, the Eepy Bird guys--you know, the fellows who have gained worldwide fame by dropping Mentos into Diet Coke--have decided to move on from explosive sweets.

Instead, the pair have decided to work in the Post-it notes milieu for now, and as such, they've released a couple of new videos showcasing exactly how the little sticky pieces of paper can be transformed into what amounts to colorful Slinkys.

And frankly, I never knew that the utilitarian notepads could be so much fun.


EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

The new videos have been released as part of a promotion in conjunction with the ABC Family network show, Samurai Girl.

What the connection between the two is, I have no idea. Suffice it to say that the Eepy Bird guys--Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe--who I can attest from personal experience are very nice, despite their fame, have used 280,000 of the little pieces of paper to take the Post-it notes community by storm.

And while this isn't quite as fun as bouncing hundreds of thousands of bouncy balls down San Francisco hills, it's still a kick.

And now? We wait for the inevitable imitators. You know, like, "Leave Post-it notes alone!"

October 20, 2007 3:15 PM PDT

Eepy Birds rock Maker Faire, fire ants attack

by Daniel Terdiman
  • 1 comment

Stephen Voltz, one-half of the team known as Eepy Bird, loads its special Mentos delivery system caps onto Diet Coke bottles in preparation for their show at Maker Faire in Austin. Eepy Bird is known for its synchronized fountains from mixing Coke with Mentos.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET Networks)

AUSTIN, TEXAS--Who doesn't like watching the chemical reaction that happens when Mentos come in contact with Diet Coke?

Well, I can't prove that everyone in attendance at Maker Faire here Saturday loves the resulting fountains of soda, but several hundred people surely did.

That much was evident by the giant crowd that gathered for the show put on by Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe, perhaps better known as Eepy Bird, who clustered 128 Diet Coke bottles and hundreds of Mentos and put on one heck of an exhibition.

The two have now been doing their show all over the world, and I've seen it before, at the Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif., last May. But that time, I was far behind the crowd, and couldn't see it that well.

This time, I was right in front and got a terrific view of the proceedings.

I had also been able to go behind their barrier a couple hours before their show to watch them set it up. That means, in part, loading a custom Mento delivery system for each and every Diet Coke bottle. It's painstaking work, but Voltz and Grobe seem to enjoy it. Or at least the fame.

One of the downsides, for me at least, of being up front, was that I got to find out what happens when you put your arm directly into a nest of fire ants. Several dozen stinging bites later, I knew to watch where I put my limbs the next time I'm in Texas.

With the mixture of Mentos to Diet Coke, sticky geysers shoot in the air to the roar of an adoring audience at Maker Faire Austin.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

But despite the pain and embarrassment of falling prey to a whole lot of insects, I was very happy to be able to see the show from up front.

These guys are such showmen, and the crowd ate it up, cheering wildly each time a new row of bottles was set off, or made a row do crazy geometric patterns, or created back-and-forth waves.

In all, the show took only a couple minutes, and despite my being up front, I did not get soaked with Diet Coke. Probably all the better for the ants. More sticky soda goodness for them.

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About Geek Gestalt

Daniel Terdiman, uniquely positioned to take you into the middle of another side of technology, chronicles his explorations of the "fun beat," from cultural phenomena such as Burning Man to cutting-edge aircraft to game conventions.

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