The Brothers Brick

There’s no question Mike Psiaki builds cool stuff. I just wasn’t expecting what I found when I clicked the thumbnail for this Adventurers-inspired truck:

I won’t say anything more so as not to spoil the surprise. ;-)

Brickshelfer and 1000steine.de member Thekla brings us a classic automobile:

I blogged a few months ago about Brickshelfer arvo’s Nord Lead synthesizer. Michael C. over at Snoikle has found another real-world object arvo has recreated in LEGO form — a wonderful Fuji camera:

I just thought this was cool:

It’s difficult to read at this size, but the small text says, “Retired after making 120,000,000 LEGO Bricks.” Sweet!

From Flickr user girlfactor.

In addition to chilled soba (buckwheat) noodles with dipping sauce, one of my favorite summer-time dishes is cold silken tofu garnished with green onions and ginger, drizzled with soy sauce. Called hiyayakko, it’s quick, simple, and mighty tasty!!! Mumu and his wife have each created their LEGO versions of this delicious dish. In the Mumu household, they put bonito flakes and Japanese mustard on the tofu instead of grated ginger.

Here’s Mumu’s version (I love the drizzled soy sauce):

And here’s Mumu’s wife’s tofu (the yellow must be the mustard):

The family that builds (and eats cold tofu) together stays together!

A traditional method of fishing practiced for hundreds of years in Japan, called ukai, involves flames and cormorants. Sounds way more fun than a fishing pole or net, right?! The fishermen place a large basket full of fire out over the water, and as fish come near the surface, the fishermen release Japanese cormorants on leashes. The cormorants catch the fish and return them to the fishermen. There’s a great photo essay on PhotoTravels.com about this now-rare fishing method:

Japanese blogger Sumi_handy’s has captured ukai in a cool little scene:

Japanese builder Toshiya has posted another adorable cartoon character, this time from the TV show Kirarin Revolution.

Here’s Na-san, the cat:

Ahhh… Adorable! Who can resist sparkly eyes?

Behold the show’s theme song in all its YouTube glory (and tremble in fear!):

Anachronism works in many ways. Steampunk is one example, and incorporating Art Deco style into a space fighter is another, as Nathan Proudlove illustrates:

Chris Deck is one of my favorite builders in the mini and micro scales. He mostly builds Star Wars vehicles, but he recently posted an updated version of his Colonial Viper from the original Battlestar Galactica TV series:

While we’re at it, here’s Chris’ Galactica:

And a Cylon Raider:

Thank goodness for Vignette Bricks! I totally missed this awesome leprechaun in a vignette by Chad Ivany (aka Cyin/CAI):

My wife and I went to see the new Pixar movie, Cars, this weekend, so I was highly amused when I saw this little beauty, Rookie-of-the-Year Lightning McQueen, by Dave Teague:

Wow, this is one sweet car! I haven’t been this blown away for some time! That is one elegant creation. Look at that chrome, the sleek shiny blackness of it all!

Here’s the whole sleek gallery

Namo’s got a really nicely detailed train, the RhB Ge4-4 Krokodile:

Lego has made a set of this locomotive, but this creation easily out-shines the set. The plethora of detail is very fun. I especially like the use of clear 2×2 slopes on their sides as windows.

Here’s the whole on-track gallery

1816 has built a really sleek Mach 5:

I’ve never said this about a car before, but this is extremely swooshable! The excellent use of slopes in this creation is very sweet. Makes me want to get on the floor and drive it around under the dining room table…

Here’s the whole speedy gallery

What a great day for steampunk! Via RustyClank.com, here’s Ben Gorman’s steampunk walker: