I returned from from a 2-week vacation to Italy (including Venice) a few months ago and I’m feeling ready for another one. So this creation by crises_crs triggered my wanderlust.
If you look closely at this and other pictures you see that it holds water, so the gondola can float along through the little canal between buildings.
My brother apparently ran across it on Klocki and threatened to blog it if I didn’t, so I’ve taken the sibling rivalry by the horns.
I just don’t know where to start or stop when sifting through d-higdon’s hundreds of photographs of her elegant and skilled LEGO mansions, department stores, country estates and office buildings. But I guess this beautifully lit living room will have to do.
I’ve never wanted a big house, but if it were made out of LEGO and furnished by her, I’d buy one in a second. If I had the money.
I’m fascinated by tagging, though I’ve never done it myself. And as a person who is well-aware of the impact it has on business people, property owners and taxpayers, I have really mixed feelings about featuring any tagging here. But this vignette by Cole Blaq isn’t at the expense of anybody else (I hope), is quite visually simple, clever and full of action.
I’m really enjoying seeing tagging in the background of train and town scenes, because I don’t think I ever walk, drive or ride anywhere without seeing some tagging in the background. It adds atmosphere to an otherwise clean and blocky LEGO world.
Though Bodo Elsel has not been specifically featured here before, he has been the source of inspiration for others. He he has an ongoing series of mini robots and this is only one of many that has caught my fancy. It just popped off the screen for me.
Hancock, though less colorful, is another robot with great expressiveness that I just had to include.
This coming weekend, June 13 and 14, Legoland California is hosting Star Wars Days. The park, located in Carlsbad, CA just off the I-5 freeway, will be open from 10:00am to 6:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday. Single-day ticket prices start at $53 for children and $63 for adults, though membership, multi-day and “hopper” packages are also available.
Members of my local LEGO user group (SandLUG) and I will be manning a display table or two of our own creations. From Bricks to Bothans (FBTB), a LEGO Star Wars special interest group, will also be partcipating. We have many skilled builders (Right: John Cooper’s “Cantina Band”) in Southern California and this is a chance to see their creations, or more importantly meet the builders, in person. You are all welcome to drop by our display and say ‘hello.’
Though SandLUG has been around for a couple years and we have done displays in the past, this is our first effort at a cooperative display, so it may be interesting to see our starting point, so you can be stunned by our slickness in future years and say with authority: “I remember when Sandluggers couldn’t fit two base plates together.”
Here’s the full press release from LEGOLAND:
THE FORCE RETURNS TO LEGOLAND® CALIFORNIA FOR STAR WARS™ DAYS
Special two-day event features Xbox 360 gaming, Droid Hunt, daily costume contests and a special visit from Darth Vader himself
CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 20, 2009) – The Force returns to LEGOLAND® California on June 13 and 14 during LEGO® STAR WARS Days. Darth Vader and his 501st Legion of stormtroopers will invade the family theme park to interact with fans all weekend long, and LEGOLAND guests will also be able to take part in out-of-this-world activities like the Droid Hunt, video game battles, trivia competitions, building activities, scavenger hunts and daily costume contests.
For the first time ever during LEGO STAR WARS Days, fans of all ages can experience the new Xbox Family GameSpace, where they can play LEGO STAR WARS games all weekend long. The Xbox Family GameSpace features 13 game stations, providing an optimal gaming experience. Xbox Family GameSpace is a new permanent feature at LEGOLAND California where guests can experience LEGO STAR WARS and other family-friendly games year-round.
One of the most popular LEGO STAR WARS Days events is the Droid Hunt. Guests of all ages receive “droid badges” if they are among the first to stop by a specially marked table in The Beginning of the Park, where they will learn a special droid quote from within the STAR WARS Saga. When guests wearing droid badges are “caught” within the Park by members of the 501st Legion, they must recite the quote to receive a raffle ticket for the chance to win fantastic LEGO STAR WARS and LEGOLAND California merchandise.
Other features and attractions include the LEGO STAR WARS Fan Gallery, highlighting LEGO STAR WARS creations built by local fans and LEGO Club members; Jedi Trivia Contests, which allow guests to use their STAR WARS knowledge to compete for fabulous prizes; and a Miniland U.S.A. scavenger hunt to discover scrambled letters hidden by clone trooper mini-figures. Those who locate all the letters and unscramble the secret phrase will be entered into a contest to win a family four-pack of LEGOLAND California tickets and exclusive LEGO STAR WARS merchandise.
Also, guests are encouraged to dress as their favorite STAR WARS characters and participate in daily costume contests. Prizes will be awarded in two age categories: 8 and younger and 9 to 15. Each prize is valued at more than $500 and includes exclusive LEGO STAR WARS toys, collectible gear and tickets to LEGOLAND California.
When I revealed the following at my last SandLUG meeting, I was almost kicked out: I have lived in San Diego for 8 years and have never been to Legoland.
. . . the more they stay the same.
Mike Stimpson’s (balakov) interpretation of the classic photo by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press seems quite timely to feature today though he made it some time ago. Twenty years after Tiananmen Square and my understanding is that due to the press blackout on this image in mainland China, it has not been seen by over a billion people in the People’s Republic.
I very briefly considered posting this as only an image with link to Mike’s original posting on flickr (for graphic punch), but I found that at least 3 flickr users had swiped the image without giving proper credit and I didn’t want to add to that number. It became my introduction to the brick-busters group on flickr. Sad.
More great custom Discworld minifigs by captainsmog. This time capturing the earthiness of Gytha Ogg and the stern visage of Esme Weatherwax, witches of Lancre.
Also check out his new Death 2.0 and brick-built Death of Rats.
Young Belgian builder imagelego has recently branched out from small military vignettes and vehicles into this detail-rich diorama of an African city in the aftermath of political upheaval.
The mere search for interesting subject matter set in new locations is fantastic. And the quality of photography and build sure doesn’t hurt.
I am Thanel, Andrew’s brother, and I am both honored and privileged to be accepted as the newest of new regular contributors to The Brothers Brick (TBB). As Andrew mentioned in his introduction, it’s true that part of the reason I’ve been brought on board is because of that familial relationship. But there’s another reason: I’m the noob brother.
As he and I have talked over the years and I have recently become more involved in commenting on TBB, going to my local LEGO user group (SandLUG) meetings, setting up a Flickr account (Yupa-sama) and extracting my LEGO from under my wife’s Barbie collection, the idea of becoming a regular contributor chronicling my journey out of my dim ages evolved. Gary McIntire, Legoland California Master Model Builder, deserves credit for giving me the term “dim ages” as the most apt description of the past fifteen years.
For you noobs, dabblers, non-builders, set-only builders, daydreamers, dismissed, “silent majority,” downtrodden and oppressed: You are my peeps. I will publicly humiliate myself in order to smooth your path toward enlightenment. Or the dark side. Whatever.
What you can expect from me:
Fresh blood is good (ask any vampire) and I dream that someday I’ll be an old AFOL fogey and when somebody else comes along to freshen things up I can be snarky about their noobishness.
Some of you may already know this, but “Thanel” is not my real name. Unlike many people, in my particular line of work (alas, not secret agency), online networking can be quite detrimental. Connecting with clients personally and repeat business are distinctly bad ideas, so I’d rather keep my real name on the D.L. as much as possible. I’m happy to reveal my secret identity if I meet you in person, and obviously online as Andrew’s brother. I would just like to keep my explicit electronic signature to a minimum and am going to withhold the location of my underground lair.
I exist and am a reasonably good guy.