Month: December 2008

BayLUG show at MoAH opens

This past weekend, I joined with other members of Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group to set up a train layout and other exhibits at the Museum of American Heritage, which will be on display through January 11, 2009.

BayLUG at MoAHThe opening day of the exhibit, December 6, was also the day of the museum’s annual holiday party for VIP donors. We were invited to stay that evening to show the exhibit to the party attendees and enjoy the refreshments.

Every year BayLUG puts on a “Living LEGO-cy” exhibit at the museum during the Holidays. We put it up in early December and take it down in early January.

If you’re in the area please come by and see our exhibit. It will be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday now through January 11 from 11am to 4pm. I will be there some Saturdays and Sundays, so if you want to say hi to me please send me email or something and let me know when you’ll be there.

Advent Calendars, Day 8

On day 8, the City advent calendar yields a mediocre tree with a cat stranded at the top, while the Castle guys get an archery target, bow/arrow, and quiver:

Advent 8

This gives our Day 7 guys ways to practice and hone their skills prior to entering into combat. The knight from Day 7 practices his archery; meanwhile, the firefighter from the previous day practices his skills, honed in years of experience:

Advent 8: Archery Practice Advent 8: Firefighter Reports the Cat

Tilted Twister – Mindstorms NXT Robot Solves Rubik’s Cube

I just came across Tilted Twister while reading Mike Walsh’s LEGO Blog (link removed, as apparently his site has been compromised). It’s a Mindstorms NXT robot that can solve the Rubik’s Cube!

The really amazing part is that it’s built using only the parts in the stock NXT kit.  Instructions are provided – I’m tempted to make one myself.  (Note however that you either need to buy a special color sensor, or modify the colors of your Rubik’s Cube so that white and yellow can be distinguished by the stock light sensor.

BrickArms Controversy in Mainstream Media

It would seem that BrickArms has garnered international attention. The article “Lego-Style Islamic Terrorist Figurine Sparks Outrage” appears on Fox News and similar articles appear in a number of other sources; see Google News report for the story for more.

The gist of it is that one of the “bad guy” kits that BrickArms sells has pissed off some Islamic organizations in Britain, who’ve raised a stink about it. BrickArms calls the kit “Bandit — Mr. White” without any implication that it’s an Islamic terrorist, but the Ninja-style headwrap it comes with, combined with a substantial arsenal of weapons, does remind some peole at least of a stereotypical Islamic terrorist.

The article quotes a source at LEGO disclaiming any endorsement of BrickArms, saying “The LEGO Group is committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by encouraging imaginative and creative play — and does not endorse products that do not fit with this philosophy.” They’re implying that BrickArms are not encouraging imaginative and creative play which sounds like pretty strong words. While I’m not a fan of the BrickArms and BrickForge products personally, I would not go so far as to say they don’t encourage imaginative and creative play!

It’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out. There’s a saying in Hollywood that “there’s no such thing as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right” and if that’s true, BrickArms is sure to have a big boost in sales. On the other hand, I wonder if LEGO’s lawyers might decide to send them some kind of cease and desist order if enough bad publicity is sent their way…

Via Dr. Miniman on Flickr in the Flickr LEGO group.

Advent Calendars, Day 6

Today the nemeses get some reinforcements:

Advent 6

Ice Cream Girl, nemesis of Evil Twin, receives some shade and wheels for the ice cream cart. The Skeleton Guy has a reinforcement, who comes with a crossbow weapon for ranged attack. Combined with the previous skeleton and weaponry we now have four weapons for two guys, plus a shield as well. Meanwhile the nemesis of Evil Twin has no weapons at all, just a tasty and refreshing snack.

Nemesis HQs

Things are not looking good for Good Twin.

Advent Calendars, Day 5

So today, we get some accessories for the nemeses (Skeleton and Ice Cream Girl):

Advent 5

How does this fit our story? Well, let’s say that Good Twin defeated the skeleton in combat, and Evil Twin’s hot barbecue melted her ice cream, and they both ran back to their respective home bases:

Advent 5 Advent 5

Here they are, ready for round 2:

Advent 5

Isuzu NPR Delivery Truck

My latest model is one of the most common trucks in the world today, the Isuzu NPR.

Isuzu NPR Delivery Truck

This one is configured as a delivery van, with roll-up door in the rear. Notable details include the cab with sloped windshield, fuel tank, sloped driveshaft, mud flaps, and 6 wheels.

I originally had the idea for this at one of the BayLUG meetings in conversation with another member, Brooks. He and I experimented with the geometry to see if the windshield design was doable at that meeting, and after many iterations this is what I ended up with.

Advent Calendars, Day 4

Now we come to the real drama. Each calendar introduces a nemesis for our heroes! On the Castle side, we get a demented skeleton wielding a flail (mace and chain); whereas on the City side, we get a girl with ice cream.

Advent 4

Why do I say the fair maiden is a nemesis? Remember that I decided City guy was the Evil Twin, and if she’s pure and innocent and good, then she’s his nemesis of course! Anyway, here’s all the stuff we have so far:

Advent 1-4

Advent Calendars, Day 3

Since I waited until almost midnight “yesterday” (half an hour ago) to post, I thought I’d get a head start on day 3. Hope you have opened yours before reading this!!

Anyway, Day 3 brings furniture and utensils for Evil Twin’s Thanksgiving feast. But it’s a small table for one, a frying pan, and a mug. Clearly the intent is he’s only cooking for himself. I guess that does make him pretty Evil. And doing it right next to his Good Twin, who’s hard at work guarding that arch thingy, is doubly cruel. You know the tourists who taunt the guards at Buckingham Palace, who famously have to just stand there and not make any reaction at all? I imagine it’s kind of like that. Good Twin has to stand there and smell the mouth watering-aroma of plastic turkey leg cooking on the open fire, without being able to make a move, even to wipe the drool off his chin.

Advent 3

At least Good Twin gets some new armor and a sword to fight off the bad guys, while his lazy good-for-nothing twin stands there cooking food for himself. Here he is, trying it on:

Trying on the armor

He’s lucky to get it on day 3. In WoW, a paladin can’t get armor like that until level 40 or so….