My latest LEGO model, just in time for Christmas, is the Nutcracker, a classic Christmas icon. In fact, it was built on Christmas Eve!
Bill Ward
Advent 2009
Like last year, LEGO came up with two advent calendars, only one of which was sold in the U.S. The 7687 City advent calendar was sold everywhere, but the 6299 Pirates calendar was only available in Europe. (If you’re not familiar with advent calendars, they basically consist of 24 different gifts, one to be opened on each day of Advent, the traditional Christian season that precedes Christmas, or in other words December 1-24. These days, it’s secularized – fine by me, since I’m not religious – but the name has stuck.)
BayLUG Museum Show Open through January 17
This weekend, the Bay Area LEGO Users Group opened our annual “Living LEGO-cy” exhibit at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto, CA. We’ll be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day) through Sunday, January 17. Admission is $2 (free for BayLUG and MoAH members and kids under 2), which is split 50/50 between the club and the museum.
BayLTC at Pleasanton train show
This past weekend, the Bay Area LEGO Train Club took part in the Great Train Expo in Pleasanton, CA.
Train show this weekend, then off to Seattle for BrickCon
This coming weekend, I’ll join members of the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (a subgroup of the Bay Area LEGO Users Group) at the Great Train Expo in San Jose. We’ll put out a large train layout, about 25×25 feet, with lots of trains, a city, and the usual stuff. Come on down and say hi. It’s at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds in San Jose. Admission is $7 for adults (good for both days) and kids under 12 get in free.
Pirates Advent Calendar Petitions
You’ve probably heard by now that the Pirates Advent Calendar is not going to be sold in the US.
Readership Poll – Win a free LEGO book!
Please answer this poll to help me understand more about my readers and what people would like to see on brickpile.com…
Spirit of St Louis
One of the first LEGO sets I ever owned was the Spirit of St Louis, a little yellow and black (the original one was silver – see pictures on Wikipedia) airplane set that represented Charles Lindbergh’s plane from the first trans-Atlantic solo flight. It was sold as set # 456 or 661, depending on where in the world you bought it. I was six years old in 1977 when this set came out, and my parents bought it for me. I still have at least some of the parts – all mixed into my LEGO collection, of course…
Scrambler
This amusement park ride is known in various parts of the world as the Scrambler, Twist, Twister, Cyclone, Sizzler, Merry Mixer, Grasscutter, or Cha Cha. In my part of the world (California) I’ve always seen it called the Scrambler. Wikipedia has more information about this ride under its various guises.
LEGO setup at home
For my birthday I had a small party at my home, and so I cleaned up my LEGO work area and set up several representative models on display there.
New Power Functions Remote Recall
I just got the following notice in my email from LEGO:
BayLUG June 2009 Meeting
We had a meeting of the Bay Area LEGO Users Group on June 28, 2009 at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto, CA.
Brickworld 2009 Chicago
Turn out the lights, the party’s over… Brickworld was a lot of fun – the biggest LEGO event I’ve ever attended, for sure. There were 35,000 square feet of ballroom space, about 600 attendees, and 4 days. I took well over 1,000 photos and had a great time.
LEGO Owner Visits Brickworld
The owner of LEGO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, visited Brickworld today and I got to meet him!
Brickworld 2009 photos
Well, we’re halfway through Brickworld here in Chicago! Time flies so fast…. but tomorrow the big excitement begins as the doors open to the public. If you’re in the area, come on down and see the exhibits! I even have a free pass I can give to one lucky person.
I’ve taken hundreds of photos and uploaded them to Flickr. They’re organized into several sets:
In Chicago for BrickWorld
I arrived late tonight (2am local time) in Chicago after a quite pleasant, if quite full, flight from San Francisco. Our flight was about 1/2 hour late, but that’s no big deal. Got a taxi from the airport and arrived at the hotel, checked in, showered, and am now waiting for my hair to dry so I can go to bed.
Look ma, I’m on the radio
Listen to me being interviewed on the radio! Well, podcast really.
Maker Faire 2009
Oops, I forgot to blog about Maker Faire! Maker Faire happened on May 30-31, and here it is almost three weeks later and I haven’t posted anything!
Ignite: Hillel Cooperman – “The Secret Underground World of Lego”
Hillel Cooperman gave an “Ignite” presentation on the adult LEGO community recently. You can see it here on Youtube:
Special BayLUG meeting for WIRED interview & photo shoot
Yesterday, we had a special meeting of BayLUG members so that a reporter and photographer from WIRED could come and take pictures of some of our models and talk to us. About a half-dozen members showed up at the Museum of American Heritage (MoAH) in Palo Alto and set up an assortment of models that we’re bringing to Maker Faire next weekend.
Frisco Bucking Bronco
When I heard that LEGO was opening a store in Frisco, TX I asked my friend Sylvia who lives there if she could stop by the grand opening and try to score one of these bucking bronco sets.