steampunk lego

i have a rather hard time staying out of the employee store at work. i'd been eyeing metalbeard's duel for awhile, because it's got that steampunk feel to it. it's probably the hardest thing i've built and i'll admit there's something wrong with that big foot, but finally i just turned one piece around (not how it was supposed to be) and gave up. it stands more or less stable now, so i'm good with that.

there's a lot going on - great small details, like the shark arm and the anchor on his pegleg foot, which incorporates a barrel (those barrels always lend a steampunk touch). he's not super stable and it feels to me like a display set, not a play set, but that's ok, as that's what i want to do anyway.

he came with this micromanager (he does after all need someone to duel against). it's the most complicated micromanager i've built, but not my favorite, despite being rather overly detailed on the inside, which lends some whimsy that i like. i guess i just like my micromanagers in micro size.

the top opens up and there's a little seat in there, where i think a guy could hide out. since i'm not actually playing with him, but just putting him on the shelf with my other lego movie sets, i don't have anyone inside.

we also recently acquired the creative ambush set, also acquired because of the steampunk feel. sabin built this plane, while i built the flying kebab wagon (see below). i love again the old west details - clever use of a barrel as the front of the plane and green shutters as flaps.

probably my favorite detail is little sudds backwash's flying organ. so cute. a much more creative lego builder than i has made a whole new creation out of this set. skills of that magnitude are, as yet, beyond my lego abilities.

but i do love the whimsy and details of the flying kebab wagon, complete with the rotisserie of meat, ketchup and mustard bottles and frying pans as headlights. the menu boards double as wings and the wheels fold up when it's in flight.

there's much more steampunk lego goodness in this group on flickr. and also this one.

in all, a very satisfying couple of sets. this lego building is addictive, i tell you. i wonder what i'll tackle next?

mixel mania!

seismo

shuff

krader

vulk

teslo

zaptor (i think i like him best)

see, two pix of zaptor - i definitely like him best. 

volectro

my mixels crew.

they came out on saturday. and i had to have them all (there are two i haven't built yet, it seemed obscene to build them all in one day, so they're not in the photo). they come in a small, collectible bag, kinda like minifigs and in the same price range. only frankly a way, way better build. i feel like they're teaching me how to be a lego builder with their turnable heads and their ball joint legs and arms and adorable teeth. plus, who can resist those googly eyes? not i. series 2 will come in a couple of months and already i'm chomping at the bit. they'll be blue, brown and orange then. and series 3, before the end of the year in green, gold and purple. i'm thoroughly infatuated and becoming a real lego builder thanks to these guys. i think i can even bring myself to take them apart and try to build something of my very own. and that's a very, very big step in the right direction. plus, they're designed to be able to make a big mixel of the three little ones, so they even want you to mix and match. that's why they're called mixels, after all. there's a tie-in with cartoon network, but i have to say the cartoon doesn't speak to me (i am a little outside their demographic, after all), but i'm in love with the analog mixels. and with my device/internet addiction, that's undoubtedly good for me. i could stand to live a slightly more analog life.

lego minifigures, like modern baseball cards, without all that stupid baseball

i was in the grocery store and spotted a display of lego minifigures. i've long been familiar with little lego people, as we have many of them around the house, mostly of the kind that came with sets of lego. and one of the ways you can properly judge a lego set is by how many mini figures come with it. but until friday, i wasn't really aware of the minifigure collecting phenomenon.

they come in a sealed package, like baseball cards, in a numbered series and you'll get a surprise one of 16 minifigures in your package for 20 kroner (or 17 if you buy them in fakta, where i did). i spotted a little chicken on the package and decided to grab a couple, thinking in light of my missing chickens, it would be fun to get a lego chicken.

the first one i opened was not a chicken, but this club-wielding troglodyte (which i later found out is actually a cyclops). and i felt a little bit like i can never escape those cavemen, tho' he's also kind cute. naturally, i still had to try for a chicken, but i had bought two, so i had one more to open.

inside the second package was this awesome little forest maiden, who i took to be a warrior goddess who was sworn to defend the forest. plus, how awesome is her hair? i was happy, but it still wasn't a little lego man in a chicken suit, so i picked up another handful when i had to go back to the store anyway for some things i forgot for the party.

next up was a judge. he's very cleverly made - his little red robe held in place by his white wig. no minifigures this cool come with the actual sets. and look at his wrinkles and that expression on his face. this is an awesome level of detailed cleverness.

before my chicken came, i got caesar, complete with little gold laurel wreath on his perfect little caesar haircut. that was cool, but still not a chicken. the chicken only came on my 6th try. but it's so cute it was worth it. i don't need all of series 9, but i would still like to have the hollywood starlet, who looks a bit like marilyn monroe and the mermaid, so i imagine a few more will find their way into my basket the next time i'm in the grocery store.

then we discovered that the local campground (i went there, trying to source ice in a fit of pre-party panic yesterday) had a display with some of the older series - 3-4-5 to be exact. those must be getting pretty rare, so we had to pick up a few five of them. we got this little zookeeper, complete with monkey and banana.

and my fave, a mad scientist, also with super cool hair. the hair on these is WAY better than on the normal ones that come with sets.

we also got kimono girl from series 4. we were trying for the viking that was part of that series, but no such luck.

and who can resist hazmat guy from series 5? look at the expression on his face? he looks really worried!

honestly, i do not need more bits of plastic in my life, but i am definitely a sucker for something that's cleverly done. i even arranged a trade with lost star (she's got warrior girl from series 10 and i had an extra cyclops that she needed). but i'll be able to stop as soon as i get viking girl, viking guy, the little soldier in a furry hat (after all, husband was once one of those himself) and the one in a bunny costume (ala the chicken man who started it all). and then i can quit. really. for sure. i promise.

lego on the brain

i've got lego on the brain. sabin got the lego indiana jones airplanes yesterday and built them already last evening. every time she builds something, i am totally amazed at how ingenius the designs are. lego really pulled themselves out of the slump they were in a few years ago and got back to the basics of what they're good at. they made smart tie-ups with certain films - indiana jones, star wars, harry potter and there are even totally cool lego games for the Wii, where these little lego indy figures go around building things with lego blocks and whipping the heck out of the enemies. lego, as you no doubt know, is a danish company and the word is shortened from lege godt which means play well. and who wouldn't play well with things that are this well-designed:

check out that pirate's expression and his peg leg!

the pirate girl has a voluptuous figure to go with her treasure chest.

indy's shirt is rumpled and he's got a 5 o'clock shadow.

check out the little lego sean connery!

and that little door right below him actually opens and indy can store his suitcase and whip there.

doesn't indy look fetching flying that plane?

what a great expression on his little lego face.

with design that good, it makes it quite ok that the child still wants lego for her birthday, even when she's turning 9. i'm happy to keep buying it for her.

thank you all for your kind wishes for her birthday yesterday! they elicited that little proud snort thing she does when i read them to her.

legoland land

we're spending our day at legoland

look, spud, it's H.C. Andersen!

i hope the autumn light is as good this year as it was last.

a full report after the weekend.

updates on a world gone mad or wherein she changes her mind

because a pretty flower can set the tone for a good day

so that stupid governor asshole guy who i defended yesterday--at least in his right to go analog--turned out to be just another slimeball politician without morals. what is it about these people that makes them think no one will ever find out these things? i still say, however, that people (which loosely includes elected officials) should be able to go offline for a few days without the whole world crumbling down. of course, i myself would never do that, but i'm just saying, people should be allowed if they want to.

and speaking of technology and always being on, how did we ever meet someone somewhere before the ubiquity of mobile phones? did we just make an agreement to be at a certain place at a certain time and then meet? what a novel concept. and why can i seriously not remember how i ever managed to meet someone somewhere before i could text?

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ok, i know i said yesterday that i had gone off flickr, but then i found out that The White House has an flickr photostream and there are some seriously good candid shots there. so i'll stay on flickr and just stop joining those crap-ass flickr groups with all the stupid rules. and yes, i just added the white house as a contact. i mean where else can you see obama hanging out with pirates?

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and speaking of flickr, i'm getting a little obsessed with spudballoo's challenge to me to reveal 30 secrets in 30 days, which, you guessed it, turns out to be a flickr group (thankfully quite free of restrictive rules and clauses). i find i'm constantly jotting down another secret in my little blog notebook and i think that most of them i haven't even revealed previously or if i have, i'll reveal a new aspect of the secret. starting july 1, right here on MPC. does anyone else want to play along?

* * *

i think i'll make one of these in cheery colors for the next time i'm feeling down

we saw this bright, cheery quilt in my little town when we were walking around the other day and i think i'll see what i've got in my stash and make one for the next time i'm feeling all down. i really shouldn't be bothered by the fact that we've passed the summer solstice, as the darkness won't start to show appreciably for another month or so--best to enjoy the light while it's here and stop fretting about when it's not! i am feeling the desire to make a quilt, after running across this beautiful quilt block on the spirit cloth blog. it makes me think of elizabeth's beautiful soul food project, as well as the notion of art journaling in textiles. there's so much inspiration in the world, it's kind of silly to spend a whole day moping around. but maybe it's just something we need once in awhile. i'm glad the gloom lifted.

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i leave you with a little story from my nephew, finn (the US finn, we also have one in sweden), age 6. he came home yesterday from a trip to target and informed his brother that he had looked at the analog legos while he was there. maybe it's a message that we all need to spend less time online...go get out your analog legos and build something!