Bring in the logic probe!

Ok, I'm back from my overseas escapades and OchreBot has been summarily rendered down to a fine puree for his meagre posting efforts of the last couple of weeks. Ok, the McDonalds thing was pretty neat but there are much cooler things afoot in the AFOL world. For instance, this...



This build by 2x4 should be instantly recognizable, even from an altitude of 30000ft, as the light cycle scene from that hallmark of Eighties-movie-ness Tron. Nice one Stefan!

(...yes, yes, the cycles and trails should be in different colors, but this was done as part of the MOC-Olympics contest over at MOCPages and competitors are required to use the bricks at hand...).

If this doesn't trigger a spate of Tron-themed MOCs in the near future, I will be greatly surprised. C'mon programs, I wanna see some recognizers, tanks, solar sails, and similar related nonsense. Don't make me do it first!

END OF LINE

[o_O] ..!

Hi, this is OchreBot [o_O]. I sense the imminent return of my master! I hope you enjoyed all my postings. Please tell my master if you did, so that I can avoid the pain stick!

[o_O] Jewel Box

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Jewel Box by car_mp

[o_O] Shrek Characters

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Shrek Characters by AdmiralStupid

[o_O] Coffin Bot

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Coffin Bot by Octopunk

[o_O] Rock Monster

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Rock Monster by Daiman Mardon

[o_O] Pacman

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Pacman by Hayward

[o_O] Wolf

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Wolf by Toshiya

[o_O] Bull

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Bull by Toshiya

[o_O] Microscale WWII Diorama

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Microscale WWII Diorama by MooseBot

[o_O] Drum Kit

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Drum Kit by Uruk

[o_O] Toilet

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Toilet by d-higdon

[o_O] Marvin the Paranoid Android

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Marvin the Paranoid Android by gummibaer

[o_O] Steve the Ogre

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Steve the Ogre by SavaTheAggie

[o_O] Llamas!

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Llamas! by Mumu

[o_O] Microscale Dacshund

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Microscale Dacshund by w9gfo

[o_O] Microscale McDonalds

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Microscale McDonalds by neodymium-boy

Bulletproof Blondes

For no particular reason other than "random convergence", today's theme is "recent Lego models of Animé chicks featuring a predominantly yellow and black color scheme". Similarity of scale not being part of the theme!

Maetel from Galaxy Express by neodymium-boy


Erica Hartmann from Strike Witches by KenoColin


Now please excuse me while I go back to panicking over last-minute trip preparations. I have to make sure I have two of every species, and mosquitos are rather hard to sex...

All puffed up and no place to go

Something has obviously alarmed this Fugu fish by MrTruck. Which is just as well really otherwise it wouldn't look half as amusing!



Of course I can't let any reference to Fugu fish pass without immediately segueing into the greatest YouTube video of all time (this week), namely Charlie the Unicorn...



"Glub, glub! Glub, glub!"

Aye, robot

Later this week, the Jelly clan will be travelling across the ocean for a one-in-life-time family reunion (yes, it may well involve various jellies, cubes, puddings, slimes, oozes, and possibly a few stirges and displacer beasts thrown into the mix).

To keep you suitably entertained during my absense, I have spawned OchreBot. This handy little robotic dude has been tasked with pulling some interesting Lego creations from my extensive "didn't get round to blogging about yet" list.

So assuming the technology works, you should see something new every day, minus my usual sparkling wit and charm. Which might actually be an improvement!

At this time, I have no idea what OchreBot will choose to post about. He does have a bit of a 'thing' for animals. So expect animals, I guess.

And when I get back, I'll be t-minus 1 month to BrickCon 2009! So much to do, and so few bricks!

Dream on, skin tube!

When I first saw car_mp's Bender head some time ago, I thought maybe it was a tribute to that episode where Bender pawns his body for cash (Fry: "You look different, Bender. Did you get a haircut?").

But now that a body has appeared, complete with flexible limbs and working liquor cabinet, words have failed me. Or maybe its just the home brew. So I will simply give you a random selection of excellent Bender quotes. Because that's stealing, so Bender would approve, right? You better believe it, fleshwad: Its the c-o-o-l crime of robbery!



"What kind of party is this? There's no booze and only one hooker!"

"This is the worst kind of discrimination. The kind against me!"



"Everybody's a jerk. You, me, this jerk."

"I could pound your head 'til you think that's what happened."



"Tempers are wearing thin. Let's hope some robot doesn't kill everybody."

"Game's over, losers! I have all the money. Compare your lives to mine and then kill yourselves."

---

Of course now I'm going to be eagerly awaiting the completion of this head...



But either way, this is definitely one Lego builder that I'm not going to forget in a hurry MEMORY DELETED.
 

Piano forte

Two models of grand pianos appeared this week...

The first is by Anders Paludan. I like the abundance of curves, and the use of grills for the strings. The choice of Belville scale is also a pleasant surprise!



Next up is this version by Paul Toxopeus, which he put together specially for his brother Mark, who is a professional pianist (I assume that's Mark playing it, with the flat top).



He also created this pretty slick fake box for it too!



So, tonight we got to compare a 3 inch pianist and a 1½ inch pianist. Oh dear, I think my double-entendre meter just exploded...

Lunar shapeshifters from the 25th century

Coming back to my earlier diversion on "TV space ship nostalgia", I thought I'd share some more "stellar" Lego models of vehicles that my age group would generally regard as iconic...

EAGLE from SPACE 1999 (by gummibaer)



STAR FIGHTER from BUCK ROGERS (by 1816)



RUNABOUT from DEEP SPACE NINE (by Larsvader)



Sorry, that's all I can manage for tonight. While being totally "hopped up" on home brew on a Saturday night is no excuse for not blogging, its certainly a very good excuse for not being spontaneously witty! Burp...

Music of the Spheres

Confusingly named builder Q_159 took a break from his usual architectural theme to consider the question "What if Darth Vader became a gardener?". And here is his answer...


I like this MOC because behind its simplicity and smallness lies what I believe is one of the seeds of creativity: Taking two pre-existing ideas, and asking "what if" they could be blended together somehow (...with a little help from the awesomeness of Lego, obviously).

So on the one hand, you have the classic "Dark Side of the Lawn" t-shirt by Kiwi designer Glenn Jones (who makes all kinds of fab t-shirts, actually).


And on the other hand, you have the now legendary Lowell Sphere, concieved by the prolific builder Bruce Lowell...


The Lowell sphere is so cool, it has been utilized over and over, not only by hacks like me, but also by the master builders at Legoland parks! The image above was taken from an actual Legoland training manual (courtesy of the Chief). And here is the evidence of its use...

Mermaid off the port bow!

Ryan Wood (aka "Chief", for reasons I'll explain another time) was recently hired as a master builder at LegoLand California. His photostream includes some great images documenting his adjustment to this rather unique job. Oh yes, he is living the dream. If you ignore the one hour commute, that is!

Right now there is a lot of "copy build" training going on, including miniland techniques. But the new recruits do also get to practice a bit of self-expression too. Here is Ryan expressing himself, beautfully...


Very nice use of green cheese slopes. And given that those things go at between $0.50 and $1.00 a pop on Bricklink right now (unless you don't mind ordering from Norway), I'm quite jealous of the resources at his disposal! So to that end Ryan, I give you, rather appropriately...

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't ya think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the Chief, Who has every-thing...

Why did the lobster blush? Because the seaweed! :D

The first Tuesday of every month, kids can wander down to their local Lego store, and participate in the "Monthly Mini Build", where they get to build and keep a one-off Lego set. That's assuming you are fortunate enough to actually live near a Lego store, and don't mind the mania and queueing!

This month's model is a rather inspiring lobster, images courtesy of ILikePi. I am kicking myself for missing this, ahem for allowing my kids to miss this!



What I do find suprising is the variability of the MMB models. While this lobster is nice, as was this year's Easter bunny, some months the MMB is a complete P.O.S, such as the recent flower pot, or next September's "Back to School" book and pencil. On the whole, my family seems to have voluntarily opted out the event. I think Lego need to rethink / retool this event a little, for example schedule it on a weekend and make it an all-day deal, to avoid turning it into a "feeding of the five thousand" every time. And perhaps exercise a little quality control on the designs? Their master builders are certainly all talented, but some months it seems like they are just "phoning it in". If they're short on ideas, there's a whole mess of AFOLs out here that would jump at the chance to contribute designs!

"Maaaaaaaaaa"-rvellous

Everything that Misa Qa produces is very completely absolutely precious.
(...even her many Lego hair style experiments, if you're into that sort of thing, which I have to say I am!)

You've almost certainly just seen her new Shaun the Sheep characters over at Brothers Brick, but I figured they were worth a sligthly closer look anyway...

Shaun, The Farmer, and Bitzer


Timmy (the lamb)


Shirley (the fat sheep)


This is totally the kind of thing I wish I'd thought of ages ago, since my kids LOVE this show! Ah well, I suppose I could always have a go at Wallace and Gromit instead, right? Nah, too late...


Ooo, I am a partial to a bit of Wensleydale!