Merry Christmas!

2 clever builds celebrating this fun and wonderous holiday (holy day?)

Brickshelfer Komi has made this fun Bionicle - Santa mashup. Excellent use of parts (especially that dementor shroud as a beard!) although the tan mask for Santa's face is rather creepy...

And Moko, appearing on Golden Shpleem for the nth time, created a variation of his recent Baikinman. His Santa Claus features rosy cheeks and a cute fluff ball at the end of his hat. Nicely sculpted.


In other news, I would be remise if I didn't mention my pal Adrian Drake's hilarious Christmas parody song, entitled Chrismahanarama-
kwanzafestiholisolstice.

Busy, Busy

Jamie Neufeld has been quite busy, with 2 new ships and a new base. Check them all out on his CSF post here. I know, I know, I really should write something about them, but he's not the only one who is busy!

Yum, yum, eat 'em up.

A few weeks ago I e-mailed Myroder, a CSF user, about the 4 rail pieces seen in his Intrepid. He said they are called "crane harbor derricks" and I fully intended to write a post about the Intrepid, but I got lazy. Do check it out.

Anyway, Myroder's latest is very neato. After his recent change in diet, Myroder has applied his new skills to this crazy contraption. Very interesting intersection of forms delineated by color. Lots of playability throughout, this would be real fun to fiddle with.

Those click-hinge connections to the side engine-dealies (big fans in space?) and to the top radar dish are pretty lame. In fact, I think the ship would be much improved if the fans and dish were just taken off. Yes. It would create a much sleaker profile. Definitely.

I should have saved the "Jesusmas" reference.

Now that our spat of mutual self-gratification (could I have written anything dirtier?) is over, we return to writing about other people's creations, because, you know, Jonesy and I aren't the only ones building awesome stuff ;-P

New kid on the block "Wizz" has taken over the Brickshelf recent page, just as Jonesy and I took over ILENN.

News and fake news programs have been speaking on the supposed "Attack on Christmas" lately; Wizz takes it to the next level with this hilarious and well-crafted series of vignettes. Kudos to him!

My 2 favorites are linked to above and to the right, but be sure to check out the whole bunch here.

He should have waited until Jesusmas Eve

Oh Jonesy, my fellow blogger. You, the brave reader, may think he posts infrequently, but just look at the chronology of his MOCage! Almost a full year between his newest and his next newest. For shame. I even know that he has other things built, like some nifty airships inspired by Last Exile that must be still sitting around since Brickfest. Not to mention his nifty moonbase module that can only be seen in random people's Post-Brickfest albums.

Jonesy, when will you learn to shamelessly self-promote yourself across multiple fora? What an opportunity Steampunk affords, being both castle and space. Talk about crossposting!

Regarding the vehicle itself, then. I initially admonished Jonesy for including the first picture, before the colorful awning was added, per a suggestion by Dan "HappyWeasel" Rubin (why someone would want to be associated with a weasel is beyond me. I'd much rather be associated with an infallible institution like the Popehood) but I like the history it gives to the creation. Sort of a before and after, but without the added benefit of a change from frown to smile for those that didn't pick up on the radical change in weight.

And hooray for gears on the bottom! Ry has set a new standard.

Interior Decorating

Mark Stafford attempted to make an entry for the CCC3, but neglected to follow a few rules regarding the number of walls.

Good thing he did, because otherwise I would not have been able to comment on it (as a C-C admin, and thus a judge of the contest, I feel it would be inappropriate to comment until the contest is over). And Jonesy seems to be rather busy at the moment, which school and stuff, while my quarter is essentially over.

Anyway, this scene has so many nice details, in decorating and in architecting (made-up word!). Really nice bookshelves, excellent corner shelving, nice use of tiles throughout, and amazing window treatment.

It pays to edit.

One of the voidfighter entries I did not link to on Golden Shpleem was this one by Saber-Scorpion. Why didn't I? Because it sucked! Well not really, but I just didn't care for it. The coloring, the details, and the photography all really detracted from the creation as a whole.

But wait! He decided to re-do the craft in a new color scheme, changing the wings significantly, changed the engines, and made a few other minor touch-ups. I must say, Mark II is way cooler.

Perhaps not all the way there yet, but there is always time for a Mark III :)

Trains!

I was recently thinking "we don't really feature many train creations on Golden Shpleem. Is it because there just haven't been many recently? Or do we not know where to look for them? Or do all the recent ones suck?"

Well, a recent look at Brickshelf has turned up some neat train cars by MIJasper.

I didn't even know those 3 wide curved pieces came in brown, but he has tons!

I <3 Rube Goldberg

Back in middle school, I was on the "Science Olympiad" team. One of the events was "Mission Possible", which involved the creation of a contraption made up of simple machines that started with a simple action and ended with some task. For example, in 8th grade we had to start it by dropping a quarter and end it by launching a ping pong ball. I think. It may have been popping a balloon. No matter.

In 8th grade me and 2 friends took charge of the event, and we won 3rd at States, I think. Maybe 5th? We got a medal, is all I know. 1st at regionals as well, if I recall correctly. I may be confusing the exact numbers with Experimental Design, which I was also awesome at. Any nerdy kid in middle or high school in the US from 1985 onward should know what I am talking about.

Don't care about adventures of my youth? Blame Shane Larson, the long time supporter of all things TechWest and all things Sci-Facty, who has made a Rube Goldberg mousetrap, featuring the classic swinging axe, rolling ball, and falling anvil. So many fun details in such a small footprint!

Judge and Jury?

Bizarre happenings. Today I recieved the second or third email that goes something like this:

Hi there, look at this thing I built. I am not sure if it is "Golden Shpleem" quality, but please take a gander. I appreciate your input.

They've all been very polite, and I suppose in some respect it's a bit of an ego-boost to thinkthat people are specifically seeking my opinion, but I feel bad about it.


Jonesy and I aren't some sort of judicial panel. We are simply 2 guys that see neat things and for some reason have a desire to ramble on about them.

Which is not to say that emails asking for advice are unwelcome, if you want someone's thoughts on a creation, or a more global LEGO issue, the mailbox is always open.

Oh, and look at these voidfighters. Totally unrelated to the ramblings above, but so what?