Tuscany

I’ve never been to Tuscany, but I can feel the pull all the way from California. There’s something about that place that makes it a little magical, and if I’m not mistaken the food is no small part of it. But the main reason is it just seems tranquil. Humans decided it was a pretty nice place, and have been there for ages, and somehow it seems to have escaped the modern need to be in a big hurry all the time. A lovely scene by Cesbrick.

The Fly

In my youth I wanted to be a make-up artist, or at least a creature effects artist. And the timing for this was actually pretty good. While I was in high school and honing my craft, there was a boom in make-up effects (seriously, look up the movies from 1982-1986, it was a golden age) and this film came out the same year I graduated. Builder captainsmog brilliantly recreates the moment the Brundlefly emerges from the unit, shocking.

LEGO 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster

Engineering, design, and technology are always evolving, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they get better. Because I can’t see anything to improve upon with Firas Abu-Jaber’s latest creation: the 1936 Merc 500K. It may not do 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. It probably doesn’t have Apple Car Play, either. And don’t even ask about miles to the gallon. But when it comes to timeless style and craftsmanship, this car is hard to beat, in both metal and LEGO. Nicely done, Firas!

LEGO 1936 Mercedes-Benz 500K Special Roadster (W29)

I've Got The Jam Box, You Got The Cardboard?

As I’ve confessed before on this blog, I used to breakdance, and not to brag but I was pretty good. So clearly I was a kid of the 80’s, when the portable stereo, boom box, jam box or whatever you called it was king. And I have to admit I have a soft spot for these little icons, like this one from builder Cha Mi. So let’s crank up the Twilight 22, I’ve got some poppin’ and lockin’ to do.

And One Brick In Its Time Plays Many Parts

Enter Adult Fan of LEGO

The works of Shakespeare are a huge nerdom, 37 plays and 154 Sonnets that have survived since the early 1600’s. Likely you have come across at least one of his plays in high school if you grew up in the English speaking parts of the world, and his plays have been adapted in to many other works: 10 Things I Hate About You is The Taming of the Shrew; The Lion King strongly parallels Hamlet; Forbidden Planet is The Tempest (my favorite play); West Side Story and a host of others pull from Romeo and Juliet. Karen Metz has captured scenes from 19 of Shakespeare’s plays in her interpretation of the James Christensen painting “Shakespearean Fantasy.” Karen has expertly captured some very famous scenes, but as with the painting, some are a bit more subtle or from some of the less performed works. She incorporates movement and music into some of the scenes. She’s posted a lot of pictures and exploring all of the them are quite rewarding. 
Anon good builder

Exit persued by a LEGO Bear

The Last Supper

If the bible is any indication one of the characters in this MOC by builder kloou is going to betray Batman. But with this assortment, how in the world could we figure out who that might be? It’s pretty much a who’s who of villains that would just love to betray the dark knight. At least we can be sure of one thing, Penguin is going to absolutely destroy that pie.

Broly

Bro, do you even lift? For an effective work out, try the patented “Broly System”, you’ll be jacked in no time. It starts with a brief but effective exile to planet Vampa, followed by a high protein, low carb diet. Daily workouts include sparring with Vegeta and Goku, as well as numerous crunches. I have absolutely no idea what the heck I’m talking about, but check out this totally buff figure by builder 莫古.

Imperial Airship Bricktania

Whenever I see an craft like this beautiful airship from builder Dale Harris I immediately go into filmmaker mode. I’m imagining not only this ship on a pedestal in front of a green screen, but the camera rig to shoot it, the composites to put it into whatever background is needed, the scene in which it’s featured and the music that would accompany it. Weird huh?

Check out more pics and several other excellent builds at his website harrisbricks.com.au.

The Spinshot 2600™

Can’t a pilot repair his craft in peace? If you’re tired of getting mauled while making minor repairs off world consider a Spinshot 2600™ auto turret. The Spinshot features an ARM96a processor and cutting edge AI to keep you safe. With motion, thermal, computer vision and audio sensors, it’s watching your back at all times. With a .002 second reaction time, high torque neomidium actuators and a full 360º sweep, it’s got the capability you’re looking for. The Spinshot 2600™, firepower with a brain.

I don’t know why I can’t just say “check out this cool ship by Legohaulic”, I just can’t help myself sometimes.

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me...

Builder Dave Kaleta knows how to show some appreciation. He attended a taping of National Public Radio’s news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and presented these awesome creations to the hosts and panelists. It’s just too bad it was done after the taping, I’d love to see, or at least hear, their reactions to getting them.

Yellow Crested Cockatoo

A friend of mine in high school had a couple of birds at his house, and I’m pretty sure one of them was a yellow crested cockatoo, like this one from Builder timofey_tkachev, but I know so little about birds I could easily be wrong. I do remember looking at it and thinking “hey, it’s Fred from Baretta” (for those not a half century old Baretta was a TV series with Robert Blake and a bird).

Incineroar

Since Pokemon hasn’t been a feature of daily life in this house for many years it doesn’t take much to surprise me (I’m also blissfully ignorant of the world in general, so that’s not really saying much) So when a Pokemon that I’m not familiar with pops up, I just roll with it. I don’t know anything about Incineroar, wonderfully depicted here by builder reticence, but he looks like he can put up a good fight, and that’s all we ask of our incarcerated pocket monsters isn’t it?

Range Trooper

While Solo had it’s fair share of problems, box office numbers notwithstanding, I thought it was a fun movie. Yes, there were some cringe moments, and I think a better story could have been told, but there were also some absolutely awesome stuff. One of which were the totally badass Range Troopers. They reminded me of elite snowtroopers, and I think that was the idea. And while the LEGO Range Trooper constraction figures were OK, builder nobu_tary shows us how it’s done with this rework of the figure.

Meow & Squeak

I can’t say I totally understand this moc by builder DOGOD brick Design, but I like it. For one I’m a cat lover, and of course I’m into LEGO. But mostly I think it’s because I get to write the following sentence: Check out Emmet in his mouse mech riding a cat who has a powerful lamp on his head. I’ll likely never assemble that set of words in that order again.

It's A Miss, It's Totally A Miss

And once again Ochre Jelly is all over a meme before I’ve even heard of it (and truly, I could have lived without it). I don’t know the origin of this, what it’s based on, who this lass is or anything. And I feel a headache would follow any attempt at research so I’ll just post this and remain willfully ignorant of this one Iain.

The Perfect Thing To Ring In The New Year

As we transition from 2018 to 2019 I’m thinking this siege tower by W Navarre is sort of the perfect MOC to represent it. Because I don’t care who you are, everyone seems to think they’re under attack. From the silliest online debates of what Grover said to countries being held hostage by political maneuvering, everything feels like an assault. I’m an optimist by nature, so I’m going to remain hopeful that we can pull our collective heads out of our collective rear ends and start building a future instead of endlessly squabbling. Lets use this tower as a really sweet diving platform and have a pool party okay?