Metallic Silly Putty®!

Stretched in a thin sheet over an old-style Matoran, can metallic Silly Putty® be anything other than a stray bit of protodermis?



It's a bit brighter than the silver MoL, but the photo exaggerates the difference.

Makuta & Minions

Happy Birthday, Blog

2 years. Seems longer.

Gali vs. Bohrok Kaita

I'm not sure where or when this altercation took place. It must be after the Toa discovered the Chamber of the Exo-Armor but before they were immersed in protodermis.

Hans Blix Has Left the Building

"Hans Blix, you've retired as the UN's nuclear inspector. What are you going to do?"
"I am going to pick some blueberries. And also some mushrooms."

The Lamp.

The Lamp.

Immediate Answer to Question Posed

I am of course, being entirley obtuse in regard to where Lego's Bionicle story can go. Hollywood has already supplied the answer:

• Roman numerals: II, III, IV, etc.
  
• The Something: ... the Reckoning, ... the Awakening, ... the Quickening, ... pick a gerund.
  
• Apes-style: Planet of, Beneath the, Return to, Escape from, Battle for, Conquest of, etc.
  
• Spinoffs: a la All in the Family. Maude, The Jeffersons, Gloria ... I can't stand to think about it any more. Oof.
  
• Prequels.
  
• Retreads: Director's Cuts. And Special Editions. And Nth Anniversary Editions. Retrospectives, festivals, revivals, road shows and ice shows. Theme park already covered.

Recursive Webcammery

Here I watch someone watching the webcam. Hypersolipsis.

I Must Be Completely Mad

                8581: Kopeke
              8582: Matoro
            8583: Hahli
          8584: Hewkii
        8585: Hafu
      8586: Macku
    8593: Makuta
  8595: Takua with Pewku
8596: Takanuva with Ussanui

All ordered this day, the birthday of Vilmos Zsigmond and King Gustav V.

I did hold off on 8594, "Jala with Guku Bird."

For the sake of thoroughness in reporting these were received recently: 8580 is a can of Kraata. 8587, 8588, 8589, 8590, 8591, 8592: Panrahk, Kurahk, Lerahk, Guurahk, Vorahk, Turahk. I can only imagine that we are approaching the end of the Bionicle cycle. Where can you go when the avatars of Good and Evil combine into the Utter Being? I mean, really? Where?

Rahkshi Have Arrived

The remainder of the Rahkshi cohort (plus extra Kraata) have arrived and are at present menacing the webcam. Went shopping in Lynnwood and came across plain old Bohrok on clearance at Toys R Us and bought three to make a Bohrok Kaita. For Bionicle-heads only (as if anyone else is reading this): feet are based on the Bohrok Kaita #1 and the arms and torso are based on Bohrok Kal Kaita #1.

Also picked up another Boxor, two Bohrok Va and the 100% weird "Slap Shot," a hockey toy from Lego. I wanted to see what it was and use the shoulder armor for the Toa Maiden. A pretty good toy, actually. Not very Legoistic, though. The big surprise was a powerful spring which accepts an axle. Could be useful as part of a trigger.

Happy Combination: Breakfast at Cranium's and Soundtracks

Went for my customary Saturday breakfast and this was being played. Other customers wanted to know what the tunes were. I could identify about half the tunes. (Madame Bovary? There's a movie?) I arrived during the Adventures of Robin Hood and left just after Dr. Zhivago.

Toa Maiden Defeated

A slide show. Contains Lego violence.

The Big Picture

I am going to have to get a camera with a fisheye lens so I can do proper panoramas.

This Week

Eric SerraThe Messenger

Miklos RozsaKnights of the Round Table

Miklos RozsaThe King's Thief

David NewmanThe Postman

George S. ClintonMortal Kombat

Fred MyrowSoylent Green

Webcam Downs Staring Gali Nuva

The moral of this story is not to stand too close to the webcam when it spins.

Tahu Nuva and Gali Nuva Stare Down Webcam

"If you look behind you, you can see the Toa Maiden doing your job."

Doodle

The Toa Maiden v Vorahk

The Toa Maiden once again demonstrates surprising martial elan. The photos do not convey the delicate balance in which the figures are poised. She has already apparently broken the Rahkshi's staff. The Toa Maiden is using her right thigh as a fulcrum as if she were baling hay. I expect that her follow-through to this maneuver will be to throw her feet forward, fall onto her back and use that momentum to propel Vorahk off the precipice.

Since we saw her and her friends arguing with Pattonua, she has picked up protodermis joints.

The damage that she received during a battle with a Bohrok Kal has left her invulnerable to Krana and Kraata. They can't get a grip on her face because of her two missing teeth.

Impulse Purchase

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on DVD. Came out May 20. Kirk Douglas sings!

Rahkshi Are Camera Shy

Vorahk attacks the camera. 90kb.

Land Otter

This young raccoon was out and about in broad daylight all by itself. It was playing with a bit of leaf while lying on its back. It was cute. Hopefully it isn't playing in a drama known as "The Story of the Meerkat Family." Long story; tell later, but suffice to say only one meerkat survived, barely, to the last reel. UPDATE: The same raccoon was nosing around the neighbor's house this morning. I hope he doesn't become a pest.

Flowers. Snails.

This slideshow contains prosaic pictures of some roses that have sprung up around the house. Also some snails. Two of the snails were not very good at being snails and one of them has been in one spot so long that moss is growing on it.

LEGO Purchase: a Little Bit of Everything

This set of Apollo vehicles makes me wax nostalgic for the early seventies. That says a lot right there. I haven't applied the decals, because I am a decal weenie. I have never liked decals. Although these models really need them. I'm going to make up better graphics for the bases because the Lego art is bluntly awful. The lander is easily the best one. The moon buggy model is OK, but different tires would have made all the difference. Just doing these tires in grey would have been an easy improvement.











This set was an indulgence, but I love the monsters in each one. It's from the "Orient Expedition" theme. Oo! Scary! Ee! Terrifying!





The reason I ordered any Lego at all. We've been hearing about them for months, the Rakshi. To be officially released in June, these two are available to Lego Club members as a privilege of club membership. I'm also a member of the National Geographic Society. I'm connected, I am! These monsters are chock full of new parts - there's scarcely a retread in there. They are thoroughly articulated. The back-and-forth fighting action is effective. The feet are surprisingly large and heavy. The flourescent head is way cool and will be much sought after just as a piece. The worm-brain is — Hooray! — not painted: the color is cast in the mold.

Draw Your Own Conclusions

This thick-ish four-color flyer was shoved underneath my windshield wiper. Mine, and under the windshield wiper of every other car in the parking lot. Notable for its heft, I assumed it was some competitor to the Little Nickel, but I was struck by the photo shoehorned into the lead on the front page. I was prepared to make some unkind comments comparing them to the mutants from Beneath the Planet of the Apes* (“Behold the Truth that abides in us; reveal that Truth unto that Maker: I reveal my inmost self unto my God.”) until I saw the caption. Regard the caption. Regard it, I say! Taking away nothing from the pitiable weirdness, the photo does not relate materially to the article that it is bound to.







On the plus side, Pastor Alamo (rhymes with Col. Bat Guano) doesn't like hypocrites in office.

* To learn more about the Mutant Mass from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, I suggest FilmScore Monthly's CD, Beneath the Planet of the Apes with expert commentary from science fiction film expert, maven and all-around great guy, Jeff Bond.

Bohrok MOC

This re-assembly of parts is not a huge departure from the basic Bohrok idea: press the lever, head moves. The lever comes off more as a tail; the whole construction has bird-like aspect. Sort of a cross between a dodo and a raptor dinosaur. The head bob action is mildly comical. I was able to include almost all the pieces.

Kitty No Not Lost After All Thank Heavens

I'd like to say that Kitty No found her way to the outside through her own cleverness and not my own carelessness. But I did leave the window open. I was prepared to canvas the neighborhood and put up posters but happily that was not necessary. She behaved in the usual cat manner and came to her feedbowl on the porch. Thus I was denied the opportunity to display my no doubt formidable and still-latent prowess at hunting small animals. Beware errant cat, beware!

Birthday Present for Whitney

The placard I made up myself but the toys themselves are as they were found on the shelf at Target. Last year's present was amusing, too

New Car Has Arrived: the Obligatory Photos

Whiteboard Blog Although It Is Actually a Brushed Silver Board.

Sure, I could have just written that I went to see Bill Bryson give a reading, but <mannerism="bookclub">this is so much more in the moment.</mannerism> And I could have gone have snacks and drinks with him, but I have to be at work so I can:

Lego Oddities

Allegra and Goozle. She is a character from a Saturday morning adventure, Galidor, and Goozle is ... Goozle was meant for young children. If your kids are growing up around the Hellmouth that is! Look at it!