Playing with Lego 2.0

For those of you who perhaps were doubtful of my trend setting abilities--I just randomly came across this story and felt the overwhelming desire to share it.

THE GIANT 8FT LEGO MAN WHO WASHED UP ON THE BEACH
By Daily Mail ReporterLast updated at 7:02 PM on 30th October 2008
At 8ft tall and wearing a garish green jersey he's not the sort of chap to get lost down the sofa. In fact, you'd think he was unlikely to get lost at all. But someone (possibly someone big), somewhere is missing a key bit of their Lego set. The colourful character mysteriously washed up on Brighton beach yesterday spawning dozens of tales - soon to become local legend - about where he may have come from.

While some believe he floated from Denmark-where there is a Legoland park), others suggest he toppled off a ship. Of course, there's always the cynical possibility he's part of a publicity stunt.
Resident Gerry Turner, 34, said: 'It's very odd. God knows how it got here but people are saying it's from Holland because it's got some Dutch writing on it. 'It must have fallen off a boat of something. The kids love it.' Children who helped stand the Lego man up on the beach were desperately curious about where it came from. One said: 'It's great, but we don't know why it's here.'
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said town hall officials had no idea of the origin of the Lego man, but added that they saw no difficulty in letting it stay on the beach where it washed up. He said: 'There's no problem at all. It will be interesting to see how long the Lego man stays there for. We'll keep an eye on it.' But Lego was insistent: 'We're bemused. He has nothing to do with us.' The Lego giant's arrival on the East Sussex shingle yesterday morning comes two years after an armada of plastic ducks landed on British shores. Borne on the ocean currents, the ducks had made a 17,000-mile odyssey from the Pacific where they had been washed from a container ship in a 1992 storm.


I believe I may have found the origins of this valiant maritime marauder--

(this video may not be suitable for some viewers).

Looks like there will be a lot more people in Jolly Ol' England playing with Lego.

Playing with Lego

I was cleaning out my garage on Saturday and found Lego man (my costume from last year). I say "found", though it's not like he was lost or missing-- he takes up a good portion of the garage. He was apparently very angry to have been locked up in the garage and since our last encounter has developed an insashable earge for blood. He has now taken up an aggressive position on the front porch feeding on stray neighborhood cats, and giving the stink eye to the casual passer-by.

I figure that we can just leave he out there-- dress him up like a Pilgrim for Thanksgiving, Santa Claus for Christmas, and Martin Luther King for Civil Rights Day. I really believe he can be a good year round deterrent against:

1. Salesmen & Door-to door political campaigning.
2. Neighborhood pets and children.
3. Bandits, Robbers, Rapists, Murders, Squaters, Pirates, & other various teenage Riff Raff.
4. Boy/Girl Scouts, Jehovah Witnesses, & The Mormons.

Halloween

I know it is more than 6 months away, but I'm still thinking about it. Halloween is in my top 5 best days of the year pretty consistently. Sometimes it's even #1. I love Halloween because everyone is expected to be at least a little ridiculous. For someone like me who may be perceived as slightly bizarre every other day of the year, it sort of levels the playing field. It's a holiday that compels a vast majority of the popular to relax, take off the masks they tote around every other day, and put of different ones-- fun ones. I particularly like the office environment on Halloween. There is just something magical about seeing that bitch from accounting dress up like Paris Hilton. I also love going over to the IT department and seeing the wide variety of Storm Trooper and Klingon costumes purchased online-- and then there is that one guy who's Bubba Fet every year because he bought the costume in 1984 for $1,500 and needs to find every opportunity to don it outside of the annual Star Wars convention. I've never had a store bought costume, not that I wouldn't have loved to have one, my family growing-up just wouldn't spend money on that sort of thing. My mom would either make my costume or I would have to wear a "costume of convenience". In both cases, the result was occasionally embarrassing. I've since embraced this entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to the costume making experience and think I've really found my groove over the past couple years.In 2005 I was Edward Scissorhands. I had just completed a Stage Make-up course and was feeling confident in my ability to create puddy scars on my face. Then it was just a matter of hitting up the local thrift store for some baggy grey pants and suspenders. I can't seem to find any pictures right now but I'll post 'em once I can track some down.

The following year I was significantly more ambitious-- I wanted to be Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events. I bought a bald cap and super-glued lengths of grey hair to the side and styled it. My mother-in-law made the black coat out of a fat black corduroy. It is by far the coolest thing about the costume and I've been trying to find a way in which I can wear it again without aligning myself to those socially retarded trench coat kids. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to start 'putting on my face'. I puddied an extension on my nose, applied make-up, fake eyebrows, and a beard. The end result of the costume I wasn't particularly that excited about. As the day wore on the bald cap proved a challenge. It was uncomfortable, hot and sweaty, and eventually began to peel up. The extra effort the morning of Halloween made it a stressful beginning to the day.

Last year I change my direction totally-- abandoned the make-up and thrift store outing in favor of making a giant Lego Man Mini-Fig dressed as a Real Salt Lake soccer player.

I made the whole thing out of bristle board, Styrofoam, and duct tape-- it cost only about $27, but had over 30 hours of labor invested in it. It was bulky and almost impossible to move in. I actually had to borrow my sister Durrango in order to get my costume to and from work and various Halloween parties-- but I think it is my best Halloween costume to date. I've already begun narrowing down my 2008 costume options.

Lego Man again? I figured I could just change the Lego Man's outfit-- maybe an astronaut or a professional wrestler. It seems like a capout. Beside I think my sister wants to wear that costume this year as payment for me having to use her vehicle last Halloween.

Sweeney Todd? I can't bring myself to be another Johnny Depp character-- it's unhealthy I think.

Neo from the Matrix? Not a chance in hell. The only reason I even considered it was so that I could wear that cool coat again.

Woody? Yeah from Toy Story and Toy Story II-- My kid is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear, in fact he was Buzz for Halloween last year. I was thinking I could be Woody and he could be Buzz, the whole theme costume thing, but then he would have to be the same thing as he was last year for that to work and I can't just ask him to do that for me. One of the best things about Halloween is changing your costume year to year. Maybe I can convince him to wear a small purple hat and an apron and he could be Mrs. Nesbit.

RichieTenenbaum? This would be a pretty easy costume to pull off. In fact, I think I already have the camel sports coat and headband. Maybe if I'm feeling lazy.

The Joker? With Heath Leger's passing maybe this choice is in poor taste. But I love Christopher Nolan's visual interpretation of this classic villain and I'm pretty sure I can pull it off. We'll see.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!