Sat, 01 Jun 2013 23:45:16 +0000 forum@bzpower.com (BZPower Forums) IP.Blog 60 Funny how many customers who I've never met assume I'm asking about their well-being and reply, "I'm good," when I'm merely saying "good morning" to them as they come into the bookstore.
 
And by golly the amount of snark I repress could fill a swimming pool. (Or a book...hehe.)
 
And no, we're not going out of business. (And even if we were, what are you going to do about it?)
 
-CF ]]> Sat, 01 Jun 2013 23:16:00 +0000 As per my front page news story, I'm up for interrogation this month in the BZPowercast. Which means I need questions to answer! That's where you come in--ask me anything!
 
Anything? Well, sure, but we'll have a whole lot more fun with geeky questions or real questions inquiring about various aspects of life. And any gobdlygook nonsense will probably be ignored as it's hard enough when put on the spot being asked about the average velocity of an unladen swallow (you've been warned).
 
Leave questions here or send them to me in a PM.
 
-CF ]]> Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:43:50 +0000
 
My LUG gets to display at the LEGO Store(s) in the area, and April was my month for Tysons Corner's LEGO Store in Virginia. While Marvel's Avengers Vs X-Men comic event was mediocre in the summer of 2012, I can't deny the inspiration it gave me:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
Topic here. Brickshelf gallery here.
 
Can you guess which part is my favorite?
 
The Avengers are fighting the X-Men because they want to apprehend a mutant (Hope Summers) who they believe might cause destruction to humankind if the Phoenix Force, currently on its way to Earth, has the chance to posses her, due to then nature of her powers. The X-Men would rather the Avengers stay out of the way and let them deal with one of their own kind. Things get nasty for 12 issues, which was about 5 issues too long (not to mention all the tie-ins).
 
Still, the chance to make some X-Men minifigs that LEGO hadn't and then pair them up with several Avengers was something I couldn't pass up for the display. The kids visiting the store wouldn't care some of this stuff didn't happen or didn't look perfect like the comics, and the adults that might have read the comic series would get a kick that I made it out of LEGO in the first place. The LEGO employees there that night knew what it was and loved it.
 
The next goal is to show off my SHIP at Potomac Mills, because their display is visible from all 4 sides and will fit a 103-stud long spaceship.
 
-CF ]]> Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:46:00 +0000 Velox continually posts interesting blog entries about books and what he's reading/has read/will read. Which reminds me that I have such topics to blog about. But my blogging has been sparse, and I need to make such an entry interesting. But I hope that if you share my enthusiasm of reading that you will chime in.
 
Without further ado, a glance at my to-read list from now until May:
 
1) American Gods by Neil Gaiman--I'm currently reading this and loving it! Gaiman crafts a story so well that simply reading his tale is a joy. (Also, I have the 10th Anniversary hardback version, which looks as magnificent as it reads.)
 
2) Uglies by Scott Westerfield--A teen dystopia book/series that I'm borrowing from a friend. I'm seeing her next week, so I figure I might as well read the first one now and decide if I want to hold onto them until we visit again or just return the rest of the series if the first book doesn't hold up to my tastes.
 
3) Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton--I've seen the movie, but with it being released in IMAX 3D in 2 weeks, I might as well read it before seeing it. (Because, as much as I hate 3D (and post-conversion), if there was one movie to see in 3D, it's this one.)
 
4) Best of All Possible Worlds (Don't feel like looking this up)--I'll be borrowing this new sci-fi with a touch of romance from work in a few weeks. It's been getting great reviews.
(4.5--I wish I had time to also sneak in A Great North Road, another sci-fi geting decent reviews. But I think I'll have to borrow that from the library in a few months so I can keep on track reading things on my shelf that I own.)
 
5) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline--Gosh I just need to read this already! Have you seen the bombardment of positive "read now!" reviews on every geek site that gives it a paragraph of recognition?
 
6) Gone Girl by Gyllian Flynn--Another book I'll borrow that has been getting rave reviews, has been a bestseller since its release early last summer, and so is something I should read soon.
 
7) Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly--Borrowing from a friend due to her recommendation. I'm looking forward to it. Will probably read it on my lunch break while reading fiction at home.
 
8) In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson--I heard this wasn't as good as his book The Devil in the White City, which is on my list for this year too, but since my grandma liked it she lent me her copy, since it's still being well-received.
 
9) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson--I'm sure you've heard of this. My friend got me it for my birthday 1.2 years ago and I've been putting off reading it because other books catch my eye. But I'm tired of waiting. Plus I bought the other two in the trilogy for $4 total.
 
10) Iron Man, Extremis by Warren Ellis--The graphic novel gets a rerelease in April right before Iron Man 3 hits theaters. Ideas from this story arc have inspired events in all 4 of the films Iron Man is in, so I'm looking forward to this bit of comic history.
 
Right now I'd better get back to American Gods.
 
-CF ]]> Sat, 16 Mar 2013 03:52:00 +0000 I threw this together in about 40 minutes:

-----
I haven't built a Bionicle thing in a few years. I threw something together back in 2010, and I'm pretty proud of the toros/head/arms, but the legs need work. I'm out of touch with the constraction medium.
 
But I am displaying at my LEGO Store's "Window Into the Community" display in April and decided upon one of two themes: Avengers Vs X-Men (based on last year's comic event) or Bionicle, because nothing sticks it to the man like displaying a 3-year-dead theme (as our LEGO conventions prove by being one of the biggest themes). (I've done this twice before. Once with Bionicle (with a WAMALUG kid) and another with space (with a friend). This time I'm getting the spotlight all to myself.)
 
AvX is only happening if I can craft a few things quick and cheap, like overturned cars and a building (sideways plates instead of brick by brick, methinks) for scenery, the Phoenix Force vs Iron Man's Phoenix Force mecha, the X-Men Blackhawk (vs an Avengers jet?) and then various bits of the two teams fighting.
 
That's if I get my creative juices flowing in the next couple of days. Otherwise I'm going to build a few Bionicle non-humanoids (I have 7 of those) and display Bionicle, because Bionicle is awesome.

Bigger things to come?
 
-CF ]]> Fri, 01 Mar 2013 04:11:00 +0000 There comes a time every year where I must place some words on a badge for BrickFair. Luckily my name and location is not required, and not necessary for me because I already have engraved bricks with my name(s) on them.
So now it's just a matter of putting some cool text there.
 
But I don't know what I want to put on them!
 
My first thoughts were "From Outer Space" for the location badge, but that's not nearly clever enough.
I was also thinking of having "DFTBA" be one of the bricks, but I'd probably frame it between some ~tiddles~ if possible.
I'm the Steampunk coordinator, so maybe something like "Captain Steam" might be cool. For a name.
Or maybe "Stormagedddon, Dark Lord of All" hmm?
And of course I can put some geeky things down, like "Don't Panic" or "Vworp vworp vworp" if I felt so inclined.
 
I have two bricks to fill, remember.
 
Ideas?
 
-CF ]]> Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:24:00 +0000 A few weeks ago I visited New York City for my first time with one of my best friends! It was amazing in all kinds of ways, but mostly because I got to geek out at various appropriate times and take in sights I had never seen before. It was all pretty fantastic.
 
Throughout our trip I got to visit many places on my "to do if I visit NYC" list, including... (pictures)
Going into the Times Square Toys R Us LEGO section
Seeing the outside of the [Will Smith alien movie from 1997] building entrance
Stopping by Midtown Comics
Visiting Forbidden Planet, the amazing geek emporium
Peeking into Obscura, from the Science Channel show Oddities
Going to the amazing independent bookstore Strand (I got a $28 hardback Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio-edited collection of stories for $8)
Wandering into The Way Station, the steampunk bar (I had a Skywalker Margarita) with a TARDIS bathroom (and signed!)
Eating some pork buns in Chinatown
Strolling through Central Park
Having some New York pizza
 
What incited the trip was the fact that our favorite vloggers were going to be "playing" Carnegie Hall Tuesday, January 15. The author John Green and his brother Hank are internet celebrities and have amassed quite a fanbase of "nerdfightes"--enthusiastic people of all walks of life that fight for the nerd and towards various efforts of decreasing "worldsuck" (basically we want to make the world a better, more awesome place, especially one where liking things to a fanatical extent is no longer shunned by popular opinion of what is the "norm"). Penguin Publishers sent the two on a book tour last year when John's latest and most popular book The Fault in Our Stars was released, and this show was in honor of that one-year anniversary. The book has remained a New York Times bestseller since its release.
 
That was "An Evening of Awesome," and it truly was. Lizzie Bennet Diaries cast members read from TFIOS, The Mountain Goats played some songs, other surprise guests came out and shared the stage, which included Neil Gaiman who said something hilarious not repeatable on BZPower, John and Hank answered questions ranging from life to writing to enjoying life and not "growing up", and Hank sang some songs about Harry Potter, science, and angler fish.
 
Overall, it was tons of fun and unforgettable!
 
-CF DFTBA!
(Total trip (travel, food, goodies, Carnegie Hall ticket) cost me under $200, because we stayed at my friend's counin's place both nights!)]]> Sat, 09 Feb 2013 02:15:00 +0000 I got a blast from the past tonight as I tidied up my room a bit, which meant taking the instructions from the recent LEGO sets I've gotten and putting them in the box with all my other instructions.
 
Normally that would just mean I'd toss them on top and move on, but the box was a mess. So I took everything out, arranged the instructions by paper size, and put them back in an orderly fashion that will leave room for more instructions throughout the year (but probably not much longer).
 
Whilst organizing, I quite enjoyed sifting through the instructions, with their pictures of the sets and the memories that came with. And a few "oh right, that was a set. And I had two because I really wanted those couple distinct pieces" moments.
 
Now, I had some cool sets since the new millennium, but the nostalgia factor kicked in as I kept finding instructions for sets from the 90s. Exploriens, Insectoids, Throwbots, Outback, Hydronauts--I even have the large plastic stringray I need to eventually fit into a MOC. Definitely some cool stuff there.
 
Maybe I'll even go back and rebuild a few of those sets.
 
-CF
Fun fact: I do have an old 90s set still built. The Robo Raider, from Roboforce. That minifig is awesome, and considering I don't have anything older than recent stuff built, I never have the heart to take it apart.]]> Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:03:00 +0000 Spoiler alert: Once you graduate college you suddenly find plenty of time to read books that have been on your list for years, because homework is nonexistent!
 
While I read a lot over the summer, fall and winter, I have only just recently been pushing through books left and right. Being ambitious, I hope to read 40-60 books next year, including, but not limited to:

The Cassandra Project
NW
American Gods
Ready Player One
Gone Girl
Cloud Atlas
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
World War Z
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Redshirts
Robopocalypse
Night Circus
The Dresden Files
 
Any strike your fancy? What in particular is on your list for next year?
 
-CF
(New year's resolutions include the usual: read more and build LEGO more)]]> Tue, 01 Jan 2013 17:23:00 +0000 I'm going to copy Velox (again) by listing my favorite books and authors I read in 2012. I've read an incredulous amount of books since graduating, compared to how little time I had to read during college overall. It also helps to keep reading, and to have a few different genres worth of favorites in the back of my head, due to my employment at a bookstore.
 
My top author, if you hadn't guessed, is John Green. I got to meet him at the National Book Festival in DC in September, which was awesome. His books are realistic teen lit, which is a far stray off from my usual sci-fi and fantasy leanings, but each novel is incredible and has shining moments. My top two books are Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars. Crying is expected. I never thought books would make me cry, and then it happened. Good times.
 
I also enjoyed Every Day by David Levithan, the story of someone who swaps bodies with a different person every day, but must deal with that fact in a whole new way when they fall in love. Well-written and very impressive for Levithan's first solo novel.
 
I got a blast from the past when I read Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, a book my teacher recommended to the class back in 7th or 8th grade, but I snuffed it out of mind. But my best friend said it was one of her favorites, so I gave it a shot and found myself unable to put it down, being moved with various feelings, yelling at the main character for his bad decisions and loving Stargirl.
 
I just recently read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, and my praise of this off-beat treasure hunt just enough out of reality for geeks but realistic enough for the everyday reader will make it my go-to book recommendation for anyone.
 
Finally, the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman has been a work of brilliance, and I can't wait to read more (and finish it in time for the prequel comic's release in November) in 2013.
 
That's 2012. But let me tell you, my 2013 reading list has about 60 books on it! More about that tomorrow-ish.
 
-CF ]]> Sun, 30 Dec 2012 20:17:00 +0000