So I figure this needs its own separate entry.
Basically, I ran into CzaR about five minutes after I arrived at BrickCon and promptly bought it from him for the BZP discount of $55. Now, this may seem a bit steep, but considering Flintsmith only made four of these (and who knows where the other three are) it's actually a great deal. So, thank you once again Matt!
Here's a pic CzaR took of it next to his trans-purple Kaukau, also a Flintsmith custom, which he sold to Razlak at BCon09:
NASA has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning at 9:00am PDT, and you should all watch it. The announcement has to do with a new Kepler discovery. Kepler is a space telescope that is responsible for finding over a thousand confirmed extrasolar planets, or planets orbiting other stars. The new findings will very likely be the most Earth-like planet found to date. The press conference can be watched live here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/9407922 Best-case scenario? Kepler has f
First of all, this bit of genius courtesy of Avohkah Tamer featuring Sumiki and Lady Kopaka has be shared again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omT4z6xDL0Q Next, shoutouts to Trisha, Pat, Maddison, Andrew, Ben, Susannah, Vance, Christie, Corvin, Jess, Jamieson, David, Nate, Thomas, Pablo, Scott, Andrew, Yanni, Danny and more people that I'm trying desperately not to leave out but probably failing. You are all so wonderful. One of the greatest things to happen during BrickFair: Sumiki call
That was slightly underwhelming, but cool nonetheless. The new Kepler discovery was exactly what I and most others expected it to be - the most habitable exoplanet found to date, but with no signs of life. The planet, Kepler-452b, is the only planet found so far in the Kepler-452 system, 1400 light years from Earth. It was discovered using the transit method, where the apparent brightness of a distant star decreases slightly (usually by about one part in 10,000) when an orbiting planet passe
Seeing as I have another four hours to wait here in Dallas, I might as well do a quick review of the past few days. I flew to Baltimore at around midnight on Tuesday night. After a layover in Toronto, I arrived at BWI at 10:00am, whereupon Xaeraz and his dad picked me up on their way to BrickFair. A good amount of laughter and like-minded political discussion took place, in particular whilst driving by NRA headquarters. Our timing turned out to be impeccable, as we arrived at BrickFair almos
And that means I require more brick badge ideas. Last time I did this, Ehks's idea was a smash hit; we have two bricks to fill this time, people - go! -Letagi
Since 2008, I've been a regular attendee at LEGO conventions - primarily Seattle's BrickCon, but I've made appearances in Portland and Virginia as well. I've attended nine conventions, and have plans to attend at least another three in the next year-and-a-bit. These conventions are horrendously expensive to go to, especially for a university student still largely dependent on his parents for financial support. Flights are of course the largest contributor to this - my flights to BrickFair were
Yesterday Andrew posted this article by Jonathan Last to the front page. While I agree it's nice to see a mention of the LEGO hobby in more widely-read media, as something of a journalist myself I have a few bones to pick with this bit of writing. The article on Acculturated is titled "The Cult of LEGO - It's creepy. And awesome." The title on the New York Post is "Why Legos [sic] are the best toy ever (for adults too)." Both titles are a little cringe-worthy if you've ever read or written for
Once again, I am reminded of how fantastic Flintsmith's work is. For any non-ancient members, Flintsmith makes custom pieces, especially Kanohi and other collectibles, in both plastic and metal. His pieces are virtually indistinguishable from official pieces, and are quite highly sought after by collectors. Thanks again Flintsmith! -Letagi
I'm going to BrickCon after all - turns out there will be people from Edmonton there that I know so I won't be wanting for company. In keeping with tradition, I'm accepting suggestions for this year's brick badge. Past badges have included "Fashionable AFOL," "This character limit suc," and "The character limit still su." -L
Over the years I've amassed plenty of bricks that say my BZP name and the city I live in. Anyone have any more whimsical ideas for a brick badge? -Letagi
I think it's fair to say that BricksCascade 2015 was the worst-organized con that I've been to, but the social aspect more than made up for it. Shoutouts to (pictured left to right below, excluding myself on the far left): Jason (xccj), Trisha (Kayru), Rene (EmporessWhenua), Riley (Based Goomy), Ben (ChocolateFrogs), Adrian (Emzee), Micah (Kakaru), Pat (DeeVee), Calen (The 1st Shadow), Jen (Tufi Piyufi), Bryan (Makaru), Nate (GSR), Rob (Janus), Becca (Hahli Husky) and Breann (Roa McToa, not pi
Everyone go read Pomegranate's blog entry. I've been thinking along those same lines. In a way, I get where all the negativity comes from; the fact is, this is a community of mostly adults, and wherever there are a bunch of adults there will almost always be conflict. The fact that this is a forum about a children's toy is irrelevant. But at the same time, adults should know how to handle that conflict when it arises in a mature and effective way. Conflict is natural, but when it turns into dr
Majhost is working again! ... Kidding, I just uploaded all my BZP images to Brickshelf. In other news, I finally joined BioniLUG. Which is really cool, because I've been wishing there was a LUG in my area for like seven years and I'm finally in one. -Letagi
So I go to all the trouble of moving my BZP images from Majhost to Brickshelf, and right after I finish telling Makaru that Brickshelf is usually pretty reliable, it decides to stop working. Brickshelf, I am disappointed. Now my blog is back to looking utterly ridiculous. In other news, go and join The Toa's Hideout. It's what all the cool kids are doing. There are cool things like custom member titles and blogs after 100 posts, and the membership is currently tiny. There's just one rule in
Some of you may know that I'm a musician. My instruments are flute and string bass, but I also do a fair bit of arranging and transcribing for fun. My current project - and one that I just started a few hours ago - is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vLByq36ENg I'm sixteen measures in, or about 30 seconds, not counting the brief intro because I don't like it. Since I have no sheet music at all to go off of, I'm transcribing every note by ear into a music notation program called Finale.
After more than a decade of being frustrated by this game, I've finally finished it. A number of years ago I got past the championship but hadn't collected all the crystals and so was stuck in the last little bit. Sometime in the last year or two, I replayed the first half or so of the game, and just today beat Le-Koro and Po-Koro and finished the rest. Admittedly I did this by upping my Kohlii skills using the "Edit State" function, but I beat them legitimately years ago, so I can honestly sa
So. BrickCon. Probably the best year so far. Let's see. Went down with George Costanza and his folks again - huge thank you once again to them for everything. Got to see the old crowd again plus some new people - Roa, Kakaru, kopakanui, xccj, Swert, EmperorWhenua, Toa Velox, and Binkmeister. Great to see everyone and looking forward to next year, and hopefully BrickFair as well. I should probably get on with uploading my pics. In the meantime, here's one of Binky's. Back row, left to righ
