Vorahk1Panrahk2

... I thought the new BIONICLE was supposed to reduce confusing terms. So what's the difference between battle and adrenalin modes?

But the battle modes for the Toa come from combining their weapons with those of the protectors. There are no secondary sets for the skull wave.

So then would the moderators be... ghostbusters?

It's "becoming" cool and mainstream? When hasn't it been?

Okay, someone is going to have to help out my stupid self: Where are these deilberate similarities between Toa Matoro and Ignika? I see none in the models (Mahri or Inika form), except for the shoulder pads being the same. Also I don't remeber those "Toa Matoro = Toa Ignika" theories either. But I also don't recall being that active on the forums during that time, either, so maybe that's why.

Loving the deep sea and space themes for city- I think I'll have to pick up at least one of each of those. I also really like how the Pirates sets harken back to the more classic style (or at least the style of the 2009 sets) as opposed to the Pirates of the Caribbean sets we got for a few years.

Have to disagree about Netflix. I always hear people complain about their offerings, but over the years they've made available lots of smaller, independent/foriegn films that don't get sent to major theaters, or sometimes films that are too small too even be found at my local library (which boasts a pretty expanisve and up to date collection). They even have a lot of older films available for viewing. Ditto for TV shows. I can always find something on there worth watching. Though I guess it really just depends what you're into.

I read this in Perd Hapley's voice. Which made me read the entire post in Perd's voice. Which made the part of cannibalism much funnier than you probably intended.

While I never met him, my coworkers told me of a guy who used to frequent our work who would ocassionally stop and talk to them about how the Illuminati where fixing the system and keeping us little people down. He reportedly cited Geroge W. Bush and the Queen as high ranking members. Apparently he doesn't show up anymore. I guess the Illuminati finally got him.

Those Scooby Doo sets are near perfection. I love how they feature the more iconic villains from Where Are You? and the settings are spot on. Were you able to tell if the minifigures had alternate expressions?

The middle Mixel in the purple wave says 'wine press' to me. After all he's holding (what could be imagined as) grapes and has a bucket around his neck. The first one has those large round pieces which look like stuffed cheeks to me. Maybe as a whole they're supposed to be juice makers? Or big eaters?

I have yet to have that experience. The worst post-donation experience I had was this one, and really it only made me feel mildly nauseous and really tired for about two hours afterward. I chock that up to having a small lunch pre-donation. Apparently you're supposed to eat hearty meals beforehand? @ TMD: Every time I tried to take dancing classes I had a more important class which conflicted. Of course now I don't have that excuse, but I'd rather dance with people my own age and the only classes I know about in the area skew much older than me. @ Zox: I blame the nurse for at least one discomfort: At the end of the procedure she ripped the tape off my arm without completely bracing the needle. @ Takulo Tak Tekulo: Do it! (Assuming you can.) I feel like it's one of things everyone should do at least once. I also must correct my estimate: Looking at my donor history the first time I gave was 2010, not 2011.

No no no don't give her the juice- she's not initiated yet. The sizzle will suffice. (Hi, Emkay! Welcome back!)

I know I should say that I like donating blood because it’s a generous thing to do and it saves lives, but honestly I just do it for the free cookies and movie tickets. The first time I donated blood was several years ago- 2011, I think? Prior to then, it's something I had always wanted to do, but despite how ridiculously easy it is to donate blood, I kept putting it off. Even after my first donation, I didn't donate again until 2014, and still only did three donations total that year. I had no excuse really- the center kept calling me to try and set up appointments, and they (claim they) do need it so what was I waiting for? My school even had a Blood Mobile on the campus that I passed literally every day it was out. It was silly for me to keep putting it off. So, sometime late last year, I arbitrarily vowed that I'd do it more often- call it my new year's resolution if you will. Part of this was inspried by a gift the center sent me- a calendar with my donation days starred on it. I felt bad, and a little embarressed, that they gave this thing despite only having three appointments on it. So after looking at it a few weeks ago, I decided that this is something I would make an effort to do more often. So yeah, that’s what I did today. I donated blood, and then ate free cookies and accumulated some points to spend on free movie tickets. Specifically I donated platelets, which means that a machine takes blood out me, spins it around to separate platelets from other blood components, then pumps those components back into me. (At least that’s what they tell me they’re doing- I just sort of have to trust them). For those who haven’t done this, it takes a while. The first time I donated platelets it took about 75 minutes. This time, though, it took 119. Fortunately the blood center I go to is well stocked and they provided me with a tablet, with Netflix, to watch movies. It sucks having to watch movies on a six inch screen, but it’s a lot better than staring at a wall for two hours. The film I watched was Fantasia, which I got ten minutes short of finishing. I probably shouldn’t have bothered- Fantasia is one of those films that’s really hard to enjoy when you can’t give it your full concentration (and can’t hear the music that well), and it’s really hard to concentrate when you have a needle stuck in your arm and you have to squeeze a ball the whole time and your body is constantly changing temperature and your mouth and lips keep vibrating. It didn’t help that this time around was actually a little painful, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because this is the first time they’ve taken blood from my right arm? I dunno. Because of how quickly the body generates platelets, one could potentially schedule one of these visits every two weeks (at least, two weeks is the date they gave me to come back). While this isn’t something I want to do every two weeks (which probably isn’t good for the body anyway), I’d like to make this a once a month thing. Because giving blood saves lives, and it’s a good thing to do. … Okay, fine, it’s because I like free cookies. Don’t judge me.

Takulo informed me of Over the Garden Wall a while ago. I very much enjoyed the first ten minutes that Cartoon Network posted on YouTube, but ways to watch the other episodes (and the rest of that one) have evaded me. I'll get around to it someday!

I love the macroscale bricks and hardware that come with the Ant-Man set! They're kind of cute! I do wonder, though, why someone would keep screws with their LEGO bricks?

The Phantom Menace gets a lot of flack, but personally I think there were a lot of great design elements for it. I'd even go so far as to say that some of the vehicles from that movie (mainly the Naboo Starfighter, MTT, and Droid Control Ship) can stand right beside other iconic original trilogy ships like the X-Wing, Millennium Falcon, and the Death Star. As much flack as I give LEGO for contiuing to churn out repeats, I can't exactly blame them. Those vehicles are cool, and probably more well known than ships strictly from the animated series and video games (like the Wookie Gunship).

My only memories of the Skyhopper are from the bonus Tatooine racing level from Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. Don't go too high! Anyway, I just see these sets as an appetizer while we wait for The Force Awakens sets. Hopefully that movie provides us with a lot of new, memorable vehicles and locations that will translate well into LEGO. And hopefully they avoid the temptation to give us another Millenium Falcon, though the last large-scale model came out in 2011 so they'll probably think enough time has passed in order to give us another. Even so, Disney's plans for Star Wars should provide enough material to avoid too many repetitions in the future. Hopefully.

Last I heard the Ninjago movie was schedule for 2016- a whole year from now. Did that change?

That Morro Dragon looks wonderful, but even if it wasn't I'd want it just for the transparent green chain. Sooo many good looking recolors in these sets!

Looks a bit like Slenderman's more jubilant cousin...

For box art, also note the hands reaching out toward the masks. It looks as if the Skull things are stealing the masks from whoever those hands belong to, which I would assume are our Toa heroes.

Oh, no. You can't declare a celebration and then try to take that back by saying you didn't mean it. There will a celebration. There will be cake, punch, lemonade, cookies, and moderately loud music. And board games.

Hello, Skull Slicer... goodbye, money. I think there are some legitimate criticisms about the color schemes for some of them, especially Skull Warrior who's orange and blue armor is clashing in a bad way. I'm not too fond of the build of Skull Scorpion's tail, either. I'm sure it has a nice function and kids will love it, but it's just too bulky. And I still don't like the ginormous round shin pieces. That said, the sets introduce some nice transparent colors and the overall concept of skeleton warriors is too cool to pass up. I don't love them, but I like them. I think Skull Slicer stands out from the bunch due to the more uniform colors and gear function, so I'll definitely pick up that one. And of course Ekimu is a must have for the Mask of Creation. I can pass on the others. Thanks for the coverage!

Guardians of the Galaxy Despite not being a fan of comic book movies, or action movies in general really, I have to say this one was a rollicking good time. It's humor, environments, and unique characters made it stand out from everything else we're getting these days in the genre. I have some issues with some of the unclear exposition, but after a while it wasn't too hard to figure what was happening. Very much enjoyed it!