Jump to content

Swert

Premier Outstanding BZP Citizens
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,852

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Swert

  1. Swert

    Bricks Cascade

    By Swert,

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA It's almost here 8D
     
    Also blogged from my Windows Phone 8D
     
    I'm thinking about what to do with my badge, but I have an idea : D
  2. Swert
    So this week, I the opportunity to participate in interviewing a friend of mine. That'll get posted online within the week, so I'll be sure to share it. It's pretty relevant to BZP, actually.
     
    In the other news, I've been working a bit more slowly since the Minewell project was finished, and so I've gained some time back to myself. I took the opportunity to rent and watch The Hobbit #2, then starting Lego The Hobbit. Didn't go too far into that yet, but it's already leaps and bounds ahead of The Lego Movie The Videogame in terms of navigation and stuff. Yes game, I'd love to have a map. Yes game, I'd love to have you mark where stuff is for me. Thank you.
     
    So yeah, basically more boring stuff for me, except that interview. Woo.
  3. Swert

    L S W 3 And Stuff

    By Swert,

    So, 49.5% on progress for LEGO Star Wars III. I'm making good time on it.
     
    Got sort of lost in the space scenes, but finally found where I was supposed to go to progress the game. After that? Smooth sailings.
     
    Every planet is currently under Republic control. Come this time tomorrow, I hope to make it all Seperatist >: D
     
    Currently I have x2 Multiplier, Stud Magnet, Dark Side, Glow-in-the-dark (don't ask), Minikit Detector, and Red Brick Detector purchased. I have finished all story levels in regular mode, I intend to go back through them shortly (after I get the ground and space battles out of the way.)
     
    Long story short, best 54 bucks I ever spent all month. Also, I got talked into signing up for the GameStop PowerUp Rewards Pro program, so that's 550 points right there for this game, with another 1100 points coming thanks to Portal 2 and LEGO POTC. I'm a happy Swert.
  5. Swert

    I Built The Impossible

    By Swert,

    And I won.
     

     
    Though I am not photographed (for obvious reasons, I'm not the owner ) I did 90% of the work on this ferris wheel.
     
    And yes, it's fully motorized. It has 2 XL Motors on it. There is a video on my account on that one video site, just look under swertmastra. I might throw it up on Vimeo so I can embed it here later, haven't decided yet.
  6. Swert
    Should I add a content block to my blog, similar in function to Black Six's Complaint Department? I mean, obviously it'd be something different in terms of what it'd be, but I'm just wondering if it'd be a good idea.
  8. Swert
    And we're off to a slow start, as usual.
     
    I have to build the volcano (won't take long) and then we build Mt. Ihu, then decorate 47 more baseplates with plates and bricks.
     
    In other words, we've got a lot of work ahead of us x_x
     
    But hey, MATA NUI : D
  9. Swert

    The Tower of Plimps

    By Swert,

    Basically, it's a ToP. It's for the Minecraft scene my studio's been building that will be at Emerald City ComiCon.
     
    And I had to fight an uphill battle just to even get this built. Seriously, nobody else knew about it except me. I'm just not regretting it at all.
     
    Also to answer a question that will be asked, we got a lot of that gold brick from both the 50th anniversary tubs and the 2x2 came in those golden ornament packs.
  11. Swert
    So I should disclose, I have too much stuff. Like seriously, -too much stuff-. For about 10 years I only had one big shelf to work with. It wasn't nearly good enough to display anything with. So, now that I can officially say I am old enough to have whatever I desire, I bought 3 brand new bookcases for my room.
     
    Basically, I cleaned up my room. Shocker for me, really.
     
    Link to OneDrive folder (public for all, read only, no login required)
     
    I took 9 photos in total, each showing one section of the bookcase in total. The last photo in the folder was taken after I made some minor changes, but was taken so you could see all of it relative to each other.
     
    Basically yeah, it's a pretty spiffy setup for me, and I'm happy with it. I just wish I had more shelving to make room for some of the newer sets coming my way (Eyeing buying myself ECTO-1, and I also spotted the new Eiffel Tower, plus I plan to buy Wyldstyle's motorcycle set in March.)
  12. Swert
    So Microsoft released a new email service, based on their Outlook branding. It's similar in function (if not identical) to Hotmail, minus the UI.
     
    Oh also? Because it's new, you can register new email accounts. Through your default.
     
    I already registered a few. I might get more later, but let's not get too greedy here
     
    I should still review Office 13 : D
  13. Swert
    Should I review it once it gets here? Also, it was on sale. $60 vs $100. That's -not bad.-
     
    In other news, I worked myself to death yesterday... building Toa Nuva. I'm serious, I had to repair the Nuva (2002) in the shop.
     
    This is a chronological timeline of my thoughts while repairing, in order of Toa:
     
    Pohatu: Oh come on... POHATU'S TORSO GOES ON THE OTHER WAY! OTHER WAY!!!
    Onua: Why is his head so funky...? Oh duh, they put it on the gear axle. Slap that back on the armor aaaand done.
    Kopaka: Yeeeahh I think he's okay.
    Lewa: Oh god, the shoulder armor's on wrong. Fix that aaand good.
    Tahu: Wow, the two Toa who do not get along are also the ones that were fine. Hilarious.
    Gali: Lewa armor syndrome. I've seen this before somewhere... oh right, on Lewa. Fixed.
     
    And that was it.
     
    Oh, and then I put away parts. Not much fun.
  14. Swert
    Hey guys, got something great for all the Hero Factory fans out there. While BZPower was getting its forums upgraded, we had a chance to contact Elmer Damaso to have him draw a particular "expanded universe" character. As you know, Mr. Damaso is the artist of the Hero Factory comics found in the LEGO Magazines and online. Having him draw a character who doesn't have a comic form was pretty exciting, especially for those at HS01. While he was drawing this character, we got contact details from Mr. Damaso about the group that colors for the Hero Factory comics, Digital Art Chefs. After obtaining the final version from Mr. Damaso, we commissioned DAC to color the artwork.
     
    Now, on behalf of the HS01 Staff, I would like to present Merrick Fortis 3.0:
     

     
     



     
     
    Source: Exclusive Artwork: Merrick Fortis 3.0
  16. Swert

    Bricks Cascade

    By Swert,

    So yeah, paid my $52. Still debating how I'll get the island down there, but it's only five boxes so far. I could easily wrap all of them with packing saran wrap, take it on a train, but it'd be faster to just have it driven down.
     
    I anticipate a good event, but I also expect it'll be different than BrickCon. Of specific note, I haven't been down to Portland since I was about 8 or 9, so this will be different for me.
     
    ... Meantime, still working on a large project. I can reveal it'll be for BrickMagic in North Carolina. That is all.
  17. Swert

    Lego 2012

    By Swert,

    I love the ninja redesign. Very well done.
     
    Oh, also... BRICK. DETAILED. BRICKS. *MIND ASPLODES*
     
    And please tell me I am not the only one who wants a ton of these ninjas to make an epic scene with.
     
    I'll probably post more later as I see it.
  18. Swert
    Woo, 6 days til the big one comes!
     
    I have FINALLY secured a space for my Mata Nui island at BrickCon. However, it isn't EXACTLY how I want it displayed, nor where I intended. It's also not finalized yet where it goes.
     
    Fortunately it's got room, the coordinators noted I registered it early enough and they have the room.
     
    Meantime, the other stuff is also ready to go. Let's see what happens there.
     
    And also Xccj's angled mosaic stuff is safely in my care, ready to be assembled. Next Friday better get here soon, my sister keeps wanting to build it.
     
    That's all for now. Hope to meet some new BZP members next week : D
  19. Swert
    So, undoubtably the Pink Floyd fans of BZP know of the Why Pink Floyd? campaign, which is the reissuing and remastering of all 14 studio albums, plus 2 special releases of the top three albums they created (Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall). The first of them being Experience, with the second being the subject matter of this entry: Immersion.
     
    Now, I may have mentioned it once or twice, but I subscribe to something known as the Zune Music Pass. With this pass, I have access to -all 14 albums- for only $15 a month (I'm still on the old plan, it's now $10, but I get extra perks to that which can be saved for another blog entry) and the first two albums' Experience releases. Not included, sadly, are the content from the Immersion pack. That's fine, I expected that. We are talking over $100 for each set.
     
    Now the conflicting problem: I know I can live without DSOM, I love it and all but I've got the complete album like 3 times over (Studio, Live from the PULSE tour, and live from Wembley Stadium via DSOM Experience). I would love Wish You Were Here, but there is the small issue of one of the discs being Blu-Ray (I do not currently have a player capable of reading this format). The Wall, once it releases later this month, does not have this problem, and it has seven discs (2 for The Wall, 2 for demo tracks, 2 for The Wall, live in 1980-81 and one DVD) but is really expensive being $119.99 as of this blog entry.
     
    Now, what drives my confliction even further? Wish You Were Here is, quite easily, my all-time favorite album from the Floyd. My sidebar with all my interests is a clear indication of that, given I have used its cover to represent Floyd. However, what good is a box collection when of the five discs, 2 I already have via Zune, one of them can't even be read by any device I own, and the last two are DVD format, thus negating using them with most of my technology again. Alternatively, I -can- use all six discs from The Wall, including the live edition, but blaaaah.
     
    ... Maybe I should sleep on it? Any ideas, people with enough knowledge in this band to give me helpful advice and what they think I should do? (Keeping in mind it'd probably be 3 paychecks before I could afford even one of them right now.)
  20. Swert
    So, I've not had much time to look at our stock of parts in the shop for it, since we've been preparing for various commissioned projects at the shop. However, I did get to sit down and look at a few key parts:
     
    I found our stock of 32x32 blue baseplate, that'll be useful for the outer edge.
     
    Went to look at the Bionicle Gold masks for statues, found the Kaukau we pulled is actually the misprint. Whoops.
     
    I'm limited to construction-grade brick and plate, but tile and slope is fair game if we have enough. I also have those rock face pieces we can use, and I have an idea for Ko-Wahi which I'd love to test and share one of these days.
     
    I'd love to build some things, but unfortunately we're limited quite a bit on scale. I might not be able to make my waterfall either. With any luck, we'll have stuff for everybody to build towards, no matter what it is.
     
    And finally, I'd love to invite all of you to help (so I can sit down and guide ;D) but I realize this isn't possible. HOWEVER! If you are in the Pacific Northwest, ABOVE THE AGE OF 18, and capable of traveling to Tacoma, WA in March, I'll put you to work : D You won't get paid, this is all volunteer work, but the more the easier. (If you are not in the PNW, but capable of traveling via whatever means, I'll still accept your help.) Just shoot me a PM or email at swertmastra @ gmail.com to sign up. Please put in the subject line "Project: Build Mata Nui."
     
    I look forward to building this, for myself, for Xccj, for my workplace, for BrickCon and Bricks Cascade (sorry BrickFair people ) and even for the Bionicle Community. This is without a doubt an amazingly large project, and I hope you will be a large part of it.
  21. Swert
    Two days ago, I put in the longest work day I've had to put in since I started working for The TbP Group (Dan Parker's company encompassing his commission work, his educational camps and events), namely 16 hours in one huge shift. This blog entry is about that.
     
    What did we do during this lengthy 16 hours, one may wonder? During the 10:30 to 1:00 pm hours, not much. It's when we hit 2:30 up in Seattle, WA that the fun really began.
     

    The event we were at was held at CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders FC. We were in a lounge area on the 5th floor, with a relaxing suite for ourselves on Level 6 (reserved for various partners of the stadium and private suites. We missed out on Vulcan, Inc's box. How sad.)
     

    Inside of our personal suite, we had the accommodations one might expect from a Seahawks game, minus the adult beverages (didn't matter, we had work to do.) Personal note, I would -love- to have that jersey configuration on my wall at home. Etched glass required. Get the newer Sounders jerseys though.
     
    So now you may wonder, "Swert, why are you linking to amazing scenery of CenturyLink Field? And how does this relate to 16 hours of work?"
     
    This.
     

    At the event, we were tasked with building up the nearly six-foot Death Star model we have. This is only the second time we even used this model for an event. It is truly amazing to see it again.
     

    My boss, Dan Parker, poses with the model on a very candid shot I took while finally taking a seat. It took us 5 hours to assemble, and the remainder of the night to midnight Friday morning to finish. After 14 hours of work, we then started taking it all down for two hours, going back the next day early Friday morning just taking the rest down.
     
    It was a truly amazing experience, and I look forward to more to come. In the meantime, feel free to comment on any aspect of the build, including the TechReady 16 logo (That was commissioned for lease, I built the main hexagon logo in less than a day. It wasn't easy, but I got it done.)
  24. Swert

    Long Day x_x

    By Swert,

    Sup Internet. It's Swert.
     
    So I went to work in my usual timeslot today... tons of LEGO building, gluing and making things look pretty for clients... again.
     
    And didn't finish until 7:30 Pacific.
     
    So yeah, I'm tired and it's my dad's birthday. But all is well, I'm just going to relax now and enjoy the rest of my wee- wait, I have to work two more days?!
     
    ... Challenge accepted.
×
×
  • Create New...