No Way!

I feel like I must have known this before, but I was happily surprised to discover whose birthday is today:

Happy Birthday PJ! The only present you need is for New Line Cinema to relax.

Halloween Treat

I just got home, and turned on the tube while I made some dinner.. to find, on the channel the TV was already on, this:



That's one of my best friends (and former roommate!) Adam getting iced in Halloween: H₂O. Maybe not a great film—who knew water was so scary?—but it's better than many of the other Halloween films.

Side note: YouTube is awesome. And the new encoding (based, I believe, on H.264) is even more awesome.

Please Be True...

Came across this yesterday.

I am exactly the kind of person this is good news to: huge fan of the first 5 seasons, loved the movie, and dug the MotW* episodes. Hopefully, the old gang can knock this one out of the park.


- - -

* "Monster-of-the-Week."[⇪]

Dumbledore's Agenda

Here's a great piece by Chicago Sun-Times editor and columnits Jim Emerson, dealing with J.K. Rowling's assertion that she imagines Dumbledore to be gay. That is interesting on its own, but what caught my fancy was his well-said explanation of the artist's intent, and what bearing it has: namely, that it is important and worthy of knowing, but is by no mean definitive. It's a brief aside in the article, but it's the most important part.

At Long Last

Good news via Ain't It Cool.

I've enjoyed the previous two releases immensley; the musical accomplishment of Howard Shore in these films is simply incredible. These deluxe releases are beyond complete, include nice documentation, and have a great case. Still, though, I sometimes wish for more detailed track notes, à la the "Star Wars: Special Edition" 2-disc sets from the 90's.

Luckily, though, "Lord of the Rings - Soundtrack.com" provides free PDF downloads that match that level of geekiness, and then some. Worth grabbing and paging through while listening to the over six hours of music the first two sets contain.

Amazon.com lists the "Return of the King" set (absent from the official page above) as being released on November 3th; you can pre-order here, which you'd better believe I did.

On a related note, the "Battlestar: Galactica" Season 3 Soundtrack CD is finally on sale, and it is awesome. Lookout, though, as it's backordered five to seven weeks on Amazon! I guess this has been one popular disc...

Happy Halloween!

I'm going for a Batman: Year One meets the "Sons of Batman" from The Dark Knight Returns, Call it "The Sons of Batman: Year One."

Hope you all dress up and have a good time!

Conversations 210: An Elective

Gretchen Rubin, over at "The Happyness Project," is absolutely right, even though her headshot could use a little work.

Courtesy of Kottke.org.

Best of the Web: indexed

I've stumbled upon her site numerous times, and I'm at a point where I must post about it: Jessica Hagy's "indexed" is one of my favorite websites. Now added to the sidebar.

Ever.

Great wit and understanding, and the best charts and diagrams this site of Algebra II.

Visit this site every day, and buy me a T-Shirt.

Jeff Bezos Has Been Busy

...Or at least his web designers have been.

Hot on the heels of the IMDb "Twin Peaks" DVD site look, it turns out Amazon.com has been remodeled. *

They really are going for a minimized header; a lot of old icons and pop-up lists are now in the sidebar, which is almost exclusively text. Images, in general, are much more sparingly used— predominantly only with product links. I applaud the simplification of the site; but I think there are quite a few problems.

To my old eyes, the "Search" bar is way too invisible; the pale grays and vertical layout just make it disappear. Considering the Amazon.com search bar was essentially the only way I interacted with the homepage, this bugs me.

Also, the look of the new graphics is... questionable. The rounded corners everywhere look like an ugly copy of the Apple "Aqua" look from two years ago; the light gray color scheme with white "cut-out" text and icons are hard to read and discern; the new orange is too distracting and attracts my eye away from what I want; the way every freakin' clickable highlights or responds when you mouse over (especially the "Amazon" logo if you're not on the main page!) drives me absolutely bonkers.

Contrast the new look with this snapshot of the page from July (courtesy of the Wayback Machine), and you'll see the difference. I find the old one, while certainly due for an update, had a distinct look that made me feel I was at a designed site; the new look is as crowded and generic as your average poorly-designed storefront. Too much clutter, not enough personality.

Not all bad, but far from great. Give 'er a Round 2, Bezos.


- - -

* I love that this page has no "Title" setting— the web broswer literally just displays the web address in the title bar. Classy. [⇪]

IMDb Sells Out

Yesterday, I checked out the IMDb for the first time in a week, and was greeted with this:

Over the last few years, I've felt like the IMDb has been commercializing itself progressively more and more; be it promoting bit-player actresses on it's front page to drive traffic, hawking the weeks newest DVD releases, or using stick-on ads. But this seems to be the biggest step yet even if only for a day.*

I can't recall the IMDb ever going this far with any other releases... this is a pretty major push for the "Twin Peaks" Box Set. And, for the record, I am a *huge* Twin Peaks fan. I just get cynical about blatant corporate synergy.

What's that you say? You were unaware that the IMDb is a fully owned subsidiary of Amazon.com? Take a look at the very bottom of the IMDb home page— you learn something new every day.

This is not much different from the New York times being an ad-based online magazine, or any other site that shows ads. Remember, nothing is free; we pay for "free" sites one way or another, and usually through commercials. You may not think of internet ads as true commercials, as they usually don't interrupt your regularly scheduled program temporally (i.e., stopping the chronological progression of your television show), but they do interrupt the linear progression of what you're reading. You have to skip your eyes past them to continue. Yes, that does have a temporal equivalent, but it isn't a temporal interruption. But is a spacial interruption better or worse? Hmmmm...

What worries me in this case, though, is that the premiere online resource for film is owned completely by the premiere online online retailer. Sure, I do most of my shopping on Amazon, so the links provided are convenient, but what happens when a movie comes out that is critical of Amazon.com? Or when trivia starts getting inserted to help promote sales? Or something more heinous that I can think of right now?

I don't mean to say that things are shady now, though yesterday's site look felt a little fishy. It's just that the potential for shadiness is particularly high, and if our history is any indication, what people can do, they often do.

* As of today, the ad look is already gone. [⇪]

Happy Returns

Well, so much for my plan to get some posts up on vacation... but we're back now. I do have a slew of photos and some debriefing to do, but that may have to wait for later tonight... I have laundry, and a quick trip to work to do today. But thanks for sticking with me...

That's What I'm F***ing Talking About

Here's a brilliant essay over at The New Republic detailing just why it is that swear words have the power they do, and why we use them. The author, Steven Pinker, does an excellent job analyzing not just the grammar of curses (for example, how nebulous the meaning/function of "fuck" really is) but their heritage. I, for one, had never thought about how religious curses ("What the hell is that," "Damn you") have lost their bite and severity, so "fuck" steps in with its secular power ("What the fuck is that," "Fuck you").

Absolutely worth a read, for fuck's sake.

Ian's In Town

Ian's here, and we've been having a good time. yesterday we swung by Santa Monica, check out the beach, and went to Father's Office.

Notice the smoke behind Ian— that's Malibu burning, where they're evacuated several houses, and many Pepperdine buildings. Here's a separate image of the smoke:

Postings are going to be sporadic for the next week or so— we're heading to Hawaii early tomorrow for a wedding, and I won't have a ton of free time. But I'll do my best to get somethings up, I promise.

Late Update

Light posting schedule today (obviously). Too much going on at work to slip away for more than this, what with prepping for a week away in Hawaii. With my girlfriend, my brother, and my best friend.

What could be better?

More soon, I won't leave you hanging.

News From the Homefront

My home state of Maine made the top of the news cycle today, even all the way out here in Los Angeles.

Turns out Portland is making waves by allowing middle school medical clinics to offer prescription birth control.

The usual debate of "sex is horrifying and this encourages it" versus "kids are having it, let's treat the reality" is playing out on a municipal (and, I guess, national) level. Big surprise there.

pro·gres·sive (adj.): Promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies, ideas, or methods.

Because with 17 (!) pregnancies in three schools over four years (!), clearly everything is working fine.


[Note: Follow the link and look at the picture of the "horrified" woman. This is what we're fighting here, people!]

The Greatest City?

Here's a fabulous essay (with fabulous photography) by Geoff Manaugh over at BLDGBLOG about why Los Angeles is the greatest city in the USA.

That demands repetition: he claims Los Angeles is the greatest city in the Unites States.

No matter what you do in L.A., your behavior is appropriate for the city. Los Angeles has no assumed correct mode of use... No one's going to save you; no one's looking out for you. It's the only city I know where that's the explicit premise of living there – that's the deal you make when you move to L.A.

Amen. Whether or not you choose to hold this up as a paragon of greatness is purely a matter of taste; I tend to agree with his sentiment that LA is a singular place, unique and incomparable.

Now don't get me wrong; I'm a country boy to whom Boston will always feel like the Big City. And I love New York, albeit in a removed fashion; I haven't lived there, so my concept of it is more romantic. It's the source of our dreams of Gotham City and Metropolis. Home to the best and worst.

But Los Angeles doesn't play that game. It's a true empty canvas, because it isn't waiting to be filled. Los Angeles may not give you anything, as Manaugh says, but it also doesn't ask anything of you in return. Live and let live, drive and let drive, and nothing more. The rest all comes from yourself.

Los Angeles is the confrontation with the void. It is the void...It's a confrontation with the oceanic; with anonymity; with desert time; with endless parking lots.

Certainly not heaven, but definitely fascinating.

Goddamn HTML

Pardon the brief rant, but sometimes HTML and Web Browsers piss me off.

CSS allows me to do so many beautiful things... modern browsing can really be a well-designed experience. Think of how many pages you visit that look quite nice.*

But then, you look at the browser's title bar to see the name, and you get only a literal character representation of the code.

Bullshit.

Follow the jump, and take a look at the title of this post in your broswer bar. The page renders it as "Goddamn HTML." And that's what you should see. But the browser renders— no, it displays the code as "<i><b>Goddamn HTML</b></i>." Wrong!

But there's nothing I know to fix. I'd noticed it on several sites in the past, and thought it was bad coding... but getting into myself, I just don't know what to do. One of these days, we'll get a next-gen browser that'll render full HTML and CSS in the title display; until then, get used to my little friends “ < ” and “ > ”.

[* Even this site looks pretty good. Although it'll look much better when I've redesigned it from scratch... someday...]

Audio What Now?

If any of you think that it's confusing when I talk about the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray hi-def disc format war, be warned: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.*

Standard definition DVD audio is already home to many formats: Stereo, Mono, Dolby Digital, Pro Logic, PCM, DTS, WTFLOL.** But what I hadn't realized (and perhaps should have) is that each format has its own "High Definition" upgrade, some with compressed and uncompressed versions. 5.1 gets upgraded to 7.1, sometimes if you can't do one the same encoded audio will downgrade itself for backwards compatibility, sometimes not, uncompressed PCM audio streams that branch... my head is already spinning.

Fortuitously, Hi-Def Digest has posted a great article detailing all of this info. Well organized and well explained, if the next level of A/V equipment and standards gets your juices flowing, this is a must-read.

But I'll be god-damned if all of this technology doesn't make for one hell of an expensive upgrade.

[* C'mon, take a guess... I bet more of you know this than you think... okay, well, it's the top search on Google.]

[** So I made the last one up. Sue me.]

Batty

Going nuts here trying to get some serious tasks accomplished so I can go chill on the beach with my brothers...

And man, do I have a mono-brow...

Unbelievably ______

Unbelievably fast.

Unbelievably complicated.

Unbelievably dangerous.

Unbelievably awesome.

Check out the real Cannonball Run.

I can't imagine doing this in 32 hours. I just can't...

Another HCE Piece

Over at Apple.com/Trailers, at least today, one of our pieces for Gone Baby Gone is on the front page item. Awesome!

Here's a direct link to it; it's the one called "Featurette."

Don't Try Eating

Had this sent to me yesterday; another fine entry in the "SNL Digital Short" line. Does get a bit weird at about 2:10, but redeems itself in the end.

Random GIFs

Things I've seen on the internet recently (or not so recently).

I have no attribution, but I wish I did.

YouTube, The Bar Is Raised

Today's noodling led me to Vimeo, a YouTube competitor I hadn't heard of— and odds are, neither have any of you. I can't claim to be especially impressed— it's a pretty enough site, but the ubiquity of YouTube realy makes it hard to be able to count on something like Vimeo; will it have what I need when I want to show someone exactly how I feel about Spider-Man 3?* This is very similar to my thoughts on Zooomr, a Flickr alternative— too close to the original (or dominant) player to be worth the trouble of switching, not special enough to be set apart.**

But Vimeo does have one quality; HD content! I've always felt terribly frustrated by YouTube; in an age of DVD and HiDef television, it's super-shitty and compressed (and out of sync!) quality has no excuse. Vimeo, in contrast, looks pretty damned good.

Two videos caught my eye: "Little Booger" is an extremely well animated opening credits scene for nothing; I was particularly impressed with the excellent faux-camera work, and the music gets stuck in my head.

"DeSlime" just looks damn cool.

[* This is a truly hilarious video, by the way. Check it out.]

[** What's that, you say? That this reminds you of the whole Mac/PC debate? Well let me tell you, mister, it is nothing like that at all! ]

Consider Yourself Warned

Some sites have spoiler warnings.

Cigarettes have surgeon's general warnings.

Riverbeds have flash-flood warnings.

This, right here, is a worst thing ever warning.



I keep wanting it to turn into a Napoleon Dynamite-like performance, but no, it only hurts.

I'm sorry Jamie, this is certainly not a good thing.

Right and Left

Take a moment and visit this website. When you get there, don't think, just look: which way is the dancer turning?

Don't continue reading until you've visited this link.

The fascinating thing here is that this optical illusion actually measures (or at least claims to) which side of the brain is dominant for you. I fall into the right brain camp; the second I look at this image, she's moving clockwise. The article claims that most people see her moving counter-clockwise (or "anti-clockwise," as the article is Australian), and that most people are left-brainers. Showing it to people around the office, that seems to be true so far...

It's fun; stare at her shadow for a second or two, and you can make her switch directions. I've gotten pretty good at it...

What did you see?

Amazing...

This guy needs to be working in Vegas, pronto...


This begs the question... how do you decide to get good at stacking dice with a cup?

Sic Transit iMac...

I want to take a moment and mourn the passing of a friend... my iMac G5, after 3 full years of service, is dead.

I attempted to replace the hard drive today, but found that a plastic connector (for what must, to my mind, be a temperature sensor; it connects to the chassis of the hard drive, not any actual drive components) had become so brittle that just touching it caused it to fall apart. I can only assume my computer had, in the past, gotten too hot for too long; this plastic was truly degraded. I proceeded anyway, and did my best to reconstruct the part, but when I went to start the machine up, the drive wouldn't engage for several minutes, and no start-up screen ever loaded.

Dead for a ducat, dead.

So farewell, dear iMac. You served me well, and we had good times.

I'm glad I backed you up last week. I have to figure out a way to get you recycled, now...

In the meantime, I think it may be time for Tracy to get a laptop of her own. I still want one of the new aluminum iMacs, but I need to wait for that... Leopard comes out soon, and I can wait for the next revision to come along. Besides which, I plan on making a TV my next big purchase... So Tracy having her own machine will give us a home computer solution in the meantime. Besides which, she's started talking about it recently, so hopefully I can convince her... ;)

Anyone interested in a 500GB internal SATA drive? High quality, ready to rock; I'll sell it cheap for 80 bucks. Let me know...

Weekend Blues

Bleh, bleh, and bleh.

Yes, I was supposed to be in Yosemite right now, but on Friday I was just feeling too sick to go. That proved wise; Friday night wasn't very pretty. But yesterday got progressively better; I slept through a lot of it in various fits and naps (hence my being up at 1 a.m.).

Interesting note: at no point this weekend did I really want to watch a movie. Sure, I turned the TV on for a little while, but I really wasn't into it. Which is strange; I do love watching movies, and usually take advantage of time when I cannot do anything else.

But not this weekend, not me. Napping and reading and a episode or two of CSI.

Today is a much better day, I feel fairly good and have tried to focus on getting things accomplished. Tracy gets home soon, which I can't wait for; it's funny how lonely you can get over two little days.

sic transit gloria mundi

I was doing some internet-noodling* this afternoon, and in reading about some Wes Anderson influences, I encountered this phrase, the source of the stated theme of Rushmore: sic transit gloria mundi.

Wikipedia gives the definition as "Thus passes the glory of the world." It goes on to note that a common interpretation is "Fame is fleeting," and that the phrase is commonly used in Papal coronations, to underscore the fact that despite high honor, the Pope is mortal.

In none of this do I see direct connections to glory, or a world in a state of excellence.

So then, dear Reader, I ask you: what is glory? In my experience with common English, it generally seems to be a property of its subject: "the glory of God" is his greatness; or in speaking of, say, a (fictional) king, "He is a glorious man." And even when I hear the much more ambiguous phrase "I do this for glory," I have always thought it to mean "I do this for a higher purpose, to bring myself closer to perfection."

Turns out, though, I had it all wrong.

That last example I give lays it out most explicitly; "I do this for glory" is a simple statement of the reward the person is seeking. For in these Latin translations, the world is never the subject of the meaning. So "glory" is not, then, an internal quality of anything or anyone; rather, like praise, it is given by an outside party to an object of worth.

The Glory of God, then, is his to pass to you; the glorious king is so only because his subjects love him (and not vice versa!); the man does his deeds to win affection in the eyes of the people.

The search for glory is an innately selfish act; or is it? For the man of our last example is as much saying he desires no other payment than to be loved and remembered for his actions; a high price, to be sure, but a simple one to give, because it can be refused.

To say you do something for glory is to announce your intention to do great things; glory can only be earned, people must be convinced in order to bestow it. The man announcing his intent to act for glory says that people bear no risk in trusting him; if he fails, they lose nothing, and if he succeeds, they will pay him without needing to think about it. It is, simultaneously, a statement of arrogance and humility; I shall do this thing, and be great, yet I need nothing beyond this.

Or something like that. I am not a lingual expert, but I find this fascinating; what our words mean so often becomes taken for granted. It's fun to take apart our assumptions, every once in a while.


[* I like this term, at least a bit. "Web surfing" implies a higher level of athleticism and activity, besides which, it is so 1997. Web browsing doesn't really mean anything, as the applications we use are called browsers. "Internet-noodling" is needlessly clunky, but noodling... something feels right about that. Like on a guitar, playing around, not quite aimlessly, but with no clear direction. I like it.]

Thank You, Dad!

My father was always incredibly good at correcting my grammar as a kid. I mean it-- by age 14, I knew more about who/whom, lie/lay, effect/affect, objects/subjects, etc. than many teachers. I got Strunk & White's The Elements of Style as a birthday gift, and still consider it a necessary favorite.*

So you should find it to be no surprise that I am now, as I become an adult myself, exactly the same. Not that I have perfect grammar, or that I don't make mistakes; just that I tend to notice things when they're wrong.

And, being the same, I found the two following sites to be hilarious.

Apostrophe Abuse and The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks both post pictures of various signs, websites, letters, and other print media that break some pretty basic rules.

And often to comedic results.

I laughed out loud numerous times browsing these blogs; I highly recommend them.



[* This book is incredible, especially for anyone who writes. If you don't own it, go buy it right now. I mean it. Now.]

Thursday

Bleh.

Another Thursday, another week almost over.

We're planning on going to Yosemite this weekend; I've never been, and I'm starting to get pretty pumped.

Problem is, I'm also starting to get sick.

So, to bed with me. I may put up a quick post or two, but I'm going to rest and try to get well... because if not, it'll be a lame and boring weekend for me...

Millennium Falcon: The Beginning

This past weekend, I finally got started on the Falcon Lego set... and hot damn, what fun.

Some observations:

• Yes, this is a shit-ton of bricks.


• When building a set with over 5,000 pieces, do you have any idea how long it takes to find the first two?


• Answer: 25 minutes.


• It took me all of Day 01 to even guess which end might be which... it's that big!

Follow the link to check out the Flickr photo set of the work-in-progress...

More Galactica

My good friend Josh, a wonderful editor here at Herzog Cowen, took Tracy and me to the Battlestar: Galactica convention in Burbank last year, which was a whole heck of a lot of fun. I was a mite disappointed, if only because I expected it to be huge, when it was really a small affair, composed of two rooms. It was, however, just like Galaxy Quest with an MC working the stage, and a smattering of applause for the panelists.

Yes, it was awesome.

But, they had this "video" competition, where fans made their own music videos with footage from the show. And they were, summarily, all terrible.

I say again: All terrible.

But it gave Josh an idea. And here it is. Watch it, pass it on if you like it, rate it if you really like it. He's proud.

And I dig it. Big time.

Yikes...

Busy work + iMac not fixed yet + just wanting to relax = Lame, lame, LAME blogging!

Sorry about the week+ absence, here... I certainly didn't mean to disappear, and have no good reason.

To try and get the momentum started back up (and a heavy beast this blog can be, dear readers), here are a few random videos. Just because.


My money was on the bear.


I cannot wait for Season 4. Or Season 1 in HD. Seriously.


Yup. That's exactly what you saw.


Bare with me. I promise to get back into the swing of things starting today.

Look Before You Link

Two weeks ago, I linked to a story about a meteor crash and Peru, and its similarities to the chupacabra myth. In that post, I linked to the Wikipedia chupacabra page to help describe the beast. I glanced at its contents, verified it was what I wanted, and kept writing.

I should have read the entire page.

Turns out, there has been a chupacabra sighting right in m home state of Maine! As luck would have it, the Wikipedia page discussed and linked to a news story about a "hybrid mutant" (!) that was hit by a car in Turner. Apparently, it "may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation."

Goes to show that you don't need to go to exotic locales to find strange mythical beasts to mutilate your livestock. You just have to go to Turner, Maine.

A Missed Opportunity

Does anyone else think International Treasure is a way better title, and more fun, than Nation Treasure: Book Of Secrets?

Mini-Rant: I AM SO SICK OF SEEING "BANK GOTHIC" FONT! It is used everywhere, and was made popular several years ago by being the official font of "24." Now this, The Kingdom, "Battlestar: Galactica" (closing credits), The Day After Tomorrow, The Matrix films, and plenty of other film/tv projects are using it. Yes, it looks cool, but c'mon, it's way overexposed, and is starting to feel predicable and cliché.

Observation: Disney isn't too hip on numbering sequels these days. It isn't National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, just like we didn't get Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. My read is that a numbered sequel (especially done with numerics instead of roman numerals) feels finite and tacked on; as if the producers were stretching the original conept to expand the story. Numbering may also imply a continued storyline... as if we expect to see the original plot points developed further.

The "colon-ized" sequel title seems to lend a more serialized vibe to a film franchise. This is the next set of National Treasure adventure. That tradition goes all the way back to Raiders of the Lost Ark and its colon-ized "Indiana Jones and" sequels.

But... Star Wars, the ultimate serial adventure of our era, is a weird combination of both approaches— or at least it was ret-conned into being a hybrid later on, with Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. And comic books, which number issue but don't usually number story arcs, get translated into numeric film franchises regularly: Spier-Man 1, 2, & 3, Superman 1, 2, 3, & 4, X-Men 1 & 2, they all eschew straight colon-ized serialization, even when they come from truly serialized sources.

Interesting. I can't say I have final thoughts on that matter, beyond that Disney's two flagship franchises (of the moment) both title their entries the same.

Happy October everyone!

LEGO Mania

I have always been a huge LEGO fan.

Growing up, that was probably my favorite toy. I was a member of the LEGO club for several years. Back home, between my siblings and myself, we filled plastic crates full with our assorted sets. We had sets from all categories, but favored the castle, space, and pirate brands. Back in my day, the types were literally called Town, Space, Castle, and Pirates. And there were few (if any!) custom parts. Yessir, I watched as LEGO diversified, and started calling their lines "Space Police," "Wolfpack," "M:Tron," "Black Tron," "Black Knights," "Dragon Masters," "Ice Planet," "Space Police II," and started doing movie tie-ins with "Star Wars," "Jurassic Park," "Harry Potter," and "Spider-Man."

I built hundreds of custom sets... recreating the suggestions on the backs of the boxes, doing my own ideas, working with my siblings and friends to build larger concepts. My shining achievement was "Mount Dragon," a name ripped right out of Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles." It was a completely original castle shaped like a dragon, with large wings, an opening mouth, a dungeon, and catapults.

It was awesome.

LEGOs were the first thing I ever took money out of the bank for. I remember my mother making sure it was something I wanted to do, me saying "yes," and then she took me to take $100 out to go and buy... I think it was an "Ice Planet" ship set.* Ian got some at the same time. We both used to spend a lot of time at a store called, fittingly enough, "Ask Your Mother." Long gone now, it was on Pleasant Street in Brunswick and had the best LEGO selection. I still look at Target, Wal-Mart, and Kmart, and wonder where a kid can go to see the full range of LEGO toys I remember...

I still collect and build LEGOs these days, although at a much smaller scale. A few "Star Wars" sets here and there, the occasional nostalgia purchase on eBay, sometimes building old sets from my youth that I've dug up during trips back home.

In that spirit, here are three LEGO-themed bits of news...

First, check this out; this is the kind of building I didn't do very often, but I salivate while thinking about it now. I wish I had the time to spend on exploits such as this; I think I'd be good at it, as well as love it.

Secondly, David H. pointed this out to me last week: "Forbidden LEGO."

Talk about awesome. This book is the ultimate guide to mischief: take a favorite (and in my life, common) toy, mix in adolescence with a touch of knavishness, and bring to boil with solid instructional material. Catapults, rubber-band guns, fast cars, this book has it all. I've pre-ordered it already, and look forward to showing it to Ashby someday.

Thirdly... I lied earlier. When I said I only collected on a small scale. Because every once and a while, LEGO history is made. Just like with the iPhone, I can't just let that pass me by.

So, several months ago, I took steps to ensure my place on the cutting edge, the front line of the mature LEGO collector.

And Tuesday, earlier than expected, I found this waiting for me at work:

You'd better believe I'm excited now! (And yes, I know I need a haircut) The "Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon" is, at over 5,000 pieces, LEGO's biggest set. EVER. And looking at the end result, it looks like it's low on custom pieces.

That's right, good old fashioned generic pieces seems to be the majority here.

I plan on updating as I go through the building process. I haven't started yet... part of me wants to leave the box untouched and pristine, but that part of me will lose out to the part of me that will always want to build LEGOs. The whole process will (hopefully) have a Flickr set devoted to it, and I'll post whenever it's updated.

Wish me luck...


[* Thanks Mom!]