American Madness

Edward Hopper Nighthawks done in Lego (via Sebastian Waters)

Many more by the same artist.

As I go back through what I have marked up the past week to post here, things that have caught my eye and such, it is looking like I will have a weekly post of art that has caught my eye from the previous week. We’ll see if I can turn this into a regular, weekly column (which requires only that I stay on top of this every week), but for now it is looking pretty good.

Without further ado some of the things that have caught my eye in the past week: (more…)

It is rare to find a site that so openly sells weapons on the internet and such an array of weapons as well is kind of unique: Frag Grenades to Sniper Rifles, Shotguns to Rocket Launchers and none of them for more then a dollar!

This would be a terrifying thing if the weapons in question were for anything other then little Lego people. BrickArms has made a name for itself by making small unique weapons for Legos and custom figures to go with them as well. Stage your own WW2 re-enactment totally with Legos (since most of their custom figures and weapons seem to have a WW2 slant to them).

Figured this was all worth noting due to the AM love of Legos and a neat original idea. It is also nice to hear that rather then trying to crush a fan Lego, while not directly supporting BrickArms, is aware that they are around and hasn’t tried to stop them. There is a neat little interview with the creator over on Gizmodo.

Do you remember the episode of Mr. Roger’s where they go though the process of making crayons? Anyway this is kind of like that, but as a slide show… for Business Week… And about Legos… Otherwise it is identical.

Business Week published this one about 2 years ago, titled “The Making of a Lego Brick.” Accompanying the slide show is an article about the toys that touches on their popularity and why they have been twice named “Toy of the Century.”

And while we’re at it, looks like the Arabs have built their own death star.

So, as we get closer to Labor Day and the “end” of summer I figured it was a good idea to push beach week, just a little something so that folks can enjoy the last weeks of summer thinking about the beach- the warm sound, cool water and refreshing breeze- while they are sitting at their desks at work, staring at their computer screens.

To kick it off we have an interesting one from Rueter’s “Oddly Enough” section which touches not only on the beach, but also on Legos.

About 2 weeks ago now on the shores of Zandvoort, a Dutch resort, a head was seen bobbing up and down in the waters. Workers at the drink stand rushed out for the rescue and pulled in a lifesize Lego man.

Life-size? Well, they must grow them a bit bigger in Holland as the figure was about 8′ tall. But still, how random is that? The 8′ tall Lego’s torso says “No Real Than You Are” and was placed in front of the drink stand, almost as a icon of the valiant rescue by the stands workers. Talk about random.

Some folks have mentioned to me that I have way too much time on my hands if I am able to find the time to write as many posts as I do. I am usually not one to argue with this.

On the other hand, there are folks out there with a whole lot more more free time than I have. Andrew Lipson happens to be one of these folks. I came across his page while doing a search for an article on Legos. After checking it out I just couldn’t resist posting about Lipson.

Lipson claims to be a professional nerd. While he has a bunch of somewhat interesting stuff on his site and has clearly had a lot of fun playing with Legos what is really impressive are his M.C. Escher Lego Models (about halfway down the page). Just seems like a lot of fun and and ends up with some really impressive Lego sculptures. Though I must say, he did cheat on Waterfalls. But, still, really impressive.

So, either American Madness is so in tune with what is going on and what is big out there or someone is reading American Madness and not crediting us with our genius.

Tuesday afternoon, after posting the blog entry about the Snoopy Snow Cone Maker, I received this email in my mailbox:

Snow Blowing
BY FARAN ALEXIS KRENTCIL
A confession: When we found this resurrected Snoopy Sno-Cone machine, we literally jumped for joy. It’s the same ice shaver from the eighties, without the chipped paint and residue that comes from impulse eBay buys. The machine is great for cooling down on a sweltering afternoon or mixing frozen margaritas. Bet you never thought of that when you had your first Snoopy Sno-Cone in kindergarten.

$20 at Fredflare.com.

Apparently someone at New York Magazine is spying on us (I’m looking at you Faran Alexis Krentcil). If I get an email about Eating Lemons, I am calling someone out.

(Image from BrickBox)

So I came across this site for Sean Kenney. Sean has the job I always wanted when I was 8. He is a Certified Lego Professional. Sean is my hero. Check out more of Sean’s work at his website. He has a great model of Greenwich Village
(Though I am pretty sure his Homer should have a Duff beer and not a Newcastle in hand)