a lego master builder

The Danish company Lego, born from the mind of Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, began marketing its signature bricks on a massive scale in the late 1950s. Since that time Lego has become a household world and building toy enjoyed by millions of boys and girls (and their parents). The basic building set has expanded over the years to include character pieces, bigger blocks aimed at tinier hands and players, and even computer games and movies. Any parent who has struggled to help their child build some of the more elaborate brick systems (Harry Potter Lego Hogwarts Castle I'm looking at you) will be happy to check out Sean Kenney's new book, Cool Creations in 35 Pieces, a Lego modeling guide.

Sean Kenney

Some cool robots for kids to create

Kenney is a Lego master builder. A quick look at his website reveals original sculptures which include everything from home decor to custom portraits. Cool Creations in 35 Pieces is his sixth building guide for kids. It takes builders back to the basics, featuring just 35 Lego bricks which, with Kenney's guidance, can be made into a wide range of objects, including animals, vehicles, and robots.

Kids will love the not only the creative inspiration, but the easy to follow directions, illustrated in large-scale photos. The cool creations are presented in primary colors, but intrepid builders can probably piece together their own basic 35 piece set from their old Lego sets, like that Hogwarts Castle that mom or dad never got around to finishing. If any pieces are missing, they can also order them from Kenney's site. Kenney also encourages kids to come up with their own creatures and objects using the 35 pieces and share them online. Who knows, maybe after having fun building all of these cool creations and more, that Lego castle won't seem so daunting in future.

the lego movie — everything is really awesome

I was so pleasantly surprised by The Lego Movie that I actually am excited about the prospect of seeing it again. Whether that will be another trip to the theater or when it comes out on disk I can't say. But I haven't felt that way about an animated movie, or really any movie, for quite some time.

The movie's plot concerns Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an extremely ordinary guy (and minifigure), who finds the "piece of resistance," and is thrown headfirst into an adventure where he finds he may be "The Special," the one who can save the world(s) from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and his mysterious super-weapon the "Kragle." Along the way he meets many interesting characters, including the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), a good cop/bad cop (Liam Neeson) who works for Lord Business, Batman (Will Arnett), and an intriguing Lara Croft-like girl called Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks).

Emmett, Batman, Vitruvius, Wildstyle

Filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) not only have a lot of affection for Lego building sets, but movies and pop culture, and they manage to interweave all of these elements into their fast-moving, great-to-look-at film. One doesn't need an intimate knowledge of the Lego themed sets of recent years to enjoy all of the mini figure-spotting opportunities, which include superheroes like Superman and Wonder Woman, historical figures like Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln, as well as fictional characters like Gandalf and Dumbledore and plenty of other fun figures, and even some surprise appearances. Visual jokes are abundant as well, as Emmett and his friends race through Legoland cities and environments, from Lord Business's totalitarian (and funny) posters displayed on huge skyscrapers, to floating clouds and clever characters in a quaint Western town.

The Lego Movie is so much fun I don't really want to write any more about it for fear of spoiling any surprises. Suffice it to say that its ear worm of a theme song, "Everything Is Awesome!!!" by Tegan and Sara, featuring The Lonely Island, pretty much sums it up. And viewing the film has also inspired me to pull out that Harry Potter Lego Hogwarts Castle that I got for the kid a few years back (and the cats demolished) and give it another go. "Everything is awesome ..." [humming]

decorations are up!

Little by little this holiday weekend we put up the tree and our other holiday decorations. The cats love the tree and can be found frequently batting ornaments from the branches when they aren't in alien kitty mode:

Of course we could only put up unbreakable ornaments. All my glass treasures are put away for the foreseeable future. We also decided to mix some of our holiday lights and figures with the kid's Lego Harry Potter castle, so it's Christmas at Hogwarts with Snape and Harry. The video really shows off the lights and castle:

And who could forget Shrek, who is still a big favorite of the kid's. Once again he is hanging out with Rudolph and his crew.

Ho ho ho!

xbox — get up and get moving

I got the kid an Xbox for her birthday. I've been resisting a video game system fo a long time, as it's such a time suck, and we already spend a lot of time goofing off on the iPad. But the kid had been making a beeline to the Xbox exhibition model every time we go to Best Buy. After watching her playing a Puss in Boots game, where she was actually "dancing" and "dueling" and "walking" on a tightrope, I thought it might not be such a bad idea. I like the idea of the active playing you can do with the Kinect system.

I have always liked games, since I first got my computer, but I was mostly drawn to the intricate puzzle worlds of Myst or strategy games with ancient civilization themes. Watching (and joining) her play Lego Harry Potter makes me realize how slow my reaction skills are compared to hers. As familiar I am with the Potter characters and stories, I just don't see some of the little Lego objects and their obvious translation into action or gameplay as quickly as she does.

She is not only getting to act out, via the Lego universe, scenes with characters related to movies that she hasn't even seen yet (and books she hasn't read) like Voldemort's horrible snake Nagini, but she is pretty quick at solving problems — like which power/spell to use in her wand. It will be interesting to see how these sorts of games translate into some of her problem-solving in the future, although I notice she has a typical 8 year-old's frustration with getting stuck on a level — well, the frustration is typical for any age, really.

Besides the Harry Potter game, we picked up a few others — the Puss in Boots, of course, which is a lot of fun (Antonio Banderas voices his most famous character), and one based on the television show LOST for me, although I really haven't had any time to play it yet. So far the Kinect system seems to feature more shoot-em-up and adult- or adventure-themed games, so it's good that the kid likes the few that are more geared to her age. There are some workout and sports-themed ones, too made for the Kinect system, so we'll see if these video games can get me up and moving and off my laptop for a spell.