MetroiD

First of all, happy b'day to Faramir (wow, now THERE's a young member!), Navy Trooper, michaelozzie, LordChaos and commodore!! Great to know that so many cool people are born on this date :) Thank you so much Milan :) Very thoughtful of you mate ;] Thank yoooo, Mr. Svelte!!! Celebrate, I oughtta, and I shall too! Wasn't really the most "subtle" of reminders I planted in that Advent discussion thread, but it obviously did the job As to missing out on a shhh... secret - I'm not giving up hope, there's still 9 more days to go :) And as far as presents are concerned, I just love December... :) But seeing as I get presents pretty much all the time having such a wonderful significant otter, I guess I can't complain in that department. Which reminds me that her birthday is June 21 - I'd better start planning, my birthday seems to mark the point when hers is "halfway around"

Actually, there are several topics discussing this and it's definitely nothing new. The end of the road is not near - it was discontinued a month or more ago and if you happen to see a copy sold anywhere, you'd be one of the luckiest people around :) On the bright side - Cafe Corner's out, Grand Emporium's in!

Why oh why....

A really fun topic, Holodoc! Let's see what us otters got ourselves this year, hmmm... Seeing as this has been the year during which I actually came out of my dark ages and we both started really MOCcing, I guess we had some work to do with stuff we missed on earlier. Here we go then: Town: 2х Trains: (u) (u) (u) (u) + a bunch of (u) (u) (u) (u) Misc: 2x Add to that umpteen BL orders & in the end it turns out that 2009 has been a good year in terms of LEGO purchasing. Which was pretty much the only good thing about it, so I couldn't be happier that it's finally coming to an end. P.S.: Our wishlist for 2010 is topped by the upcoming 10211 Grand Emporium, followed closely by 10194 Emerald Night, 10193 Medieval Market and 10197 Fire Brigade. Of course, we're also planning on purchasing a few of the current City sets as well, along with a few other Exclusives (the 10210 Imperial Flagship, most notably!) and some more train sets (10183 Hobby Trains is a primary objective there!)...

It's obvious that you're really enjoying this stuff - which is always a great source of inspiration! I loved all your little MOCs there and I'm looking forward to seeing more! Your farmers' town is starting to sound more and more promising by the day. Just one thought tho - like Milan, I'm also concerned about those workers! Please give them some gloves while handling / mixing the plant protection chemicals, it's good agricultural practice You don't want your minifigs getting sick, right ;]

Loved your rendition of the police car, tulatin -- and welcome to Eurobricks!!! I particularly enjoyed seeing your muscle car ideas brought to life with that hood / front bars combination. Great modification! Keep em coming :)

Having a date in a PUB of all places!? Come on mate! I actually pity those guys who bring their girlfriends-to-be on a nice romantic date in an Irish Pub where the boys have gathered to have a pint or two or watch the game... It's by far one of the worst places you could take a girl you'd like to impress - every city's bound to have tons of nice little restaurants or quite bars or other charming and romantic destinations/locations - I'd recommend picking one of those as a more adequate, if at times unoriginal, location for a date - especially if it's a first one. That said, I bring my girl along almost every time I go to my fav pub - she likes watching football with me and she enjoys having a beer or two, so don't think that I have a grudge against the combination of pubs and girls :) Just giving a useful tip there - especially knowing that I myself have probably ruined the first dates of quite a few couples (yeah, I'm pretty vociferous...) - but then again, what kind of a date could you expect anyway if you walk in a pub halfway through the Chelsea vs Tottenham game!?

Voting in this category has been much harder than the Small category. My initial reaction was to pin down my favourite entries at which point it turned out I would have to award them all 1 point each. Seeing as that was pretty much my approach in the Small category, I decided to be a bit bolder this time and divide the 7 points between fewer entries. First of all, honorable mention to 74louloute, PaulCantu and MrDarthLord, all of whom I definitely wanted to vote for, but since I could only give them 1 point each, I decided to focus on some of the other participants instead... I'm sure they have piled up quite a substantial amount of points anyway, having in mind how cool their entries were. Now then, on to the actual points. My favourite entry in this division was Shmails' Cheese Rolling Contest. So, Shmails - 3 points. From the moment I saw it, I knew that this one didn't need any additional details or restructuring, it was just perfect the way it was - and the idea behind it was absolutely hilarious too. What won me over here was Shails' approach, demonstrating how a good arrangement of some minifigs and some sloped bricks without any additional fancy construction techniques can go a long way towards displaying an idea. For managing to captivate the sense of action in his MOC in such a vibrant and detailed way, I think Shmails deserves much more than these 3 points, but if I gave him all 7 points, I would have to refrain from voting for any other contestants... And that would be a crying shame, especially seeing as another one of my favourite MOCs in this division was entered quite early and, fortunately, despite the alterations here and there, it managed to retain its original humorous and original appeal throughout the contest. I'm talking about BlackRabbit's Perch Pub which in my eyes was a true contender from the off. I loved this little shanty bar and if I were a pirate back in those days, the Perch Pub would definitely have been a place I'd love to come back to. Black Rabbit - 2 points. The entry which I found best suited to this year's theme was Nate's Coming Home. Some might call that a bit melodramatic, but to me his portrayal of a soldier returnig to his wife was an absolute winner. The wonderful idea alone is more than enough to turn this entry into a winner, and that's why I couldn't go without voting for this one, Nate - 1 point. I would have loved to see this picture expanded - of course, beyond the limitations of the Medium Category - with some more landscaping for example and that's why I would be very happy to see Nate return to this scene and develop it even further. The last point I can still award goes to Joe H. I found his idea absolutely zany - which is precisely what floats my boat anyway :) I enjoyed his portrayal of the UFO in medieval style very much, but it was the whole MOC in its entirety that should be noted here - from the small dock and the cliffs up to the very top with the mischievous duo and their mechanical contraption - this entry is full of spot-on details and tons of fun to watch, both from the inside and from the outside! Joe H - 1 point. So, to sum it all up: Shmails - 3 points Black Rabbit - 2 points Nate - 1 point Joe H - 1 point

As a matter of fact, you're ~a week early, but thanks anyway I was just curious, hence the question...

That's anything but violence, I'd call it cheating instead, seeing as he's obviously failed to hit anyone - and it's definitely way below the violence threshold as defined by SlyOwl before the contest started. I fully agree with your point there about this being one of the best entries!

Ouch! VERY poor timing on that, Sieggy! Now that Missus Walrus is mad at you anyway, why not tell us all about that bucketeering story?! On a sidenote - I was wondering, do birthday boys get a boost in probability to get drawn (very sweet)?

Yay! Congratulations, BB! I'm very happy for you :] Are you displaying your entire layout somewhere soon?

How you came to the notion that I act as if anyone owes me anything is totally beyond me. Same as the reason why you'd want to keep lecturing people about that kind of stuff. Unless you're Kevin's lawyer... no, wait, EVEN if you were Kevin's lawyer, I'd say that was uncalled for and hence sounds quite a bit out of place. I was merely asking - as Rick has stated above. Kevin IS providing a service for free, and a hell of a service it is too, and yes, I am mighty thankful - thankful enough to want to pay for that service if that was on option. But I don't think I should be explaning this to you or anyone else. Furthermore, I don't see how that should stop me from asking what's up with the service I'm making use of, and neither do I see any connection between requesting some info and being another moaning kid who's worried that they'd lose their favourite Halo screenshots, as you've kindly implied with that post (since we're obviously jumping to conclusions anyway). @Rick - thanks mate, I was expecting that would be the case, but I was still curious whether anyone knew what Kevin's plans were...

Good thing you kept it too, it's a real eye-catcher. Would love to see that two-cities-project come to fruitition some day, especially given your expert MOCcer skills! Thanks for clarifying on those round pieces. I thought that you'd included them as some sort of detail to break up the gray bits - and they do work nicely. I was however thinking that the effect would look even better if it were inverted - i.e., if the round pieces were not on top, but instead showing up from beneath the top layer, a bit like the "bricks inside" technique. As to the gallows, you're right, those add realism to the build - I was just saying they're not the most peaceful detail here, but that's not a problem whatsoever :) Good luck mate!

Time for the Medium Category Voting thread yet? The Small Category thread has remained largely inactive for the last 2-3 days...

Thanks ever so much for the info + pics Brickadier! You've provided an answer to all of my questions, that was wonderful! And thank you for showing off those wonderful lighting effects as well, that's all the proof I needed. It's a pity using LifeLites for street lighting is not an option, but I guess I'll think of some alternative for that :)

I was wondering whether there's been an official statement by Kevin so far regarding Brickshelf's future... I know this was supposed to be a server change, but the lack of any kind of information during that was a bit unnerving. So does anyone know what BS's future is going to look like?

MaxGoof's point is spot on. What bothers me, and obviously not just me, is that such statements simply sound wrong in an AFOL community. After all, this is supposed to be a place where people help each other out with that kind of stuff... Of course I'd be more than willing to pay obscene amounts if I have those and if another member is selling a classic set I'd like to own, but that's definitely not the point here. It's the attitude which I found distasteful. Back to the Winter Toy Store though - I was wondering whether we'll see an addition to it next year? Bearing in mind what LEGO said when announcing and marketing it, I guess we're all expecting some kind of Exclusive to go along with the Toy Store to come out in 2010, but what would really be great is if TLG would start releasing Christmas Exclusives on a regular basis which, assembled together, make up a nice X-mas village scene - that way, they'd totally rival Department 56

Beautiful, that's how it sounds! The more I travel around neighbouring countries, the more I love them, and Turkey ranks right up there. I've been to Turkey twice so far - once to Istanbul and once to the seaside (Aegean Sea, Kusadasi) and I loved both of my visits there. There's something very warm and neighbourly about being in Turkey, I really enjoy the feeling :) Istanbul is a living, breathing metropolis, and has its own wonderful atmosphere - I'm sure you'd totally enjoy a visit there, not to mention the ride up there - that would be awesome! A word of advice though, I don't think staying too long and/or travelling through Istanbul on a motorcycle is a good idea. Traffic down there is even worse than local traffic here in Sofia (we're famous for having "furious" drivers, whereas our Turkish neighbours simply live in a 13mill. city, so it's only fair, I guess). You'd be stuck in jams forever, even on a bike -- I'd suggest booking a room at a hotel, leaving your bike someplace safe for a day or two and vesting your trust in the local city transport - it does its job perfectly and it's not too expensive either. As to Greece, I've been to your country twice, Zorbas - and I've visited Thessaloniki, Meteora, climbed Mt. Olympus (back when I was an avid mountaineer) and been on a pilgrimage to Oros Athos. Needless to say, I've always had a wonderful time. I'm holding out on coming back before I get a bike though because I want to do a full tour of Greece with my significant Otter :D, instead of just flying off to Athens or something like that. @ Milan - I totally share your concerns -- as a matter of fact, whenever I see a biker on a 600+cc beast, I wave at them and gesture something along the lines of "Helmet anyone!?". Most of the times they pretend to ignore me, too busy trying to pop a wheelie while showing off their "carbon" flip-flops and ultra-heavy-duty hawaiian shorts... It's a really disturbing sight, especially because 90% of those careless bikers are 18-year-olds whose daddies have just got them a present and they're eager to show it off without actually knowing a thing about bikes. Some of those guys learn, others get nasty bruises and give up bikes, but there is also a third portion, and we all know about those I really wish laws in terms of bike equipment were stricter here, but then again in most of the United States it's not even mandatory to wear a helmet, so I guess it's just a matter of how much you value your own health and life...

Forget about the bunny, I want chocolate milk! And I'm not even joking - right after I posted that, I went to the kitchen and made me a cup o' good ol Nesquik milk! On second thought... could I please have that bunny Sieggieeee... pretty pleeeaaase? P.S.: Roncanator, I couldn't agree more... I think we'll be needing a whole new rank for Big Cam pretty soon - how about recycling his "Too Talkative" title?

Great for you, lightningtiger, but I guess that for the rest of us who are not into electrical/tech stuff, buying some kind of a lighting system is as good an option as we'd get. I'd be happy to hear about your progress with that though ;] Ricecracker - thanks for the heads up mate, that's some valuable information! I was planning on getting the Basic kit precisely because I don't want to run it on batteries - I'd rather plug those lights in the main source.

I'm taking back my words about bending the rules there. Totally with you on that Milan. I've seen that happen way too often, but I guess we all tend to think "oh well, it's just a small moped, nothing could go wrong anyway", when in fact the smaller it is, the MORE things can actually go wrong.

Wow, and you both won the main prizes for the day! Talk about being a lucky family! Congratulations

@ prateek - do you have to quote an entire post when responding to it!? @ Dennimator - tags are evil, besides you know how it works around here - if you ask for it, you're most probably going to get it (and I don't mean the tag ) Nice work on that moped, I guess bending rules in that aspect is not so dramatic, besides that moped is surely a good way to start into motorcycling. I also wanted to get me one when I was 17 but then I just started driving the ol' family car the instant I turned 18, so a moped seemed pretty useless back then. Nice to hear about the Swedish policemen too - it's got to know that laws are actually enforced by all means necessary, and that includes checking on the sound that comes out of your pipes. Local authorities are too lax in that aspect which results in having too much of those annoying mopeds with their pipes taken off... Driving / passing by one of those is definitely not a pleasant experience, trust me.

I WANT NESQUIK! (just felt like a good thing to say in this thread...)