EvilTwin

Hello Faefrost Do you have some credible evidence to back up that statement? Strangely I can't find them on any list of recognised terrorist organisations such as this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_organisations Of course the other possibility is that you just made that up. But that is too horrific to contemplate

Hello I live in the UK but recently I have been working in Amsterdam so one afternoon I took the opportunity to visit The Art of the Brick exhibition which is currently showing at the Amsterdam Expo centre (http://www.amsterdam...l/en/art-brick/) and I thought I would post something about my visit. Location: the Amsterdam Expo centre is very close to Amsterdam Zuid train station so it is not exactly central but it is easy enough to reach by train or bus on Amsterdam's excellent transport system and it is only a couple of minutes' walk from the Mahlerlaan exit from the station. You can't miss it - there is a massive advert for the exhibition on the side of the building 20140627_172409 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Tickets: I didn't know how busy it would be so I booked my ticket online before I visited, which I also thought would be a good idea since the site offers a discount for online bookings. The on-the-door price is €19, but the online price is €16. But! With the credit card fee of €2.76 and a €1 transaction fee it comes to €19.76. And.. I don't know how busy it is at other times, but I went on a Friday afternoon after work (it is open until 9pm on Fridays) and I pretty much had the whole place to myself (I think I saw one other visitor). I guess the people of Amsterdam have other things to do on Friday evenings . So pre-booking was not really worthwhile. When you enter you are also issued with an audioguide (included in the price) and the first thing you see is a short video of Nathan explaining how he became a Lego artist after first qualifying as a lawyer but eventually after getting commissions from friends etc for Lego sculptures he decided to follow his dream and become a full time artist. This "follow your dream" idea is a bit of a recurring theme in the exhibition. Nathan is also a motivational speaker and the audio guide and the description panels next to the artworks nearly all have motivational quotes included- "follow your own path!", "find the courage within!", "we are all capable of more than we think!". OK Nathan we get the idea Nathan also claims that he is the first person to become a full time Lego artist. I think the largely-unknown people who create the amazing pieces we see in the various Legolands might have a better claim to the particular title. (Incidentally watching the video also demonstrates a clever feature of the audio guide- the guide acts as a radio receiver and the narration of the video is played directly into the guide rather than being audible in the room. This means it is always audible even if the room is full of noisy kids.) The main exhibition is divided into sections that also act as a kind of timeline for Nathan's evolution as an artist. The first room is mainly interpretations of famous artworks, rendered as flat mosaic-type pictures, or textured, or as 3D sculptures. Next to each one is a description of the original artwork, and a little description from Nathan about how he approached his interpretation. Here are three examples: Vermeer's Girl with a Peal Earring is one of the flat mosaics: 20140627_173759 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Note the use of a Harry Potter crystal ball as the earring itself Van Gogh's Starry Night is textured: 20140627_174704 by freshfroot1, on Flickr While Munch's Scream is rendered as a sculpture: 20140627_173601 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Some of these pieces work better than others and, like real paintings, reveal different things to the viewer as you move towards or away from them. As someone who (I hope) appreciates art, and as a Lego lover, I found I was looking at these pieces on different levels- close up I could pick out the individual pieces and although we sometimes complain about it on this site, I found that the occasional small difference in hue between pieces of the same colour actually lends "realism" to the Lego artworks. From a distance some of them are amazing. But, I don't think the Scream works particularly well, and the same goes for the version of American Gothic in the same room - it loses something in translation. Next we start to see some of Nathan's original work and large-form sculptures, such as the famous Yellow: 20140627_180832 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Incidentally (although we are not allowed to touch them to find out) it looks like all the spilled-out guts are loose bricks (not glued as the main body of the sculpture is), which means that this piece would change a little bit every time it is exhibited somewhere. And Gray, which again the audioguide (which is all narrated by Nathan himself) explains is Nathan's depiction of him "letting the real me out". Enough with the motivational stuff already! 20140627_180724 by freshfroot1, on Flickr There are more interpretations of well known pictures and sculptures, including Degas' little Dancer (which I personally thought was one of the best pieces in the exhibition): 20140627_180320 by freshfroot1, on Flickr And a mosaic version of a famous picture of the legendary Jimi Hendrix: 20140627_183008 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Probably the most ambitious item in the exhibition is the full-size (well, full-size baby) T-Rex, which has 80,020 pieces and took an entire summer to create- a very distant relative of the one in the Research Institute set 20140627_184712 by freshfroot1, on Flickr There is a room of Nathan's original sculptures, mostly humanoids in various poses, such as My Boy: 20140627_183954 by freshfroot1, on Flickr The audioguide explains that this piece was a turning point for Nathan- this was the first time he created something that had an emotional impact on its own terms, rather than people looking at it and thinking "ooh what a clever Lego thing". Personally I still felt it was a clever Lego thing especially since he explains that none of the sculptures have any internal metal supports or anything- they are all pure Lego through and through (although, in Lord Business style, they are all glued) Hands is also a good one- I like the way he has captured the curve of the torso and neck of the person looking down at his disintegrated hands: 20140627_184116 by freshfroot1, on Flickr Almost the last room is a small cinema where a video is playing that is basically a long advert for the Lego Group. I didn't watch it all but I did wonder how up-to-date it is- the bit I watched was about Lego Universe and how it was the biggest investment The Lego Group had ever made in a single product and how they were expecting it to be a big success... doh! At the end of the exhibition there is a room with crates of Lego where you can have a go at making your own sculptures. Although I didn't stay because I felt a bit self conscious of being the only person there and not having any kids with me and I would have not really felt comfortable sitting on the little chairs This room also has a couple of statues of familiar Lego characters such as a life size version of one of the Friends: 20140627_185346 by freshfroot1, on Flickr I do think that the closeness in colour of the character's top and the things she is holding makes this look a little weird... Of course as is traditional for such exhibitions, you exit through the gift shop where you can buy souvenirs of the exhibition and there is also a selection of Lego sets including (rather optimistically on the part of the exhibitors, I thought) a shelf full of modular buildings and so on. There is a guide book for the exhibition, which was only available in Dutch- of course, I don't expect everything in the Netherlands to be available in English, but it was a bit odd that it wasn't in other languages since the audioguide and all of the materials relating to the exhibition were in English. I can read Dutch a bit, so I bought a copy anyway. What I would have really loved would be to buy a Lego kit of one of Nathan's artworks. Of course, since they are all Lego, it is possible for anyone with enough time and skill and a large enough Bricklink budget to recreate any of them. But, something like the little "Hugman" sculptures (Nathan's version of "street art") would be a great kit (or even just a set of instructions). I did notice that on the Lego Ideas site there is a miniature version of Yellow, I hope that gets produced one day. Overall, I enjoyed it. I did find Nathan's constantly overzealous motivational sloganeering a bit tiresome after a while- I can only be told to follow my dreams a certain number of times before I start dreaming of punching someone- but really I guess his narration suits the theme of the exhibition and he seems like a nice enough bloke. Although I liked some of the renditions of famous art, I would never choose to look at them in place of the originals, and as clever as I thought the sculptures were, I could never quite overlook the fact that they are Lego bricks. But I still enjoyed looking at them. I was in the exhibition just under an hour and a half, and that was with careful examination of the building techniques used in each sculpture so I am not sure if it is really good value for money, but I guess if I was there with kids or had felt a bit less self conscious about playing with the available Lego myself I would probably have been there much longer. I read somewhere that the exhibition will also be in the UK later this year, so if I am in the area I might visit there too. Sorry the pictures are not great, I only had my phone camera with me. Incidentally people are invited to take pictures in the exhibition (without flash) and I took loads EvilTwin

Greenpeace have not exactly covered themselves in glory on this one but some of the comments on this thread are ridiculous. Greenpeace a terrorist organisation? Seriously? Epic sense of perspective failure. And, why is it that when a topic such as this is raised, some people feel the need to get out their scattergun and blast all the other people or organisations that they have a personal dislike for? What have PETA and the ongoing discussion about female minifigs have to do with this? Nothing is the answer. EvilTwin

I have always believed that non-licensed minigures=yellow (and not indicative of any particular ethnicity.. well, with the possible exception of the native Americans in the Western theme), licensed minifigures=fleshtones, ever since "the Lando question" was since raised back in the old days when licensed minifigures were also all yellow But... in The Lego Movie, Emmet, Wyldstyle and most of their friends are yellow, Abraham Lincoln is yellow, while Vitruvius (played by Morgan Freeman) is clearly brown. So that kind of says that yellow minifigures=not brown (although Batman is fleshtoned as well) Will people such as those who conducted the study be able to point to the movie as backing up their findings? Should the film makers have made Vitruvius yellow? Or should we consider the movie to be a licensed theme in the same way as Star Wars etc.. in which case why aren't Emmet and Wyldstyle also flesh tones? Hmm. In the end I think I think the movie is such a mashup of different things that it doesn't mean anything one way or the other. OK never mind. Sorry for interrupting. Everyone go back to being awesome --- EvilTwin

Hello Boxerlego Google is a private sector organisation. It is their website and they can do what they like with it. It is not down to them to ensure free speech etc. If you want, you can start your own video sharing website and post your videos there. Furthermore, if I start typing "Edward Leedskalnin" into the Youtube search box it says there are about 9,290 results so I think it is incredibly unlikely that they are "suppressing" your video. It seems there are plenty of other people posting stuff about his freaky tinfoil-hat ideas so I don't think they are going to pick on you especially unless your video is against their T&Cs in some other way. Finally... if you really think that Leedskalnin's ideas about magnetism, free energy etc are worthwhile, then all you have to do is prove it, and show that all of the world's existing physics is wrong, and step this way for your Nobel Prize EvilTwin

Hello In the new long-form video by Lady Gaga, "G.U.Y. - An ARTPOP Film", released a couple of days ago, there is an appearance of the artwork "Yellow" by Nathan Sawaya (the statue of a man pulling his chest apart and letting yellow Lego bricks tumble out). The model has Lady Gaga's head superimposed on it. This is the video: If you don't want to watch the whole thing there is one appearance at 5:32 and another a few seconds later. Also, straight after the second appearance, in the next shot, Gaga is holding an apple apparently made from Lego. The video is full of pop-culture references. There is also a shot with what looks like Minecraft. EvilTwin p.s. if you are not familiar with "Yellow", this is it: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/6487140/Lego-art-sculptures-by-Nathan-Sawaya.html?image=12

Business news update Merlin Entertainment shares listed on the UK stock exchange in November 2013, at 315p per share. Everyone who subscribed to the minimum £1000 investment got 317 shares. Today's share price is about 370p per share so everyone who invested the minimum has made about £160 profit (after fees etc) so far. You can see the share price chart at Digital Look: http://www.digitallook.com/cgi-bin/dlmedia/security.cgi?username=&ac=&csi=17526066 Merlin have big plans for the future such as opening new Legolands in Asia (Japan, South Korea), and of course its other brands such as Madame Tussauds and Sea Life continue to grow. Overall it has about 100 attractions and plans to open 100 more. Worldwide, only Disney is larger in the theme park/attraction business. I didn't buy any shares in the initial offering, and my own point of view is that it may be an interesting growth share, but at the moment it is not on my own investment radar. EvilTwin p.s. the offer of a discount on annual passes is currently only valid for people who bought shares in the initial offering. However, the wording on Merlin's shareholder benefits page seems to suggest that it will be available in future to other shareholders as well, but probably not for a year or so. But worth keeping an eye on, if you are an annual pass holder. http://www.merlinentertainments.biz/shareholder-benefits

Hello I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere on the forums .. perhaps nobody is interested but hopefully this is the appropriate place Merlin Entertainments has announced a share offer. Merlin is the company that owns the Legoland parks and Lego Discovery Centres, amongst other things (such as, in the UK, Alton Towers and Madam Tussauds). The company seems to be doing pretty well and has big plans for the future. After the share float it looks like the holding company that owns Lego will be a big shareholder. I am kind of tempted to apply for some shares- I like the thought of owning a tiny bit of Legoland. But I think I will wait until after the float and see how the shares do on the market for a while first. The Merlin website says that shareholders will be entitled to a 30% discount on annual passes. There is no minimum entitlement shown, so it might be a worthwhile thing for pass holders to buy, say, a single share, just to get the discount. There is more information about the share float on the Merlin Entertainments website http://investors.merlinentertainments.biz/ Is anyone thinking of participating? EvilTwin

Hello folks Spotted in my local Sainsburys today: V-Wing Starfighter (7915)- reduced to clear, down from £22.99 to £5.52. Unfortunately for me, the "reduced to clear" strategy had been entirely successful before I got there! sainsburys.co.uk still has the original price, so it's possible it's just local to my branch, but worth a look if anyone's passing by a branch, I think. EvilTwin

Hello James A good site to check for UK Lego shows is the Brickish Association Brickish Association website Some of the events listed are non-Lego events that will just have one or two Lego tables, so it's worth checking with them to see what will be there. EvilTwin

Hello How do they deal with the weather at the Legoland Minilands? The models there are made from standard Lego, right? I wondered if the bricks are treated in any way to make them last longer, but I read somewhere that the models have to be replaced every few years, as well as regular maintenance (I'd guess that is needed more in areas where the models are within reach of kids...). I'd guess that building a garden Lego layout would require a similar amount of maintenance/replacement unless it was also covered in some way. --- EvilTwin

That's pretty neat Kolaf. Is the distance sensor part of the Roboduino system, or are you using something like a Mindstorms sensor? EvilTwin

Hello Famously, the designers of the Falkirk Wheel used Lego to work out some of the engineering problems involved in its design. Does that count? The Falkirk Wheel (in Scotland) is a giant lift mechanism that transfers boats from one canal to the other. It's awesome! You can read more about it here Also here is a video clip that has the designer of the wheel talking about how they used Lego (starts at about 2:30 but have a look at the model of St Pancras railway station earlier in the clip as well) EvilTwin (I'm pretty sure it's been mentioned on here before but a search for "Falkirk" returns no results)

Hello When I was a kid, my dad worked away from home most of the time (he worked on big civil engineering building projects) and only came home at weekends. He would sometimes bring me little Lego sets ("impulse sets") home with him, as a treat (mainly I think it was to keep me quiet for a bit ). Once, when it was near my birthday, he brought me a bigger set: Lego 4.5V train 171! I loved that train! I spent ages making up stories about it (including train crashes, inevitably ) and over time he also brought me extra track and the most coveted treasure, a motor! My parents saw how much I loved the train and that Christmas I got the ultimate prize (well... I was only a kid!)... the motorised 4.5V train, 182! What a happy Christmas that was! I had a total of two motorised trains, and enough track to run them both at the same time! I still have a picture somewhere of me sitting in the middle of a loop of track while the two trains run around me! Those two little trains are still my favourite toys that I have ever owned; but they are long gone (with the onset of dark ages) and I don't really feel the need to chase them down on Ebay or whatever- somehow it wouldn't be the same. My dad died a few years ago and every time I see pictures of those old 4.5V trains I still think of him. --- EvilTwin

Hello I love these tiny "Z scale" railway layouts that fit inside a normal-sized briefcase ...they are beautiful things, although the price seems to be rather disproportionate to the size! I love the idea that some important businessman could be sitting on a train or a plane with their briefcase open on their lap, and anyone looking at them would think they are reading some secret important document or something, but actually they are silently thinking "choo choo"... Of course, Lego gauge would require a much larger briefcase hmm, now I am thinking.. what kind of Lego setup could I fit into a briefcase? Maybe a train based on the Creator 4837 mini train set... EvilTwin

Hello folks I saw a display by a small UK company called Kytes Lights at a recent model railway show. They mostly sell parts for N gauge/OO gauge railways etc but the individual components could be adapted for a Lego layout (although you could probably find most of the same components cheaper at somewhere like Maplins www.maplin.co.uk ). Their website is www.kyteslights.com ... useful to look at to get some ideas. --- EvilTwin

Hello Eurobricks folks Well, having lurked around this site for some time, I thought I would finally say hello I live in the UK, in Hampshire (between London and the south coast of England). I live not-too-far from Legoland Windsor. I live near a train station which is part of a preserved steam railway. It's nice to see the steam trains go past, but it means my windows need a lot of cleaning... I have recently emerged from a mini-dark-ages: I've collected Lego for some time, but it was mostly gathering dust until some of the fantastic new sets like Green Grocer and Emerald Night made me pay attention again. I have a strange mix of sets- Technic, Star Wars, trains, town/city, various space and castle etc etc... I'm mostly just a "set builder", unfortunately I don't have the creativity (or the time) to build things like the awesome creations people show on the forums. I don't have a lot of spare room, but I'd like to set up a train/town layout. At the moment all my Lego pieces are in a precarious tower of plastic crates... they are completely mixed, so I think my first task is going to be to find some way of sorting them (and I'm going to be looking around this site for ideas about that ). Aside from Lego, my flat is mostly filled with books, guitars and computers (some of them even in one piece!). I work in IT and I travel a fair bit in my job. In my current job, I mostly work around Europe, but in previous jobs I have also worked around the Americas and Asia. I'll try to contribute to the forums, although my main contribution is probably going to be posts that say "wow that's amazing" or similar OK that's enough for now... --- EvilTwin