Tereglith

This is really, really amazing. I simply love all that stained glass! And the Atlantian beach invasion is pretty darn funny ! I wish I could get up there to see it.

I had the hull pieces from Venice Canal Chase. I had the Balloon from Orient Expedition. What else could I have done, really? The latest triumph of NASA's (National Aeroship Science Academy) sustainable research lab, the Indefatigable lives up to its name. The thirty-foot, single-balloon, two-engine, single-prop vessel, crewed by hardy stock the likes of our own Dr. Conrad Percival Griswold Yelvington III, can remain in the air for up to two years at a time conducting important atmospheric research. "How is this possible?" you ask. The secret lies in renewing resources constantly. Whenever the Indefatigable travels through a cloud, it collects any moisture which it touches and, thanks to years of complex aerodynamic research, gathers it into rivulets that are easily channeled into the high-yield low-fuel dual steam engines, which power both their own propellers and the large one beneath the ship. Our intrepid Dr. Conrad Percival Griswold Yelvington III, graduate of NASA, standing next to one of the Indefatigable's steam engines. He's wearing a high-altitude pressurization helmet, which keeps him able to breath when the Indefatigable travels into rarified atmospheres. For those items which are not able to be produced sustainably, the Indefatigable has an extensive cargo hold running beneath the deck and accesible through this fore hatch. Among the cargo manifest are a number of spare engine parts, some spices and seasoning, several dozen pounds of canned spiced ham (to provide additional protein for Dr. Yelvington), and over eight hundred tea bags. Our NASA hydroponics lab has developed these plants, the pinacle of botanical engineering. Able to survive solely on the nutrients and moisture to be found at high altitudes, they grow along the side of the ship and provide nutritious fruits for our crewman to eat. Here we see the complex machinery which runs the ship's propeller. It is designed with the very latest in metallurgical technology, and the entire system is triple redundant so that it won't break down. Our beautiful ship from above, a view which few have the oppurtunity to enjoy. At its cruising altitude it is higher than every other ship currently operating on the planet. Above the captain's cabin we see the four birdhouses, which hold the nests of a farmable population of jays. They have been bred to produce several eggs per week, which make for a delicious source of protien for Dr. Yelvington. Or so we assured him. They actually taste quite nasty unless well-seasoned. The entire reason that the Indefatibable is in the air is for these small tools of science (which have names that you laymen can't pronounce), which measure complex characteristics of the atmosphere and of astonomical phenomena. For repairing engine parts, picking berrys, feeding the birds, or displays of derring-do during potential failures of the Indefatigable (which we are sure will never occur) there is the Extra Vehicular Jetpack, which runs also on steam and can be used for powered flight or sustained gliding. In the event that the propeller should fail and the hull fall away, the EVJ is connected directly to the balloon and the rigging, so that Dr. Yelvington can get to it. The 'neath hull, liveried in NASA colors. Makes one proud to be a graduate. Much larger pictures can be seen in my Flickr stream. At a whopping thirty-six studs long ( ), this is my largest MOC to date, so your opinion is certainly welcome.

Congrats, Exotrator! This really is a great MOC (you were my close second in the voting)! Enjoy your cannon battle. the winner was decided by popular vote - there were probably about forty people in all who voted for Exotrator. I don't know why you think you were the only one, but you don't get a prize.

Hey! I was going to review this! (I'm getting it this afternoon). Oh well, you probably did a better job than I would have anyway. Nice to have a closer look at the minifigures.

I'm also looking forward to Iron Man 2. The preview is made of raw epicness. Here's hoping it's as good as or better than the first one. Toy Story 3 is another big one. If TS2 is any indicator, Pixar knows sequels, so it should be good. Robin Hood looks like it has potential, as do POP and Clash of the Titans (Liam Neeson in a silver suit of armor saying "Release the Kraken" is really all you need for a good movie) Looking further ahead (outside of summer and into the next summers), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is coming out and will no doubt be good to some extent, as will HPatDHP2, coming out in 2011. POTC 4 is slated for a summer 2011 release (with a possible steampunk vibe! Woohoo!) The continuing Marvel Avengers Movies (Thor, Capt. America, Avengers, Avengers 2) are ranged from 2011 to 2014 and should all be pretty good. Cars 2 is up in I think 2011 (here's hoping it'll be any good - Pixar's never made a flop yet). Even further than that, Ghostbusters 3 is confirmed for some time in the future, and a Star Trek sequel is inevitable (Kirk vs. Borg!!! [read the comic book to see the reason for my optimism]) That about sums up the franchise films I'm excited about for the next few years.

Global warming can't be entirely to blame, and even this article, which was trying its hardest to make it sound like it (some climate models tends to mean "the most pessimistic and unrealistic ones we could get our hands on"), admits that sea level rises have been infinitesimal. A rise of 5mm per year over the last decade equates to only five centimeters. For it to have completely disappeared would mean that no part of the island was ever more than 5-10cm above sea level, making it farcically low. Any time any water at all was on the island there would have been flooding for the past several decades. There has to have been an external force (such as erosion) which was lowering the island at a much quicker rate for this to have occured suddenly.

My God, another one? Didn't Micheal Bay get a clue when T2 got the Razzie for Worst Film? I guess not. "The movie will dig deep into character development." Yeah. Right. I'll believe when I see it. Actually, no, I won't believe it even then. There's no such thing as character development in a Bay film. It's an excuse for large, CGI robots to smash into each other. As you may have guessed, the whole Transformers thing isn't my kettle of tea. But it's nice to know that Bay will be busy for a while with T3, so he can't screw up another blockbuster film based on an awesome toy.

This is very interesting - I found it myself last night. Apparently it uses the same sort of regeneration process as Salamanders or Starfish, but instead of only using it when it gets maimed, like those creatures, it uses it when it gets old, effectively sending all of its individual cells back to the polyp stage. It makes one wonder, though, what evolutionary pressures have kept other species with this regenerative ability from applying it in this way - there must be something that makes it a bad evolutionary idea for higher creatures than zooplankton (Yes, Jellyfish is a plankton. ). Unfortunately, since so far as we can tell its immortality operates on the same mechanism as the regrowing of lost body parts, and ability that humans lose soon after birth, we won't be seeing any jellyfish based immortality pills on the market anytime soon. And yes, it would die if it was hit, stabbed, swallowed by a whale, or thrown under a bus. Immortality isn't the same as invulnerability.

My vote goes to MetroID for his lovely inn, not only because it's beautifully constructed, but also because he somehow manages to fit three bedrooms, an outhouse, two staircases, and a drunk-monkey-infested attic into a 16x16 space.

#7 - Torture Chamber There is a part of town that is old but not historic, where every other building has been owned for two generations by an heir in another city, and there is rubbish piled against every available wall for no particular reason, and the entire place is falling apart. In this part of town, the governer might buy a small building without attracting any attention whatsoever. The building in question is buried deep within the labirynthine streets of the area. It is almost impossible to find without a map. Those very few who know of it call it the doorless building, either through ignorance or secrecy, because, indeed, the building has no door. And if you were to try to find a door by somehow climbing over the abutting buildings, you would find none in the back of the Doorless Building either. But you would find horrible things. And if you waited long enough, you would see a secret door open, and the body of a pirate that was of no further use be quietly disposed of through it. And if you then got the idea that there might be another secret door in the front, you might somehow get back over the abutting buildings and notice that the golden wall sconce looks suspicious, and pull on it, and see the heavy stone door open. And hear the screams. And you might walk in and see the torturer's tools arranged with loving care. The Stretcher (with optional blades on the bed), the Whip, the Paddle, the Cheese Grater. And, for difficult cases, on a revered place high upon the shelf, the torturer's subtlest and simplest tools - the Screwdriver and the Poison with an Imaginary Antidote. And you would see one of Her Majesty's most sadistic men carrying out the first round of questions with the pirate in the boiling tub (his first bath in two years) while preparing for the second round by burning a poker until it's orange-hot. And you would marvel that such a small chamber could hold such large horrors. And then, as your spirit lifted through the ceiling, you would realize that the torturer had bludgeoned you to death with the poker, lest you divulge the location of the torture chamber. And you would see a rat waiting for its next meal - you. Thanks for reading!

And if you were to try to find a door by somehow climbing over the abutting buildings, you would find none in the back of the Doorless Building either. But you would find horrible things. And if you waited long enough, you would see a secret door open, and the body of a pirate that was of no further use be quietly disposed of through it. And if you then got the idea that there might be another secret door in the front, you might somehow get back over the abutting buildings and notice that the golden wall sconce looks suspicious, and pull on it, and see the heavy stone door open. And hear the screams. And you might walk in and see the torturer's tools arranged with loving care. The Stretcher (with optional blades on the bed), the Whip, the Paddle, the Cheese Grater. And, for difficult cases, on a revered place high upon the shelf, the torturer's subtlest and simplest tools - the Screwdriver and the Poison with an Imaginary Antidote. And you would see one of Her Majesty's most sadistic men carrying out the first round of questions with the pirate in the boiling tub (his first bath in two years) while preparing for the second round by burning a poker until it's orange-hot. And you would marvel that such a small chamber could hold such large horrors. And then, as your spirit lifted through the ceiling, you would realize that the torturer had bludgeoned you to death with the poker, lest you divulge the location of the torture chamber. And you would see a rat waiting for its next meal - you. Thanks for reading!

Since Emperor Claudius Rome has stated that he's definitely not doing the Torture Chamber, does this leave the position open? Because if you want one, I've got one (see my PM).

Not only did I have pie yesterday (apple), I also observed the traditional festivity of singing Happy Birthday to Einstein at 1:59 (because it IS his birthday. Weird, huh?)

They're especially useful if you're making a large landscape. If you need to fill up space, say, underneath a hill, one DUPLO piece takes up as much volume as eight SYSTEM pieces of the same stud dimensions. Then you can cover it with green system pieces like Patriot720 shows, and nobody's the wiser.

It happened a year ago, when an elite commando unit was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit! Geez, didn't you listen to trailer? Actually, I've known about this for a couple months now. I watched the trailer a few times. I'm still trying to decide - is shooting a plane from a parachuting tank tacky, or epic, or both?

So the second prizes are starting to roll out? Excellent! I'm really looking forward to getting mine. It's always nice when you can stretch out a holiday for several months

Oh, come now. It says specifically in the rules that you don't have to be an expert builder to participate! I certainly still have a lot to learn, but that doesn't mean I didn't enter my modest pirate lean-to, and there are other MOCs entered that, although they sure aren't going to get anybody an MOC expert badge, still are good additions to the build. If you just made it smaller to comply with the rules, this would be a great entry!

In an effort to even out my Atlantis factions, I got 8056 Monster Crab Clash and 8060 Typhoon Turbo Sub, both of which I was very pleased with after building. The Turbo Sub looks much better in real life than it does on the box or in pictures, and the crab is very large for a $7 set. I'd recommend them both to anyone with an atlantis collection. I assumed it wasn't supposed to stand for anything, it just is supposed to sound like Viper.

The one good picture that has been taken of me since age ten. I took it myself on my webcam. Go figure. If anyone asks you, you can now say that you've seen the palest person to live in Florida.

There are several series that I can watch over and over: Star Wars- the Original Trilogy and Ep. III I could happily watch forever. Episode II I haven't gotten tired of yet. Episode I I can still watch again for the sake of watching Duel of the Fates. Indiana Jones- I like KotCS. And Short-round makes ToD worth it. Back to the Future - mainly for Christopher Lloyd and the sheer mind-boggling awesomeness of the plot. All MST3K - Although it's a TV show, each episode is over an hour and a half long, and contains a whole movie. I think they count. They're so hysterical! Ghostbusters - Bill Murray is da bomb. I'm sure Ghostbusters III will be a worthy addition as well. Pirates of the Caribbean - the first one is the best, but the second and third ones are worth it just for Depp and the extreme amounts of epicness contained in the centerpiece swordfights. Toy Story - some of the best animated movies ever made, and TS3 is looking like it'll be just as good. And there are quite a few more one-off movies that I watch over and over: School of Rock - this is definitely up there as one of my favorite movies, for a huge number of reasons. The first one, of course, is Jack Black. Disney's Aladdin - one of the best late-era Disney movies, with Robin Williams pushing it over the top. Disney's Treasure Planet - the premise, character animation, steampunkery, and action scenes make it one of my favorites. Kung Fu Panda - It's Jack Black again. I watch this movie whenever I'm sick, and I never get tired of it. Disney's Hercules - Hades rocks. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - 'Nuff said. A Christmas Story - The. Best. Christmas. Movie. Ever. Anything with the Muppets - because, come on! They're the MUPPETS! Disney's Atlantis - Once again, Disney+Steampunk=Win Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Gene Wilder. Song and dance numbers. Orange oompa loompas. Those were the days. Young Frankenstein - "Abby... Abby Normal." "Abby. Normal?" "Yes, I believe that was the name." Monty Python and the Holy Grail - And in the frozen land of Nador, they were forced to eat Sir Robin's minstrels. And there was much rejoicing. (yay!) The rest of PIXAR's work - I like all of them. I'd watch any of them again in a heartbeat. Edited after a sudden realization: Little Shop of Horrors - one of my favorite musicals. Frank Oz's work with the Audrey II puppet is unbelievable.

Thanks! The armchair and couch did end up being a little too close for my liking, but it was either that or lose the wonderful personality that the armchair has. He did leave an awful lot . I left out the figures for a couple of reasons - the room, I feel, shoul have enough character on its own that it doesn't need characters, and also I don't feel that I have a wide enouch selection of figures to do Holmes and Watson justice. Cramped seems to be a common complaint about my MOCs. I guess it's just my style. My actual room is like that too. I'm the only person who can navigate it without knocking something down or stepping on something sharp. Thanks! You're correct about the gas lamps being most common - you'll see one by the doorway. However, Sherlockian canon extends across seventeen chronicled years in Baker Street, so I would guess that near the end of Holmes' career electrics would have been coming into fashion enough to appear in some areas.

In the past couple of months, I've read thirty-five short stories, seventeen pastiches, and one novel about Sherlock Holmes, as well as writing two short stories myself. What could be more natural, then, for my present literary fixation to percolate into an MOC? I give you: The grand room of 221b Baker Street! In the books and stories, the grand room of 221b is described as being utterly messy, and I've tried to replicate that here. The process was almost like making greebles for some steampunk engine, but instead of gears and pipes I had to work with furniture and piles of newspaper. The site where Holmes puzzles through many a case while consuming copious amounts of toxic substances. I liked the chair and fireplace from my "Quoth The Raven" MOC so much that I decided to use them again here. We also see the book-case where Holmes keeps his meticulous index of activities in London, as well as books of science and the arts, and a stylish bookend. The breakfast table around which countless expositions occured. The table where Holmes conducts his "chemical investigations", with a vessel full of green solute, an electro-active gold-plated testing dish, and shelves for storing vials of commonly used compounds. There's also a nicely framed map of downtown London. Through the doorway, we can see a new-fangled electric light on that drawered table, as well as Holmes' favorite weapon, the hunting crop. And, lastly, the hatrack, with Watson's top hat, Holmes' cape, and the infamous deerstalker (not invented by Sidney Paget - it was referred to as a "two-flapped hunting cap" in The Boscombe Valley Mystery) I hope that you enjoyed viewing this MOC as much as I enjoyed building it. I hope to add to it in the future, adding Holmes' bedroom and the rumble room full of newspapers, and maybe even an exterior. And, of course, actual figures of Holmes and Watson (suggestions would be appreciated). Thanks for looking!

First off, this belongs in the Buy, Sell, Trade and Finds subforum. Second, you can't post there until you make seven more posts elsewhere, so go find some topics that interest you and talk about them. Third, good luck with those cypress trees - I'm pretty sure they run forty bucks a pop. You may want to settle for large pine trees or brick-built trees.

Ah, blast! If I'd known there was a prize, I would have gone out and bought more pieces, instead of creating the ramshackle shack that I did. Oh well, I suppose I might have a chance still at it. I'm looking forward to seeing more entries!

I would rebut the assertion that people can do whatever they want with vampires because they're fictional. All fictional things have canon, and there's some canon you just don't mess with. The central tenets of Star Wars are set down in the G-canon (originating with George Lucas), and are the highest law within the continuity of the canon. The analogue for Vampire canon would be the elements that were present by the time that the original Balkan legends entered the public conciousness, mainly the fact that the vampire is an undead entity which drinks blood to survive, that there are a number of odd ways that it can be killed (this varied from culture to culture), that it is averse to sunlight, running water, and garlic, cannot pass the threshold of a house until it has been invited, and that (in most cultures) does not cast a shadow. If you mess with more than a few of these tenets, then what you have is a mythical creature of your own creation that should not rightfully be called a vampire. Of course, over the years and throughout different cultures, different variations of Vampire folklore have occured, which add such things as its ability to transform into a bat or dog (or in some older legends, a pile of straw or a cloud of mist), or the ability to choose to kill others or turn them into a vampire themselves. These creatures are vampires with added capabilities, the "Expanded Universe" if you will. However, taking away the central tenets of vampirism will result in a half-canon, sort of like Star Wars but with just Luke and Leia, no Han. Adding in lame things that don't belong once one has taken away the central tenets is like replacing Luke with Jar-Jar. I think that we can all agree that Leia and Jar-Jar's Big Adventure would not longer be Star Wars, the point being that just because things are fictional doesn't mean that they don't have a defined existence and definition that can be trespassed upon. A quick perusal of the omniscient Wikipedia (I don't have the iron stomach that would be needed to read the books or watch the films) reveals that, in fact, Meyer does not go that deep into the logistics of her vampires (further revealing the shallowness of the series), and that the only vampiric features that Edward has are the fact that he is undead and that he could drink blood if he wanted to - she's left out about ninety percent of the legends. However, she's also given him superspeed, superagility, mind reading, a supernose, magical pheromone smell, superlungs, the option to drink animal blood, and the infamous sparkling. Thus, I would contend that Stephanie Meyer's books are not about vampires, they are about blood-drinking superheroes of her own invention that are posing as vampires, and sadly will be seen as vampires by an entire generation of screaming teen girls. I apologize for my rant, but talking about fiction brings out the hereditary english teacher in me. Perhaps we should have a Twilight discussion thread somewhere else in Community? In any case, a film that hasn't been listed yet is Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, whic, I regret to say, I saw the original, uncut version of a couple of Christmases ago. The story is exactly what you would assume from the title, and the whole thing is about what you would expect from a 60's science fiction movie with a budget of $500 and a scriptwriter that dropped out at the last minute. It's... oh, God, it's awful.