Monday, December 30, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 178
Poor image quality, a single frame, and a late upload? Must have been a long day at work again. And it was... but mostly the problem is that I forgot to take the camera with me for taking pictures on break. Tomorrow will be a dozy though--if it doesn't happen, I'll do a double-header on Saturday.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 165
Actually, I really don't know what LEGO was going for other than "containers/jars" here--and I suppose that's the point of the toy--but the gold 1x1 round tile on the pink 1x1 round plate makes me think of foundation or something else make-up-like, so I went with "cosmetics" as the probable theme--though, since that isn't nearly as fun, at least a couple of the bottles have turned into fancy holiday beverages.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 160
Here we go again! The run-up to Christmas is the busiest time of year for a mailman, so I highly doubt I'll get a comic up every day, but I do hope to at least get one up FOR every day, even if that means catch-up extra strips some days.
Going by the normal Star Wars astromech numbering conventions, the ast-snow-mech ought to have a "Letter-Number-dash-Letter-Number" designation ("R2-D2"). For example, it could have been read backwards to what I went with: W0-N5. I did try to do something like "S7-O3" but it didn't look nearly as much like "SN-OW" as I wanted, so I went with it. If you want an in-universe explanation, keep in mind that I doubt ast-snow-mechs are manufactured with designations at all and that Lucien (like me) probably cared more for the pun than strict accuracy.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Grandfather's Tale: Chapter XV
Monday, October 28, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 155
That's right, folks, your eyes aren't deceiving you: it's a new AqBN! It's been three months since the last update and I would *really* like to say that I'm back, but we'll see... I'm hopeful, because I've figured out a routine for picture-taking on my breaks at work, but I'm not-so-hopeful because, to use this week as an example, I'm working upwards of 50 hours a week and by the time you get home in the evenings, you're much too tired and lazy for most creative endeavours.
Still, I'm going to give it a try, and I've even stockpiled an Advent Calendar for December in the hopes that I'll manage a 24-day schedule then. In the meantime, enjoy the (hopefully not temporary) return from hiatus:
Still, I'm going to give it a try, and I've even stockpiled an Advent Calendar for December in the hopes that I'll manage a 24-day schedule then. In the meantime, enjoy the (hopefully not temporary) return from hiatus:
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 154
Massachusetts has been crazy-humid/hot the past couple weeks and, delicate Alberta rose that I am, I've been wilting in it. Combine summer with the fact that I'm starting a new job and we'll see how well I do staying on track in the next couple months. I would not expect Crossed Bricks at all, but I'll try one or two up occasionally--or switch to them completely if Aquazone Breakfast News proves too much work to keep up with during the transition.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Aquazone Breakfast News: 153
Brickshelf was down over the weekend, so I didn't get this up Saturday, even though it was ready to go. To balance things for the week, I'll hold Crossed Bricks over a day or two.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Crossed Bricks: 005
Selection Method: Each of these minifigs represents a set--by good chance, the Orient Expedition set gave me a skeleton (rather using than Lord Sinister) that gave me a nice theme to use.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Crossed Bricks: 004
Selection Method: Actually, I forget. I think these figs represent a random selection off of my set-list, but I'm not sure--nor am I sure which one.
The idea of a duel came as soon as I had the Hydronaut and Power Miner, and the idea that they would go to a Castle fig to arbitrate tickled my fancy--but I didn't realise that the weapon my Santis carries was a gavel until I was editing the photo.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
6232 Skeleton Crew
Well, it's been forever and a day since I posted anything other than a comic here--and even longer since I reviewed a set! I can't say I foresee putting a lot of them up in the near future, but here's one anyway: the first set from my collection that I've rebuilt as a more-or-less standing addition to my permanent collection in a long time. It's a small set, mostly meriting a place among the "rebuilt" part my collection because it's a Pirate set--and I have a powerful nostalgia for Pirate sets.
I am speaking, as you can see from the picture below, of 6232 Skeleton Crew.
Skeleton Crew, despite being the smallest size of regular LEGO set (as opposed to impulse sets or polybags) that was available its day, has two minifigs: the sailor/pirate standing in front (who was known as "Billy" in my collection) and the skeleton bearing an Imperial Armada (conquistador) helm, lying prone behind him. This was the smallest Pirate set that released as part of the 1996 wave of sets that included the two Imperial Armada sets and a somewhat larger wave of Pirate sets proper. After seven years (1989-1995) of reusing the same Pirate designs against the largely similar Imperial soldiers and Imperial Guards, as well as against the strikingly dissimilar Islanders, LEGO produced a number of new faces and torsos for the Pirate faction in 1996, including both such elements on Billy.
I have long thought that this was one of the handsomest Pirates in my official LEGO collection, and the torso sported remains one of my favourite "historical" torsos, despite the fact that it's now seventeen years old. The head was part of a change in the mid-to-late 1990s from simple designs modelled around the classic Smiley to a much wider and versatile collection.
Nowadays, Skeleton Crew is worth picking up for Billy alone--throw in the conquistador helm, barrel, gold coin, and old grey bricks, and there's nary a piece here that isn't useful in large quantities. In my own collection, though Billy and his dead compadre have returned at last to their standard form, I've decided that Billy is no longer necessarily a Pirate. Obviously, he's no Imperial Guard or Armada soldier but, since he doesn't sport a patch eye, hook, peg leg, or the skull and crossbones, perhaps I can legitimately call him a non-Pirate. I'm running with that for now anyway.
I am speaking, as you can see from the picture below, of 6232 Skeleton Crew.
Skeleton Crew, despite being the smallest size of regular LEGO set (as opposed to impulse sets or polybags) that was available its day, has two minifigs: the sailor/pirate standing in front (who was known as "Billy" in my collection) and the skeleton bearing an Imperial Armada (conquistador) helm, lying prone behind him. This was the smallest Pirate set that released as part of the 1996 wave of sets that included the two Imperial Armada sets and a somewhat larger wave of Pirate sets proper. After seven years (1989-1995) of reusing the same Pirate designs against the largely similar Imperial soldiers and Imperial Guards, as well as against the strikingly dissimilar Islanders, LEGO produced a number of new faces and torsos for the Pirate faction in 1996, including both such elements on Billy.
I have long thought that this was one of the handsomest Pirates in my official LEGO collection, and the torso sported remains one of my favourite "historical" torsos, despite the fact that it's now seventeen years old. The head was part of a change in the mid-to-late 1990s from simple designs modelled around the classic Smiley to a much wider and versatile collection.
Nowadays, Skeleton Crew is worth picking up for Billy alone--throw in the conquistador helm, barrel, gold coin, and old grey bricks, and there's nary a piece here that isn't useful in large quantities. In my own collection, though Billy and his dead compadre have returned at last to their standard form, I've decided that Billy is no longer necessarily a Pirate. Obviously, he's no Imperial Guard or Armada soldier but, since he doesn't sport a patch eye, hook, peg leg, or the skull and crossbones, perhaps I can legitimately call him a non-Pirate. I'm running with that for now anyway.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Crossed Bricks: 003
Selection Method: In addition to keeping track of the minifigs I own, I also keep track of the sets. Each of these minifigs represents a randomly chosen set (l-r):
6558 Shark Cage Cove (Divers, 1997)
7411 Tygurah's Roar (Orient Expedition, 2002)
8831 Bagpiper (Collectible Minifigs, Series 7, 2012)
4796 Ogel Mutant Squid (Mission Deep Sea, 2002)
Friday, May 31, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Crossed Bricks: 002
Selection Method: In addition to being a straight list of all my minifigs, my "Census" is broken into sections, which correspond to the major LEGO themes. Random letters were selected corresponding to each theme, with a number for each subtheme, and then another number for each minifig in that category.
It amuses me to no end that out of 1300 minifigs I ended up selecting Alex in the second "Crossed Bricks" comic ever. I suppose that this comic could be considered canonical-unless-disregarded-later as regards the "Aquazone Breakfast News" continuity.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Grandfather's Tale, Chapter XIV
It's been more than eleven months since the last chapter went up, and Chapter XIV isn't a long one--but I do think it's got a nice surprise at the end. I certainly don't PLAN for it to be another eleven months, but you know never know... In the meantime, here is the link to the Brickshelf folder (which should be moderated as of posting.)
...and the rest of the chapter: 02 03 04 05 06 07
...and the rest of the chapter: 02 03 04 05 06 07
Monday, May 20, 2013
Crossed Bricks: 001
Today I want to debut a new comic series here on Grandfather's Tales: Crossed Bricks. The idea is not to replace Aquazone Breakfast News, which should continue apace (and hopefully with no unscheduled hiatuses), but to add to it.
Unlike AqBN, Crossed Bricks is not narrative-driven or character driven. If you think of AqBN as closer to Peanuts, then Crossed Bricks is closer to The Far Side: single panel strips, with little or no continuity from one strip to another.
The major "device" behind Crossed Bricks is to make use of my approximately 1300 minifigs. If it has not come up before, it should be mentioned now that I enjoy cataloguing things and keeping track of them, and having done this in a few ways with my LEGO collection, I am able to "randomly" select minifigs from across my collection. The goal with Crossed Bricks is to do this--and then throw the selected minifigs into a photo together and come up with a funny caption.
Here's the first comic:
Selection Method: I asked my younger brother to select numbers between 1-300, 301-700, 701-1000, 1001-1300. Each of these minifigs is listed under a "census" spreadsheet under those numbers--the fact that we have two Castle figs and two Space figs is an indication of the high numbers of both types of those figs that in my collection.
Unlike AqBN, Crossed Bricks is not narrative-driven or character driven. If you think of AqBN as closer to Peanuts, then Crossed Bricks is closer to The Far Side: single panel strips, with little or no continuity from one strip to another.
The major "device" behind Crossed Bricks is to make use of my approximately 1300 minifigs. If it has not come up before, it should be mentioned now that I enjoy cataloguing things and keeping track of them, and having done this in a few ways with my LEGO collection, I am able to "randomly" select minifigs from across my collection. The goal with Crossed Bricks is to do this--and then throw the selected minifigs into a photo together and come up with a funny caption.
Here's the first comic:
Selection Method: I asked my younger brother to select numbers between 1-300, 301-700, 701-1000, 1001-1300. Each of these minifigs is listed under a "census" spreadsheet under those numbers--the fact that we have two Castle figs and two Space figs is an indication of the high numbers of both types of those figs that in my collection.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
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