I sat in a long meeting yesterday and jotted this down. No real meaning, just a doodle of free-flowing patterns centered around a bird. Can you see it?
Maybe my subconscience wanted to fly away, out of the meeting.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Bird Doodle
I sat in a long meeting yesterday and jotted this down. No real meaning, just a doodle of free-flowing patterns centered around a bird. Can you see it?
Maybe my subconscience wanted to fly away, out of the meeting.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Lego Contraption
This thing takes little soccer balls and drops them off via a train, they are funneled to a lifter that drops them onto the Ferris Wheel, which goes all the way around then knocks the ball off so they can fall down to another conveyor that puts them back onto the train , which brings them to where it began.
Don't understand? Just watch:
Don't understand? Just watch:
Brick Fair Creepy Clown
This is a Creepy Lego Clown that has a moving ring with Lego people that are stuck to the inside. The clown eyes revolve which really helped the creep factor. This may very well be what serial killers with an engineering degree build with Legos.
BrickFair 2010
A few years ago I discovered Brickfair, a huge show for Lego enthusiasts such as myself who can go and see other what other Lego nuts have made. This year it was at the Dulles Expo Center out in Chantilly and I was geeked because it was the first time I would be bringing Jack along, who also loves Lego's.
Two of his friends from Child Care were also going so we ended up meeting them as well for a few hours of Lego fun. It cost $12 to get in, $9 for Jack, but once inside, it was packed with people who love Legos and lots of Lego-themed stuff.
We made our way to the back and worked our way all the way around the complex, must have seen millions of blocks and hundreds of buildings, some as high as 6 or 7 feet tall. There were a few lego cranes that were capable of lifting stuff. The cranes were about 12 feet tall and actually worked.
The small Fire Department, one of Jacks favorite since he is big into fire trucks and legos. (He got a Fire Department with two trucks for his birthday - thanks GG and Papa John)
Jack and Mason waiting patiently.
Jack and Mason watching all the action. (They were waiting for the train to come around again)
There were two scenes that were remakes of the Stay Puff Marchmellow man scene from Ghost Busters. This one was, I think, the better of the two. They even had little Ghost Busters that had their Ghost Buster ambulance.
This is thh second Stay Puff Marshmellow man scene from Ghost Busters.
Lego Town, with sidewalks, streets, people and cars.
More Lego Town.
A Lego Vitorian Brownstone. I loved seeing all the architectural stuff you could build with these simple bricks. It was really fascinating to see all the different things people came up with.
Lego Town Block. This was the first one we saw, it had an underground subway system as well.
I was impressed by the Lego skyscrapers that were five and six feet tall.
A real live Lego ranch, complete with Lego cows, Lego Cowboys and a Lego Barn or two. There was a Lego Train that surrounded all this.
This is the huge Lego castle which spanned three tables.
Lego High rises.
Jack in front of the Lego cranes that stood 12 feet tall.
A real concert scene with a bunch of Lego people in the crowd. I see a few lego groupies, a Lego drug dealer and even a Lego narc about to arrest him.
This is a small city clock that might be considered a village when compared to some of the other scenes.
Lego Buildngs in Lego City, complete with steets, sidewalks and people moving about.
One of the alleyways in the middle of Lego City.
Lego castle and Lego mountain.
A Lego Castle, this one turned out to be a small one compared to a few others we saw.
Another Lego Building.
Lego Building 1 - note all the detail they put into these things. Every once in a while you can spot an "easter egg", like a batman lego figure hiding out on top of one of the buildings.
Looks like a six-alarm fire in the middle of downtown Lego City!
Someone (or a few people) built a 777 airplane jet completely from legos.
Forest Scene built from Legos.
Two of his friends from Child Care were also going so we ended up meeting them as well for a few hours of Lego fun. It cost $12 to get in, $9 for Jack, but once inside, it was packed with people who love Legos and lots of Lego-themed stuff.
We made our way to the back and worked our way all the way around the complex, must have seen millions of blocks and hundreds of buildings, some as high as 6 or 7 feet tall. There were a few lego cranes that were capable of lifting stuff. The cranes were about 12 feet tall and actually worked.
The small Fire Department, one of Jacks favorite since he is big into fire trucks and legos. (He got a Fire Department with two trucks for his birthday - thanks GG and Papa John)
Jack and Mason waiting patiently.
Jack and Mason watching all the action. (They were waiting for the train to come around again)
There were two scenes that were remakes of the Stay Puff Marchmellow man scene from Ghost Busters. This one was, I think, the better of the two. They even had little Ghost Busters that had their Ghost Buster ambulance.
This is thh second Stay Puff Marshmellow man scene from Ghost Busters.
Lego Town, with sidewalks, streets, people and cars.
More Lego Town.
A Lego Vitorian Brownstone. I loved seeing all the architectural stuff you could build with these simple bricks. It was really fascinating to see all the different things people came up with.
Lego Town Block. This was the first one we saw, it had an underground subway system as well.
I was impressed by the Lego skyscrapers that were five and six feet tall.
A real live Lego ranch, complete with Lego cows, Lego Cowboys and a Lego Barn or two. There was a Lego Train that surrounded all this.
This is the huge Lego castle which spanned three tables.
Lego High rises.
Jack in front of the Lego cranes that stood 12 feet tall.
A real concert scene with a bunch of Lego people in the crowd. I see a few lego groupies, a Lego drug dealer and even a Lego narc about to arrest him.
This is a small city clock that might be considered a village when compared to some of the other scenes.
Lego Buildngs in Lego City, complete with steets, sidewalks and people moving about.
One of the alleyways in the middle of Lego City.
Lego castle and Lego mountain.
A Lego Castle, this one turned out to be a small one compared to a few others we saw.
Another Lego Building.
Lego Building 1 - note all the detail they put into these things. Every once in a while you can spot an "easter egg", like a batman lego figure hiding out on top of one of the buildings.
Looks like a six-alarm fire in the middle of downtown Lego City!
Someone (or a few people) built a 777 airplane jet completely from legos.
Forest Scene built from Legos.
What's Wrong with America
I got a little flag for Jack so he could wave it as we watched the July 4th parade. I noticed this tag on the flag. Kind of sad that one of the symbols of our country is now outsourced like so many other products. It seems as though all we do is consume, not make these days.
We have sold out for cheaper lighters and disposable cars. I wonder if we could ever return to being a country that buys what it makes and makes what it buys.
We have sold out for cheaper lighters and disposable cars. I wonder if we could ever return to being a country that buys what it makes and makes what it buys.
Jack and the Rabbit
We came home the other day and found one of the bunnies on our lawn having some front-lawn salad. I took out my camera and watched and tried to get Jack to approach him/her.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Death Wish
I was going through old files and ran across this. It made me laugh - I was reading how its Steve Martins birthday (another funny man like my father I admire) and they aid that his comedy was all about creating tension and then not releasing that tension, letting the audience release it through their laughter. This is a good example of that tension.
I always wondered what happened after this picture was taken and if the photographer would still have published this if something bad had happened to the dog. One thing for sure; the Butt to Dog ratio is out of this world.
I always wondered what happened after this picture was taken and if the photographer would still have published this if something bad had happened to the dog. One thing for sure; the Butt to Dog ratio is out of this world.
Dead Armadillo
I talked to my dad this morning to wish him a happy 74th birthday. I called the night before but they weren't home - but I got Mom to call me back so I saved a grand total of nothing by having her call me. Remember when we cared how much it cost to dial long distance? Wasn't that long ago, but now we know it costs nothing but back in the day it was a big deal on who got the best rate.
I digress, I was talking to my Dad and he said that he killed an Armadillo this morning and a few hours later the body was gone, some lucky possum or wolf ate it up and had quite a nice breakfast. In honor of this I decided to repost my illustration of a dead armadillo, which I originally illustrated because of the quote about politics these days “There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos“ – Jim Hightower.
Someone wrote me a comment a few months back that found this gem when I had originally posted it and commented on the artwork. The only problem is that he didn't leave any type of email or contact information.
By the way, if you search Google and type in Dead Armadillo, my image is rated fourth. Not too shabby - my own little corner of the web.
Rock On!
We went to Cheesecake Factory and I was trying to teach Jack how to make the "I Love You" using sign language, he can master only two fingers, the pinky, then the index and then the thumb. This time he only got to the thumb as I snapped a quick pic. Makes it look like he is listening to Dokken (a hair metal band from the 80's - its OK if you didn't get the reference)
Stamp Time
Kate's cousin Bill asked if I could make a stamp, so I looked online and found a place that could do such a thing if I supplied the artwork. I got an itty-bitty jpg image that was like 34k and cleaned it up so that it was much sharper.
Th end result is a stamp made to my specified size that arrived in the mail a week and a half later.
Here is the stamp image.
I now want to get a few bucks together and learn how to make these all by myself, apparently it can be lucrative if you can come up with a few decent images for Stampers to buy. I have the illustration talent.
Th end result is a stamp made to my specified size that arrived in the mail a week and a half later.
Here is the stamp image.
I now want to get a few bucks together and learn how to make these all by myself, apparently it can be lucrative if you can come up with a few decent images for Stampers to buy. I have the illustration talent.
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