Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ...
... this creche by Zeity121. BTW, this was actually for a pre-Christmas display, so Mary is still great with child.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Just before midnight ...
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.
Merry Christmas, one and all. Angel by Monsterbrick.
Merry Christmas, one and all. Angel by Monsterbrick.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Happy Hanukkah
Tonight is the eighth night of Hanukkah, and so it is time for our final LEGO menorah, once again by Joanna Brichetto, this time with a Star Wars theme. I hope you all had a blessed holiday. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and so we turn our sights to the twelve days of LEGO manger scenes. :)
Rapid-fire book reviews
Dang. I have this stack of books that I've wanted to do nice long reviews on before Christmas, to maybe give some recommendations for gift-giving, but now I find myself just a couple of days away from the 25th. So I'm going to do some short reviews for now, and then in the new year I really promise to go back and do longer takes on each of these.
I'm posting this same post across all of my blogs, btw.
Steampunk LEGO by Guy Himber
No starch press, 200 pages, 2015
Guy is certainly one of the preeminant AFOLs in the steampunk genre, and he's gathered together a collection of models by a lot of other great builders. If you don't know, steampunk is kind of the sci-fi of the Victorian era. The neat thing about this book is that rather than just being page after page of photos of LEGO models, this is put together more like a scrapbook made in the late 1800s. The pages have interesting backgrounds that look like parchment, maps, or pages out of old books. The fonts are often flowing script, or look like they were banged out on a manual typewriter. The images are 'attached' with those photo corners you might see in your granparents' photo albums. The pictures are sometimes in full color, but often in black and white or sepia tones. And the text is all by the fictional chronicler reporting back to Queen Victoria. The result is a very enjoyable volume that stands out from some of the other books that highlight great builds, but sometimes become repetitive (particularly if you have already seen them online). The audience here is probably for the older teen or adult with some interest in this genre, but really any interest in great LEGO models presented interestingly. I highly recommend this book.
LEGO Play Book by Daniel Lipkowitz
Dorling Kindserly (DK), 200 pages, 2013
This book brings together eight builders and lets each of them loose for a chapter based on a given theme. Barney Main builds fairy tales, Tim Goddard microscale, Pete Reid and Yvonne Doyle team up to make animals, and so on. Some of the chapters have a story connecting the models, and others are more collections. My son and I got this from the library when it came out (I really thought I'd reviewed it already) and we had so much fun going through it. We renewed the subscription three times because we were reading through a few pages each night at bedtime, just savoring the experience. He's 5, I'm 45, and we both thought it was great. Probably the main message was to encourage kids to be creative. If you have a kid who is in to LEGO, get them this book. You won't regret it.
LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History by Gregory Farshtey with Daniel Lipkowitz
Dorling Kindserly (DK), 256 pages, 2013
While DK has put out a few books like the LEGO Play Book just mentioned, they are more known for putting out books that are little more than catalogs - big compendiums of all of the LEGO Star Wars sets, or all of the LEGO Harry Potter sets, or all of the LEGO Batman sets, etc. I'm generally not a fan of these. This book falls in that category. It's kind of a rehash of Standing Small, a book DK put out a few years ago focused on minifigs, or the LEGO Minifigures Character Encyclopedia, though that was exclusively on the Collectible lines. This book is unique in that, rather than grouping all of the castle figs in one place and all of the Star Wars figs in another, it goes through, well, year by year, just like the title says. So you see groups of figs in chronological order. It's not a comprehensive listing like Christoph Bartneck's Unofficial LEGO Minifigure Catalog, so it's not useful as a reference book, but it is kind of fun to page through and see the evolution of the fig from the classic smiley to today's very detailed figs. Probably the best part is the inclusion of some of the prototypes and other precursors to the modern fig. A nice coffee table book, but probably not something you'd sit down and read. An okay gift for the casually interested person, but I'd rather give them the LEGO Play Book to show them what you can do when you're being creative.
The LEGO Neighborhood Book by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles
No starch press, 200 pages, 2014
This book focuses on building in the Cafe Corner style. The book is about 10-20% discussion of building style and sources of inspiration, about 30-40% pictures of models by the authors, and about 50% detailed building instructions to make a few large buildings and also some detail features like lampposts and benches. The models are great, and the instructions are really clear. If you like the Cafe Corner sets and want to make more of your own, this is the book for you. Definitely for older teens and adult builders, simply for the scale of the projects involved.
Brick Shakespeare: The Comedies by John McCann, Monica Sweeney, and Becky Thomas
Skyhorse Publishing, 342 pages, 2014
Okay, here's where reviewing is no fun. I absolutely hated Brick Shakespeare: The Tragedies by these authors, and I'm not much happier with this one either. This book is essentially a collection of four LEGO-illustrated plays - A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew. These are put together in much the same style as the Brick Bible books by Brendan Powell Smith. It's just that, well, the models and photography aren't very good. As I said when I reviewed the previous book, if this were five years ago I might feel differently, but there are so many high quality LEGO books on the market now that I just can't recommend this. I suppose if you are really into Shakespeare you might want this, but I wouldn't rush out to get it.
Brick Fairy Tales by John McCann, Monica Sweeney, and Becky Thomas
Skyhorse Publishing, 264 pages, 2014
This book has LEGO-illustrated versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and nine other stories (some longer, some shorter), but my comments are the same as they were for the Brick Shakespeare book. Avoid this.
I should say that I really don't like writing bad reviews. I'd like these to be better, I really would. I don't have anything against the authors, except that I want them to go on line and see what is actually being built out of LEGO these days so they can strive to do better.
There are many other LEGO books I don't have that have come out in the last year, and there's no way to cover them all. Here, though, are some that look particularly interesting to me. As soon as I get them I'll write full reviews.
Beautiful LEGO 2: Dark by Mike Doyle
No starch press, 340 pages, 2014
I completely loved book 1 and am looking forward to getting book 2. In book 1 Mike was really focused on LEGO as artwork, and he brought together works by others to show just that. For this book he publicly called for people to submit or suggest artistic MOCs with a much darker theme. I've seen many of the creations that were submitted, and I look forward to seeing how they all came together in the book.
Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya
No starch press, 248 pages, 2014
We're all familiar with Nathan's creations, and you may have even attended one of his traveling exhibitions that have been in art museums all over the world. This book appears to be the companion piece to the exhibit.
Art of LEGO Design by Jordan Schwartz
No starch press, 288 pages, 2014
Jordan was certainly one of the most creative builders around at a very young age. He even got a chance to go to Denmark as a LEGO intern, and I believe he designed a few sets during his internship (I should probably check the details on that). He seems to have dropped out of the hobby for a few years, but he's back with this book that looks at the process of designing MOCs, including interviews with the builders of the work shown.
Revolution! by Brendan Powell Smith
Skyhorse Publishing, 2014
Okay, I'm recommending this one without ever seeing a page of it. We know Brendan from his decade-long project to illustrate the Bible, but last year he came out with Assasination!, focused on assasinations and attempted assasinations of American presidents. I wasn't only impressed by the illustrations - I expected those based on Brendan's previous work - but also by the writing, which was both informative and engaging. Anyone with any interest in history would enjoy it. So, I suppose this is a complete assumption, but I'm going to guess that Revolution!, a LEGO-illustrated history of the American Revolutionary War, will be similarly enjoyable on multiple levels.
Brick City by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 256 pages, 2013
I've flipped through this one in the store and it looks really good. This is focused on models of well known buildings and other landmarks from around the world, such as the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, etc., mostly at microscale. Perhaps my only concern is that it's a smaller book, whereas bigger pages would make some of the details easier to see. On the other hand, it's hard to carry a large coffee-table sized book with you, so this is nice too.
Brick Wonders by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 256 pages, 2014
Again, I've looked through this one and it's on my wish list as well. Whereas Brick City was more about modern structures, this one is broader in scope, with ancient structures such as the Pyramids and Babylon, natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon, and even modern things such as the International Space Station. Again, the models look great and the photography is great as well.
Brick Flicks by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 160 pages, 2014
This is another one that I'm listing without ever seeing it. I actually didn't know this one existed until I was getting the links for the other two by Warren. Based on the strengths of those, though, I'm looking forward to getting Brick Flicks. My only concern is that it appears to be 40% shorter than Brick City and Brick Wonders.
I'm posting this same post across all of my blogs, btw.
Steampunk LEGO by Guy Himber
No starch press, 200 pages, 2015
Guy is certainly one of the preeminant AFOLs in the steampunk genre, and he's gathered together a collection of models by a lot of other great builders. If you don't know, steampunk is kind of the sci-fi of the Victorian era. The neat thing about this book is that rather than just being page after page of photos of LEGO models, this is put together more like a scrapbook made in the late 1800s. The pages have interesting backgrounds that look like parchment, maps, or pages out of old books. The fonts are often flowing script, or look like they were banged out on a manual typewriter. The images are 'attached' with those photo corners you might see in your granparents' photo albums. The pictures are sometimes in full color, but often in black and white or sepia tones. And the text is all by the fictional chronicler reporting back to Queen Victoria. The result is a very enjoyable volume that stands out from some of the other books that highlight great builds, but sometimes become repetitive (particularly if you have already seen them online). The audience here is probably for the older teen or adult with some interest in this genre, but really any interest in great LEGO models presented interestingly. I highly recommend this book.
LEGO Play Book by Daniel Lipkowitz
Dorling Kindserly (DK), 200 pages, 2013
This book brings together eight builders and lets each of them loose for a chapter based on a given theme. Barney Main builds fairy tales, Tim Goddard microscale, Pete Reid and Yvonne Doyle team up to make animals, and so on. Some of the chapters have a story connecting the models, and others are more collections. My son and I got this from the library when it came out (I really thought I'd reviewed it already) and we had so much fun going through it. We renewed the subscription three times because we were reading through a few pages each night at bedtime, just savoring the experience. He's 5, I'm 45, and we both thought it was great. Probably the main message was to encourage kids to be creative. If you have a kid who is in to LEGO, get them this book. You won't regret it.
LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History by Gregory Farshtey with Daniel Lipkowitz
Dorling Kindserly (DK), 256 pages, 2013
While DK has put out a few books like the LEGO Play Book just mentioned, they are more known for putting out books that are little more than catalogs - big compendiums of all of the LEGO Star Wars sets, or all of the LEGO Harry Potter sets, or all of the LEGO Batman sets, etc. I'm generally not a fan of these. This book falls in that category. It's kind of a rehash of Standing Small, a book DK put out a few years ago focused on minifigs, or the LEGO Minifigures Character Encyclopedia, though that was exclusively on the Collectible lines. This book is unique in that, rather than grouping all of the castle figs in one place and all of the Star Wars figs in another, it goes through, well, year by year, just like the title says. So you see groups of figs in chronological order. It's not a comprehensive listing like Christoph Bartneck's Unofficial LEGO Minifigure Catalog, so it's not useful as a reference book, but it is kind of fun to page through and see the evolution of the fig from the classic smiley to today's very detailed figs. Probably the best part is the inclusion of some of the prototypes and other precursors to the modern fig. A nice coffee table book, but probably not something you'd sit down and read. An okay gift for the casually interested person, but I'd rather give them the LEGO Play Book to show them what you can do when you're being creative.
The LEGO Neighborhood Book by Brian Lyles and Jason Lyles
No starch press, 200 pages, 2014
This book focuses on building in the Cafe Corner style. The book is about 10-20% discussion of building style and sources of inspiration, about 30-40% pictures of models by the authors, and about 50% detailed building instructions to make a few large buildings and also some detail features like lampposts and benches. The models are great, and the instructions are really clear. If you like the Cafe Corner sets and want to make more of your own, this is the book for you. Definitely for older teens and adult builders, simply for the scale of the projects involved.
Brick Shakespeare: The Comedies by John McCann, Monica Sweeney, and Becky Thomas
Skyhorse Publishing, 342 pages, 2014
Okay, here's where reviewing is no fun. I absolutely hated Brick Shakespeare: The Tragedies by these authors, and I'm not much happier with this one either. This book is essentially a collection of four LEGO-illustrated plays - A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew. These are put together in much the same style as the Brick Bible books by Brendan Powell Smith. It's just that, well, the models and photography aren't very good. As I said when I reviewed the previous book, if this were five years ago I might feel differently, but there are so many high quality LEGO books on the market now that I just can't recommend this. I suppose if you are really into Shakespeare you might want this, but I wouldn't rush out to get it.
Brick Fairy Tales by John McCann, Monica Sweeney, and Becky Thomas
Skyhorse Publishing, 264 pages, 2014
This book has LEGO-illustrated versions of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and nine other stories (some longer, some shorter), but my comments are the same as they were for the Brick Shakespeare book. Avoid this.
I should say that I really don't like writing bad reviews. I'd like these to be better, I really would. I don't have anything against the authors, except that I want them to go on line and see what is actually being built out of LEGO these days so they can strive to do better.
There are many other LEGO books I don't have that have come out in the last year, and there's no way to cover them all. Here, though, are some that look particularly interesting to me. As soon as I get them I'll write full reviews.
Beautiful LEGO 2: Dark by Mike Doyle
No starch press, 340 pages, 2014
I completely loved book 1 and am looking forward to getting book 2. In book 1 Mike was really focused on LEGO as artwork, and he brought together works by others to show just that. For this book he publicly called for people to submit or suggest artistic MOCs with a much darker theme. I've seen many of the creations that were submitted, and I look forward to seeing how they all came together in the book.
Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya
No starch press, 248 pages, 2014
We're all familiar with Nathan's creations, and you may have even attended one of his traveling exhibitions that have been in art museums all over the world. This book appears to be the companion piece to the exhibit.
Art of LEGO Design by Jordan Schwartz
No starch press, 288 pages, 2014
Jordan was certainly one of the most creative builders around at a very young age. He even got a chance to go to Denmark as a LEGO intern, and I believe he designed a few sets during his internship (I should probably check the details on that). He seems to have dropped out of the hobby for a few years, but he's back with this book that looks at the process of designing MOCs, including interviews with the builders of the work shown.
Revolution! by Brendan Powell Smith
Skyhorse Publishing, 2014
Okay, I'm recommending this one without ever seeing a page of it. We know Brendan from his decade-long project to illustrate the Bible, but last year he came out with Assasination!, focused on assasinations and attempted assasinations of American presidents. I wasn't only impressed by the illustrations - I expected those based on Brendan's previous work - but also by the writing, which was both informative and engaging. Anyone with any interest in history would enjoy it. So, I suppose this is a complete assumption, but I'm going to guess that Revolution!, a LEGO-illustrated history of the American Revolutionary War, will be similarly enjoyable on multiple levels.
Brick City by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 256 pages, 2013
I've flipped through this one in the store and it looks really good. This is focused on models of well known buildings and other landmarks from around the world, such as the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, etc., mostly at microscale. Perhaps my only concern is that it's a smaller book, whereas bigger pages would make some of the details easier to see. On the other hand, it's hard to carry a large coffee-table sized book with you, so this is nice too.
Brick Wonders by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 256 pages, 2014
Again, I've looked through this one and it's on my wish list as well. Whereas Brick City was more about modern structures, this one is broader in scope, with ancient structures such as the Pyramids and Babylon, natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon, and even modern things such as the International Space Station. Again, the models look great and the photography is great as well.
Brick Flicks by Warren Elsmore
Barron's, 160 pages, 2014
This is another one that I'm listing without ever seeing it. I actually didn't know this one existed until I was getting the links for the other two by Warren. Based on the strengths of those, though, I'm looking forward to getting Brick Flicks. My only concern is that it appears to be 40% shorter than Brick City and Brick Wonders.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Judah Maccabee
Nathan made this fig of Judah Maccabee (יהודה המכבי, Y'hudhah HaMakabi). After Alexander the Great died, his empire broke up into different divisions. The Seleucid Empire, which stretched from modern day Syria and parts of Turkey to beyond Iran, had control of Jerusalem. in 175 BCE Antiochus IV Epiphanes forbade Jewish religious practices, including the rites held in the Temple. Judah and his family were leaders in a revolt against the Seleucid forces. In 164 they liberated Jerusalem, and the cleansing and rededication of the Temple, and the miracle of the one-day supply of oil that kept burning for eight nights, are remembered today in the festival of Hanukkah.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Happy Hanukkah
A couple of years ago Joe Richins and other members of the Cactus Brick LUG put together a holiday display including Christmas decorations, general winter scenes (be sure to check out the melting snowman), this menorah and some dreidels.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Schlemiel on a Wheel
Okay, so I've never gotten the Elf on a Shelf thing for my kids. I've seen it in the stores, of course, and some pretty funny pictures come across my twitter feed (e.g. the elf tied down by a bunch of minifigs, Gulliver-style), but I had to look it up for the full description. Nine years ago three people came up with a great idea that has probably made them a lot of money. They wrote a book about an elf who comes and lives with a family and watches the kids, and at night goes back to report to Santa (hmm, somewhat Orwellian, no?). The key thing is that the book comes packaged with a stuffed elf that the parents move around the house each night, so when the kids wake up they have to go find it. But why should the Christian kids get all of the slightly creepy fun? So now we get Mensch on a Bench and Maccabee on the Mantle. Really. Google them. Before I complain, though, this also seems to be a good money-maker. Joanna Brichetto of Bible Belt Balabusta fame had a laugh at this with her Schlemiel on a Wheel, Schmuck on a Truck, Schnorrer on a Menorah, etc..
First up, the Schlemiel on a Wheel. Joanna is kind enough to explain the terms for all us goys. "Schlemiel is the guy who spills the soup, and the schlemazel is the guy upon whom the soup is spilled." And now I know what Lavern and Shirley were singing about! Yes, I know, I'm dating myself.
Since Joanna lives in the south, she was sure to include the Schmuck on a Truck.
My favorite though, is the Schnorrer on a Menorah. Everybody give a round of applause for really painful puns. A schnorrer is a bum or a beggar.
First up, the Schlemiel on a Wheel. Joanna is kind enough to explain the terms for all us goys. "Schlemiel is the guy who spills the soup, and the schlemazel is the guy upon whom the soup is spilled." And now I know what Lavern and Shirley were singing about! Yes, I know, I'm dating myself.
Since Joanna lives in the south, she was sure to include the Schmuck on a Truck.
My favorite though, is the Schnorrer on a Menorah. Everybody give a round of applause for really painful puns. A schnorrer is a bum or a beggar.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Happy Hanukkah (with Nanoblock Menorahs)
Well, I'm not sure I approve of non-LEGO building blocks, but it's Joanna, and so we'll let it slide (this time, Joanna). :) She decided that actual LEGO menorahs were too big for her minifigs (but there's Modulex! oh, okay, I'll give it a rest), so she has her fig lighting a Nanoblock Menorah to start the Hanukkah celebration.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Happy Hanukkah
This evening is the beginning of Hanukkah, and so we begin our eight days of LEGO menorahs and dreidels, to be followed by the twelve days of LEGO manger scenes. :) The lighting of the menorah each night of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple, when the lamps burned for eight nights even though there was only enough oil for one. Most major cities hold public menorah lightings, and a common tradition in recent years is to build giant menorahs out of LEGO as a way to involve children. One such example is this from Portlan (presumably that picture is the result of last year's event).
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Church "At the Movies"
This ones needs a little background. The "seeker-driven church" movement is a trend in the past decade or so, particularly with many larger American Protestant churches, to focus much of their efforts, particularly around the Sunday morning service, at reaching those who might not normally attend church. This can often involve events with large media pushes to attract these unchurched people. One extremely common event is an "At the Movies" series - a series of sermons, generally in the summer, each based around the theme of a recent popular movie. Lifechurch is a multi-site church where this summer, in conjunction with their "At the Movies" series, the various campuses decorated their churches with a LEGO Movie theme. Sadly, none of the actual sermons was based on the LEGO Movie - I was kind of hoping they would be so I could look at it here, but no such luck (though if you know of a church that did a LEGO Movie sermon, I'd love a link to the audio). Anyway, the decor is worth checking out.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Scriptorium du monastère de Dornenwal
Before Gutenberg invented his printing press, the only way to mass produce books was to painstakingly copy them by hand. In medieval monasteries, the scriptorium was the room where the monks copied and illustrated texts - the Bible and other religious works, but other works as well. B.K illustrated this with the Scriptorium du monastère de Dornenwal.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Che Kung Temple
Andy Bear built this rendition of the Che Kung Temple found in the Sha Tin district in Hong Kong. The temple is dedicated to Che Kung, a general in the Song Dynasty in the 13th century, also known as a healer. He is now revered as a god of protection.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Tian Tan Buddha
Hi all,
First up, I just wanted to apologize for my six month hiatus. I've been blogging about LEGO for nine years now, and from time to time I've just gotten a bit run down and distracted from my family of blogs. However, in the meantime, I'm constantly going through Flickr, Brickshelf, and other sites, and probably every day I bookmark a few more things that I keep meaning to post. I've gotten a couple of nice notes asking where I've been, and I guess it's time to come back. Also, during the year I save up LEGO books to review as people are getting ready for Christmas, and want to get those posted. And so, back to blogging. Hopefully I won't have too many interruptions in the near future. I've certainly got a backlog of great creations to feature.
The Tian Tan Buddha (here by Alan Boar) is a 34 meter tall statue of the Buddha seated atop a hill near the Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. The rooms under the statue include a relic said to include some of the remains of Gautama Buddha. Earlier this year French artist Paulo Grangeon created 1600 paper mache pandas which he then displayed and photographed around Hong Kong, including at the Tian Tan Buddha, as reproduced here in Alan Boar's MOC.
First up, I just wanted to apologize for my six month hiatus. I've been blogging about LEGO for nine years now, and from time to time I've just gotten a bit run down and distracted from my family of blogs. However, in the meantime, I'm constantly going through Flickr, Brickshelf, and other sites, and probably every day I bookmark a few more things that I keep meaning to post. I've gotten a couple of nice notes asking where I've been, and I guess it's time to come back. Also, during the year I save up LEGO books to review as people are getting ready for Christmas, and want to get those posted. And so, back to blogging. Hopefully I won't have too many interruptions in the near future. I've certainly got a backlog of great creations to feature.
The Tian Tan Buddha (here by Alan Boar) is a 34 meter tall statue of the Buddha seated atop a hill near the Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. The rooms under the statue include a relic said to include some of the remains of Gautama Buddha. Earlier this year French artist Paulo Grangeon created 1600 paper mache pandas which he then displayed and photographed around Hong Kong, including at the Tian Tan Buddha, as reproduced here in Alan Boar's MOC.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God
Yesterday was the 273rd anniversary of Jonathan Edwards' sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This sermon is seen as an important event and exemplar of the preaching during the First Great Awakening, a period of fervent religious revival in the American colonies. Edwards' argument basically establishes that sinners (us) are in danger of the punishment of a just God, and that the only thing that is keeping us from that punishment for the time being is God's own mercy. The solution, as he argues, is to repent of our sins and turn to Christ. Mr. Mandalorian illustrated this in LEGO for a school assignment (I've actually blogged this here before, but heard a news item yesterday about the anniversary and thought it was timely).
Monday, June 16, 2014
Salt Lake Temple
David Jungheim built this version of the Salt Lake Temple. The real structure on Temple Square in Salt Lake City was dedicated in 1893 and is the center of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Vor Frue Kirke
Vor Frue Kirke, the Church of Our Lady (here in LEGO by Lasse Vestergård), is the Cathedral of Copenhagen and the National Cathedral of Denmark. Churches have stood at this location since 1187, but the current cathedral was built in the early 1800's.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Sacred grove
James Pegrum made this Druid's sacred grove. Here's his description:
200cBC, Medionemeton (now in Southern Scotland). A Druid leaves the Sacred Grove and heads back to his local tribe.
During the Iron Age the Druids were a priestly class within Celtic society, both in and beyond Britain. These priests played an important part in Celtic society. It took 20 years of training to become a Druid (according to Caesar). The Greeks and Romans writers also refer to the druids making human sacrifices, a matter which lead the Romans to pursue the druids and try to stop their religion.
The Druids carried out their rituals in Sacred Groves (Nemetons), which were small groups of trees were surrounded by a ditch and possible with a palisade around the enclosure (I've shown it with burning torches!).
The druids did not write and so their is little written records about these mystical priests. The main records come from the Greeks and Romans.
200cBC, Medionemeton (now in Southern Scotland). A Druid leaves the Sacred Grove and heads back to his local tribe.
During the Iron Age the Druids were a priestly class within Celtic society, both in and beyond Britain. These priests played an important part in Celtic society. It took 20 years of training to become a Druid (according to Caesar). The Greeks and Romans writers also refer to the druids making human sacrifices, a matter which lead the Romans to pursue the druids and try to stop their religion.
The Druids carried out their rituals in Sacred Groves (Nemetons), which were small groups of trees were surrounded by a ditch and possible with a palisade around the enclosure (I've shown it with burning torches!).
The druids did not write and so their is little written records about these mystical priests. The main records come from the Greeks and Romans.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Buddha's Birthday
Two days ago many around the world celebrated the birthday of Prince Siddhartha Gautama about 2500 years ago in Nepal. Andybear and Aki made this mosaic. They include a lotus flower in the picture; in Buddhism this is a symbol of enlightenment. The lotus grows in murky, muddy water, which is symbolic of the natural state of the person, but then the flower struggles and grows and rises above, and eventually opens up into a beautiful bloom, symbolizing the enlightened soul.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
All scripture?
The missing chunks out of the Bible in BMW_Indy's II Timothy 3:16 are his commentary on how many Christians ignore parts that are inconvenient to them, while ALL scripture is God-breathed.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Official Anubis
Anubis has found his way into multiple official LEGO sets as well, the only religious character to do so (albeit from a dead religion). As the jackal-headed god is highly recognizable, he shows up in sets every time LEGO ventures into Egypt. The Oasis Ambush and Sphinx Secret Surprise sets both include Anubis statues.
Set 5988 is the Temple of Anubis, and he is both in a statue and in the heiroglyphics.
Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb features two Anubis statues, and also the Ark of the Covenant.
LEGO came back to Egypt a couple of years ago with the Pharoah's Quest sets, and again Anubis was there. As a sphinx in Rise of the Sphinx and then as an Anubis guard minifig in the Scorpion Pyramid set.
Set 5988 is the Temple of Anubis, and he is both in a statue and in the heiroglyphics.
Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb features two Anubis statues, and also the Ark of the Covenant.
LEGO came back to Egypt a couple of years ago with the Pharoah's Quest sets, and again Anubis was there. As a sphinx in Rise of the Sphinx and then as an Anubis guard minifig in the Scorpion Pyramid set.
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