We had a VLC member contest in May to build an incredible display for the LEGO Oakridge Community Showcase. The winner Randall, literally filled the entire box from edge to edge with his Arrrr-some Pirate display. (the jokes don’t get any better, probably worse) Check it out for yourself for the entire month of June, to the left of the LEGO Pick a Brick wall.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a similar program for children (minus the alcohol, of course) which allows them to engage more with the art work and had activities as well. I took my nephew and niece quite a few times that year and enjoying what they had to offer, especially the roof top patio.
I guess, this is the circle of life, as it’s time to give back, as the Vancouver Art Gallery asked us to come and provide an activity for their latest exhibit The Grand Hotel.
So we’re bringing down some LEGO built hotels and buildings to inspire the kids to build building facades of their own which we’ll put on display. We’ll bring the LEGO and your kids can bring the imagination and creativity.
Unfortunately, we’re not able to let the kids take home what they build but we will take photos of as many of the creations as we can and post them here on our website.
Of course, what clinched the deal, was that while touring the exhibit I came across this on the wall.
Lucien has his priorities straight. Bonus points if you can find it.
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Wonderlands | June 8-9
Saturday-Sunday, 10am-5pm
This Family FUSE Weekend, use the power of your imagination to fly away with artists, musicians, performers and educators in an exciting exploration of the “Wonderlands”. Set forth on an adventure, dream big and discover inspiring places together through exciting activities, performances and hands-on sessions on all floors of the Gallery.
 Wonderlands |
Discover the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Family FUSE Weekend, where you will meet artists, musicians, dancers, performers, and educators for a weekend filled with family fun! Participate in a range of fun activities, performances, and hands-on sessions throughout the Gallery.Download the program guide in PDF
Gallery Members and children age–12–and–under are free when accompanied by an adult. Regular Admission Rates apply. $20 Adults, $15 Senior (65+), $15 Student (with valid ID). For more information about Family FUSE Weekend call 604.662.4700. |
Thank to all who came by our modest little booth which had no banners, nor tablecloth or skirting (we’ll do better next year) However, I think most people didn’t notice as they laid their eyes on Crawler Town, Fun Haus and debuting at Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire, the steampunked version of Star Wars Cloud City.
Thank you to all the people who expressed their admiration of our makers and their creations. Sometimes it was verbal, “now this is art” to the non-verbal (ie. watching their jaws drop down to the floor as they first gazed upon one of the works, and then the next and the next). Maybe they were being polite, but when asked which one of the three MOCs were their favourite, many simply could not choose.
photo by John Biehler from his flickr photostream
A special shout out to Ben Cooper who I ran into at a party and got this whole ball rolling and to Jenny for helping us get us in at the last minute and then accommodating us to when we realized we needed a bigger spot.
We got some media coverage, as the Province, Johanna Ward from Shaw, BC TV news, the BBC had an interview and a time lapse footage should all eventually find it’s way up to our website.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=938714
John Biehler’s Flickr photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/retrocactus/sets/72157633855912631/
We had a lot of fun and met so many great people that we may work with in the future. So as long as it doesn’t conflict with any of our other projects, you’ll see us again at the 2014 Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire.
A couple weeks back I tweeted this but it deserves a full blown post. Vancouver had it’s FanExpo back in April, but something extraordinarily special happened at the one in Calgary. Jennifer Black-Moar who just had a brand new baby daughter asked Wil Wheaton to explain to her daughter “what does it mean to be a nerd.” and his response is what captured on video and is as follows.
My name is Wil Wheaton. It’s 2013. And you’ve just recently joined us on planet Earth. So welcome. I’m an actor. I’m a writer. And I’m a Dad. Your mother asked me to tell you why it’s awesome to be a nerd. That’s an easy thing for me to do because I am a nerd.
I don’t know what the world is going to be like by the time you understand this. I don’t what it’s going to mean to be a nerd when you are a young women. For me, when I was growing up, being a nerd meant that I liked things that were a little weird. That took a lot of effort to appreciate and understand. It meant that I loved science, and that I loved playing board games, and reading books, and really understanding what went on in the world instead of just riding the planet through space.
When I was a little boy, people really teased us about that, and made us feel like there was something wrong with us for loving those things. Now that I’m an adult, I’m kind of a professional nerd, and the world has changed a lot. I think a lot of us have realized that being a nerd … it’s not about what you love. It’s about how you love it.
So, there’s going to be a thing in your life that you love. I don’t know what that’s going to be … and it doesn’t matter what it is. The way you love that, and the way that you find other people who love it the way you do is what makes you a nerd. The defining characteristic of [being a nerd] is that we love things. Some of us love Firefly and some of us love Game of Thrones, or Star Trek, or Star Wars, or anime, or games, or fantasy, or science fiction. Some of us love completely different things. But we all love those things SO much that we travel for thousands of miles … we come from all over the world, so that we can be around people who love the things the way that we love them.
That’s why being a nerd is awesome. And don’t let anyone tell you that that thing that you love is a thing that you can’t love. Don’t anyone ever tell you that you can’t love that, that’s for boys … you find the things that you love, and you love them the most that you can.
And listen: This is really important. I want you to be honest, honorable, kind. I want you to work hard. Because everything worth doing is hard. And I want you to be awesome, and I will do my very best to leave you a planet that you can still live on.
The message is universal for those that have felt they were on the fringe for displaying the love of what they love, and as he says, “it’s not about what you love, it’s about how you love it. ” And for me those people love with a passion.
Simon Pegg has his a similar spin on it,
Well, Dave DeGobbi’s Crawler Town is in the news again. Late last week, the organizers of Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire were impressed and called us up asking for some hi-res images of his creation for the Vancouver Province newspaper to use. Fortunately, builder and designer Dave DeGobbi had these photos taken already and here’s the end result.
For the full article, please visit the Province newspaper website.
For more photos head to Dave’s Crawler Town Flickr page or better yet come see it for yourself at Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire next weekend, June 1st and 2nd, 2013 at the PNE Forums from 10am to 6pm. As well, you’ll see for the first time a LEGO steam punk version of Star Wars Cloud City and Fun Haus!, an amusement style ride for minifigs based on the Mexican Day of the Dead.
Did you miss out on attending the One Year Anniversary of the LEGO Brand Retail Store at the Oakridge Mall and the 8 foot tall LEGO Yoda build? Well, if you did, no fear, Novus TV captured a portion of the build with LEGO® Master Builder Dan Steininger along with the countless many youngsters (and young at heart) who came out to help.
Congratulations LEGO Store Oakridge Mall on your one year anniversary and here’s to many more years! Fortunately, they don’t celebrate the one year with paper, but in ABS brick.
This was one of the instore free giveaways with purchase.
Vancouver LEGO Club brick artist Paul Hetherington has released his photos of LEGO Lady Gaga castle tour set including a video of it all in action and set to Lady Gaga’s song Just Dance. Crank up the volume and click on the photo below to start the video.
Paul has taken the time to recreate many of the iconic moments and outfits from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball tour. It went to BrickCascades in Portland earlier this year and I’m not sure where this MOC is going to show up next on display (but we’ll let you know when it does). For more photos of Paul’s LEGO Gaga, please go to BrickBaron’s Flickr photostream
Lego Lady Gaga, Black Jesus, Amen Fashion
Bob Kronbauer of Vancouver is Awesome tweeted the following a week back regarding James H’s now revisionist history of the Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup 2013 playoff run.
Original Tweet found here:
Hey @car2goVancouver, have you seen the Lego version of the Stanley Cup playoffs at Oakridge? It ends well. http://t.co/4SxxRAZHBK #canucks
— Vancouver Is Awesome (@VIAwesome) May 15, 2013
You can still see the whole diorama in person at the Oakridge Mall LEGO Store till the end of May. What will be in next month’s showcase? Stay tuned!
Are you a DIY kind of person? Do you like to tinker with stuff? Are you into neat contraptions and all things steampunk? If any of this interests you, get yourself down to Vancouver Mini Maker Faire at the PNE Forums on June 1st and 2nd.
Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning.
Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.
In the past, the VLC has been wanting to come on out and show our creations, but other commitments have precluded us from showing. Well, no longer, the Vancouver LEGO Club will definitely have a table there this year. We’re starting out small, just to get a feel of the scene but do come by and see Crawler Town (shown below) and a few other of our member’s creations.
UPDATE: It looks like a never before seen re-imagined steam punk version of Star Wars Cloud City as well as the whimsically animated Fun Haus! (based on the Mexican Día de Muertos) by BrickBaron will be making appearances at Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire. Come by and say hi!
Crawler Town roams the barren wastes of a post steam-punk world after cataclysmic climate change do to excessive coal use. Several such cities exist but Crawler Town is the most popular due to the Aero 500 hydrogen fuel cell Air races that are held.
For a list of all the other Maker’s that will be there go to the Vancouver Mini-Maker Faire website.
Calling all LEGO® lovers. Join Park Royal and LEGO® Certified Professional, Robin Sather, every Saturday in May to help build a huge garden out of LEGO® bricks. Plus, watch the master in action as he constructs giant flowers and insects all out of LEGO®.
DATES: May 4 & 11, 2013 – Park Royal North, Centre Court;
May 18 & 25 – Park Royal South, Centre Court
TIME: 10AM – 4PM
COST: Free
UPDATE: Thanks to those who came out to help in the past few weeks. One more to go! Here’s a few photos from week 3.
And from the final week four, the bumblewasp.
