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One of parenthood's great pleasures is, I confess, the ability to play with toys. To my delight, Boy Monkeybiz, almost 6, has become a Lego maniac--there is no concept, no story, no math problem that can't be related to Lego in some way. I read him Sidney Lanier's version of the death of King Arthur, and my son built this:
That's Arthur, in the blue and green, dying; the queens on the black barge; and Sir Bedivere, tossing Excalibur into the waiting hand of the Lady of the Lake. Not pictured: Dr. Who, emerging from the TARDIS into the last battle. Can you say "budding geek"? I am so proud!
When I was a little kid, I loved Lego and wanted to know all about this cool toy, so I wrote to the company and asked them to tell me about Lego's history. Even now, I remember the fat manila envelope with an international postmark!!! I know now that the public relations office was just doing its job. But then? I was thrilled that Lego would respond to me, all the way back in America.
I had bricks. Not much fancy stuff; the astronauts that came with the space cruiser were probably some of my favorite pieces. I built and built and built, though. If I had to go away with my family, I built a big box out of Lego and carried my spare pieces inside it. That's almost impossible for my son, who has more Lego than he knows what to do with, and in more shapes than he has uses for. Yet.
If you haven't seen the recent Lego sets--and what builders are doing with them--check out these links:
See also--Howl's Moving Castle.
The tie-in to movies is no accident. It's what saved Lego a few years ago, according to the New York Times. Hollywood tie-ins have taken over, from "Star Wars" to Indiana Jones to "Toy Story 3." And Indy packs his bullwhip, right alongside his revolver:
But here in Billund, toy weapons have always been a touchy subject. "I can tell you there’s been a lot of debate about how far we can take it," Mr. Holm says. Right down to Indy’s gun? "Oh, yes," he says slowly. "Oh, yes."
Since Lego overcame its initial hesitation about rolling out a "Star Wars" series a decade ago because the word "war" would appear on the box, the company has grown more comfortable with conflict.
"We’ve opened up slightly," Mr. Holm says. After all, he adds, "when you give boys a bunch of bricks, they build a gun."
In fact, Lego has opened up more than slightly. Whether it’s the Star Wars Assassin Droids Battle Pack or the Indiana Jones Ambush in Cairo set — featuring a pistol-wielding Indy against a scimitar-swinging local — many of Lego’s most popular toys today seem inspired by the special effects and violence of the big screen.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. My son has been largely sheltered from commercial television, but he loves him some Indiana Jones adventures. As for "Star Wars," he asked for two light sabers so he could have a duel with his best friend.
Yesterday, I took Boy Monkeybiz for a walk around a veterans' cemetery, and we talked about service and war and death. He took it all in and said, "Well, if the Lego Agents were fighting, they'd end that war right away!" If only, little one. If only.
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Letters, We Get Letters...
On to your nominations for Top Comments! I opened the mailbox tonight and found these submissions.
From Laughing Planet:
This photographic comment about Lou Dobbs by Shockwave made me laugh hard. Even the subject line is a thing of beauty.
From Angry Mouse:
grannyhelen totally nails it with this one
From KelleyRN2:
After learning that our pootie diaries have become famous in Vanity Fair, bubbanomics speculated about more media exposure in this comment to it really is that important's encore pootie diary.
From femlaw:
In my diary today, skippythebox posted the best description of activism I have seen in awhile - "get off your but" (and no, that isn't a typo).
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Got Mojo?
brillig was kind enough to provide tonight's Top Mojo. Many thanks!
Top 30 Comments excluding tip jars, first comments and stuff:
1) The AP report suggests by Jampacked — 220
2) Nice to see you back, Al Rodgers. by slinkerwink — 188
3) Holy smokes...could a time-table be in order... by Thomas Paine Redux — 157
4) Obama Cut McChrystal's Request by JekyllnHyde — 143
5) And please, rec this up... by Richard Cranium — 143
6) Stupak just keeps on kicking us. by Angry Mouse — 139
7) I was in the Bronx with my Boyz by Al Rodgers — 133
8) I am pretty sure everyone is bitter by rexymeteorite — 124
9) That's a somber, serious man. by KroneckerD — 116
10) There is no more sobering reminder by Norbrook — 103
11) This piece represents the dramatic change by The Lighthouse Keeper — 103
12) If the Dem party does a Creigh Deeds by MinistryOfTruth — 103
13) I love the last line by snackdoodle — 100
14) Was there any doubt? :) Not in me... by Thomas Paine Redux — 93
15) Just what I needed: tears in my eyes at lunch by bustacap — 91
16) You keep watching for me by ShowMeMoBlue — 87
17) noweasels :::hearts::: Al Rodgers by noweasels — 87
18) Rec'd...glad to see the teabaggers read dKos by darthstar — 87
19) yeah by Turkana — 86
20) They shouldn't have included the Stupak by slinkerwink — 84
21) Brought me to tears by casperr — 81
22) But, but, but, but, but.... by bobswern — 81
23) Was it so bad? by ToKnowWhy — 80
24) Will Phillips, Civil Rights Pioneer by Scarce — 78
25) Awww, thanks brother. by Al Rodgers — 77
26) If you want to add this.... by Niwind — 77
27) Both parties face a battle for their souls by Dallasdoc — 77
28) President Obama at Ft Hood by Scarce — 76
29) Cooley's really condesending... by grannyhelen — 72
30) He Gets It. by tethys — 72
Top 30 (plus ties) Comments with no exclusions, aka the Tip Jar list :-):
1) 1 by Al Rodgers — 738
2) Tip Jar by Julie Gulden — 489
3) Tip Jar by Richard Cranium — 455
4) Yes, I'm still angry about it. by Angry Mouse — 450
5) Tip Jar by New Deal democrat — 439
6) Tip Jar by Cali Scribe — 422
7) Tip Jar by math4barack — 341
8) Tips for geophysicists & seismologists by FishOutofWater — 312
9) Tip Jar by TomP — 298
10) Tip Jar by AKMask — 245
11) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 224
12) The AP report suggests by Jampacked — 220
13) Tip Jar by lapin — 220
14) Tip Jar by Femlaw — 208
15) Tip Jar by 1man1vote — 206
16) ??? (TJ) by KVoimakas — 196
17) Nice to see you back, Al Rodgers. by slinkerwink — 188
18) Tip Jar by SulaymanF — 182
19) Holy smokes...could a time-table be in order... by Thomas Paine Redux — 157
20) Tip Jar by nyceve — 153
21) Obama Cut McChrystal's Request by JekyllnHyde — 143
22) And please, rec this up... by Richard Cranium — 143
23) Stupak just keeps on kicking us. by Angry Mouse — 139
24) I was in the Bronx with my Boyz by Al Rodgers — 133
25) I am pretty sure everyone is bitter by rexymeteorite — 124
26) That's a somber, serious man. by KroneckerD — 116
27) Tips for ethical consumer protections! by Eileen B — 116
28) Tip Jar by stef — 108
29) This piece represents the dramatic change by The Lighthouse Keeper — 103
30) There is no more sobering reminder by Norbrook — 103
31) If the Dem party does a Creigh Deeds by MinistryOfTruth — 103