Lego Death Star: Challenge Accepted

I published a post a year or so ago regarding nerds and geeks. We had a great in depth discussion at work about the differences between the two and determined that anyone can be a geek at anything, but a nerd is something far different.

A nerd is usually removed from social convention, has minimal social skills outside of their fold, they are exceptionally intelligent, and are quite often thrown by ‘the norm’.

It’s like reading my bio.

However I have always referred to myself a geek-2-nerd hybrid as I in the right circles, do have social skills, but it has to be a particular crowd. I tend to get frustrated with those who don’t see the bigger picture shall we say.

Now where does the Lego come into it I hear you say? Well the connection is simple, where there is a nerd or a geek you will find comics/superheroes of some sorts, role-play games, and quite often Lego.

My partner and I are no different as together we are involved in all of the above and more.

A mutual interest is Lego, it even played a part at our wedding when the conversation was going a little south at the dinner table (a slight draw back with only 13 people in attendance, but we wouldn’t have changed it).

You often find that something like Lego can turn the more introverted into a gleaming socialite within seconds – it works every time.

Now my best friend is again a highly intelligent professional but she is more what I would call a geek as she does have social skills, very good ones in fact, but she is too lazy to deal with Lego. She is a film and comic buff so we cannot hold it against her though.

She set my partner and I the challenge (at the wedding) of building her Death Star. I can’t remember who bought it for her as a present, but even then they must have known that 3800+ Lego pieces wouldn’t work with her.

So when the challenge was offered, out of the 4 Lego enthusiasts at the wedding, one nearly cried one got the hump and the other two (namely me and my partner) jumped at the chance.

My partner’s birthday was shortly after and he received a Lego campervan from his mother, so the condition was that the Death Star had to come after the campervan.

Here is the camper van in all of its glory, it didn’t actually take us long – the hold ups consisted of Jon not being able to find a piece, Rogue Run and a few other commitments, like work!

We have so far logged about 6 hours with the Death Star, and here are few pictures of its progress.

The aim is for it to go into a glass cabinet/ coffee table for my friend’s front room. This would add to the collection of amazing art works (both abstract, the unusual and science fiction themed), a pewter R2-D2, robots galore and several other novelty items that any geek or nerd would love to own.

The moral of the story is, if you are having a bad day, or when life throws lemons at you – sod the lemonade, get the bricks out and build something.

PS: Unfortunately I have been accused of being quite obsessive about this particular challenge by my partner, I have also been accused of neglecting him – oops!

You are never too old for computer games and Lego

The above may sound obvious but it is very true. Gone are the days where toys and computer games were created with only children in mind. In many geeks’ houses you will find Lego proudly built and displayed on the mantel of living room cabinets.

Computer games are also made for adults, though I do feel that some of them are crossing the mark a bit with censorship. But the industry has adapted to include both sexes equally, those who are trying to get fit, those with some unsung talent and so on.

The reason why I chose computer games and Lego to write about here is because these two have served to be valuable stress relief aids for the last couple of weeks. they are also reliable in the sense that it doesn’t matter what age you are, if you are felling down, or someone puts some blocks of Lego in front of you, you just feel compelled to pick it up and begin to build something.

Over the last six months my partner and I have been taking it in turns to be the workplace punch bag, combat illness, undergo property repairs due to storms and good old family politics. All sound minor on paper, but in reality can play quite a detrimental affect on your day to day mental health.

I decided to go purchase the Lego “Back to the Future” DeLorean time machine one evening after work. I thought it would cheer up my partner and I knew he wanted it as the last time we went to a VW Transporter meet-up at Bluewater shopping centre, we went into the Lego store and after barging several children out of the way (well Lego is wasted on them), he said “I will not leave this store without it….”.

We decided not to make the rash purchase at the time, but I too was encapsulated by the building of this space-age vehicle from an iconic film of our childhoods.

It took us 3 hours that Friday evening to assemble it. It was great fun and again proves what a great team we are as no fights broke out. Though I have been told that I have to point out that I have an issue with following instructions.

I don’t really, I just build a little bit faster than my partner does. 🙂

Well, the DeLorean time machine is now proudly displayed on top of our living cabinet now.

In addition to this, I have got rather hooked on a quest game called Forge of Empires recently. It’s been a while since I have played quest games, being an old WOW fan, but this one I am really getting into. If you are a former but not so removed geek who also had a fondness for quest games, well could be one for you too.

If you work more hours than you would like to realise then this is ideal as it is really easy and quick to learn. The most important tip I can give to you is, put as many money making properties on your land as you can fit, and make sure you utilize your land, do not leave a gaps where you don’t need to.

FOE is available as an app on Android and iPhone but unfortunately not for Windows Phone yet, which is a real shame as that is the phone I have.

This game is rather addictive, so make sure you spend appropriate time with your partner and family…. otherwise you never hear the end of it.

From an old faithful to an addiction, you are never too old for either computer games or Lego.

Lego characters are getting angrier – and could be harming children’s development!

I don’t normally agree with The Mail, but this article is worth a read.

• For the first 11 years after Lego was introduced, all characters were happy
• But angry characters were then introduced and over time, the proportion of angry faces has been rising, say New Zealand researchers
• Experts are questioning the impact of ‘angry’ toys on children

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2340242/Lego-characters-getting-angrier–harming-childrens-development.html