Made it to Munich

The flights were uneventful, and the last one overseas was long.

But Germany is pretty. I took a train to the hotel I am staying and I went through a lot of beautiful farmland.

I was met atthe train station by a member of 1000steine by the name of Juergen, he's very friendly, and he drove me the rest of the way to the hotel, which is not too far away from the display. Before he did that, though, he stopped at his place to show his LEGO models.

He's a Town builder, and he had a layout with a town and snow slopes and elevated track...and he has a holiday train. The trick is that all of this is lit by LEDs! There's also lit Christmas trees and houses...and fire trucks! Beautiful electronics mods.

Two of the fire engines have separate lighting systems for the headlighs, alertlights, working lights, and sound. And both can be remote controlled - by the same controller! It was a LOT of fun to play with.

After that, we went to the hotel abdd after alittle walk, we got to the room....nice!

But now my brain is fried because of jet lag...more later!

An entry before The Big Trip...

I'm heading to Germany to attend Bricking Bavaria, and I am really excited! I haven't been to Germany since the mid 70s, where I was a kid...and I remember just enough to wish that I could have stayed longer.

The great thing is that I get to meet the German builders, such as HoMa and Malle Hawking - two builders that have been in BrickJournal for wonderful creations. I get to see their work in person, so I will be able to see that gigantc aircraft carrier and the church at Dresden that HoMa built. I'll have my camera with me too, so there will be a lot of pics from this trip.

I also will be able to talk with the head of LUGNET and 1000steinland, so I will be able to talk about events and planning...they have an experience pool that is different from the pool in the US, and I want to see how they proceed. Jan Beyer rom LEGO will also be there, so it will be a good opportunity to talk about community with him. I'm really curious to learn about the community in Europe.

But this is part one...

Part two of the trip is going to Billund to meet up with LEGO staff about BrickJournal and some other projects. That has me really excited because I will be talking business...

Thankfully, the first trip is fun - I need the rest from my traveling and dealing!

New things and ideas...

So now I am in Chicago (where apparently taxis get a LOT of money) and recovering.

From?

Well, I had two meetings today about some things that are in the planning stages - one is with the Museum of Science and Industry and one has to do with BrickWorld.

I'll start with BrickWorld - I got to see the event site. Very nice! I'm not coordinator of this event, but an advisor...and this is a nice place. The site is a new hotel and has a well-lit ballroom for display area and is also very classy. There is a lot, and I mean a LOT of potential there!

And the Museum - they want to do an event that would be a display/expo over a weekend in November (so far) that would be in conjunction with their Star Wars exhibit, which opens in October. This is a project that I am taking lead on and getting more and more excited about...as the Museum is really interested in providing support ! I'm also looking at help from other areas too. The slated date for this event is November.

I met up with Adam Tucker of BrickStructures while I was in town, and gotto see his building area - one thing I will say, he's organized. And his buildings are amazing. His townhouse is tall enough to house his buildings complete, so they are in corners looking like architectural displays.  His star is about to take off with his building, and it's cool to see his work being appreciated by so many.

I've gotten a cold from my travels from cold to sorta warm to cold again. Chicago is in teh teens, and there is snow- as in about 8-10 inches. I love snow, but I can't see myself driving in a big city with it. But then again, I'm getting cross-eyed with the taxi fares I have had to manage. And travel time.

So what's goingto happen? Keep an eye here and on LUGNET...

Back and recovering...

Got back late last night from Manchester (the flight from JFK Airport was delayed 4 HOURS- and two were in the plane!!!) and am in a recovery mode.

A lot of stories have been sent to me for the Journal, and it's dawning on me that this issue will be a big issue - this is one of those times where almost everyone who I inquired responded...so this snowballed.

I also have a ton of photos from the Millyard - the irony fro me is that there were a few pics so far online of the dedication in the local news, but most pics were of Dean Kamen and the Governor. I got some pics of Kjeld and everyone else. I also got some pix to do pano shots of the Millyard, yes, it's that big!

Millyard opening...

I'm in Hew Hampshire to cover this event - and it was really impressive.

Some background:

Two years ago, an idea was forwarded from Bob Tuttle to build a LEGO model of the Amoskeag Millhouse, of which the SEE Science Center and FIRST LEGO League are based. Initial plans were to have the model built in a 5,000 square feet room, which is a monumental size. As a result, the LEGO group not only had their Master Builders Erik Varszegi and Steve Gerling build, but recruited NELUG (the New England LEGO Users Group) and the community of Manchester help out.

The final result is a 2200 square foot display including the Millyard, City Hall and the main street of Manchestera and an amusement park from the turn of the century.

The dedication ceremony was a grand affair, with the mayor of Manchester and Governor of New Hampshire attending. Also, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen was present with other representatives of the LEGO Group, as well as Dean Kamen, the creator of FIRST and also inventor of the Segway.

Here's a couple of pix:


Erik and Steve talking about the project.



Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Dean Kamen, Governor John Lynch and Steve Gerling at the dedication.

There was quite a bit of coverage of the event from the local TV stations and newspapers, which is great!

There were also members of NELUG, including Joe Comeau, Suzanne Green, Dave Eaton, Bill Bourne, Teddy Welsh (who gave me a tour of the display, showing me the neat details), and a whole bunch of other people.

And what about the Millyard?

Well, it looked likethis a month ago:



and it looks really nice with the addition of 8,000 minifigs to populate.

And yes, there will be an article on this in BrickJournal!

New Hampshire...

So I got to Manchester, New Hampshire today, thanks to two planeflights and a rent a car. The weatther is cold and wet - certainly notfun for me.

What was fun for me was going to the FIRST LEGO League office here (theinternational headquarters is here) and talking to Scott Evans, thechallenge designer for the group. I interviewed him a couple of monthsago and was getting some pictures taken of him and his co-worker, Cindy Randall.

He's a great person to talk to - with a warped sense of humor, but a mind sharp as a tack! As a result, the conversation that ensued had alot of laughs and neat insights. Designing the  FLL challenges arenot easy, but Scott does a wonderful job.

Cindy has a different take on things - she's a motivator and has ameasure of charisma - she can sell people on ideas, and her jobis justthat! With the challenges, there is a real-life research aspect, andshe works on that by recruiting world experts to help her out. She's very articulate and gets people involved just by her words.

I also talked to Tormod Askildsen from LEGO tonight - and got into alot of discussions about LEGO Factory and a little about BrickJournal.

But why are all ofthese people in New hampshire? Well....

Holiday weekends...

Spending the holiday with family and just relaxing...

Built the snowmobile Technic set, and it's pretty neat! The details are pretty clever (the front fork has a suspension and the tracks move pretty smoothly)...I seee a lot opossibilities with the treads too. The alternate build is really nice too, as it makes a bulldozer with two treads that are small - small enough for an NXT brick

Also got some smaller sets to play with - the mosaic sets are fun and very addictive - as in, I can do that! and THAT! And...darn, I'm out of parts...need another set:-)

And next week, I go to cover an event in New Hampshire, then off to Chicago then off to Munich and then Billund!

And somewhere in there, I'm supposed to be writing :-)

I'm also working on multimedia stuff for use with BrickJournal..One of the things that will have to expand with the magazine is its use of media. So possibilities include video and audio presentations.

BrickJournal will be working toward getting articles from First LEGO League, Serious Play, and a bunch of events - and I will hopefullly have video coming in from Munich...