So it's a new year - and with it comes new hopes, and new goals and resolutions.
What are mine?
My big one is one I say every year and strive to do:
Make every day a little better than the one before it.
Time is too short and precious to do anything else, except spending it with those you care for.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Ship ahoy!
Malle Hawking's aircraft carrier model was the subject of an article in England's Daily Mail! You can see the article here.
Congrats, Malle!
Congrats, Malle!
something to ponder...
I was reading another site (Startrek.com - yep, I'm a trekkie) that had a writeup on Worldcon 2006. There were a couple of interesting things that were in the article.
There are a couple of parallels that could be made with Star Trek fandom and AFOL fandom - right now, we are in the first to second generation of fandom in the US, with conventions starting and beginning to grow. This is like the 70s in Trek fandom, when conventions started at college campuses...and there was a community that came into being.
There was even a part of the community that welcomed new fans, called the Star Trek Welcommittee - and it provided information on clubs and conventions. Keep in mind that this was before the Internet, so this was done by snail-mail. They had brochures on forming clubs and mailing lists.
And from there, many things happened - even in the 60s, Star Trek was saved for a year by fans. In the 70s, the movie came out, and in the 80s on, there were many other shows and events. And all of this happened because of the community.
However, there are shadows - one of the points made by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg (two sci-fi authors) is that "you will find very few people under the age of 30 at this convention — the base of readers and fans is not renewing itself from the bottom, the way it did when we were kids."
That is something that we as a community need to start looking at. Who are the people who will replace those doing the community activities now? How are we going to renew the community?
It's something that I have been looking at for some time, and I haven't any answers.
There are a couple of parallels that could be made with Star Trek fandom and AFOL fandom - right now, we are in the first to second generation of fandom in the US, with conventions starting and beginning to grow. This is like the 70s in Trek fandom, when conventions started at college campuses...and there was a community that came into being.
There was even a part of the community that welcomed new fans, called the Star Trek Welcommittee - and it provided information on clubs and conventions. Keep in mind that this was before the Internet, so this was done by snail-mail. They had brochures on forming clubs and mailing lists.
And from there, many things happened - even in the 60s, Star Trek was saved for a year by fans. In the 70s, the movie came out, and in the 80s on, there were many other shows and events. And all of this happened because of the community.
However, there are shadows - one of the points made by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg (two sci-fi authors) is that "you will find very few people under the age of 30 at this convention — the base of readers and fans is not renewing itself from the bottom, the way it did when we were kids."
That is something that we as a community need to start looking at. Who are the people who will replace those doing the community activities now? How are we going to renew the community?
It's something that I have been looking at for some time, and I haven't any answers.
blue sky concept
Been poking around online and found this...
The implications of this are pretty big to me, in a blue-sky way....
Imagine doing an online brick convention. Where presentations could be broadcast in real-time and questions taken from avatars...and more importantly, people from all over could meet and discuss and maybe show models off....
The implications of this are pretty big to me, in a blue-sky way....
Imagine doing an online brick convention. Where presentations could be broadcast in real-time and questions taken from avatars...and more importantly, people from all over could meet and discuss and maybe show models off....
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Somewhat off-topic....
I have been getting some Christmas e-mails (how nice!) and while I have been 'busy' at home (with family - Mom and Dad and my older sister and her family), I cannot say that what I have done has been terribly constructive.
My Christmas was pretty good - kinda peaceful (which is a welcome switch from the usual for me) and just a time to recharge and get ready for the new year.
One of the wonderful things that has happened is that I got an e-mail from a fellow builder, Brian Muzas. We worked together on a couple of projects for teh LEGO Group (one that was the first iteration of LEGO Factory, and another that is under NDA - still!!), and his expertise is in Microbuilding.
He's also a priest in New Jersey, and he is going to Rome this week with a high school choir to perform for the Pope!
A news video can be found here:
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=94967@wcbs.dayport.com
Congratulations to Brian and his choir!
I really am happy to see members of the AFOL community doing things outside the hobby, so drop me a line if you or an AFOL you know has done something neat!
My Christmas was pretty good - kinda peaceful (which is a welcome switch from the usual for me) and just a time to recharge and get ready for the new year.
One of the wonderful things that has happened is that I got an e-mail from a fellow builder, Brian Muzas. We worked together on a couple of projects for teh LEGO Group (one that was the first iteration of LEGO Factory, and another that is under NDA - still!!), and his expertise is in Microbuilding.
He's also a priest in New Jersey, and he is going to Rome this week with a high school choir to perform for the Pope!
A news video can be found here:
http://wcbstv.com/video/?id=94967@wcbs.dayport.com
Congratulations to Brian and his choir!
I really am happy to see members of the AFOL community doing things outside the hobby, so drop me a line if you or an AFOL you know has done something neat!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas!
It's Christmas Eve, and while I wish I could have created a really nice MOC that was themed to the holiday...well....
Sorry.
I wish for everyone to have a Merry Christmas! And also to have a great new year!
Sorry.
I wish for everyone to have a Merry Christmas! And also to have a great new year!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
So what's up with BrickJournal?
BrickJournal is going through some transformation.
I am in discussions with the LEGO Group to get the magazine started as a print publication. What is being looked at presently is starting the magazine as a new business venture, which means a lot of things need to be written up.
As Tormod said, "Joe, you have all the ideas in your head about the magazine - you need to put them out on paper." So I have. And now comes the fun part...figuring out funding.
Also, some things have to be changed to work toward a business model - so staff is being moved up to the next level, in a manner of speaking.
BrickJournal is also working toward getting more international coverage - so we have started a European Bureau with Melody Krützfeldt. She'll be looking for article ideas and writing for us - welcome!
Other pending projects include a BrickJournal website with multimedia content (I have been able to get some video at places I have been to, and hope to get other people involved in taping event reports and other video), looking into working with FIRST LEGO League to provide another venue for their work (which is wonderful), and working with some projects with the LEGO Group. Expanding coverage of BrickJournal is another priority - with Asia being the place I would like to see more articles from.
BrickJournal 6 will be the end of year issue, and will have event coverage and some really nice articles, including an interview with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp! Which reminds me, I gotta get some layouts done....
I am in discussions with the LEGO Group to get the magazine started as a print publication. What is being looked at presently is starting the magazine as a new business venture, which means a lot of things need to be written up.
As Tormod said, "Joe, you have all the ideas in your head about the magazine - you need to put them out on paper." So I have. And now comes the fun part...figuring out funding.
Also, some things have to be changed to work toward a business model - so staff is being moved up to the next level, in a manner of speaking.
BrickJournal is also working toward getting more international coverage - so we have started a European Bureau with Melody Krützfeldt. She'll be looking for article ideas and writing for us - welcome!
Other pending projects include a BrickJournal website with multimedia content (I have been able to get some video at places I have been to, and hope to get other people involved in taping event reports and other video), looking into working with FIRST LEGO League to provide another venue for their work (which is wonderful), and working with some projects with the LEGO Group. Expanding coverage of BrickJournal is another priority - with Asia being the place I would like to see more articles from.
BrickJournal 6 will be the end of year issue, and will have event coverage and some really nice articles, including an interview with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp! Which reminds me, I gotta get some layouts done....
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