Tag Archives: Lego

It is Do or Die Time for the Cards

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Cardinals Lego Set

Cardinals Lego Set

Rey, the scion of the best fan in baseball, arrived in town tonight to cheer on the Cards and in a few minutes we’ll be journeying to a sports bar to see if the Saint Louis Cardinals can pull a win out of their hat tonight or out of some other orifice. We used to be too poor to afford cable TV, now I’m just too cheap, hence the sports bar. The Redbirds are now down 3-1 to the San Francisco Giants in this pennant wining best of seven series. If the Cards don’t win tonight they are eliminated. This would be a catastrophe of biblical proportions. I can’t understate the disaster that this would be.

First off, being eliminated tonight would mean that there would be no game six on Saturday. I have tickets for game six, but it is not just about me. The Kansas City Royals have clinched their spot in the World Series, which means that Missouri’s magic number for an all state championship is only three. Between the two Missouri baseball teams, we have already successfully eliminated three out of the four California teams that were in the playoffs this year. Finally, if the Redbirds lose I will never hear the end of it from my two Giant loving brothers, one of whom persists in using an Arizona Cardinals logo to represent the Saint Louis Cardinals.

It is now down to the Cards to win tonight and make it home again and on to Saturday. A win on Saturday, while I’m watching them from inside Busch Stadium would be the next step and then clinching game seven like they’ve done before would be a grand finale. It is possible. Miracles do still occur. You just have to believe. Today’s photo is the box cover of the Lego Cardinals set that I got Dave for his birthday this week. He seemed to like it, but what Dave would really like for his birthday is a Cardinal victory tonight, because then he too will be at the game on Saturday with us.

Hey Babe!

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Lego Store Sign, Made from Little Lego People

Lego Store Sign, Made from Little Lego People

Our two sons enjoyed making, building and playing with Lego when they were young. Lego makes great educational toys for children of both sexes. It was with disappointment then that I heard about these construction stickers that Lego is marketing to kids aged “1 to 101.” To my mind there is only one overtly sexist sticker. This sticker shows a construction worker in overalls, hard-hat and sunglasses calling out, “Hey Babe!” This sticker is a not too subtle reference to cat calling construction workers of yore. Two other stickers, “Men at Work” and “Getting Dirty” are not overtly harassing, but together with “Hey Babe!” could be considered suspect. The truth is most construction workers are men. Another sticker, while not a sexist problem, has a problem all its own, “I Love the Smell of Concrete in the Morning”, which is a reference to the R-rated movie, Apocalypse Now. Here is a link to the much more indignant original article.

Dad, Let’s Play Legos

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Liz’s comment on yesterday’s pirate pillow post mentioned Dan’s Lego pirate ship.  This comment in conjunction with a recent MSNBC article about how some adults are transforming this toy into an art form caught my interest.  Lego’s sales to adults now comprise 5% of Lego’s total sales.  This makes adult sales a small but very lucrative market.  Way more surprising than this 5% of sales number is the fact that 2% of all YouTube videos are Lego related videos, that is one in fifty, that is a lot of videos.

These numbers speak to an economic and creative force to be reckoned with. The MSNBC article features an entrepreneur, Jamie Berard, who made an impression on Lego’s Danish owner, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen. Lego, a privately owned company, has made a small religious and non-violent sect of Danes very rich. But Berard is just one of many entrepreneurs seeking at least enough money to fund their own Lego habits.

Most child consumers of Lego try to follow the instructions and recreate the picture on the box.  I’m reminded of the pirate ship here.  Most adult consumers of Lego create original works, as in Lego art.  Just Google “Lego art” and select images to see some of the amazing works people have made. 

I have a drawer full of Lego.  This Lego has produced both an artist and an engineer.  I see this as a good return on my Lego investment.  I think that I’ll just bank our Lego for the next generation.  I’ll reap even more profit then.

While you were toiling at the grind, Anne was out grinding.  Wednesday we got a breather from the stream of thunderstorms that have been roiling Saint Louis and so Anne went for a bike ride.  She rode in the Park, got 21 miles and lots pictures.  I rode Tuesday morning before work, only got 15 miles and then had to go to work.  Today’s header and the pictures with this post are Anne’s.