"Cool" LEGO Creation For Your Home!

Friend to LEGO, Nathan Sawaya, built an actual working LEGO air conditioner…seriously! Man, I wish I knew how to build one of these when I was living in San Diego. I could have saved A LOT on my energy bills! Check out the post here!

NYC in LEGO

If you're in the New York area be sure to stop by the Storefront for Art and Architecture. They are currently hosting an exhibit entitled CPH Experiments by BIG, a Copenhagen based group of over 80 architects, designers, builders and thinkers. The main thrill for all of you LEGO fans: the LEGO replica of New York City, complete with everything from minifigures at the gym to sipping coffee at Dean and Deluca to... well I think I'll let you explore for yourself. The exhibtit runs through November 24 so be sure to check it out!

Breaker! Breaker! Austin Maker Faire!

I so wish I could have been in Austin this weekend for the Annual Maker Faire! Props to Chris Huybregt for the Darth Vader LEGO mosaic he created and for helping makers of all ages create mosaics of nearly anything they could imagine!

One yummy follow up to the LEGO Cake mold post coming up…

TODAY, Gizmodo's, Jesus Diaz, posted an alternative way to create the ultimate LEGO birthday cake! The secret to the interlocking block look…Marshmallows! Check out Jesus Diaz’s post here. Be sure to click through to the Betty Crocker recipe! I may try and attempt this nostalgic baking project tonight!

Professor Uses LEGO bricks to Teach Science

The CBS affiliate station in Montana recently covered how a professor turned down “big city” job offers after she received her Ph.D. in Physics from Norte Dame to pursue her passion for teaching children using LEGO bricks. Dr. Stephanie Morrison teaches at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program at the Friendship House in Billings, Montana, an area with three times the poverty rate as the rest of the city. You can read the transcript here.

Nerd Math - LEGO Star Wars Style

Everyone's buzzing about the new 5000 piece Ultimate Collectors Millennium Falcon that was just released, but GeekDad is now taking it one step farther. He's done the math and and is now issuing the challenge - can anyone out there build a 1:30 scale model of an Imperial Star Destroyer?

OMG, a peek at that LEGO room at Google!

From the bowels of the Google New York office, a sneak peek at that rumored LEGO play lab in the Manhattan office of the Internet giant, as reported on a Google Watchblog.

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No, I don't have a Google fetish, they just keep talking about LEGO!

Here's a sneak peek behing the scenes at the East Coast satellite Googleplex in Manhattan, which now is home away from home to 700 employees.

It appears culture and fun are top priorities, from global cafe menus to the game room. And you'll never guess what else is a big time activity...umm...you got it: LEGO building. They have a whole LEGO room.

Building on Ice?

OK, so just because I'm the Office Manager, it doesn't mean I always have to be reporting from the cubes...today I'm on the rocks...well, thin ice that is, hockey style.

The Philadelphia Flyers apparently had a LEGO building day at their training camp in Canada with the goal of building a stronger team by representing the kind of players they want to be through building. Check out yet another innovative use of LEGO bricks to score a winning team at work.

Attention all home garage inventors and LEGO Fans!

Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Garages, Basements and Backyards was recently released and according to GeekDad, the LEGO Rubik’s Cube Solver made it into the book! I wonder if my LEGO robot could make the cut for the next book!?!

First LEGO Education Center opens in Southlake, Texas

Math, Reading, Social Studies, Science, PE, History. Sound familiar? For most of us, school consisted of a set number of classes in specific subjects, with an occasional music or drama class from time to time. Not like there’s anything wrong with this. Remember, I’m a “teach” myself. If lead by skillful teachers, standard classes give children a solid foundation to approach new challenges and become thoughtful problem-solvers.

So often, however, skills that are vital for success, i.e. communication, concentration and perseverance, are proficiencies we assume will develop involuntarily. So often are these “soft” skills pushed to the wayside in school curricula. I was excited to hear that LEGO Education opened their first US LEGO Education Center in Southlake, Texas last week. All LEGO Education Center courses, taught after school hours, encourage students to develop seven essential skills (a few of those I mentioned previously), and all center activities are designed within an environment of guided exploration. You can get the whole scoop here

Don’t Flush This Idea!

Now, I remember the toilet scrubbing robot someone invented back when LEGO MINDSTORMS was first introduced in 1998 – but this takes it to a whole new level. Click here to see the photos and learn more about programming your very own automatic flusher. And, don’t worry you can watch the following video no problem at the office!

Google's at it Again

Those folks at Google just can't seem to shake their LEGO obsession. Check out this story, reporting on the latest LEGO-scheme in Google's bag of tricks to be creative business leaders.

Countdown to Halo 3

The folks over at MTV’s Multiplayer have commissioned the busy Nathan Sawaya to recreate Halo’s Master Chief brick by brick. Click here to check out the stop animation build.

Growing Trend: First-Time Teacher Encourages LEGO Play

Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently published a story on a first-time teacher who left a career in television and radio journalism to fulfill her passion for teaching children. According to the article, Jackie Flaherty is part of a growing trend of professionals entering the teaching profession as a second or third career. And wouldn’t you know? Ms. Flaherty encourages her students to build with LEGO bricks to stimulate their creativity. Read all about it here

Get Jeff Lewis Some Legos!

Apparently the uber high-strung Jeff Lewis, star of this summer’s “Flipping Out,” loved playing with Legos as a kid. Me thinks he needs a grown-up zen moment with Lego bricks STAT! Dude, calm down and stop firing folks.

Can you ever really have TOO many LEGO bricks?

Oh goodness…If you come into my home you may be able to check off MOST of the signs BBSpot.com listed as the “Top Eleven Signs You Have Too Many LEGO Bricks”

Signs You Have Too Many LEGO Bricks
11. The spreadsheet you keep track of your LEGO sets on just ran out of rows.
10. You evict your kid from their room so you have somewhere to place your LEGO model of Manhattan.
9. You seriously considered doing the addition to your home in LEGO bricks.
8. You search the Internet hoping to find the "Nutrition Facts" for LEGO bricks.
7. There's a statue of you in every village in Denmark.
6. You know someone got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night because you can hear their yelps of pain as they step on LEGO bricks you left lying around.
5. Three of your nephews went into the "LEGO room" two weeks ago, and haven't returned. You have to rent a backhoe to unearth them.
4. "LEGO sets" is the largest item in the family budget.
3. Your house is targeted by DHS for having Weapons of Mass Construction.
2. It's not uncommon to bite into a piece of homemade pie and find a LEGO brick that accidentally fell in the filling.
1. Your house burns down and all that's left is a molten lake of plastic.

Who will be next to be cast in LEGO sculpture?

Our friends over at boingboing have uncovered a very intricate sculpture of Stephen Hawking from the pages of Brickshelf. Check it out here!

And the Oscar Goes to…

Look out Tarantino and Soderbergh: some unexpected moviemakers might just steal your thunder. Hot right now is brickfilm, where moviemakers use Lego parts and people to create stop-animation films. Content is just about anything, ranging from recreations of existing movies to original films to music videos. As this ABC News story points out, the actors don’t talk back…or show up late thanks to a night out partying like *some* young starlets these days. Hmmm, maybe MTV should have created a mini brickfilm to open the VMAs. Tiny, Lego Brit may have done a better job.

Vacuum LEGO Style

For everyone who said chores can't be fun think again! Here's a great new use for your vacuum - LEGO Jousting! All you need are a few minifigures and a vacuum or two - Geek Dad used the Roomba, but my guess is that you can get this to work with any vacuum. Check out the full article here.