Little Coloured Bricks

Google is one of the most popular companies that have used Lego blocks for their logo. In fact, the search engine company has always had a fondness for Lego. In January 28, 2008, to commemorate Lego’s 50^th birthday, Google used a special logo on its homepage that was made up of Lego blocks. This commemorative logo not only appeared in Google.com. It also appeared in most country-specific Google sites like Google UK, Google France, Google Mexico, Google Israel, and Google Denmark, which doesn’t happen with most of Google’s special logos. Aside from that, the founders of Google themselves are known for their love for the building toys, and because Lego blocks look like computer pixels, so do most computer geeks. Google also share a unique history with Lego not only in its logo. The first and original Google servers were contained in a rectangular box made up of Lego. Now, two of Google’s offices, one in New York and one in Copenhagen, have installed Lego logos in their headquarters.

But Google is not the only company that used Lego blocks for their logos. Sean Kennedy, the professional artist who uses Lego to build anything a client wants and the same person who made the Google Lego logos, have been commissioned by a host of other companies to make their logos using Lego blocks. One of them is a Mongolian-based mining company called Gatsuurt. The resulting Lego sculpture is 3-dimensional representation of their 2-dimensional logo and it contains more than 3,000 Lego bricks. A software company called Fog Creek software also commissioned Sean Kennedy to translate their logo into one that is made up of Lego blocks, as well as a local New York TV news station, NY1.

This just shows that Lego blocks are not only for child’s play. They can also be used for marketing and corporate strategies to make a company look more youthful and appealing.

Legolandia – At 3 pm today, a young Lego boy spotted yet another “Z” graffiti in one of the main buildings in Legoland’s capital. There have been reports of Zorro battling the bad Lego guys to the delight of all the Spanish Lego ladies.

Who is Zorro?

Zorro, like most fictional superheroes, has a secret identity of a nobleman called Don Diego de la Vega during the Spanish colonial regime in California. The character was created in 1919 and has been used in many books, television series, and films since then.

Zorro’s character has been through a few changes since it was first made but his classic style is that of an outlaw in a black mask with a Robin Hood-esque agenda of defending his fellow citizens against the tyranny of the government officials and other bad characters. He is a well-beloved character not only because of his cunning and fox-like ability to get away from those who are trying to catch him but also because of his pleasure at humiliating them publicly.

It is not surprising that like most popular comic superheroes, there would be an interest in a Zorro Lego minifig. Even though its concept is not entirely original, Zorro is one of the first predecessors of the American comic book superheroes. Similar with Spring Heeled Jack, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and the more recent Batman, Zorro is an independently rich person hiding behind a mask and who is able to do good for the people using his great fighting skills and ingenuity. In fact, The Mask of Zorro is one of the many things that gave inspiration to the creation of Batman in 1939. This inspiration has been apparent in the comics themselves; it was said that The Mask of Zorro was the movie that Bruce Wayne and his parents watched at the cinema right before he saw them get murdered.

The character of Zorro had such a huge impact on most of the famous fictional superheroes of today’s youth. It is no wonder that some fans would be compelled to create a Lego minifig mimicking him.

Lego JFF Assassination is a set of Lego blocks that you can use to depict that assassination of the 35^th and one of the most popular presidents of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK. The Lego set was first manufactured as one of the first Lego kits ever sold and it had a number of versions since then, including the 10^th Release Anniversary version released in 1988.

The Lego JFK Assassination set was also initially produced as part of the Lego: Designing History series along with other historical sets like Lego September 11 which depicts the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Lego Holocaust which represents Hitler’s reign of horror, and the Lego Challenger Space Shuttle which shows the explosion of NASA’s notorious aircraft. But what sets the Lego JFK Assassination apart from the rest of the historical-themed Lego sets is that it actually allows the builder to reenact the event in whatever way they want to. This is also what makes the Lego JFK Assassination more controversial than the others.

The idea for this Lego set first came about during the president’s special commission in January 1964 that investigated the assassination. When it was reported that the investigators were finding it hard to reenact the president’s motorcade, one of the representatives suggested that they use Lego blocks. His idea was not approved but when he got home, his son had questions about the event and so he used his son’s own Lego blocks to explain. This son grew up and became part of the Lego Company, where he proposed the Lego JFK Assassination set, inspired by his father.

The different Lego JFK Assassination kit versions have some variation in accessories. For instance, the 1988 version had buttons on the motorcade vehicles that produce sounds. But all kits have the important players: a Lee Harvey Oswald, and of course, a John F. Kennedy.

Charlie Chaplin was a famous British comedian and film director during the early 20^th Century before the Great Depression Era, whose works are still beloved by many even today. He became popular not only because of his great sense of humor but also because of his exceptional skills at slapstick comedy. From 1914 to 1967, Charlie Chaplin have made a total of 81 official movies, many of which he acted in, directed, produced, written, and scored himself. Most notable among these are The Immigrant, The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator. These five films are included in the National Film Registry.

In early 2009, one of the members of a fansite dedicated to people who are interested in Lego minifigs, or human figure Lego designs and customization aptly called Custom Minifig, created a Lego Charlie Chaplin. This Charlie Chaplin minifig has the comedian’s usual outfit of a black suit and a bowler hat. It also comes with a suitcase, a walking stick, and of course, Charlie Chaplin’s trademark toothbrush mustache. This creation delighted many Chaplin fans and Legoland now can sing to “Smile” while remembering the comic.

After its creation, this Charlie Chaplin minifig inspired other minifig designers to make their own versions. These different minifigs were then used both by Chaplin and animation fans to simulate Charlie Chaplin videos including one short clip of a scene from The Great Dictator.

Lego Charlie Chaplin is a great way of bringing the legacy of this great artist closer to the younger generations. Children who are not interested in watching silent films may be more inclined to watch Lego animations and seeing these versions of Charlie Chaplin’s movies may trigger in them a fascination for Charlie Chaplin’s original works. This can also help make sure that Charlie Chaplin’s contribution to the film industry will be enjoyed by more people and will last for a longer time. Of course, Charlie Chaplin will always be remembered by his fans and by Legoland.

The Canterbury Tales is an anthology of stories written by the English author Geoffrey Chaucer during the 14^th Century. The stories in The Canterbury Tales are recounted as part of a story-telling competition among the pilgrims who are traveling together on a trip to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the temple of Saint Thomas Becket, hence the title. Included in this collection are the tales of Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls.

The Canterbury Tales is considered to be Chaucer’s masterpiece and a great accomplishment of Western culture. Chaucer was also able to create in The Canterbury Tales the very first unreliable narrator in literature: the tour guide, whose character is said to be based on Chaucer himself.

This collection of tales written in Middle English have inspired many other works including William Shakespeare and John Fletcher’s The Two Noble Kinsmen, which retells The Knight’s Tale. The same story was also recently adapted into a more MTV-generation-friendly film with the same title, starring the late Heath Ledger.

In April 1, 2006, the author of a Geoffrey Chaucer blog asked his readers to “declaymen my tales” (declaim my tales) in honor of his favorite month.

As a response, a Lego aficionado made Lego minifigs of 20 of the Canterbury Pilgrims:  The Knight and the Squire, The Yeoman, The Prioress, The Second Nun, The Nun’s Priest, The Monk, The Friar, The Merchant, The Man of Law, The Franklin, The Cook, The Shipman, The Physician, The Wife of Bath, The Parson, The Miller, The Manciple, The Reeve, The Summoner, and The Pardoner. The set was impressive not only because of the effort given by the creator to make each minifig distinctive but also because of the near-perfect representation of Chaucer’s well-beloved pilgrims through the use of detailed accessories that help establish each of the characters.