Little Coloured Bricks

The Philippine Tricycle in Lego by Michael Davadilla

Like many countries, the Philippines has its own quirks and this includes one of the Asian country’s most common mode of transportation -the tricycle. Colloquially, this vehicle is called a trike by most Filipinos and they are around in any village or town. In the cities, there are still selected trike areas. It can carry 4 people, 3 in the inside and 1 in the back of the tricycle driver. This is what Michael Davadilla’s Lego creation accurately depicts -the trike in all its glory.

Tricycles are usually classified by color depending on certain areas they service.  In a subdivision or village entrance there can be 2 different colors of trikes lined in certain spaces. These colors symbolize which part of the village the tricycle goes to. For example, if there are 2 trike color choices -green and red and the green goes to the northern part of the village and the red ones go to the south, you should make sure that you are riding the right trike. If you are going to the south then you should ride a red trike and give the tricycle driver the address of the place you are going to. You may opt to share the trike like the Lego minifigs in the trike made by the Filipino Lego builder or just pay for all the seats and have the ride for yourself. If you have a heavy built, it would be best not to share the trike since the space inside the trike is around 80 centimeters wide so basically it would be hard to fit two heavy built persons in there.

Photo Courtesy of John-Paul Enaje

Another iconic mode of transport in the Philippines is the jeepney. It looks like the Lego jeepney made by Lego builder John-Paul Enahe. This vehicle is usually called the king of the road in the said country.

Photo Courtesy of Sgt.Fuse the Legoholic

Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, commemorates the defeat of the French invaders at the battle of Pueblo and is one of the most highly celebrated Mexican fiestas around the globe – needless to say, it’s a brilliant time to bring out the maracas and party!

A Cinco de Mayo party usually involves luscious deep colors, faux cacti decorations, vibrant centerpieces, crazy little banderitas and everything Mexican, from the colorful costumes to the wonderfully hot and spicy food to the heart-felt Mariachi serenades down to the sombreros of various shapes and sizes.

You think there’s nothing else you can do to up the ante even further? Well, that’s where LEGO comes in. This is how to have a Cinco de Mayo fiesta, OLÉGO style!

Just think about the endless possibilities that LEGO could bring to Cinco de Mayo: Cacti you can touch without being pricked placed in random areas of the room; a huge Sleeping Mexican centerpiece made from hundreds of little indestructible blocks of colors; a Mexican banner made entirely from an immortal toy. Suddenly the room seems brighter, and the party a lot livelier than ever before!

Not only is it great to look at but it’s fun to assemble, too! A lot of people enjoy Cinco de Mayo, but when LEGO comes to play, a whole new dimension is added to the fray, doubling the excitement even before the festivities start. Now wouldn’t you want that kind of fun in your celebration?

LEGO products are affordable, reusable and can definitely spice up any fiesta. And let’s not forget the best part: your party becomes instantly kid-friendly and child-proofed at the same time! No more accidents with sharp centerpieces shattering accidentally on the floor; when that happens, both children and children-at-heart can spend more time together in creating new Mexican-inspired works of art.

There’s no better way to celebrate the spirit of triumph than with LEGO.

Photo Courtesy of designbyme.lego.com

She washes the dishes, she cleans the house, and prepares our meals. She heals our small wounds with a shower of kisses and is always our no.1 fan even if no one likes us at all. Our mothers are always there and they will love us more than anybody else can whether we are lovable or despicable.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in almost all parts of the world making it a global celebration. Many children both young and old are now going crazy looking for gifts for their moms. Making a Lego card is not a bad idea though, especially if you want to give a unique gift.

What you need to do is get a Lego base and form the words “Happy Mother’s Day Mom!” or “I Love You Mom” –ideas are endless and the Lego gifts you can build are also endless.

Aside from a Lego card, you can make a picture frame containing a picture of you and your mom. The frame can be made out of Lego bricks, all you have to buy is the glass to protect the photo.

Flowers are also great gift ideas for Mother’s Day but if you are still very young and do not have that much money to buy a few roses, you can always pick flowers or make a bouquet out of your little coloured bricks –wouldn’t that be a good idea? Although Lego blocks are expensive, if you have them already the gift will not be too costly for you. If in case you think you cannot build a Lego flower bouquet, you can always resort to building a heart or just the letters that compose the words “I Love You Mom”. Whichever the case, or whatever gift you will choose for your mom, whether you would be making it yourself or opt to buy it from the store, the bottom line is –you did not forget.

Photo Via AndrewLipson.com

According to many people, Lego is the best thing that ever came from Denmark except of course Danish cookies and the Danish themselves. Since the making of Lego, many Lego artists realized their dream of building something that are now ogled at with awe and admiration.

Andrew Lipson who considers himself a professional nerd is a Lego builder and one of the most awe-inspiring works he has done are the mathematical Lego sculptures that according to the nerd er artist was done with the help of a computer. He had to calculate which brick should go on top of the other so to speak.

Andrew Lipson may have built objects some may consider weird but for those who are into mathematical stuff the first picture you can see here is true-blue nerdy art. Now kids shouldn’t be bullying nerds because it’s the nerds who make great Lego art and in most cases, make more money when they grow up. Hurray to that!

Andrew Lipson’s Bour’s surface is a complicated mathematical structure. However complicated, the sculpture looks extremely cool and rather complicated to make so kudos to Lipson for showing us how it’s done.

Photo Courtesy of AndrewLipson.com

Lipson said “Bour’s surface can be parametrised as

x = r cos(t) - r² cos(2t) / 2

y = -r sin(t) - r² sin(2t) / 2

z = (4/3) r^1/2 cos(3t/2)

and the model shows this parametrisation for 0 < t < 4p, 1 < r < 4. There’s no particular mathematical reason for taking the image of an annulus like this rather than a disk, but the hole left in the center lets you see the structure better. And anyway, it makes building it more of a challenge and looks cool…” If you understood what that meant, kudos to you too! Thanks to Lipson, for his marvelous work.

Photo Courtesy of Milan CMadge

Fascist and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was born in 1883 in a small town called Dovia di Predappio located in Forli. Alessandro Mussolini, his father, was an anarchist activist and a blacksmith by profession while Rosa, his mother was a schoolteacher. Owing to Alessandro Mussolini’s political beliefs, when the would-be dictator was born, his father named him after Benito Juarez, a Mexican reformist.

Benito Mussolini became known to the world through his friendship with German dictator Adolf Hitler but many do not know most of Mussolini’s achievements. Benito Mussolini tamed the Pontine Marshes and improved the area through his public works programs. He also made sure that every Roman had a job. One of his most celebrated achievements though is solving the Roman question through the Lateran Treaty between the Vatican and the Kingdom of Italy. Apart from these, he also secured economic success in the country and in its colonies.

Before the Italian leader joined the Axis powers, Mussolini was a steady supporter of France but by June the 10^th 1940, the dictator led the Italians into the Second World War on the side of Hitler.

A great photo depicting the friendship between the Germany and Italy is the two dictators standing side by side with Mussolini waving to the crowds. Thanks to Milan CMadge, a Lego builder, this historic photo has been transformed to a Lego picture.

Mussolini and Hitler are already immortalized in the many historical videos and films based on the war and on their lives. Thanks to Lego builders who have a penchant for history and historical figures, former leaders such as Mussolini are also immortalized through the little coloured bricks. Whether they are considered good people or not playing with Lego dictators is a good way to teach your children about history and life during the war.