Little Coloured Bricks

Do you have a competitive streak? Do you love challenges? Can you create under pressure? If so, join the Lego Design Challenge! This challenge was created by the Lego Company in order to inspire the young to be more creative and inventive. Apart from being able to see how creative your kids are, the Lego Company will be using this contest to have an idea of what children are really interested in.

But who is eligible to join this exciting, one-of-a-kind competition? This contest is open to all citizens of America and the Columbian District who belong to ages 5 and up. There are actually four age categories in which entries will be judged: 5-8, 9-12, 13-15 and 16 and up. There will be one winner for the grand prize for every category. That means a total of four winners in all. Of course to ensure total impartiality, all employees of Lego, the members of their immediate family, and all people living under the same roof are not eligible.

But what are the rules in building your Lego masterpiece? It is simple. You can use up to 100 LEGO bricks to make this creation then take a snapshot of it, add a short narrative of about 50 words or so, and submit it to LEGO.com

Your creation can either be an actual creation using LEGO bricks. It can also be virtual, using Lego Design by Me. This is a program which permits people to make their own Lego creations on a computer which can then be uploaded to the official website of Lego. Each contestant may submit more than one entry, provided that each one is different. And of course, they must be the applicant’s original creation. Entries may be submitted either online or through mail.

Of course no contest will ever be complete without the prizes and Lego has prepared exciting prizes for the four grand prize winners! The winning creation will appear in a prestigious catalogue exclusively for Lego products. Aside from that, the winner will also be given a $100 gift card. You can use this card to purchase any Lego product of your choice. Another price will also be a $50 gift card from Design by Me, a LEGO set and a certificate of achievement from Lego.

With all these exciting prizes at stake, will you let this opportunity slide by? Be inspired and start creating your own masterpiece now!

There are many goddesses both in Greek and Roman mythology and these goddesses represent different facets of the human psyche. Athena for example is the goddess of wisdom while Hera is the goddess of fertility and the protector of marriage.  Apart from the major goddesses however there are goddesses who do not sit well with those who have morals. One example is the seductress Kakia. Apart from her being a seductress, she is also the goddess of vice. One of the most popular goddesses of all time however is Aphrodite because of her allure and her beauty. According to certain accounts, Aphrodite is older than Zeus but many accounts mention her as one of Zeus’ children even if her birth was more unnatural than that of Athena.

Aphrodite/Venus

With Bananarama crooning “Well, I’m your Venus. I’m your fire. At your desire.” Venus (also known with her Greek name Aphrodite) must be fuming due to the latent blasphemy of the group . Those who are fond of the goddess believe however that if Venus were real she would have found the song rather adorable.

Leah Cardaci’s customized Aphrodite sure looks alluring and I bet many are wishing that Lego will release a Greek Mythology set sometime soon.

Getting To Know Aphrodite

The “birth” of the goddess was quite disgusting but from that rather weird occurrence, the goddess of beauty and love came to be. It is said that Aphrodite could make any man fall in love with her but this does not mean that the goddess does not have insecurities. If you know your Greek mythology well then you must have heard about the story of Eros and Psyche. Eros is Aphrodite’s son and Psyche is a super beautiful mortal that Aphrodite was not really fond of. To cut the story short, Eros (known to the Romans as Cupid) fell in love with Psyche. The two have a  child named Pleasure.

Gods and goddesses were very important parts of olden cultures. The Greeks have Zeus, Athena, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo (among others) while the Romans have the same gods and goddesses –some of the same name as that of the Greeks while others were given different names.

In Egypt the Sun God Ra was worshipped by a large part of the population. Isis, another Egyptian Goddess is more famous than Ra in recent popular culture because of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Other ancient tribes that worshipped gods and goddesses were the Old Norse, Mayans, the Celts, and the Aztecs.

The Greeks

Greek Mythology is the most famous among other mythological stories.  Popularized by recent pop culture thanks to Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief and other versions from the silver screen, Greek Mythology may be one of the most interesting “accounts” of what olden people believed in. During the Trojan War, there are many accounts where King Priam prays to Apollo. Greek Mythology is also famous because it is rather controversial and it is almost intertwined with older historical accounts. Whether there is a truth to these accounts, we will never know so let us just take a look at the Lego minifigs of these gods and goddesses.

The Aztecs

Religion is a very important aspect of Aztec life because the ancient tribe believes that the gods and goddesses control forces of nature. A society based on heavily on tilling the land, the Aztecs believe that there are gods of agriculture –those who will give them enough rain and enough sunshine for a bountiful harvest.  While some of these gods and goddesses did only good things for the Aztecs, others had rather terrifying characteristics.

The Aztecs gave birth to the concept of human sacrifice along with penance where they hurt themselves intensely to show to the gods that they are asking for forgiveness.

From its humble beginnings in the 1900’s, Lego has come a long way in terms of innovation and product distribution. Now it has a vast line of products. This includes Lego Minifigures! It was around 30 years ago when the first ever Lego Minifigure emerged in the market. Since then its growth has been exceedingly phenomenal. It has grown so much in the past years that its population is now even bigger than China, amounting to around 4 billion.

But what exactly is a Lego Minifigure? And why has it become so popular? A minifigure is actually just a little figurine made out of plastic. It was originally released in the market in 1978. During that time, there were only seven figures in three different settings: Castle, Town and Space. These minifigures were all similar -they had the same facial expression.

They had two black dots for their eyes, a smile and their faces were all yellow in color. This was because Lego believed that a neutral expression stimulated a child’s imagination more. It was not until the 1980’s when the first alteration in the figure’s faces was introduced. With the release of Lego Pirates, additional features like beards and eye patches were implemented. Then in the 1990’s, Lego developed its first specialized minifigure: Lego ghost. After that Lego went tropical with its first ever island adventure theme. And what do you picture when you say island? Of course, bikinis and thongs.

Later in 1995, the second specialized minifigure was developed: Lego skeleton. This was followed by Lego western – yes – this meant little plastic cowboys and Adventurer Johnny Thunder (an action figure similar to Indiana Jones).

1999, however, was a more exciting year for Lego because it was during this time that the first licensed minifigure was launched in the form of Luke Skywalker. A year later, Lego tuned in to sports by introducing Lego Soccer followed closely by Lego Basketball. With the release of Lego Basketball, the use of legs that was spring-loaded also came into being. Shorter legs, for diminutive characters similar to Yoda, and double-sided heads were also added to the fast growing minifig collection. Double-sided heads were particularly interesting because you could change your minifig’s expression with just a swivel.

2003 marked the arrival of astronauts with the introduction of Lego Mars mission. Then came famous movie characters like Harry Potter, Spiderman, Batman and Indiana Jones. With their appearance in the market, the minifigs popularity soared on to new heights. They became so popular that although they were at first intended for children ages 8 to14, adults started collecting them as well.

Now Lego has managed to outdo itself yet again with the introduction of 16 new minifigures, each with its own set of unique and individual accessories. This collection is inspired by the everyday people that we meet that are seemingly the same at first glance, but actually have their own unique qualities. This collection is composed of Caveman, Spaceman, Demolition Dummy, Cowboy, Forestman, Nurse, Super Wrestler, Robot, Zombie, Diver, Ninja, and Magician. Alright, we rarely meet ninjas and we surely would not want to call anyone a dummy. There are no zombies we see on a daily basis and if a spaceman was around, we might be afraid to even go out. (So yeah, erase the everyday people part)

With all these minifigures to chose from, your kid will surely have a blast during play time! So what are you waiting for? Collect them all!

Since it first began in 1932 in the form of wooden toys produced by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a humble carpenter from Denmark, Lego has gone a long way. Now it has a variety of products you can chose from -not only that, you can also enjoy downloading an assortment of games from Lego’s official website.

If you’re fed up of your old desktop screen saver, with just a click you can have exciting new wallpapers such as Market Street, Mindstorms, Bionicle Avak, and Knights Kingdom or if it’s a new screensaver you want, Lego also offers an array of attractive screensavers like Start Wars, First Lego League and Market Street.

If you are bored and have nothing to do, you can also download some great activities from Lego.com. There are currently four fun and exciting activities to chose from. First is Digital Designer. Here, you can let go of your creative instincts and use it to craft and design the Lego model you have always dreamed of. Through this, you can certainly let your inner artist shine through. There is also Knights Kingdom. This is for people who want to learn how to fashion their own shield – an important weapon of defense. Duplo and Quatro, on the other hand, are for people who want to see their height in inches and centimeters and there is also an activity called Family Building, an avenue where the entire family can use to spend quality family time.

You might be thinking now, “Wow, what a treat! All these from Lego for free?” But no, that’s not all. On top of these, Lego has also created a thrilling selection of games just for you! There are five different categories for each set -different categories that will surely fit different personalities.

There is a category called Action, with six games in this category alone: Space Police Galaxy City Getaway, a game where you have to capture a villain called Brick Daddy in order to reclaim a shipment of stolen gold; Shark Chase, a titillating game where your dodging skills will be put to the test as you attempt to evade a gigantic shark; The Technic Challenge, a challenge where you have to figure out how to open the doors that will get you out of a building; Minifigures Minigames, a game wherein you can manipulate your favorite minifigure; Crab Attack, where you have to kill or be killed by an enormous crab  and Tentacle Tickle, where you have to weasel your way out of the tentacles of a giant squid.

The second category called Creative is also armed with six different games. In this category, you can let the artist in you emerge. You can play LEGO Digital Designer, where you can build your very own dream model; Creative Builder, where your skill in building will be tested; Cold North Fairy Tale, where you can experience what the birthday parties of royalty is like; Belville’s Dollhouse, where you can relive your childhood day by playing dress up and ice ballet.

The 3^rd category is called Exclusive with two games: City Train Game and Brick Game. The 4^th category is Preschool with five games: DUPLO Train Driver, Animal Bingo, Turn n’ Match Game, Brick Buster, and Fire Station Academy. The last category is Puzzle with four games: Turbo Tracks, LEGO City, Junkbot Undercover, and Junkbot.

With all these fun games to chose from you will never experience boredom again. So hurry and try them out!