Day Two

Today we walked to the park from the hotel (which is across the street). We got rained on slightly. Our first stop was the Lego Clubhouse, where they house the gazillions of bricks we had to choose from to be our core supply for the build-off tomorrow. We had an hour, and most everyone spent the last half hour sitting at the little tables tinkering. It's what we do.










Then we had our interview and two building challenges. The interviews were conducted by HR staffers Kim and Heather (as a team), HR guy Marcus, and Pat the model shop boss. I got Kim and Heather, who were totally friendly. I talked about my career history and they wrote a lot of stuff down. When the big question came, "why should we pick you?" I opened with "I'm a lateral thinker," and while they were writing that down I froze for a second. Then, while they were still writing, the internal flywheel started spinning again and I rattled off the rest of the spiel that I'd been gathering in my head over the last week or two. I think I did that "selling myself" thing with more push than in any other job interview I've ever had. I even said "I get people to like me quickly" or something like that, which I had some post-interview mini qualms about. Buuut, what the heck, it's true. I'm charming, it's an asset. What can I say?

I went back to the little waiting room, thinking I still had to talk to Pat and Marcus. Then, in a bit of casual conversation I figured out everyone only got one interview, with one of the interviewers. My dawning relief was so bewildering, my confirmation of this came out "you blean we just must have one interview, to us?" Well, great! (Also good was my realization that I hadn't held anything back, thinking there was more to do. I was aiming to impress everyone equally).

The time limit for both building challenges was 55 minutes. The first building challenge was to make an egg. Everyone got to sit in front of this gorgeously organized set of bins. Plates, from 1x1 to 1x8, then 2x2 to 2x8, then the brick versions of the same pieces. I went for the green, cuz green is pretty. I asked if I could listen to my iPod, which I did. When I was worried I wasn't going to finish the egg, I thought "oh great, it's going to look like I was too busy fiddling with my iPod to do the task." I had a couple spots where I needed to pull stuff off and rethink. Then, as I was closing in on the top, I was certain each downward push was going to implode the whole thing. I reminded myself that I'd built animation props out of much flimsier materials, that I had the right touch if I just concentrated. (The guy next to me started his from the top first, which I wished I'd thought of.) But in the end I actually had enough time to sort the unused pieces back into their bins. Sorting, of course, is the other great joy of Lego freakery.

The second challenge was to make a face out of bricks, at least six inches high. This guy just makes it. We had a full range of yellow pieces and some selected black and white ones. Right away I decided to make him winking (or grimacing in pain, you decide), which was a good application of my "don't forget the hook" point I realized after going on KRON that time. Although I came up right against the time limit, this was a much more relaxed experience. (There's another pic of this guy in the last post, if you scroll down. I used the flash, so you can tell his teeth are white).

On my way back to the hotel I saw I had a message from the always delightful Tami, saying she was blowing off work to come hang out at the park with me. We scoped the place really good, making sure the thing I'm going to do for my build-off piece tomorrow wasn't represented anywhere. It isn't, but I can't tell you what it is yet. It turned out that one of Tami's ideas while we were brainstorming last night, to rep some works of fine art in Lego...they had that idea already. So obviously it was a good idea -- just shows you how good it is to have her brain on my side. You'll notice that blue light saber floating in space, that's so the kids can pose fighting the D-man. But Tami's a hugger, not a fighter.

It's been a full day. I took a nap, ate some steak, and now I'm going to practice for my piece tomorrow. Thank you so much for all the attention and good wishes, all of you. I can feel you sending me good vibes all the way from here, and it's the best thing ever, I mean it. I might not get the top spot tomorrow, but right now I feel like I can't lose.

Here's a few photos from my wanderings today and yesterday.

This is the first thing I want to copy when I get home. Big, beautiful bass. Or salmon. Trout?

If this ever actually happened in nature, it would be unstoppable.

Miniland's Embarcadero Center. This feels incomplete without a little Jonah and Marly running around in it.

The dinosaurs are heartbreakingly pretty. Fantastic colors.

Something about the bottom of this guy's jaw -- I love it!

The mini Smithsonian might be my favorite structure in all of miniland.

I love how this isn't just a big basilisk, it's a giant version of the toy of the basilisk. And he seems to be snaking out of the dirt. Sssss!

Interviews, tests

Done with the first hurdle! We had to make an egg and a face. My egg was touch and go for a bit there, I wasn't sure if I was gonna finish. And I was sure I was going to collapse the whole thing when I did the top.

The face is a little blocky, I admit, but he's winking. Get it?

Day One

I'm too shagged to write much, but here are some highlights of the day.

Check me out! First time in a stretch limo. As good as advertised.

This kid was considering going Godzilla on DC, but his dad said "don't even think about it." Darn!

I am quite literally pressed against the glass for this one, longingly looking inside. That's the model shop. One wall is a big window, so the magic is viewable to the public. Just don't knock on the glass, the fish don't like it.

More super-coolness.

Awww.

Monday is interviews and building tests. Tuesday is the final build-off. Two hours to do a "what would you add to the park" model. Hmmmm.

Winner and three contenders are announced at 1:30 pm California time on Tuesday.

Thanks for all the calls and support. My friends and family totally rule. That's you guys, you rule!

MoMA

Spider Hat!

Here's my friend Marcella modeling 2003's Halloween hat breakthrough.

Octopunk stays up really late

I just really wanted to get my lego stuff uploaded, is all. Check out my Brickshelf page for a bunch of the new pictures I took last weekend. You can tell the new stuff because the backgrounds are much whiter. I particularly recommend the Nova Blade and the Zeppelin.

Meanwhile, let me mention this: whenever I finish a new lego creation, when I finally get it perfect, for a while afterwards it's like I have a crush on the thing. I bring it with me places so I can constantly look at it and pick it up. Well, the other day while I was packing up my stuff to go get it photogrified, I whipped out these two little robots -- and I can't get enough of them! They're so small and easy, when I realized I'd left them at Adam's on Monday, I just built another pair. I threw the necessary parts in my pocket and assembled them on the train to work.

I don't even have an idea of what they're for, but I do know that when they raise up on their wheels like that, they go really fast.

Scientists discover first animal to say "Screw this Stupid Ocean"

Fossil animals found in Arctic Canada provide a snapshot of fish evolving into land animals, scientists say. The finds are giving researchers a fascinating insight into this key stage in the evolution of life on Earth.

The 383 million-year-old specimens are described as crocodile-like animals with fins instead of limbs that probably lived in shallow water.

Before these finds, palaeontologists knew that lobe-finned fishes evolved into land-living creatures during the Devonian Period. But fossil records showed a gap between Panderichthys, a fish that lived about 385 million years ago which shows early signs of evolving land-friendly features, and Acanthostega, the earliest known tetrapod (four-limbed animals) dating from about 365 million years ago.

In 1999, palaeontologists set out to explore the Canadian Arctic in an attempt to find the "missing link" that would explain the transition from water to land. After several years of searching with very little success, they hit the jackpot in 2004.

"The really remarkable find came when one of the crew found a snout of a flat-headed animal sticking out of the side of a cliff - that is totally what you want to find because if you are at all lucky the rest of the skeleton is back in the cliff," said Professor Shubin. The team found three near-complete, well-preserved fossils of the new species, Tiktaalik roseae, in an area of the Arctic called the Nunavut Territory. The largest measures almost 3m (9 ft) in length.

The creature shares some characteristics with a fish; it has fins with webbing, and scales on its back. But it also has many features in common with land animals. It has a flat crocodile-like head with eyes positioned on top and the beginnings of a neck - something not seen in fish.

"When we look inside the fin, we see a shoulder, we see an elbow, and we see an early version of a wrist, which is very similar to that of all animals that also walk on land," said Professor Shubin. "Essentially we have an animal that is built to support itself on the ground."

The scientists believe the position of the creature's eyes suggest it probably lived in shallow water.

Dr Andrew Milner, a palaeontologist from the Natural History Museum, UK, said it is unusual to find a fossil like this in such good condition. "This material is amazing because it includes a nearly complete skeleton - which is always handy because instead of assembling the fossil from bits we can see the whole skeleton and be sure that this is how the animal was put together."

Professor Jennifer Clack, from the University of Cambridge, said that the find could prove to be as much of an "evolutionary icon" as Archaeopteryx - an animal believed to mark the transition from reptiles to birds.

A cast of one of the fossils will be on display at the Science Museum in London from Thursday.

Giant Robots on Sale!

Well, sort of. On the way to catch the bus to Sherm's house, I passed the window of Pegasus Books and saw they had this book for only 15 bucks (cover price is 40, and I've been thinking about getting it). About 90 seconds later I was walking past the same spot with one in my hands. It's a little overproduced, but the art inside is fantastic. Just look at that ridiculous thing on the cover. It's got gothic windows! Ah, I love this stuff

Octopunk gets his Mug on TV

Early this morning I went to KRON in San Francisco for an exhibition build-off. I sat with the other two SF finalists and we spent an hour building a model, just like the audition but without the pirate theme. When I had been looking for those yellow pieces for back of the parrot's head, I had been hoodwinked by a number of the inverse version of the same piece. Knowing there would be a lot of them, I planned the rocket you see here, starting with the fins.

The two anchors had a newsdesk and an informal talk show setup with couches. We were off to the side at a long table, with a boom cam pointing down at us. As we built, they delivered the news, and showed footage of us as they went to commerical. I wrapped it up with some time to spare, and we went over to the couches and talked for a few minutes. Then the two hosts picked the frog head as their favorite (I don't have a picture, but it was made by the guy who made the octopus in his audition).

I admit I wanted the little Lego award statuette, but I feel I did really well where it counted. I finished the model I set out to do and it's got some complicated building going on. As for my performance, I don't really want to go all Gary about how I came off, but my friends say I did well. Even though I wanted to lean forward with my elbows on my knees like the other two guys, I sat up straight -- straighter than I ever do in real life. I made a couple of funnies.

Okay, this one I'll mention because it wasn't my original joke. I said that I had a Lego Room in my house, and the two hosts (who talked over each other a lot) made tandem comments asking if I was married. I said "well, there was a special lady, but she was into Lincoln Logs, so it didn't work out." Broke up the whooooole TV studio (not so much; that sentence is an inside joke).

I have one tape of this already and I plan to order another one from the studio, so those of you not in CA can judge for yourself how clever I am when I next see you.

In order to get to the studio on time, I'd had to crash at A&J's and borrow their car. As I was pulling away from the studio, my phone bleeped that I had a message. It was Adam, saying he'd caught my act on TV. I wasn't sure they'd make it up that early since they'd gone to the Cars wrap party at Pixar, which is a big shindig. We headed over to Meg's where the kids had crashed last night; they'd seen me on TV and Edie had a drawing of my rocket waiting for me. Shortly after that I had two more messages: Sherm demanded a recount; Charlie my next door neighbor said "frogs suck" and that he was gonna toss the frog-depicting "welcome to our pad" doormats from the deck outside, except that it was raining.

They let us keep the models. Mine is on the North Wall right now, my first trophy from this experience. I want to tweak it, make a band of yellow above the little brown window. But I'm going to leave it the way it is until the search is over.

I realize I'd have had a better chance with the morning hosts if I'd remembered to include a hook -- some little point of quirky cleverness to make them go "oh, cute!" Like the eye patch on my parrot head. Good lesson for the day: don't forget the hook.

Several hours later, I looked back on the day and said "I had a good television appearance today." That's a fairly unique morsel.

Yes!!!

I made finalist! In two months, I hit San Diego Legoland and compete with 27 other people for the model building job. Yes, yes, yes. Yes.

You can see me and my entry here. (Not the best ever picture of me, but meh.)

My friend Andy (see his cool website) had alerted me to the add on Craigslist: an open spot for a Legoland Carlsbad model builder. It's a national search: seven cities, of which SF was the third. I took a look at the finalists before me in San Diego and LA, and figured out without too much head scratching that the theme was Pirates. Arrrrhhh.

I called in sick this morning, setting my alarm wicked early so I knew I'd get my boss's voicemail. The event ran from 3pm to 7, but I didn't want a day's work stress crowding my focus. I had an idea of what I was going to do -- a big parrot head, and at about 11:30 I sat down to do a practice run. Less than five minutes in, I realized there was nothing I could do to prepare myself further. I caught a whiff of that familiar zing I get when, in the small sphere of influence between my hands, I have to make something beautiful, and fast. But I could also feel that it would kick in when the time came.

The day itself wasn't very fun. Stage fright. You can't do anything about it but get through. I emerged from the train with 20 minutes to spare, determined to get myself a Mounds bar before I went in. I had a message. Was it Legoland, telling me I was late? Nope. "Kick ass, kick ass, kick ass" said JPX in my ear, telling me I could do this. A welcome boost. I settled for a pack of Rollos.

This happened at the Art Institute, an SF art school. The lobby had some beautiful, big models in it, and some tables with legos piled on them. This wasn't the competition room, these people are just entouraged by piles of loose legos. They gave me forms to fill out. I was still pretty nervous and wasn't feeling very chatty, but I overheard the pirate theme being discussed. Arrrrhhh.

I was paired with another guy who finished his forms about the same time, and up we went. They had prepared for more people than they'd got, at least at that point in the day. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure there was only one other pair of guys at work. The reason I'm a little fuzzy on the subject is that there were at least three people in there with big TV cameras on their shoulders. We got a brief rundown from Pat, introduced as the head of the model shop. Much younger guy than you'd think (if I'm remembering his title correctly).

There were seven big bins full of legos on tables at the edge of the room. Everybody got a bucket and a baseplate. You could go get legos from the bins at any time, as many times as you wanted. "I'm looking for a finished model, guys." We got one hour.

I went over and started grabbing red bricks, then thought I'd be better off using the giant metal scoop and dumping it back at my table. The camera guys were in real close as we scooped and dug, and as we built they got lots of close-ups of our busy hands and furrowed brows. I held up my model to get a good side-view look at it, figuring how many more layers before I worked on the upper beak. The camera guy, two feet away, said "wow, are you doing this all in your head?" I stammered out a yes of some sort. Ten minutes later all the cameras had left, and it was just me muttering to myself, hunting for pieces, hearing them bounce on the floor when I dropped them.

I'll save the technical talk for my fellow freaks, but suffice to say the zing did me right. The parrot head came out great, and I'd given him an eye patch. I'd finished the basic elements in just 45 minutes. I had time at the end to add a bunch of extra yellow "feathers" to the back, and I had time to find that one white piece I had subbed in as part of the beak and switch it to yellow. When the hour stuck, I was just taking out the camera for some pictures.

Right after they took my picture, they asked me if I'd talk with their documentary crew for a bit. Since the head was fragile in ways only I knew best, I carried it downstairs myself. With my other hand, I spent a second or two showing off pictures of my other lego creations on my iPod. I felt great, completely relieved. My reticence had reversed itself, and what better time to talk to a documentary crew than when you're feeling all Chatty Kathy. They shot this in a tiny room with a gorgeous rack of organized legos on a table behind me. I answered questions and rattled on about model building, toys, three-dimensional sketch pads and whatever. The room was so tiny the camera man was out in the hall, and sometimes I'd say things over again because a toilet had flushed nearby.

Then I was done. I shot some pictures in the lobby and left. The windy day had turned nasty rainy. I called Adam and he was just getting home, so I invited myself over. I told them about the day and we checked the website every few minutes (which now, hours later, is still not yet featuring my mug). At about 9:30 they called me. I was fairly composed on the phone but shrieked like a harpy the second I hung up. Julie, the PR person who called me, said I'd made a very good model. And get this...on Sunday, I'm in a spot they're doing on TV. Hee hee.

I hung with A&J for a while, drinking vodka and talking strategy (I've got some practicing to do). I made some phone calls, and my roommate Julian told me that the usual crew would be at Beckett's in Berkeley. I stopped there on the way home, got some more vodka and hugs. The support and good wishes I've gotten from everyone has been wonderful.

Now I'm home staying up late, hoping that looking tired tomorrow will seem like looking sick, and really hoping nobody saw me on TV today. Although that's probably the coolest way to get caught.

What a great day.

Fear the Yeti Crab!

Well, really it's up to you if you want to fear it or not. If you click the picture, you'll see it roughly life-sized. A shrimp would fear it (by which I don't mean a small, sissified person; I mean an actual shrimp). From the redcoats over at the BBC:

Marine biologists have discovered a crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster or crab covered in what looks like silky fur. Kiwa hirsuta is so distinct from other species that scientists have created a new taxonomic family for it.

A US-led team found the animal last year in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, an expert has claimed.

The "Yeti Crab", as it has been dubbed, is white and 15cm (5.9in) long, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer).

In what he has described as a "surprising characteristic", the animal's pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands. It seems to reside around some Pacific deep sea hydrothermal vents, which spew out fluids that are toxic to many animals.

New species! I love when that happens. Read the rest here.

It's a Death Star Party, Who Could Ask For More?

An ambitious fellow Lego freak has assembled this brilliant Death Star playset. I routinely browse through Brickshelf.com's new stuff, and this thing keeps popping up, which either means this guy is adding more pictures, or he's just re-posting to keep his creation in the limelight. It's a nuance of Brickshelf I haven't really figured out yet. Either way, he's really maximizing the potential of this playset with an array of scenes, some goofy and some not. I've included some of my faves here, but I recommend a look at the rest. Just excellent work. My favorite element is the Rebel Pilot on the right upper level who's peering into that big cylinder. And you can hardly see him in the dark there, but the Emperor is playing the piano on the level below.

Astromechtastic

As a collector, it's moments like this that make you feel like you know what you're doing. Here's my newly swelled collection of Astromech Droids.

Oops!

From the BBC:

A stumbling visitor to a top museum has destroyed a set of priceless vases which stood on a shelf for 40 years. The 300-year-old Qing vases were among the best known artefacts at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

The visitor is said to have slipped on a loose shoelace and fallen down a staircase bringing the vases crashing down as he tried to steady himself.

The vases, donated in 1948, were said to hold a "significant value" and were among the best known pieces on display.

The museum declined to identify the man who had tripped.

The accident happened last Wednesday and the museum said it was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident.

Margaret Greeves, the museum's assistant director, said: "They are in very, very small pieces, but we are determined to put them back together."

Read the rest here.

I'm sure it was traumatic and embarassing and all that, but I honestly wonder about the visceral thrill one might get smashing two priceless vases and not having to worry about replacing them. Maybe the guy who did it reads this article and cringes, or maybe he nurses a secret pleasure remembering the sound of the porcelain hitting the marble stairs, as he and the vases tumbled down together. Can you imagine the noise?

With no injury and no compensation attached to the experience, I figure the recollection of it must be slightly intoxicating. Fair warning to my friends who own 300-year-old vases.

The Girl Who Named Pluto

Check out this article about the 11-year-old who named the ninth planet. It's very charming.

This explains all the opium

I started reading the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde today, which I've never read before. Get a load of this description of Jekyll's good friend and lawyer: "Where Utterson was liked, he was liked well. Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer, when the light-hearted and loose-tongued had already their foot on the threshold; they liked to sit awhile in his unobtrusive company, practising for solitude, sobering their minds in the man's rich silence after the expense and strain of gaiety."

Jeepers crow, the Victorians were so BORING! Listening to Mr. Stevenson here, they even touted it as a virtue. "Well honey, I invited a bunch of fun, interesting people to the party." "But darling! Surely you invited somebody boring to hang out with us afterward!" Man.

Who has to practice being alone?

iMeat

I don't know about you, but I think this is freakin' hilarious. Such a surreal choice.

Family Finds Raw Meat Instead Of iPod Inside Sealed Box

A 14-year-old girl who received a new Apple iPod opened the sealed box and found raw mystery meat inside, according to a Local 6 News report. Rachel Cambra purchased a new high-tech iPod for her daughter as a gift this week.

When she opened the sealed box, the device was missing and in its place was a piece of raw meat, the report said.

Cambra said the box was sealed and that it didn't appear to have been tampered with when she brought it home from the Honolulu Wal-Mart where she works. An investigation found that a former employee apparently tampered with a shipment of iPods and put the meat into several packages.

The former employee now faces tampering charges, Local 6 News reported.

The Wal-Mart where the device was purchased from promised to give the family a new iPod from the next shipment the store receives.

Fish Cathedral

I'm trying to pay more attention to this blog, so today I'm slapping up one of the many beautiful nature photos I've boosted from the BBC. I don't know the story behind this, but I've been grooving on it for weeks.

Nun Bun Fun

According to this article from the BBC, someone nicked this shellac-covered cinnamon bun with a "striking resemblance" to Mother Theresa. You know, my biggest problem with all this "Jesus in a pancake" stuff is that these holy images are so darn inaccurate. Can't they get some better rendering software on the Other Side? That thing doesn't look like Mother Theresa. It looks like the old woman in this optical illusion, or maybe the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

No wonder the poor woman wrote a letter asking them to cut it out. I wonder if she mentioned to them that her nose isn't the shape of a large potato, or that her eyes don't peer beadily from beneath her habit.

Just once I'd like to see the headline "Face of Jesus in Cheese Sandwich Turns Out To Be One of the ZZTop Guys. Never Mind."

Santa Claus moves his operation to Venice

Never again having to inform a sobbing elf family of another polar bear attack: priceless.