What Have I Stumbled Into?

If You Recall
Your Humble Scribe came across the world of bespoke Lego modelling some weeks ago, and has since been regularly stunned at the variety (and size) of Lego builds that folks out there have crafted; things like the Jawa Sandcrawler, which is enormous, and enormously complex.  Art?

12,000 pieces

     The plans for this beast alone cost about £50, before you even begin to assemble the blocks.
     Anyway, it seems that Lego have a series of sets in the "Collector" series, for ages 16+, which are pretty complex in their own right.  Take the Tower of Orthanc, which is a construct based around the fortress of grim in "Lord Of The Rings".  Art, the original, please.

All Orth-y and Anc-y

     Well now, lets have a look at the Lego version, shall we?  Art?

With puny humans for scale

     And if you want to see the box it came in, we can arrange that, too.  Art?


     This is from Den of Geek, who point out that it looks pretty straightforward on the box art, which is true.  Nothing with over two and a half thousand pieces is ever going to be straightforward, though; and DoG also point out that most of the pieces are slim and black with minimal differentiation, so making a long job even harder.  Whatever would Jonathan RR have to say about this*!
     Oh - do you see the suggested age range on the  box?  If it's only 14+ then it's not that difficult to build.
     Motley!  Fetch me my sandals, for I have an urge to travel the desert wastes!

Close enough

"Daybreak"
Conrad has just started watching this (splendid antidote to "Dark"), which happens to be set in sunny Glendale, California, where skies are sunny and blue, adults have dissolved into goo and civilisation has pretty much gone the way of the dodoo*.  It would appear that someone has hit South Canada with both nuclear and biological weapons, the first of which kill everyone in the immediate vicinity, the second of which melts nearly everyone over the age of 18.  Those adults who survive are murderous mindless meat-bags intent on nothing more than eating anything living that's not them.

Our heroes

          Of course, with no adult supervision, police, rules or teachers, the young adults who survive can have a whale of a time, stealing whatever they want, destroying anything that takes their fancy or just killing people they dislike.  One thing Conrad does notice is a lack of guns, because that would spoil the plot; you can't have teenagers resolving things with automatic weapons because 1) Your series will never get made and 2) It takes the dramatic tension out of things.
     Did I mention that it's a comedy?

Well it is.

     I like it.  And, another plus, it doesn't take itself very seriously.  How could it, with a tie like that?

Back To Books
Enough wallowing in pop culture, -
     Actually here an aside about pop culture.  I caught an episode of "The Sweeney" on television this morning (had to catch the conclusion before walking Edna, thanks for asking), and one thing that struck me was that the lead characters all smoke like chimneys; none of that healthy nonsense on television in 1977, matey!

"We're The Sweeney, son, and WE HAVEN'T HAD OUR DINNER!***"

     Er - yes, quite.  Now, back to the high and cultured claim by the BBC to have collected a list of 100 top novels evah.  What are we onto this time?  Ah - splendid, "Crime and Conflict", definitely a lot more interesting than some previous entries.

Crime & Conflict

American Tabloid – James Ellroy

American War – Omar El Akkad

Ice Candy Man – Bapsi Sidhwa

Rebecca -Daphne du Maurier

Regeneration – Pat Barker

The Children of Men – P.D. James

The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid

The Talented Mr Ripley – Patricia Highsmith

The Quiet American – Graham Greene

     I have read "American Tabloid", which is full of horrible nasty people doing horrible nasty things to other horrible nasty people; not one for those who like fluffy bunnies and happy endings, I'm afraid.

Something of an acquired taste

     I've got the excellent film adaptation of "Children of Men", which creates a worryingly credible world, having a touch of hope at the end, and some gruesomely accurate combat scenes.  The novel - well, it seems a bit of a waste of time, since I know everything already, doesn't it?  Maybe if it's going cheap in a charity shop somewhere.

An absolutely magic moment - you have to see it to understand

     I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, so OF COURSE I've read THOTB, and seen umpteen films of it, to boot.
     And finally, yes, I've read "The Quiet American", and seen the Michael Caine/Brendan Fraser film thereof.  An interesting look at the conflict in Vietnam long before the South Canadians got involved, and a location where I believe naughty Mister Greene used to smoke a pipe of heroin instead of sleeping.

That Michael Caine - he was in "Children of Men", too. 
(Quite a lot of people know that)

     Of the ones I haven't read, I do know a tad about "Regeneration" (something about birds and chirping, hmmm?) and "The Talented Mister Ripley" (or, "My Fascinating Life of Crime As A Sociopath"), so my interest is piqued; just not enough to order them from Abebooks.
 Again, maybe if they crop up cheap in a charity shop.    

Finally -
I've got to temporarily abandon Edna to go get more ammunition and land-mines Lurpack and Beechams, so I shall sign off whilst she's in the hallway and cannot see me putting on my shoes, as the clever little scamp knows that means Conrad is going out.


*  "What are my royalties?" mayhap
**  I know, I know, but it wouldn't rhyme otherwise
***  One of the best lines of dialogue in television history