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| Lego dominates the railroad... |
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| Old-style transport for the Lego Clone Wars figurine and death ray. |
Showing posts with label Lego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lego. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Long live Lego
Isn't it amazing how Lego can take over a whole room, and a whole house if allowed to? But then, I guess that's why this room is called the toy room... (At the Midgley's new home, or as they call it here, a "villa".)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Lazy Lego Days
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| When a job needs doing at the Midgleys, like a car that needs to be moved, one can always count on the Lego to get stuck in ... |
After being back in Tana for around a week now I've been mulling over life here - and how different it is to life in South Africa and, I imagine, anywhere in the first-world ...
... about the madness of the political system and all the recent political decisions and revelations - like the military man who admitted to being paid $10,000 by "national politicians and foreign contributors" to help carry out the coup d'etat in 2009, which brought the current president into power and plunged the country into crisis
... about trying to survive (sometimes unsuccessfully) on around $500 a month
... of the various hilarious methods and modes of transport, and the fact that everything seems to be held together, as cheaply as possible, with a piece of wire and a prayer. (I even heard a story about someone making his own fuses for his car because he wanted to save the few cents it would cost to buy them!)
... about the lack of rain, how the whole population is linked so closely to the land that the rainlessness hurts, and how the topic now seems to open every conversation
... of the beauty of the people and the paysage (landscape)
... about the fact that my old motorbike is now smoking more than a retired, chain-smoking Frenchman in a Malagasy restaurant, and that it could kick the bucket at any time
... of the juicy steaks, and relative safety and lack of crime
... about the litter and mud clogging the streets and the cranky electricity supply and not having running water in my house most days
... of the amazing litchis with their huge pips, and the mangoes and speckled, flawed, real bananas
... about the thumb-sized cockroaches that refuse to go quietly into the night
... of the absolute need for good friends
... about frustrations with school and students and the sluggish Internet from the middle ages
... about the madness of the political system and all the recent political decisions and revelations - like the military man who admitted to being paid $10,000 by "national politicians and foreign contributors" to help carry out the coup d'etat in 2009, which brought the current president into power and plunged the country into crisis
... about trying to survive (sometimes unsuccessfully) on around $500 a month
... of the various hilarious methods and modes of transport, and the fact that everything seems to be held together, as cheaply as possible, with a piece of wire and a prayer. (I even heard a story about someone making his own fuses for his car because he wanted to save the few cents it would cost to buy them!)
... about the lack of rain, how the whole population is linked so closely to the land that the rainlessness hurts, and how the topic now seems to open every conversation
... of the beauty of the people and the paysage (landscape)
... about the fact that my old motorbike is now smoking more than a retired, chain-smoking Frenchman in a Malagasy restaurant, and that it could kick the bucket at any time
... of the juicy steaks, and relative safety and lack of crime
... about the litter and mud clogging the streets and the cranky electricity supply and not having running water in my house most days
... of the amazing litchis with their huge pips, and the mangoes and speckled, flawed, real bananas
... about the thumb-sized cockroaches that refuse to go quietly into the night
... of the absolute need for good friends
... about frustrations with school and students and the sluggish Internet from the middle ages
But most of all, of the fact that I know why I'm here ...
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| One of the little Lego men offered to help with the car, but it was pretty tough for him alone ... |
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| ... and so he called in some friends, one of which wasn't quite up to the task! |
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| Lego |
Friday, December 3, 2010
Have yourself a very alien Christmas
The Nativity is one of those stories we all know. We learnt it in Sunday School, and we know it off by heart - baby Jesus, meek and mild, born in a stable, laid down in a manger, with lowing cattle, shepherds, wise men and his doting parents gathered around. But it's not that obvious when the Lego-wielding Midgley boys get involved ... (Click on the photos to see better-quality versions)
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| Top: Joseph and Mary (heavy with child) arrive in Bethlehem on a very sturdy horse, but there's no place at the angry-looking alien's inn. A stable it'll be then ... Bottom: Wise "men", having travelled from far far (intergalactic) lands meet with King Herod ... Little does Herod realise that he is to hear most disturbing news later in the day! |
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| A clearly-terrified Jesus wakes up surrounded by an odd assortment of animals (including very angular, out-of-this-world sheep), aliens and scary-looking Oriental types. The Magi come bearing gifts: one, a golden duck; another, a Jedi light saber; and the third, a chocolate ice cream cone. Mary and Joseph look remarkably like they just stepped off the set of Saturday Night Fever. Cool hairstyle, Jo! |
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| And hiding in the corner we discover that Santa is not at all happy with Herod, who has found his way onto the fat man's 'naughty list'. No presents for you, you nasty king ... |
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