Posts Tagged ‘family’

Did you need more Legoland? Yes, yes you did.

And remember, when the video is playing click on the 1080p option for the full HD version.

Here’s a blast from the past, a Veronica Video Bite with her cousins in the “cold tub.”

Here’s a big photo barrage from the San Diego Comicon (THE Comicon). Photos don’t do justice to the sheer scope of the thing. The day I was there 160,000 other people were crammed in with us. Just walking to the end of the line so I could stand in line to get in took 30 minutes. And this wasn’t even the busiest day. It definitely made me appreciate the Emerald City Comicon more simply because it isn’t so claustrophobic.

Along with the usual costumed geeks I bumped into a Kevin Smith and LeVar Burton. I was most excited to see Berke Breathed (Bloom County, Opus) but missed him because I was standing in line to see Jim Lee (of Hush fame). I met Stan Sakai again and picked up some sweet artwork. And the rest is a big blur.

Photos below are from my cousin Zak and me.

Not sure I can quite put Legoland into words just yet, but here’s a big mass of photos to start. Basically, everywhere you go you see stuff made out of LEGOs. And any one of these statues is the single coolest LEGO creation you’ve ever seen.

So anyway, here’s a bunch of the big stuff that we saw. Note, this doesn’t include any of the “Mini land”, any of the big statuary I posted about a few years back, their secret workshop, or factory tour. This place is BIG.

We are 63% prepared for full-scale visual assault…

It’s been fun doing another Reader’s Request Week. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. To wrap things up, here’s a request from “H”: “How about family? I mean other parts of your family, like the nephews and nieces.or how well or how far youve made it on super mario! Or where you plan to be in the next 10 years.”

For those who don’t know me in real-life, I’ve got a whole passel of nephews, nieces, and even a cousin 25+ years my junior. And I like the Super Mario Brothers series. So in no particular order here is a comprehensive cataloging of the Super Mario Brothers games I’ve played/own and the family I claim in the next generation.

• Super Mario Brothers 3: In my book this was and is the Definitive platformer. The responsiveness of the controls is absolute perfection (the NES original still is the “tightest” version, the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance remakes regressed and just feel sloppy). Still in my top 10 favorite games of all time
• Darrin: happy birthday, big guy! Bring your board our way again and we’ll hit the skate parks.
• New Super Mario Brothers (DS): a solid entry in the series and a welcome return to the 2nd dimension after too long stuck in 3d.
• Arianna: it’s gotta be lonely as the only girl out of five boys. Now that Veronica’s come along it’ll be you two against the world!
• Clara: Veronica can’t wait to meet you!
• New Super Mario Brothers (Wii): another return to the series’ side-scrolling roots with the brilliant addition of four-player cooperative action. I’m ashamed I still haven’t made it past world seven but as I get older it’s harder to find other players to jump in.
• Nathan: you’re a redhead with a love of LEGOs. So, you’re basically me 20 years ago.
• Super Mario Brothers 2: a bizarre departure. Doesn’t rise to the level of the others but I still poured hours into it (but never beat it).
• Nicolas: sorry we’re going to miss you this summer, we’ll have to get together another time.
• Byron: you’re the oldest of the batch, take care of your little bros and cousins. They all look up to you.
• Mario 64/Super Mario Sunshine/Mario Galaxy: ugh. I’m know I’m all alone here, but I never got into the 3d Marios.
• Brylie: thanks for taking Veronica around the zoo last year!
• Super Mario Brothers: I still remember the first time I played SMB. I’ve never beaten it–the middle levels and constant grinding drove me away. But it was a landmark. I can’t wait to share this with Veronica.
• Kylan: hey cousin! Thanks for pioneering the cloth diapers so Veronica would have an easier time of it.
• Danny: look forward to getting to know you this summer. Sleep well so your mom and dad can get lots of rest.
• Super Mario World: I spent hours playing this in the store demo kiosks while mom was shopping. Played it start to finish a few years back and enjoyed it all.
• Brennan: looking forward to visiting you when you’re all moved in to Boise.
• Aaron: playing Rock Band without you working the crowd just isn’t the same.
• Super Mario Land (and sequels): Super Mario Land was the first game I ever beat. I still remember carting it around on my Game Boy for days, trying and retrying stages. If I close my eyes I can still remember pretty much all of the first three stages.

It looks like mom beat me to the punch and posted photos I’d taken to Facebook, so since turnaround is fair play I’ve posted photos she’s taken of Veronica here.

We’ve had a couple days of 60 degree weather this week so we figured a trip to the park was in order.