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Tuesday 31 December 2013

Happy New Year!

Come check out my Minecraft house while you wait for the New Year's countdown:

 

Best wishes in 2014!

Sunday 8 December 2013

Lego City Advent Calendar 2013 - Week 1

I always enjoy December when I have a Lego City Advent Calendar to open each day. It's exciting to start my day with a little Lego fun!

Here are the first six advent calendar sets from 2013:

Day 1: Police Officer Minifigure - I really like the detail in his face, as well as on his vest. 

Day 2: Fireplace - I love the detail in the chimney. This is something that I can use in one of my Lego City houses.

Day 3: Dalmation - I was glad to get this dog because there is one in the new Fire Station set, but since I had the old fire station, I didn't buy the new set. I'm glad to have the dalmation for my Firehouse.

Day 4: Snowman -There is always a snowman in the Advent Calendar sets, and it is always holding its carrot nose! The snowmen are good to add winter detail to a Lego City.

Day 5: Police tools - while these are cool, I have lots of these from past advent calendars.

Day 6: Robber - Similar to the police officer, this minifigure has lots of detail on his face and torso.

Extra pieces: One thing that's great about the advent calendar is that they always include lots of extra pieces. Here's what I have so far:

Monday 11 November 2013

How to Make a Craft Stick Crossbow

Have you seen this book before?

 
You should totally check it out. Well, there are three books in the series so far, and they are all awesome. The supplies are all things that you can find around your house, and the projects use lots of science. Because I'm building the mini weapons, I learn the science behind how everything works.

I built a catapult from book 1, but my dad was playing with it and he broke it. :(
 

My dad and I made a cross-bow following the instructions in book 3, and it turned out great. There were some parts of the process that my dad had to help with. Check out my video:
 


Just like John Austin says on his website, be safe when playing with your mini-weapons. I shot it off in the house (with my parent's permission), and this happened:


Imagine if that was your friend. That wouldn't be good. Always play it safe and make sure that a parent is supervising.

Monday 4 November 2013

Movember Monday

Today, instead of Minecraft Monday, I decided to do a post about Movember. 

Movember is something that happens each year in November where some men grow mustaches to raise money for cancer research. Since someone I love has prostate cancer, Movember is very important in our family.

My dad grows a (gross) mustache every November, and we look forward to December 1 when he shaves it off. However, we are very proud of the money that he raises for such an important cause.

It would be wonderful if you would consider donating to Movember.

These guys think you should donate to Movember!
If you know me or my family personally and would like to donate to my dad's team, leave a comment below or send me a tweet, and we will e-mail you the link for the team.

Thursday 31 October 2013

Happy Halloween


It's getting spooky around here.

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble"

They're coming...

The dangers of texting - watch out for vampires.

It's a Monster Mash!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!








Wednesday 30 October 2013

Book Review of Melvin Beederman Superhero: Attack of the Valley Girls

Title: Melvin Beederman Superhero: Attack othe Valley Girls
Author: Greg Trine
Number Of Pages: 144 pages

Summary:
Melvin was bored - there hadn't been trouble in days. However, the mayor, who waalsoa mad scientist, was making a potion to turn his nice son, Mike, evil. Unfortunately, his dog,Schnitzel, took the potion, thinking it was a milkshake, and ran outside where a hawk picked him up. Schnitzel dropped the potion over a chicken coop. Chickens started swearing and fighting,and they wanted to wear leather jackets and ride motor cyclesBut the potion also affected the eggs that the chickens laid.

Those “evil” eggs were used to make cookies. One of those cookies was split and eaten by two teenage orphans named Brittany and Chantelle. They became EVIL and decided to take over the city. They started by kidnapping Schnitzel, the mayor/mad scientist's dogThey gaggedhim and took him to their lair, which happened to be Brittany's house. Melvin had heard about Schnitzel and started going door-to-doorasking if anyone saw any kidnappers. Nobody had seenanything. Melvin and his partner in un-crime, Candace, tried to solve the mystery.

Since they were evil, Brittany and Chantelle installed gamma drive into Brittany's convertible so they could quickly, but quietly, run over Melvin and Candace. They were speeding straight toward Melvin and Candace... 

You'll need to read the book to find out what happens. Are Melvin and Candace safe? What about Schnitzel, the dog? What becomes of Brittany and Chantelle?

I drew 4 panels that show how the craziness started:

1. The mad Scientist created the potion.
2. The dog grabbed it, ran outside, and was picked up by a hawk. The potion was dropped on a chicken coop, and the chickens became evil. So did their eggs. 
3. Those eggs, which looked normal, we're used to bake cookies.
4. The girls share a cookie and become evil as a result.

I liked the book because it was really funny. The characters made me laugh. Even the chickens in the chicken coop were hilarious. I would recommend this book to most of the boys in my class because they like Melvin Beederman books, and this one won’t disappoint them. I give this book 4 stars, because it was a fun book to read, but I have enjoyed other books more.

Characters:
Melvin – main character, graduate of The Academy of Superheroes
Candace – Melvin’s sidekick, his “partner in un-crime”
Brittany – teenage girl with shopping addiction, cookie eater, and victim of evil potion
Chantelle – red-head teenage girl, also likes shopping, and ate the same cookie as Brittany
The Mad Scientist/Mayor – villain, wants lots of power, and wants to rule the world
Mike – the mad scientist/mayor’s son, who wants to be a superhero
Schnitzel – the mad scientist/mayor’s dog, whose mischief causes the problem in the book

If my book was any song genre it would be pop because it was fun to read, and pop music is fun to listen to. Melvin Beederman books are also a popular book series.

Monday 28 October 2013

Minecraft Haunted House

Happy Halloween!

This week, I made a haunted house and graveyard in Minecraft PE. Check it out:

Thursday 24 October 2013

More Lego Minifigs

Once again, these are my Lego Minifigure pics I've posted on Instagram this week:
The Dodgers take on the Cardinals at Busch Stadium

Iron Man likes to look at himself in the mirror

  Late night Sunday run

Enjoying the first snowfall of the season


It's been a long day in the shop


Mr. Mechanic is getting new ink. #YOLO



The artist takes a step back to admire his work

Saturday 19 October 2013

Movie Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Hello everyone! I'm doing my second movie review today. I'm going to do a review of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. It's a great movie.


The movie starts off just minutes after the last movie ends. Sam Sparks and Flint Lockwood are going to build a lab called Sparkswood. But then an inventor named Chester V (Flint's childhood hero) comes and invites Flint to work for his company called Live Corp. The company has a competition for the best invention, and Flint tries really hard, but he doesn't win. Chester V tells Flint that he needs his help with destroying his food machine and sends him back to Swallow Falls. 

My favourite character is Barry. Barry is a strawberry with eyes and a mouth, and it's so adorable. Just look at those eyes. Besides being cute, Barry's also super funny.

Speaking of things that are funny, there are lots of food puns in the movie. There's even a part when they have to "cut the cheese."




The food monsters reminded me of Jack Prelutsky's Scranimals (which is a reallly good book)
. I wonder if they got some inspiration from his book.



The animation is awesome! There was always something going on in the background. A lot of times it was Steve being hilarious. The animators added a lot of detail so no matter where you looked on the screen, there was always something cool, funny, or colourful to see.

My family saw the movie in 3D, but I honestly didn't notice that it was 3D. A tip is to not pay for 3D because it's nothing special.

Thursday 17 October 2013

This Week's Minifigs

Not all of my readers are on Instagram, so I thought that I would do a weekly post to share the Lego Minifigure pictures that I've been posting:

Harvest Time

I'm looking forward to seeing my grandparents today.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Beautiful day for fall clean-up

(A little late for) Oktoberfest

Enjoying the last bit of fall sunshine

Time for some science

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Movie Review: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit!

Hello everyone! I`m doing a movie review once again. Today I'm doing a review of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit! Wallace and Gromit is one of my favourite movies. I have watched it on DVD many, many times, but this past weekend I had the chance to see it on the big screen because of the Family Favourites at Cineplex.



Wallace (the human) and Gromit (his dog) own a pest company that stops rabbits from eating people's giant vegetables. Wallace uses a brainwashing machine on a bunny and him so that the bunny won't eat vegetables, and they put the bunny in a cage. But the bunny started being "crackers about cheese" and every night Wallace turned into a Were-Rabbit! This wasn't good at all because there was a contest for the biggest vegetable, and the prize was a golden carrot. 
 
I would give the movie 5/5 stars because it's hilarious. I got more of the jokes now that I'm older. I was also very impressed by the animation. After working on some stop-motion myself I think it's really impressive because the lips move so well and the motion is very smooth. I imagine it took a very long time to film the movie.


Nick Park is the artist/animator and he works with Aardman Animations. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit won an Academy award for Best Animated Feature. I totally understand why. 



I have been enjoying making stop-motion videos, and this movie has inspired me to try a little claymation.


Tuesday 15 October 2013

Viral Videos + Perler Beads

What DOES the fox say? I'm sure you've seen the video, but if not, here it is:


I figured that I should make a Perler Bead fox because "What Does the Fox Say?" is the newest viral video, and I like making Perler Bead versions of trendy stuff:


I also really like this infographic:

What Does The Fox Say
by mhars.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

Back when "Gangnam Style" was trending, I made this Perler Bead Psy:



Monday 14 October 2013

Minecraft Bowling Alley

Hi everyone! Today is another addition to Minecraft Monday! I wanted to make a bowling alley in Minecraft because I was inspired by ACtennisAC. I used redstone to make working pins.

Check out the video:


If I make the shot with the bowling ball, an arrow shoots at my face, and then I get knocked off the pressure plate which makes the "pin" go down. Luckily, this is in Minecraft, and not real life, because that would be a crazy way to bowl. ;)

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Book Review: I Funny!

I read an awesome book called I Funny! It's hilarious. The main character is Jamie Grimm a 12 year old kid. He is in a wheelchair and he uses humour to make people feel more comfortable and relaxed. He is really funny!



He has his to two best friends: Pierce and Gaynor. Pierce is the smartest kid in the world and Gaynor is the opposite. Gaynor has a nose piercing and tattoos.

Jamie always went to his uncle's diner, Frankie's Good Eats, on Friday. He worked on the cash register telling jokes to all the people. He had some people who come often, like Mr. Burdzecki, the Russian. His uncle was a champion yoyoer. Jamie also had some other friends, Cool Girl and Gilda. 

In the book, Jamie decides to sign up for The World's Funniest Kid Comic contest, with some encouragement from Uncle Frankie. The contest was in Ronkankoma. He competed in the contest but did he win? Find out by reading I Funny!

I would give it 5/5 stars cause my parents would always hear me giggling.

Title: I Funny

Author: James Patterson

Pages: 303

Main Characters: Jamie, Pierce, Gaynor, Cool Girl, Gilda and Uncle Frankie

Boredom While Reading: None

(P. S. Q. Do zombies eat burgers with their fingers?
         A. No, they usually eat their fingers separately.)

                                                                            -Jamie Grimm


Monday 7 October 2013

Minecraft Pirate Ship

Hi everyone! It's Minecraft Monday! So I decided to build something special just for you guys. I built a Minecraft pirate ship. It has working cannons, hidden chests, a plank, an anchor, a cabin, barrels of rum, and even a crow's nest. I wrote a story about me destroying the Kraken, and I'll share that in another blog post.

Take a quick tour of my Minecraft Pirate Ship:


I spent most of my weekend building the ship. The hardest part was building the ship itself, and the sails were also challenging. I really enjoyed making the rapid-fire cannons. 

Minecraft Monday Delay

Hey everyone, I am working on a video for Minecraft Monday, but I've had some technical difficulties (my sound wasn't working yesterday). 

I will get my video posted as soon as I can but my parents made me do my homework first ;)

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Lego City: The Gas Station, Garage, and Car Wash

Mom & I built a Lego City. It used to look like this:



We decided to rebuild the city so we could fit more buildings in. Now the downtown looks like this:

My mom thinks it's ironic that we got rid of the park to make room for buildings because that's what happens in real life. 

We need to order more straight road plates, and we're re-building our fire station. We have these buildings in our downtown:
  • a police station
  • a fire station (being re-built)
  • a hospital
  • a Toys R Us
  • a gas station
  • a garage
  • a car wash
  • a food market
  • a train station
  • a pizza place
  • a Tim Horton's coffee shop
  • a record store
  • an office building
  • a movie theatre
  • a bank
  • a jewelry store
  • a bicycle shop
  • a town hall (not in the picture because we're building it right now)

Today I'm going to show you the gas station, garage, and car wash. One of the first Lego City sets that I got was a service station (set 7993).  

If you look up at how our city used to look, you'll see the set how it was meant to be built. But when we changed our city around, it wouldn't fit if we left it like that, so we rebuilt it.

We also liked the Lego City Transportation Garage (set 7642), but it was way too big, so we built a small version of it and made the colours match the gas station and car wash.



Here are some close-up pictures that my mom took:
 This is our gas station. I love how it has the little gas pump on both sides.
 This is the shop where people can buy stuff and pay for gas.

This is the service garage where people can get new tires or get an oil change.  I like how cars can lift up.

 
This is the car wash. I think it's really cool and has some good details.

Leave a comment and let me know which Lego City building you'd like me to show you next.