Space Invader (2)

Or really, Space Invader 1, since he's the one on the lowest row....

So, after posting a fish, I ended up last week in the ocean floating amongst fishes in a wonderful setting for the first time in many years. I hope posting a Space Invader does not mean I will soon be abducted by aliens, or shot at by them with flimsy barriers protecting me. I have a terrible xenophobia, especially from those big black-eyed grey aliens that are always abucting people. Don't even get me started on those "friendly" aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind; anyone who abducts you for decades and then just dumps you home with no preparation is just cruel. I still have trouble watching the end of that movie without wanting to run away from their creepy alien kids with their creepy fingers.

Sorry you get another boring simple design this month, but I've been busy once again and traveling a lot and well, I think Space Invaders are pretty iconic and look cool and I'll probably even do the boring tank at one point. Don't worry, I've already completed next month's design, and I think you'll enjoy it. One hint: it's spooky!

Cheep Cheep (SMB3)

Ah, Cheep Cheep. Has there ever been a more appropriately named character such as yourself? You're fine in the water leisurely floating around and swimming back and forth, but the moment you start flying through the air you become the biggest pain ever. I'll just be walking around with Mario or Luigi and you'll miraculously gain powers of flight and oxygen-breathing, or maybe you're just holding your breath as you lunge out of the water and smack into me while I'm trying to perform a well-timed jump onto some sort of spinning or collapsing platform. You are truly evil. Why must you torment me so? Stay in your element and I can handle you, even without the frog suit...

What's weird about the Super Mario Bros. 3 version of the Cheep Cheep is that it's actually less detailed than the original version. Which is fine by me since I don't have the colour to make it look right anyways. He also comes in green, but I think I was hallucinating when I thought I saw him in orange. I even played the game on my NES for a few hours just to see if I could find one. There were a lot less water levels than I remember, even on the so-called Water Land. And here I was, all ready to call it Water World and make a Kevin Costner joke....

Tektite

So I was in the desert for a week, and let me tell you, it's hot. Especially in the summer. But the weird thing was the enormous variety of insects out there. I saw enormous Palo Verde Beetles and heard loud cicadas and some weird true bug I'm still trying to identify. Fortunately I avoided any scorpions or tarantulas, although one giant spider was spotted. I was far, far away from the area when it happened.

While I guess these aren't spiders, Tektites sure are big, and apparently they have fangs. Never noticed that before. Also, when you image search Tektite, you get this. Who knew tektites were real? The Zelda versions are way better....

Pengo

I wish I could be writing about how I came back from an awesome Medi-terranean cruise this week, but instead events conspired against me. Instead I shall write about my childhood adventures....

When I went on my first cruise way back in 1983, I was amazed to find an arcade on board. But it was my second cruise in 1985 that really wowed me. You see, the arcade in this ship wasn't big or anything; it actually only had 3 or 4 games. BUT THEY WERE FREE! Do you know what this means to a 10 year old who has to survive on quarters meted out by his parents in small doses? It doesn't matter how lame the games are (well, luckily it didn't have Moon Patrol; I hate that game - I'll rant about that another time, pink moon buggy), I got to play them over and over and get good at them.

I only remember Time Pilot '84 and Pengo. Only I never really got very good at Pengo. I don't think I grasped the awesome ability to squash the Sno-Bees with ice blocks really well. I could stumble around and avoid them half the time, but the game is kind of clunky and it's hard to get away from them and smash while on the run. Nevertheless, I like the cheesy electronic attempts at classical music, and Pengo just looks cool. He also trips a lot and has some weird friends that never help him out, but they sure like to dance and wiggle their rear ends.

I don't think I'm ever going to get to a Time Pilot '84 ship, there's too much grey going on. And I did so much better on that game. Maybe because missiles are way easier to destroy your enemies with than ice....

Bubble Man (portrait)

When I first conceived of these video game recreations, I thought I would stick to the oldest games because they were simple to put together, and I could do them fast. Unfortunately, some of the games that I've always liked don't always translate so well when you just make one character at a time (see Legend of Zelda for what I'm talking about).

I've wanted to tackle most of the Mega Man villains, but they're big and take a long time to map out correctly. So how did I end up with this, my largest portrait to date? I have no idea. I just got inspired one day to make the actual portrait on the menu selection screen, instead of the guy himself. I'll get to him someday. I almost ran out of those light green bricks. Sadly, he'll probably be the only portrait I do because all the others ones have colours I cannot replicate in Lego form.

Darn, I just noticed that I screwed up a bit right before posting it. I fixed it. This one actually didn't take too long because the different colour lines make it easy to avoid (major) screw ups.

Ice Hockey (Poland)

Finally, the NHL playoffs are among us. I've been excited all season for this, and I can't wait! Oh wait, I don't follow hockey. Although I did go to a regular season game for the first time ever this year, so I guess that counts for something. It had a bunch of guys skating around that sort of looked like this.

In the meantime, in honor of this momentous Canadian occasion, I give you the Nintendo Ice Hockey player that represents Poland. I chose Poland because when I first met my friend Alex, she brought this cartridge over. Playing it for the first time in many years was also reminded me why this game was not very fun in comparison to Blades of Steel. The players are clunky and the controls seem all over the place.

There is an interesting bit of strategy in that you can choose to set up your team with as many skinny/medium/fat players as you choose. So if you like to play fast, you can load it up with a bunch of skinny guys, but watch out if the opposing player makes a bunch of fat guys flatten your lithe team. This particular character is the medium guy. I'm sure someday I'll get to the skinny Swede and the fat Czech. Or maybe the skinny Russian and the fat Canadian? The possibilities are endless! Or as many you can come up with using six countries....

Kuribo's Shoe (Goomba)

So I was finally inspired last week to come up with something green for St. Patrick's Day, and Kuribo's Shoe popped into my head. Normally my inspiration comes from replaying a game, and not a holiday, but I quickly slapped the shoe together and was about to post it when I realised it was just a big green boot. It looked kind of sad all by itself. And here I was so happy that I put something together in record time.

Now, I've seen people put Mario in there, and he does look good when he's stomping all over the place, but I wanted to be different. I looked at my ever-expanding array of colours, and there was good old orange-y brown. I had never used orange-y brown before. It was perfect for a Super Mario Bros. 3 Goomba, so I started piecing him together. Whoops. I only had a few squares, and still didn't want to post this boring green blob with no context.

I found a place out there that can give me access to a few more colours. So I placed an order, and a few days later, he's done for all of you to see. Doesn't he look swell? Oh, by the way, it's actually referred to as dark orange, so I shall have to retire the name orange-y brown or apply it to some other muddled colour out there if I stumble upon something comparable. And so there you have it: your green-inspired post, only one week later....