Last Sunday I had the chance to take the Lego Church for 2008/2009 down to Lapeer MI for the second of three planned seasonal displays. In this case the project was taken to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. About a 45 min drive from my parents place in Flushing, MI. Which is where I set up as a second point when I'm coming in from Saginaw.
The display was featured as part of the the monthly KofC breakfast that the parish has each month. Considering the amount of driving that I had to do, this was a very wonderful and rewarding trip. It's displays like this that really remind me of why I enjoy doing this.
First time displays are always a trip and a half. You never know how people are going react to your work. In this case people really got a massive kick out of my project. It was well worth the drive. I also want to thank in addition to the families of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church for treating me very warmly, I also want to thank Mike C, of Michael's Consulting for making the trip with me as well. (like to his site is on the side bar of this blog!)
God was truly alive in this place. I also got some new ideas for my 10th season of the Lego Church Project! I know it's early, but it's never too early to start thinking about what needs to be done for next season. Several ideas are being tossed around right now.
So to my readers.. check out the pictures, what kinds of things should I try and build for next season? Anyway that's all for now.. Till Then.
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9/21/08
Aircraft Carrier out of Lego
http://www.villiard.com/porte-avions-lego.html
Wow.. Looking that... that person had a lot of bricks on his hands. Now that's the kind of detail I would love to put into one of my own projects.
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Wow.. Looking that... that person had a lot of bricks on his hands. Now that's the kind of detail I would love to put into one of my own projects.
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9/17/08
Looking for resources
I have a 96 Lumina APV that is about to give up the holy ghost at some point. I won't go into the list of problems but the end result is because I'm on SSI, finding a replacement for the Lumina will be almost impossable with out some kind of extra help.
The reason why I need another mini van or a small truck, is simple: So I can contuine to take part in various voulnteer events. These include part time voulenteer help at TCT affliated WAQP in Saginaw, MI as a camera operator. Amateur Radio operator who helps out with the club events for SVARA (www.k8dac.com). As part of the Amature Radio Emegerency Services (ARES). Active member with Saginaw County Citizens Corps. And of course the work I do with the Lego Church Project. Most of these events that I take part in require that I am able to get a ride by myself to these events.
The problem that I have, is that I've been spending the last hour or two trying to see if I can find some services to help me address my needs online. I've run into nothing but brick walls.
So I ask the blog sphere, Do you guys know of any resources Catholic or otherwise that I could look into? Stuff that may not be easily found via Google?
If you know of something and don't want to leave a comment.. you can e-mail me directly at: ZorronX@gmail.com
Till Then.
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The reason why I need another mini van or a small truck, is simple: So I can contuine to take part in various voulnteer events. These include part time voulenteer help at TCT affliated WAQP in Saginaw, MI as a camera operator. Amateur Radio operator who helps out with the club events for SVARA (www.k8dac.com). As part of the Amature Radio Emegerency Services (ARES). Active member with Saginaw County Citizens Corps. And of course the work I do with the Lego Church Project. Most of these events that I take part in require that I am able to get a ride by myself to these events.
The problem that I have, is that I've been spending the last hour or two trying to see if I can find some services to help me address my needs online. I've run into nothing but brick walls.
So I ask the blog sphere, Do you guys know of any resources Catholic or otherwise that I could look into? Stuff that may not be easily found via Google?
If you know of something and don't want to leave a comment.. you can e-mail me directly at: ZorronX@gmail.com
Till Then.
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9/15/08
Time to get back into this.
It sounds like I'm going to be going to Lapeer, MI with the Lego Church Project around Oct 5th. I am still looking for more dates. Also need to figure out how I can get some stuff fixed on my van so I can do even more displays. (if I can find more displays).
More details as I get that set up.
I need to start getting back into updating and maintaining this blog. Now that all the stuff with my uncle is taken care of I think I can start exploring the faith a little bit more and find out what their is to know.
I want to thank everyone who has checked out this blog in the past and I hope to get some more readers as I look out and find stuff that catches my eye. You never know.. I might end up linking to your blog!
Till Then.
-JM
More details as I get that set up.
I need to start getting back into updating and maintaining this blog. Now that all the stuff with my uncle is taken care of I think I can start exploring the faith a little bit more and find out what their is to know.
I want to thank everyone who has checked out this blog in the past and I hope to get some more readers as I look out and find stuff that catches my eye. You never know.. I might end up linking to your blog!
Till Then.
-JM
8/24/08
what happened!?
Ok.. I forgot to update this blog again. I had intended to do so a few weeks ago but we had a family issue that kept distracting me.
I'm going to be contacting a parish next week (I hope) and try and set up another display. Been really discouraged on that front.
So sorry to my readers for putting this on the back burner for a bit. Sadly we did have some life issues that got in the way. A sick family member and a funeral that kinda took up some of my time.
Take care and I will post something else.. later.
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I'm going to be contacting a parish next week (I hope) and try and set up another display. Been really discouraged on that front.
So sorry to my readers for putting this on the back burner for a bit. Sadly we did have some life issues that got in the way. A sick family member and a funeral that kinda took up some of my time.
Take care and I will post something else.. later.
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7/29/08
the weekly news..
Haven't had much to update with since the last time I posted. Ran into a road block with one site that I was looking into. (A common frustration of mine). So I haven't any real news to report.
This is a common issue with the LCP. I also have been dealing with a few personal issues that have made my blogging very difficult to do the last few weeks. Even my other personal blog has suffered. I'm going start getting back into stuff and commit to making posts every few days or so after next week.
So anyway, keep me in your prayers, and pray that I can find a few sites before St. Helen's at the end of Dec.
Till Then.
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This is a common issue with the LCP. I also have been dealing with a few personal issues that have made my blogging very difficult to do the last few weeks. Even my other personal blog has suffered. I'm going start getting back into stuff and commit to making posts every few days or so after next week.
So anyway, keep me in your prayers, and pray that I can find a few sites before St. Helen's at the end of Dec.
Till Then.
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7/16/08
I have not abandoned this..
I am sorry for the lack of updates recently. Once again life got busy for me. Mostly with some stuff involving my Amateur Radio stuff. Along with having a friend of mine visit from out of town.
We are reaching the point where there is a but of a lull in activity. I haven't secured any new sites yet. I am still trying for one place out in Lapeer, MI. But that is far from being secure.
Please keep my family in your prayers. We have been dealing with a family medical issue with my uncle. Out of respect for the family I won't go into a lot of details. But it was pretty critical for the first week or so.
As far as the Lego Church goes, I'm still pretty happy on how well the display in Troy, MI went. I'm already gearing up for next season for them.
Anyway I hope all of my fellow readers are going well. I also want to thank everyone who has shown support for my project.
Till Then.
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We are reaching the point where there is a but of a lull in activity. I haven't secured any new sites yet. I am still trying for one place out in Lapeer, MI. But that is far from being secure.
Please keep my family in your prayers. We have been dealing with a family medical issue with my uncle. Out of respect for the family I won't go into a lot of details. But it was pretty critical for the first week or so.
As far as the Lego Church goes, I'm still pretty happy on how well the display in Troy, MI went. I'm already gearing up for next season for them.
Anyway I hope all of my fellow readers are going well. I also want to thank everyone who has shown support for my project.
Till Then.
-
7/7/08
History: LCP04
Once in a while a project just stands out. Since I started doing these public seasons, showing off my own God given talent. Lego Church Project for 2003/2004 is one of those.
What makes LCP04 stand out so much is that I went in a different direction than I have in the past. Most of the time it was to build the biggest church I could with the Lego that I had on hand. This time I went smaller. I also went with a layout that has never been really done since and one that at some point I would like to try again.
The build itself presented several challenges. The main one being setting up the alter. You will notice that the Priests are sitting on the side. That is how it's done over at Mt. Zion Catholic Pastoral Center. The reason for this is because of how big the the back row of windows is. Something I carried over from LCP03. The bell tower itself had lever that you could move that rang the bell. Which was fun when the kids got a chance to see it. The other challenge came when I tried to build the truss system for the roof. I had to create a few long beams to run across at some point to support the main truss system that also was used to support the lights.
As far as displays go.. this was the project that started my trips to St. Helen's For Christmas. This is also the project that was shown in the local news paper "The Saginaw News". I think I did at least four or five displays with this project.
I really didn't want to take this one down. I had such a good run with it. This is one of those rare ones that I consider a personal favorite of mine. This one set the stage for several other projects and might be the source for a few ideas that I'm working on for LCP Season 10.
I hope you have enjoyed this little trip down the history road. I know I have. Till Then.
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What makes LCP04 stand out so much is that I went in a different direction than I have in the past. Most of the time it was to build the biggest church I could with the Lego that I had on hand. This time I went smaller. I also went with a layout that has never been really done since and one that at some point I would like to try again.
The build itself presented several challenges. The main one being setting up the alter. You will notice that the Priests are sitting on the side. That is how it's done over at Mt. Zion Catholic Pastoral Center. The reason for this is because of how big the the back row of windows is. Something I carried over from LCP03. The bell tower itself had lever that you could move that rang the bell. Which was fun when the kids got a chance to see it. The other challenge came when I tried to build the truss system for the roof. I had to create a few long beams to run across at some point to support the main truss system that also was used to support the lights.
As far as displays go.. this was the project that started my trips to St. Helen's For Christmas. This is also the project that was shown in the local news paper "The Saginaw News". I think I did at least four or five displays with this project.
I really didn't want to take this one down. I had such a good run with it. This is one of those rare ones that I consider a personal favorite of mine. This one set the stage for several other projects and might be the source for a few ideas that I'm working on for LCP Season 10.
I hope you have enjoyed this little trip down the history road. I know I have. Till Then.
-
7/6/08
Some more history: LCP03
It's been a busy last few days. I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. So I figured I would fire off another round of history of the Lego Church Project.
This post is about the infamous Lego Church Project for 2002/2003.
I've always had trouble with this project. It was the first one in a while that I almost considered it some kind of disappointment. Mainly because some of the ideas I had at the time just simply did not work out as well as I would have hoped.
That being said, however, does not take away from the fact that this project has one of the largest back windows ever in any of my project. A theme that would carry over into the following season.
You have to understand something about my work though. As an artist I tend to be more critical of how I do things. It's not uncommon for me to see something and see all the mistakes that I have done. In the end though, as long as the people enjoy it, that's what counts. LCP03 may have had some issues, but it still is a sound project that has tested the times. I've often gone back to the few pictures I have to gain new ideas for up coming works.
Ya know though, sometimes my memories are faded about some of my works. The little mental notes that remind me of what they were all about. Even with the pictures it's hard to generate full memories on what happened to it.
LCP03 in my opinion is a direct follow up to LCP02. Meaning that various themes and ideas directly carried over from the previous project. Some of the same building styles were used. Not so much a direct copy, but rather LCP02 was the base from which LCP03 was built.
LCP03 was the last of the wider style projects. Meaning that after LCP03, all other works stayed on the work station with no hang overs. Hard to move it though a door. LCP03 was also one of the few that didn't use a bell tower.
Overall it still was a fun project to work on. While my memories of this project are few. I'm just glad I still have them. Take care and we shall chat later. Till Then.
-
This post is about the infamous Lego Church Project for 2002/2003.
I've always had trouble with this project. It was the first one in a while that I almost considered it some kind of disappointment. Mainly because some of the ideas I had at the time just simply did not work out as well as I would have hoped.
That being said, however, does not take away from the fact that this project has one of the largest back windows ever in any of my project. A theme that would carry over into the following season.
You have to understand something about my work though. As an artist I tend to be more critical of how I do things. It's not uncommon for me to see something and see all the mistakes that I have done. In the end though, as long as the people enjoy it, that's what counts. LCP03 may have had some issues, but it still is a sound project that has tested the times. I've often gone back to the few pictures I have to gain new ideas for up coming works.
Ya know though, sometimes my memories are faded about some of my works. The little mental notes that remind me of what they were all about. Even with the pictures it's hard to generate full memories on what happened to it.
LCP03 in my opinion is a direct follow up to LCP02. Meaning that various themes and ideas directly carried over from the previous project. Some of the same building styles were used. Not so much a direct copy, but rather LCP02 was the base from which LCP03 was built.
LCP03 was the last of the wider style projects. Meaning that after LCP03, all other works stayed on the work station with no hang overs. Hard to move it though a door. LCP03 was also one of the few that didn't use a bell tower.
Overall it still was a fun project to work on. While my memories of this project are few. I'm just glad I still have them. Take care and we shall chat later. Till Then.
-
6/30/08
What a wonderful time I had.
Honestly? As far as one of my showings go, I had a lot of fun. It was just a nice day out (even though it rained my entire drive).
It's showings like this that really help my own soul in doing more Lego Churches. The people at St. Anastasia treated me every well. I would write more but sadly I am still worn out from this weekend. Plus, we are also dealing with a medial event in our family. A relative of mine has been in the ICU since Friday.
Even though we had that going on, it still was a joyful time. My thanks to Fr. J.J. Mech for his support and I cannot wait to come back next year!
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It's showings like this that really help my own soul in doing more Lego Churches. The people at St. Anastasia treated me every well. I would write more but sadly I am still worn out from this weekend. Plus, we are also dealing with a medial event in our family. A relative of mine has been in the ICU since Friday.
Even though we had that going on, it still was a joyful time. My thanks to Fr. J.J. Mech for his support and I cannot wait to come back next year!
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