Recently I gave Lego’s “Digital Designer” software a spin. It’s a free program which allows users to build a virtual model, upload it to lego.com and even purchase it. I’d tried it once before, but at the time the selection of bricks was limited to a few pre-sorted bags. They’ve upgraded the system so that it’s now possible to buy only the precise bricks you need.

For my first attempt, I decided to go with a familiar-looking dinosaur model that I dubbed “Goshzilla.” The software was relatively intuitive to use, but I found myself hampered by the limited selection of green bricks available for Lego Factory designs. I wound up making some compromises that wouldn’t have been necessary if I’d had access to the full range of bricks.

I decided to order the completed model just to see the results, and received the package last night. (Literally…our mailman has been showing up later and later, and last night he scared the crap out of us by sticking the package in the door at 8:30 pm!)

I was a little disappointed with the packaging. The site seemed to imply that I’d receive a custom-printed box, but the picture was actually a computer-printed paper insert. Still, it was pretty cool that the labelling actually named it “Goshzilla.”

Building the model exposed some flaws in the process. The building instructions were generated automatically by the software, and they didn’t always follow a logical sequence. Rather than building everything from the bottom up as is customary, several steps had bricks floating in mid-air, awaiting later connection.

In addition, I found that designing the model as a virtual object resulted in a somewhat rickety structure. Within the software, everything neatly snapped together and held its shape, but in the real world governed by the laws of physics, Goshzilla could have benefitted from a bit more bracing. (In my defense, that’s where the somewhat limited palette of bricks had its greatest effect.)

All in all, it was a good learning experience, and despite the issues I mentioned above, I may try it again one of these days. It’s certainly fun to get your own custom Lego model in the mail!

And if you want to order Goshzilla, you can do so.

Dave Toys

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working, once again, on my Sisters of Battle army for Warhammer 40,000. Here’s the latest bitter fruit of my labors, the mighty Exorcist missile tank!

I’d been wanting this model ever since I’d seen it. A mobile pipe organ–complete with organist/pilot–is wonderfully perverse and fits so well with the twisted religious theme of the Sisters.

A close-up of the organist’s bay. The figure behind her is somewhat hidden by the missile rack, but it seems to be a half-robot/half-corpse on a mechanical swilel whose job it is to load the rockets into the organ.

The next project–which is already nearing completion–is a ruined building for the Sisters to shelter within. Plus I’m working on another dozen of the armored gals themselves to fill the nagging holes in my roster.

Dave Games

Japan’s Anti-Mothra Atomic Heat Ray

The Pentagon’s Brand-New Active Denial System Heat Ray

WHAT ISN’T OUR GOVERNMENT TELLING US?!?

Hmmm…back in a moment. I hear a strange, flapping sound coming from outside…

Dave Weird

Having both cats and a blog, it is inevitable that from time to time I will post some kitty pics.

If you know our cats, you’ll understand what’s so unusual about that last photo. Not once in the decade or so that we’ve had both Tigger and Hobbes has this happened. At least, until last week. Awwww, cute!

Dave General

The turning of the calendar pages to 2007 brought with it an end to the first year of our great experiment, in which we determined to figure out just how much loose change we found in our travels.

When I last wrote about this, we’d found a total of $8.14 after six months. In our third quarter, we picked up an additional $4.55. Things took a big jump in the run-up to the end of year one, as holiday shopping insanity meant more change dropped in the consumer crush. It didn’t hurt that we were increasingly vigilant (some might say obsessive) in those final few weeks. Our take: $7.25.

Grand total: $19.99. Yes, one more penny, and we’d have had an even Jackson.

Here’s the breakdown:

• 529 pennies
• 19 nickels
• 102 dimes
• 14 quarters

We haven’t yet discussed what to do with the money, though if you’re anywhere near Best Buy and hear a jingling sound, it may be me.

Dave General

Yesterday, there was a great deal of fuss when the hanging of one of Saddam Hussein’s henchmen led to his accidental beheading. One of the executed man’s relatives referred to it as an “insult” to his body. (Is this what they mean by “adding insult to injury?”) Secretary of State Condi Rice said that the executions should have been handled with “greater dignity.”

I feel there’s a disconnect in this notion that killing someone should be handled with dignity and respect, that it should be neat and tidy without any unnecessary loss of head. From my perspective, death itself is the ultimate indignity. What happens in the minutes leading up to termination or its immediate aftermath is kinda beside the point, and you’re not any less dead if your noggin manages to stay attached.

The way I see it, we want to have it both ways when it comes to state executions. We want to kill people in the service of revenge or justice, but we want to pretend that it’s humane and surgically precise. We don’t want to hear about the twitching and the bodily fluids.

My own views toward the death penalty run in a murky stream somewhere in the middle. I’m definitely not in favor of it, yet I’m not entirely opposed either.

I’ve never accepted the justification that it serves as a deterrent. I doubt that those who commit murder even consider being caught, much less being tried, found guilty, sentenced to death and working through years of appeals before walking the last mile. If they put any thought into it at all, I don’t believe they ever think it will happen to them. People tend to see themselves as smarter and/or luckier than they really are.

That said, I’m not going to lose any sleep over ending the life of someone who we know absolutely, positively, for-damn-sure committed the crimes for which they were convicted. If your name is John Wayne Gacy and you’ve got 28 murdered boys in your crawlspace, then good riddance.

The problem as I see it is that there are far too many times when “beyond a reasonable doubt” equates with “this was the best suspect we could dig up.” Death is the final penalty. There are no take-backsies. So, until and unless we can modify our legal system to eliminate the possibility of convicting the innocent, execution ought to be invoked rarely and only under the most obvious, incontrovertible circumstances. (I’m looking at you again, Gacy.)

Yet, despite being more opposed than not to the death penalty, I take issue with the modern view that it should be clean and free of suffering. Despite our handwringing to the contrary, I don’t believe that this notion has anything to do with being humane. I think it’s there solely for our benefit, to give us our bloody reprisal without getting anything sticky on our hands.

It’s not that I want us to purposely inflict additional torment, but rather that attempting to treat execution as a clinical procedure allows us to take one too many steps back. We become dispassionate, unsullied observers of something that we should never take for granted. We fool ourselves into thinking that it’s okay to kill as long as the head stays on.

Dave Rant

My teaser spots for Doctor Who begin airing on WILL-TV this week, and I’m thrilled. It’s been too long since I got to write a promo spot, and, of course, the fact that it’s for Who makes it all the better. The basic concept of the spots was pinched (with permission) from Ken Patterson, program director of KTEH-TV and an even bigger fan than myself. I modified his idea a bit, and I really like the results.

The first starts with a black screen. The TARDIS materialization sound effect kicks in, and the words “The planet” fade up. Another line fades in beneath: “is defended.” The text fades out, and then we see “This March he returns to WILL-TV.” The top line dissolves so that the sentence reads, “And it’s about time he returns to WILL-TV.” Finally, the logo fades in before the whole thing goes to black.

Version two is pretty much the same thing, except that all you see at first are the words “monsters nightmares.” More text appears, and the sentence reads “He gives monsters nightmares.” (Both of the lines, by the way, are paraphrased dialogue from the series. I thought they summed up the series very well.)

Best of all, we’re producing generic versions of the spots and making them available to all stations purchasing the series. Cool! Some days I love this job!

Dave Doctor Who

Whoever wins…we lose.

Dave General

The end of the holiday season and subsequent Christmas tree removal means that we once again have space for our treadmill in the living room. That’s important because I have put on a few more pounds than I am comfortable with, said discomfort mostly in the area of my waistline. So, once again I find myself walking…and walking…and walking…and not getting anywhere.

The only thing that makes the treadmill tolerable is that it gives me a reason to pull out my TV-on-DVD boxed sets. A half-hour show minus commercials allows for about 23 minutes of workout, which is usually the point at which I begin wishing that I had a gun.

Currently in the DVD player is the copy of Star Trek: The Animated Series that my dad got me for Christmas. It was produced by Filmation–makers of Masters of the Universe and about a billion other low-budget kids’ TV shows–back in 1973, only a few years after the original live-action Trek was cancelled. Until the launch of the movie series in the late ’70s, The Animated Series (TAS) was the only other “official” Trek material to be watched.

I write “official” because the people who decide such things declared that TAS was not considered canonical; in other words, it didn’t really happen even more than the rest of the fictional universe in which it was set didn’t happen. Never mind that everyone agrees that the entirety of Spock’s childhood established in the episode “Yesteryear” is canonical. As is the first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Robert April (depicted in “The Counter-Clock Incident”). Oh, and James T. Kirk’s middle name, Tiberius (first mentioned in David Gerrold’s “Bem”). The Holodeck? Introduced in “Practical Joker.” But the rest of it absolutely, really didn’t happen. Mostly.

The argument always struck me as ridiculous. Here was a series in which seven of the original eight cast members returned to voice their characters (only Walter “Chekov” Koenig was left out, and he got to write an episode). It was story edited by D.C. Fontana, who performed similar duties on the live-action show. Nearly half of the episodes were written by people who’d worked on the original, and several of these were sequels to previous installments. Mark Lenard, Stanley Adams and Roger C. Carmel came back to voice returning guest characters Sarek, Cyrano Jones and Harry Mudd, respectively.

Granted, the caliber of the production wasn’t exactly top-notch. The limited animation typical of Filmation meant that it’s often like watching an illustrated radio show, and the stock music can get annoying. Plus, it’s pretty obvious that James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett were doing about half of the “guest star” voices.

Still, the stories were generally ambitious, and being animated allowed them to create characters and environments that would have been unthinkable on a ’70s live-action show. Among the additions to the crew were the cat-like Lt. M’Ress, and the six-limbed Lt. Arex.

Of special interest to sci-fi fans is the episode “The Slaver Weapon,” adapted by author Larry Niven from one of his own non-Trek short stories. It’s a rare crossover between fictional universes, specifically the setting of his Ringworld novels.

A big thanks to my dad and the fine folks at CBS Home Video for making my endless treadmill treks a bit easier to take!

Dave Sci-Fi

Here’s my entry in Chris Sims’ (he of the comics website Chris’ Invincible Super-Blog) “30 Second Recap Contest.” The challenge is to recap a comic book in a few panels of hastily-drawn art.

I have chosen as my subject matter Marvel Team-Up issue 20, published April, 1974. People who know me would assume that I’d pick a DC comic, but this one was one of my childhood favorites, featuring Spider-Man and the Black Panther against Stegron the Dinosaur-Man and his army of ferocious monsters!

No tracing was involved, though I obviously used the original art as reference material. It actually turned out a good bit better than I’d expected, given my usual inability to draw people. Guess Sal Buscema’s pencils make for good swiping fodder!

Click the above for a larger (text-free) image!

One thing I have learned about Spider-Man is that I hate drawing webs!

Dave Comics