Legos, Literally

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/08/08/pkg.expressive.legos.cnn?hpt=C2

When I clicked on a link from the CNN website labeled "Look what they've made from Legos," the last thing that I expected to see was a little orange Lego man with one of his legs purposely missing.  But in the above video footage from a Virginia Lego Fair, one participant shocked me by graphically depicting the recent Deepwater Horizon incident with the colorful blocks.  Complete with translucent red columns of fire spewing up from wavy layers of black "oil", the toys were surprisingly good at depicting the chaos that ensued following the explosion.

Though it was the last thing that I had expected to see made from Legos, the odd mix of toys and cultural tragedy struck me as appropriate.  During my years of building Lego's various sets, including warships, fighter jets, and even entire army bases, I don't think I ever saw a step call for removing the leg from one of the pre-made double limb pieces.  But, in reality, such a step was probably as appropriate as placing the little stickers to mark the radiation chambers on the sides of the vehicles. 

So, though I was at first taken aback by the somber scene at the Lego Fair, after further contemplation, I have come to appreciate the artists (not to be confused with craftsman) creation, and message.  The moving tea-cup ride was cute, and the model of Big Ben impressive, but the flame-encrusted drilling platform will be the thing I remember tomorrow.
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6/9/2011

Lego's are amazing.  From model trains and planes, to entire villages, the multi-colored, multi-faceted blocks can be used to create almost anything.   Even an antibody conjugate.  Seattle Genetics is a pharmaceutical company whose pipeline of upcoming cancer fighting products includes this type of antibody.  A duo of Lego enthusiasts invented the idea of building the antibody as a marketing demonstration, and participants at this years American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting were invited to help.  You can check out the picture of the green, towering future cancer fighter here.
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