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On Saturday January 31st and Sunday February 1st, NCLUG and NCLTC will exhibit
at the 5th annual LEGOPalooza at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina.
This is a free event. The event will run from 11-4 on Saturday and from 1-4 on
Sunday. If you are in the area, please plan to stop by. More details can be
found on the NCLUG web site at: <http://www.nclug.us>
Show Flyer:
<http://www.nclug.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/the_5th_annual_legopalooza_v2.pdf>
Hope to see you there!
Mike
--
mike underscore walsh at mindspring dot com
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Felix Greco wrote:
> In lugnet.mediawatch, Mike Walsh wrote:
> > Cyndi Bradham and her large Castle layout which was on display this past
> > weekend at LEGO Palooza in Chapel Hill, NC were featured in an article in
> > the Raleigh News and Observer:
>
> I love the logic: "What's the bid deal, I mean it could be heroin." I'll have
> to use that next time I'm justifying a big purchase ;)
>
> Nice example of unbiased reporting. He replies to your comment with an
> "Oohhh-Kaaay." So creating your own utopian world is somehow crazy?
It's pretty interesting how the off-the-cuff things you say are what ends up
being printed, while what you perceive as the actual interview does not. But any
press is good press, right?
C.
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Felix Greco wrote:
> In lugnet.mediawatch, Mike Walsh wrote:
> > Cyndi Bradham and her large Castle layout which was on display this past
> > weekend at LEGO Palooza in Chapel Hill, NC were featured in an article in
> > the Raleigh News and Observer:
>
> I love the logic: "What's the bid deal, I mean it could be heroin." I'll have
> to use that next time I'm justifying a big purchase ;)
I use variants of this comment ALL the time:-)
>
> Nice example of unbiased reporting. He replies to your comment with an
> "Oohhh-Kaaay." So creating your own utopian world is somehow crazy?
No, but being stuck writing about this is:-)
Over here in good ol' NC, the News and Observer is a very liberal paper - while
that doesn't really mean anything in terms of the bias of this article, the side
effect is that the writing itself is often more subjective than objective - so
those comments (which are NOT true newspaper reporting) are pretty common in the
N & O.
Sad thing is, I used to work there.
Joe
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In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
> On February 3rd and 4th NCLUG in cooperation with the Morehead Planatarium
> at the University of North Carlina Chapel Hill hosts LEGO Palooza. The 3rd
> LEGO Palooza expands to a 2 day event running from 12-4 both Saturday and
> Sunday. This year the display exhibits expand from Space themed to all
> themes. Al particular interest are large Castle, Star Wars and Town
> layouts. NCLTC will have a small train layout on display. There is also a
> large collection of bricks for kids and adults to build with.
>
> For more information and directions, visit the Morehead Planatarium web
> site:
>
> http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&id=371
>
> Admission is free.
I wish there was 'advance' warning about this event. I mean, I didn't see any
post about this event on LUGNET. Such as, a 3 to 5 week in-advance notice about
the event. So, I can make travel plans hotel, car, etc. Generally
speaking...about any LEGO fan/club event, no matter where the event is or when
it is. Because I might want to travel to visit, and see the event in person.
:-) (sigh)
But anyways... I am glad everybody had a good time.
-Abner
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In lugnet.mediawatch, Mike Walsh wrote:
> Cyndi Bradham and her large Castle layout which was on display this past
> weekend at LEGO Palooza in Chapel Hill, NC were featured in an article in
> the Raleigh News and Observer:
I love the logic: "What's the bid deal, I mean it could be heroin." I'll have
to use that next time I'm justifying a big purchase ;)
Nice example of unbiased reporting. He replies to your comment with an
"Oohhh-Kaaay." So creating your own utopian world is somehow crazy?
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In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
>
> "Todd Thuma" <thumat@gactr.uga.edu> wrote in message
> news:JCzx3n.AJs@lugnet.com...
> > In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
A bunch snipped
> Mike
Mike,
Thanks! I posted in part out of fun and part out of annoyance. Had I been in the
area I would have definitely dropped by. Hey, a planetarium and a LEGO event, my
two favorite loves in one. I would have been there. Sadly, I live too far away
to to have been there with 4 hours notice.
And, yes, I saw the pics Joe posted. Your NC folks always seem to have a lot of
fun and put on a great show.
Sincerely,
Todd
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"Todd Thuma" <thumat@gactr.uga.edu> wrote in message
news:JCzx3n.AJs@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
[ ... snipped ... ]
>
> I am a little confused on the tense used in the above paragraph. Since the
> event
> happened on the 3rd and 4th and the post was made on the 3rd (same month)
> should
> the tense have been past tense? Instead, the tense implied the event was
> happening in the future. While I fundamentally agree that a post made at
> 11:00
> AM GMT (7 AM EST) is in the future of an event starting at 12 PM EST (4 PM
> GMT).
Better late than never eh?
>
> Too bad this was not made a week or more ago, when the notice to the
> community
> might have generated some participation and/or visitation.
Absolutely. I think it was simple oversight that this didn't happen.
People get busy and things get dropped. We did have a number of posts to
the NCLUG Yahoo Group so I believe we got pretty good local coverage.
> The link supplied by the way dates their post Jan 11th, 2007. Would that
> have
> been too early to post to LUGNET? My apologies if I missed a previous post
> on
> this event.
No, I don't think it would have been to early. It could have been followed
up with a reminder posting the week of the event.
>
> I am standing by for the POST event wrap-up. I would dearly like to see
> pictures
> of the layout and MOCs. Many of these events are my inspiration to build
> and be
> creative, if only to copy what others have done (hahahahaha).
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Todd
Joe Meno has posted a wrap up, did you catch that? It was a fun event, I
wish I could have spent more time there. The Planatarium staff were very
pleased with the event and were very supportive.
Mike
--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://blog.carolinatrainbuilders.com - My LEGO Blog
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot
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In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
> On February 3rd and 4th NCLUG in cooperation with the Morehead Planatarium
> at the University of North Carlina Chapel Hill hosts LEGO Palooza. The 3rd
> LEGO Palooza expands to a 2 day event running from 12-4 both Saturday and
> Sunday. This year the display exhibits expand from Space themed to all
> themes. Al particular interest are large Castle, Star Wars and Town
> layouts. NCLTC will have a small train layout on display. There is also a
> large collection of bricks for kids and adults to build with.
>
> For more information and directions, visit the Morehead Planatarium web
> site:
>
> http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&id=371
>
> Admission is free.
I am a little confused on the tense used in the above paragraph. Since the event
happened on the 3rd and 4th and the post was made on the 3rd (same month) should
the tense have been past tense? Instead, the tense implied the event was
happening in the future. While I fundamentally agree that a post made at 11:00
AM GMT (7 AM EST) is in the future of an event starting at 12 PM EST (4 PM GMT),
it would have been beneficial to have more than a few hours notice.
Too bad this was not made a week or more ago, when the notice to the community
might have generated some participation and/or visitation.
The link supplied by the way dates their post Jan 11th, 2007. Would that have
been too early to post to LUGNET? My apologies if I missed a previous post on
this event.
I am standing by for the POST event wrap-up. I would dearly like to see pictures
of the layout and MOCs. Many of these events are my inspiration to build and be
creative, if only to copy what others have done (hahahahaha).
Respectfully,
Todd
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In lugnet.loc.us.nc, Mike Walsh wrote:
> On February 3rd and 4th NCLUG in cooperation with the Morehead Planatarium
> at the University of North Carlina Chapel Hill hosts LEGO Palooza. The 3rd
> LEGO Palooza expands to a 2 day event running from 12-4 both Saturday and
> Sunday. This year the display exhibits expand from Space themed to all
> themes. Al particular interest are large Castle, Star Wars and Town
> layouts. NCLTC will have a small train layout on display. There is also a
> large collection of bricks for kids and adults to build with.
>
> For more information and directions, visit the Morehead Planatarium web
> site:
>
> http://www.moreheadplanetarium.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=news_item&id=371
>
> Admission is free.
I am a little confused on the tense used in the above paragraph. Since the event
happened on the 3rd and 4th and the post was made on the 3rd (same month) should
the tense have been past tense? Instead, the tense implied the event was
happening in the future. While I fundamentally agree that a post made at 11:00
AM GMT (7 AM EST) is in the future of an event starting at 12 PM EST (4 PM GMT).
Too bad this was not made a week or more ago, when the notice to the community
might have generated some participation and/or visitation.
The link supplied by the way dates their post Jan 11th, 2007. Would that have
been too early to post to LUGNET? My apologies if I missed a previous post on
this event.
I am standing by for the POST event wrap-up. I would dearly like to see pictures
of the layout and MOCs. Many of these events are my inspiration to build and be
creative, if only to copy what others have done (hahahahaha).
Respectfully,
Todd
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Hi all,
as announced previously, NCLUG was the host of LEGOPalooza this weekend at
Morehead Planetarium. This year, the event was expanded to 2 days, and was
earlier in the year compared to previous paloozas.
This time, we had a Star
Wars display with sets from Sabrina and Signe Gravatt and customs by Gareth
Bowler:
a Harry Potter display by Jennifer Joy Poole:
a Batman display by Taylor Poole:
a town layout by Joe Evangelista, Mike Walsh and Joe Meno
Joe E:
Mike Walsh:
a castle display by Cyndi Bradham:
a retro town layout by Carin and Jane Proctor:
a heliport by Team Joe:
and an NXT demo/display by me:
There were also displays by Ian Brusso (Technic), David Winegar (Space) and
Gupreet Jawa (Castle).
There also was a building zone:
Attendance was about 1300 for the event - 700 on Saturday and 600 on Sunday.
So how was it?
It was a lot of fun! Having way too many events for my good, I can say that I
really enjoyed doing this one because I did a live demo and did some true
interaction - the NXT models were from instructions and progras that Philippe
Hurbain posted last week The spy bot was perfect for the event, as it was small,
easy to repair (they did fall off the table), and used one set each, which was
really nice to talk about the sets.
I also had a joystick built, but for the
fast pace of the event, I wasn’t able to use it, so by Sunday it was converted
to another NXT spy bot. Also the joystick was stuck to interaction with one
person, while the spybots could interact with anyone it happened to ‘see’.
There were a lot of questions about the NXT, and I had my laptop running to show
the program for the bots. And the general reaction from the kids was summed up
by this:
Gallery is here after
moderation:
We also got media coverage from a local TV station (NBC17) and two local
papers.
Many thanks to all those who participated, and also to Karen Kornegay and the
staff of Morehead Planetarium - it’s always fun to do a show, and this has
become the event I look forward to the most!
Yep, it’s blurry, but it summed up how I felt - this rocked!
Joe Meno
Administrator, NCLUG
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"Jordan Schwarz" <jbschwarz@ThisIsReallygmail.com> wrote in message
news:J7Ao4L.CEx@lugnet.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I've noticed a lack of activity regarding the NC LEGO Train Club and
> wanted to
> find out whether it still meets and if not, whether there are individuals
> interested in restarting the club.
>
> I should add that, one goal of my query is to encourage local train fans
> to join
> the Save 9V Trains movement (joining is free, but we want more
> participating
> members), <http://save.9vtrains.com>, in addition to evaluating if there
> is
> still interest in NCLTC.
>
> Thanks!
> Jordan
NCLTC is still alive and well although not very active. With GATS falling
apart there isn't a regular train show coming to Raleigh any more. The one
regular show in this area is run by the Neuse River Valley Model Railroad
Club (http://www.nrvmrrc.org/) and it is held the first weekend in November.
Unfortunately this is a weekend which I have a family commitment and this
year is no different.
We are however, gettting ready to set up our layout for a 2-3 month stint at
South Hills Mall as part of their Holiday display. We are just in the
planning stage so if anyone is interested in participating in this layout,
please contact me so I can add you to the planning mailing list. We have
plenty of room this time in the space SHM has given us. There is more
information on the NCLTC web site at: http://www.ncltc.cc
The bulk of the NCLTC (and NCLUG too) communication is handled via two Yahoo
Groups (one for each). If you want to participate in either, see these
links:
NCLUG: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nclug/join
NCLTC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ncltc/join
Regarding your solicatation for new members for the 9V Trains forum, the
train community seems to be quite content with LUGNET.trains. This is one
of the reasons ILTCO has never set up discussion forums.
Mike
--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot
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Hi all,
I’ve noticed a lack of activity regarding the NC LEGO Train Club and wanted to
find out whether it still meets and if not, whether there are individuals
interested in restarting the club.
I should add that, one goal of my query is to encourage local train fans to join
the Save 9V Trains movement (joining is free, but we want more participating
members), http://save.9vtrains.com, in addition to evaluating if there is
still interest in NCLTC.
Thanks!
Jordan
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Hi all,
bandanna by Sabrina Gravatt
NCLUG just opened its display at the Raleigh Grande Theater for “Pirates of the
Caribbean” - and it was a blast to do!
Here’s some pics:
Treasure Cove by John Riley
Black Sea Barracuda by Mike Walsh, Skeleton Attack by David Winegar
Summon the Kraken! by Joe Meno
Bandanna and voodoo doll by Sabrina Gravatt, compass and key by Joe Meno
More here after
moderation.
Participants included Sabrina Gravatt, John Riley, Joe Meno, Mike Walsh, and
David Winegar. Thanks to Cary Clark for much-needed treasure and hats, and eth
Raleigh Grande for asking us to display!
Joe Meno
Administrator, NCLUG
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NCLUG had its second LEGO event at Morehead Planetarium at the University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 1.
The club had four dedicated display areas:
a moonbase with modules from members Carin Proctor, Sam Cox, Adam Skelding,
David Winegar, Joe Meno, Sabrina Gravatt, train track from Mike Walsh, and a
module by Robert Gurskey (WAMALUG), Tony Perez (WAMALTC) and mecha from Fradel
Gonzales (WAMALUG),
a Star Wars display by Sabrina Gravatt
a Classic Space display by Cyndi Bradham and Vangie Reynolds, and
an asteroid display with monorail by Tony Perez and asteroids by Carin Proctor,
Sam Cox, Sabrina Gravatt, Joe Meno and Ian Brusso
Ian Brusso also showed
some motorized models:
A few new display ideas were done successfully at this event:
• An overhead
frame was made to suspend models as seen here
• The asteroid field display came out really well with the monorail tying the
asteroids together:
and
The gallery for the event can be found
here!
Many
thanks to the NCLUG members who helped out with LPalooza:
Carin Proctor (who
did the pre-planning and got the event tent frames and stantions), Adam
Skeldling (who provided the grid panels for hanging models and moonbase
modules), Cyndi and Vangie (who did the Classic Space display) Sabrina Gravatt
(who did the Star Wars display and a lunar putt putt and a fly in theater for
the asteroid field) Sam Cox (who built an asteroid, moonnbase modules and
mecha), Ian Brusso (who buit wonderful motorized models) and from out of town,
thanks to Mike Walsh for providing train tracks for the space train, Tony Perez
for monorail track and moonbase module, Robert Gurskey for his Moonbase module,
and Fradel Gonzales for his mecha.
And a special thanks to Karen Kornegay and
the volunteer staff at Morehead Planetarium. The event went very well thanks to
their planning and help.
And yes, we’ll be back next year!
Joe Meno
Administrator,
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Hi all,
WAMALUG and NCLUG were asked to display at the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington, DC for Universe Day, which fell on Saturday April 16th.
Members from both WAMALUG and NCLUG brought in Moonbase modules,
spacecraft
aircraft
contraptions
building
but most of all, people
Many thanks to the staff of the National Air and Space Museum, most notably
Mychelene Giampaoli and David DeVorkin. They provided us with the support needed
to make the event happen, and also some fun stuff!
Also thanks to the members of both WAMALUG and NCLUG who participated:
Jeff Stembel
Margaret Keys
Tony Perez
Dan Rubin
Gareth Bowler
Michael Harrod
Derek Schin
Philip Moyer
Rich Schamus
Linda Mateo
Fradel Gonzales
Rafe Donohue (and family)
Magnus Lauglo
Galen Fairbanks
Todd Thuma
and Sabrina Gravatt
Thanks also to Kunie DeVorkin, who built this wonderful model of the Museum, but
could not attend because of illness:
There were models built by others who could not attend:
Mike Walsh
Geoff Gray
Adrian Drake
There were also models provided by Shane Larson and Felix Greco, but because of
an incident that happened that I will explain, did not get displayed. My
apologies to them.
I need to extend the most thanks to Christina Hitchcock. I was involved in a car
accident (I was rear-ended 3 blocks away by a fellow club member) and to
compound things, I locked myself out of my car with the motor running! So I was
stuck at the site until a locksmith came, which was 2.5 hours later!!
Christina stepped in and took care of the organizing and made things work, and
while I got things running before the event, she actually took care of the
event.
If you want to see pictures of the display, you can go
here or
here or
here or even
here
This was a great event, and I’m already hearing that there is interest in
another display, so thanks to everyone!
Joe Meno
Event Coordinator, Exploring the Universe Day
NCLUG Administrator
WAMALUG Member
and of course, .space paparazzi!
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Hi all,
In January, the North Carolina LEGO Users Group was asked to provide displays
for the first LEGOPalooza at Morehead Planetarium, in Chapel Hill, NC, February
26. As Administrator for NCLUG, I decided to make a call from some friends in
other LUGs to help me out, since this was space-oriented and I wanted a little
more depth in that building area, most notably the Moonbase layout.
And they answered the call..
from Ohio
Adrian Drake
from Pennsylvania
Shane Larson
from Illinois
Felix Greco
from DelVaLUG
Jim Foulds
Tim Caffey
Philip Thorne
from WAMALUG
Christina Hitchcock
Magnus Lauglo
Robert Gurskey
Nick Kappatos
Fradel Gonzales
This was one of many wonderful surprises...our membership joined in in a large
way, with this event becoming one of the largest in recent memory in member
participation. Participants included:
well, me (Moonbase Modules and spacecraft)
Mike Walsh (Train and Moonbase Modules)
Adam Skelding (Moonbase Modules)
in the distance...
Carin Proctor (Moonbase Modules)
building away..
Gareth Bowler (Star Wars UCS customs)
Sabrina Gravatt (Star Wars and Classic Space sets)
- with her Star Destroyer
and the Star Wars table
David Winegar (Moonbase Modules)
his garden with Adrian Drale’s Jonh Deere
Everyone jumped in and built and helped each other...and Carin built some of the
neatest modules with her Crabtree Valley Malldule and monorail/train
station...and Paulo Chiquito and his son showed off their MINDSTORMS biped
walkers...
and Rafe Donohue brought a Ball Contraption!
All this added to the most wonderful surprise...attendance was originally
estimated to be 200 for the whole day.
We did that in the first 2 hours. Total attendance was around 1000! People were
waiting for us to open (and we were a little behind schedule) And some other
great things!
There was a contest for best sculpture...with a family membership to the
Planetarium and this award being the prize
Our club brick was used for this, and my guess that maybe a few entries would be
built by the kids. By the end of day, there were over 300 entries, and this was
left of the club brick, which usually almost fills this tub
This will give you an idea of the number of entries:
Tommy Armstrong arrived with engraved bricks and donated them to the planetarium
for awards, which was another surprise!
and the final surprise...
we sold minifigs for the event, with all proceeds ($2) going toward the
Planetarium for summer camp memberships. By the end of the event, $130 was
earned, which was enough to get one child in the camp! Also, the rest of the
minifigs were donated to the Planetarium, which will sell them with the proceeds
going a summer camp scholarship in NCLUG’s name!
We got media coverage from the two local newspapers and two TV stations, and
things look really good for another event with the Planetarium...
so from me, thanks to everyone who helped out! This was a wonderful event thanks
to all of you!
Joe Meno
Administrator, NCLUG
PS More pix will be coming...
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For those in the Charlotte, NC area, I found this in yesterdays Charlotte
Observer:
Charlotte's first giant Lego Menorah will be constructed Tuesday (Dec.7),
the first night of Hanukkah, in SouthPark mall near the fountain. The building
begins at 4 p.m., with a menorah lighting at 6 p.m. Donuts and drinks will be
served.
For details, contact Lubavitch of North Carolina at (704)366-3984 or go to
www.ohrhatorahnc.org.
Ken
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