QUARANTINE BLOG # 483

July 26, 2021

Beginning tomorrow and continuing through Saturday, the Quarantine Blog will be on the road, to gather some antiques, watch some Pittsburgh Pirate baseball games, and return its home computer.  Posting times may be sporadic because of that.  As Amy tells Tate, “Be patient.”

July is already favored with National Ice Cream Month, but today adds to the flavor with National Coffee Milkshake Day.  They are made with hot or cold brew coffee, or with instant coffee, coffee liqueur, coffee syrup, or coffee-flavored ice cream.  Although some references to coffee milkshakes date to the turn of the twentieth century, evidence suggests the drink may have been created by Italian immigrants in Rhode Island in the 1940s.  Drink up.

👉  Checking out famous folks born on this day, first up on QB is George Bernard Shaw (1856).  Shaw is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film (for Pygmalion, adapted from his play of the same name – Lerner and Lowe’s musical My Fair Lady was based on Shaw’s play).  Shaw had nothing but contempt for Hollywood and described his award for “best-written screenplay” as an insult coming from such people.

Other July 26 birthdays include Mick Jagger, lead singer and a founding member of The Rolling Stones, one of the most influential people in the history of rock & roll  (1943), Dorothy Hamill, Olympic gold medal for Women’s Figure Skating in 1976, credited with developing the camel spin move in her routines (1956), and Tommy “Wildfire” Rich, one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion (1956).

 👉  Writing in National Geographic’s, July issue, Daryl Austin headlined, “The inside story of how a ‘band of misfits’ saved Lego.  Facing bankruptcy in 2003, the Danish toymaker finally learned to love its adult fans.”  An immediate eye catcher it was because I am an adult Lego fan, or as these folks are properly called Adult Fans of Lego, or AFOLs.  

My journey to become an AFOL, long before I knew there was such a thing, was directed by my grandson, Luke Herrington (who had no idea he was turning his Pappy into an AFOL).  Luke was 8 years old when he brought the first Lego building set to Woodland Drive.  I would scoot over in my chair, he’d climb aboard and we’d build the Lego, always an adaptation from Star Wars.  Actually, he’d build, and I’d watch, finding the pieces that went next.  The story evolved, and now includes his brothers Mac and Tate, a room in our house that is now known officially as “The Lego Room” (it used to be my office/study), and in The Lego Room epic battles take place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.  

Jabba’s Sail Barge – one of the first Lego sets Luke and I worked on.  He had built it with Jack, his dad, and in playing with it, it became disassembled, so Luke brought it over and we put it back together.

Those details, however, are a story for another time, and as frequently happens in the QB, I’ve wandered off the original path (like Billy in Family Circus).  But back on track, Lego is undeniably “The Toy of the Century” (so named in 1999), and the “Most Influential Toy of All Time” (so crowned by Time magazine in 2014, ahead of Barbie, G.I. Joe, and the Easy Bake Oven).  But as Daryl Austin writes, “Lego posted its first-ever loss in 1998.  By 2003, when it reported a $238 million loss, the company was looking seriously at bankruptcy.”  The company’s struggles began when it ventured too far into endeavors that had little to do with its trademark toy, including a clothing line, amusement parks, video games, even Lego-branded jewelry.  

When Ole Kirk Kristiansen started The Lego Group in 1932 (Lego is leg godt meaning “play well” in Danish), he made wooden toys that were “very much intended for children, including a pull-along duck, a racing car, and a piggy bank.”  In 1958 he and his son Godtfred developed the first stud-and-tube coupling bricks, the basic design of which has changed little over the years.  And somewhere along the path, adults began to build, not just the prepackaged sets, but made their own creations and submitted their ideas to Lego.  

Facing uncertain times because of financial difficulties, Lego started paying attention to the masses of people attending unofficial fan conventions around the world, as well as to the staggering number of AFOLs gathering or on online user groups.  Executives began to realize they had multitudes of passionate Lego fans, many with unique skill sets, they could tap for design ideas, software engineering, marketing needs, even new Lego themes.  The company formed an AFOL Engagement Team and started actively courting adult aficionados.  And the Lego company of today was on its way.

Visual artist Adam Ward’s primary medium is Legos. He has built major installations for Microsoft, Zappos, and other companies.

This capsule is too short, but if you want to read the whole story, click over to National Geographic and enjoy Austin’s complete article.  When you get to the page, you will have to enter your email address, and if you don’t want to use your primary, substitute your secondary address.

More Lego stories coming soon.

👉  While billionaire businessmen are jockeying to get to outer space, French designer Thierry Gaugain has a more grounded vision for the future of transportation: The G Train, billed as the world’s first private luxury locomotive.  Plans for the 1,300-foot 14-car train include a primary suite at the front, followed by 18 guest rooms, a gym, spa, garden, dining car, and grand reception hall, with space for art exhibitions, live music, and movie screenings.  Gaugain designed the caboose as a “toy chest” to store automobiles, motorcycles, and other off-rail vehicles.  At $350 million, once a buyer has been found, it will take at least two and a half years to build his “palace on rails.”  If you don’t fancy flying into space, maybe you could order one of these.

👉  A few funnies before we close:

👉  Today’s close continues in Psalm 119 with a meditation from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“My lips will pour forth praise because you teach me your statutes” (Psalm 119:171).

This grand meditation on the law gathers to a climax in a crescendo of praise.  The law that orders our lives in dimensions of mercy and puts us in daily touch with the delights of grace is celebrated in praise that sings.

Prayer: “Father of mercies, in Thy Word what endless glory shines; forever be Thy name adored for these celestial lines.  Divine instructor, gracious Lord, be Thou forever near; teach me to love Thy sacred Word, and view my Savior there” (Anne Steel, “Father of Mercies”).  Amen.

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