Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them…

The Death Star is almost cleared to fire. Work continues, though every time I come downstairs, the labor force is fooling around. And I have proof!

I’m pretty sure bets were being placed on whether Cap or Batman could knock the other out.

Though poor Han ended up being late to the brawl.

Speaking of brawls, I think Palps finally got the drop on Obi-Wan.

The only ones working were the stormtroopers…but even they weren’t totally immune.

Leave it to Master Chief to protect the project from rampant diagonas while everyone else screwed around…

With all this goofing off, I’m not sure WHEN the space station will be completed!

“We shall double our efforts…”

The Death Star continues apace. The second tier is complete and the groundwork for the third tier is being laid.

I’m pretty sure the stormtroopers are tired of hearing a.) how they can’t hit the broad side of a barn, and b.) how much better Stark’s armor is than theirs. Tony better hope the crane operator got enough coffee from the dispensary before climbing into the control seat…

And I’m positive Cap is about ready to bust Batman down for hanging around the work site.

Don’t forget, the entire (ongoing) set is on Flickr.

That’s No Moon…

My wonderful wife gave me the Lego Death Star exclusive kit this past Christmas. Rather than spend a solid two days gorging on building this awesome set, I decided to take my time and spread the construction love over the course of several days in 2-3 hour sessions.

She gave me the idea to “chronicle” the process by taking photos after each stage, so this is the result (of sorts). I had other Lego minifigs in my collection clamor to help – how could I refuse? You’ll see their goofing off efforts scattered among the photos.

I’ve posted a few below. For the complete set, check my Flickr album, which will be updated as progress continues in the creation of this “technological terror.”

After the first stage:

After the second stage:

Of course, after reports of all the goofing off, there was the inevitable visit…

“We shall redouble our efforts!”

After Chaos

Mini and photo by DAK

Okay, so I thought I was done with talking about Total Chaos…until I was looking over the final PDF the other day and realized I’d forgotten one important aspect.

The art.

While the book would contain several new  commissioned pieces, it would also have two other types of art included. The first is what’s called “recycled.” This is exactly what it sounds like – reusing art from other projects, often in a different way or form in the new publication. I asked our art director and layout artist to keep the recycled art strictly from the previously done Jihad plot books, to keep the theme relevant. One of the best uses in Total Chaos is the image of the Bounty Hunter escaping the burning airship, found on page 33. The text is Mission: Pursuit and the image illustrates the page’s subject perfectly. (Not to mention that art is the illustrative piece of my short story, “Just Business,” which appears in Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents.)

Place de la Concorde and Pont Alexandre III (Day 5)

The last and final entry of our October 2010 journey to Paris. View some of the 700+ photos I took in my Flickr collection.

We awoke late in the morning – no surprise after a full and relaxing late day/night before. After a brief morning nibble, we wandered the Marias for a bit, souvenir hunting for family and friends and generally determined to enjoy our last full day in Paris. Being a Sunday, there were few people out and about, save the various cafes and brasseries around us.

We stopped for a lingering brunch at a cafe near the Centre Georges-Pompidou. It was probably the first meal I had that was only so-so; my chicken was rather dry, though the coffee more than made up for it. We then took advantage of the few remaining Metro tickets we had left and headed out to the Place de la Concorde where the Luxor Obelisk stands at the entrance to the Tuileries. Roughly a kilometer away was the distant Arc de Triomphe, a straight shot down the Avenue des Champs Elysées. The sky was a perfect blue for photographing.

Paris – The Journey Begins (Day 1)

(In the fall of 2010, my wife and I made our first trip to Paris, France in celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary. What follows is an electronic version of the journal I wrote while on the trip, liberally sprinkled with photographs taken during our Parisian visit. For the full collection of links, stay tuned to this page as I post my thoughts on our excursion.)

Long flights are exhausting.

“Red-eye” flights across the Atlantic (or anywhere overseas, for that matter) seem to serve nothing more than to completely disrupt your body clock. In hindsight, of course, it’s a good thing.

There wasn’t anything really wrong with our Air France flight. I’d had a difficult time sitting comfortably since only a couple weeks before I’d bruised my back and hindquarters from a short fall down some stair s in our home. I ended up sleeping maybe a total of an hour during the 8 hour journey. My wife slept comfortably beside me.

Where Am I?

“Dude, it’s been four months since you last posted. What’s up with you?”

Sorry about that. I’ve got some stuff slated to post over the next few weeks, but in general, I’ve been busy:

• Writing two book manuscripts, both due mid-Feb 2011; one book printing in July 2011, the other in November 2011
• Been to Paris, France, with my wife in celebration of our fifteenth anniversary (watch for “The Paris Chronicles”, coming soon)
• Covering the Washington Capitals on a semi-regular basis for WeLoveDC
• Covering other museum events and exhibitions in the DC metro area
• Designing and producing four meetings programs and a ginormous member directory for ADEA
• Squeaking in LEGO: Batman when I have a moment

So yeah, busy. But I promise, more to come and soon. Just hang in there…maybe check out some of the photos I took in Paris? (More coming later.)

Image of the Moment

Red Tail Hawk in flight, taken during our recent trip to Tennessee/North Carolina. This shot was a total accident as I hadn’t changed my settings…but I like the end result, as it has the look of a painting.

Just thought I’d share.