fun

LEGO NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander

The Eagle Has Landed

Before I begin to write about the LEGO’s Lunar Lander, I thought I’d state a couple of reasons why this commemorative NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander (Creator – 10266) has come at a crucial moment. These are exciting times for space enthusiasts like myself. Firstly, India is preparing to launch the ambitious Chandrayaan-2 mission carrying an orbiter and a lunar rover (named ‘Pragyan’) to the southern pole of the Moon, making India the first nation to attempt landing a rover in that area. And also, we are closing in on the big event, the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969. So following the Apollo Saturn V here was another Apollo mission engineering masterpiece from LEGO’s creative factory!

Apollo 11 Lunar Lander (Module)

I appreciated the dexterity required in building the Saturn V just this past month from exactly 1969 bricks and right to this day, I continue to look at the 3-ft tall structure as one of the greatest most creative designs to come out of the LEGO studio, yet. Honestly, I was unaware until the Internet started buzzing with the release in the European market of the ‘Apollo Lunar Lander’, which they thankfully launched this month. And unless they’re also planning to add the Command & Service Module into the mix before the anniversary date this would signal the end of the Apollo mission series showcasing NASA’s engineering expertise and the collaborative effort in sending the first humans to the Moon. In a nutshell, the iconic Apollo 11 mission consisted of the behemoth Saturn V which transported the astronauts to the Moon whilst the Lunar Lander placed the Apollo astronauts, most notably Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the lunar surface and brought them home safely.

This ‘Creator’ Lunar Lander is also special for one more reason — LEGO has worked with NASA in developing this design to mark the historic 50th Anniversary.

I spotted the Apollo Lunar Lander on display at the LEGO Store last week and it was difficult to ignore the temptation of adding it to my growing collection. However, to my pleasant surprise, in addition to the Lunar Lander I also received a ‘Space Rocket Ride’ toy, a LEGO ‘Apollo Lunar Lander’ patch — similar in feel to the ‘Eagle’ patch of the Apollo 11 (pictures in this post), and some miscellaneous items as promo offers for a limited time. The purchase was definitely sweetened with the addition of these extra bricks and added to my fun of building more LEGOs this time.

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Saturn V

Building the LEGO NASA Apollo Saturn V

It so happens that every time I pick a LEGO model I cannot help but feel anxious to see how the outcome might turn out. Although, to be honest, halfway through, the process starts feeling mundane when the activity doesn’t exactly line up with my expectations of achieving the target. This one philosophy of building a LEGO — that of navigating through untenable ambiguity, always provides me with the ultimate dopamine to take up & finish LEGO creations with patience. I call it ‘Brickosophy’. By no means would I consider building a LEGO an easy task of sticking the bricks together. It might seem like a simple job of following the guide book and following the detailed illustrations, but it’s not that straightforward too. It requires perseverance and bucket loads of patience.

You may have heard about the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V assembly and I will spare the details just to keep this concise, but I have to say, it was a fantastic experience assembling this marvellous engineering effort that transported humanity to the Moon and back to earth safely. So at one point while assembling this LEGO set and while I was completing the first stage itself the plans went awry because I fixed a single pivoting brick in the wrong hole. It sent me into a tizzy and after struggling to get it right I had to suspend my work for the day. I had to backtrack by disassembling the pieces. Such was this wonderful experience!

LEGO has put a great degree of emphasis in getting the details on the engineering elements in sync with the original Saturn design. I would like to think that the LEGO 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V is nothing less than a commemorative token celebrating the Apollo Missions and a must-have for any space enthusiast. There was so much nostalgia & pride in assembling this rocket, it’s only then that you recognize the Saturn V as a symbol of human engineering endeavour, apart from also being a reminder of the July 20, 1969 landing of the Apollo 11 on the Moon. No surprises though, but 2019 is also the 50th anniversary of the moon landing! So, in honouring the Saturn V’s contribution in Apollo missions through the moon landing, this LEGO set contains exactly 1969 pieces, which also makes it my biggest Lego assembly since the 578-brick Fire Plane that I build back in 2016. Take a look at the gorgeous images of the rocket I built, you’ll be amazed at how much LEGO has explored the details!

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The Fun of Building A Lego

It’s been a dream to experiment with Lego. It brings pleasure for me to build something out of pieces of colourful plastic — ‘bricks’ as they are lovingly referred to by enthusiasts. So I picked up my first kit to begin with a majestic 578-bricks Fire Plane from Lego’s ‘Technic’ series.

With great help from my significant other, it took us just a day to complete the construction and by that, we exceeded our own expectations. Truth be told once I started the construction brick by brick there was no stopping. The exercise required time, focus, logic and tons of imagination. The manual was very straightforward with vivid visuals. Although I found a typo on the colour of the pins I was so much into engineering the plane that I figured out the right way.

It’s a fabulous product and you can see the structure details in the picture. The rudder, the flaps, and the elevators tilt up and down when a small lever is pushed (see the upright handle pointing up right in front of the tail-wing). The fan rotates when you move the plane, the engine looks so much real too (behind the fan, you can see the yellow piston). Below the fuselage there’s a small cargo hold for the ‘water’ consisting of blue button-shaped legos and controlled using a lever system again (the pearl head grey button on top of the cockpit). I must appreciate the design team at Lego for imagining the details of this plane, it must have been tedious work. I could see a lot of creativity-meets-architecture with solid product design strategy. This was just a beginning for more Lego adventures to come. So keep watching this space.

Lego Fire Plane

Lego Fire Plane built from 578-pieces.

AIB Roast Cover

Fuss About Nothing!

Virtually everyone in India is now talking about the (edited) version of the AIB Roast show on YouTube which was hosted by ‘Roast Master’ Karan Johar in Mumbai and presided over by the glitterati from the Bollywood industry. The talking point has been the use of offensive, insulting and politically incorrect language to create humour involving 2 of Bollywood’s upcoming stars Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, who are publicly known to share a good companionship. If reports are to be believed, the audiences paid INR 4000 each (about CAD 80) to watch the show (*gulp*)! AIB or ‘All-India Bakchod’ (loosely translated – Bakwas = senseless and Chod = f**k, one who indulges in senseless talk) is an incongruous bunch of talented stand-up comedians who produce and act in satirical comical videos on YouTube often targeting politicians and film personalities.

When I watched the video, I was offended with the free use of foul language, it’s frequency and unfettered use in an attempt to create humour, when the audience in the video seemed amused and was laughing away to glory I was smiling in awe. 2 upcoming actors with some credibility bearing the brunt of a noxious attack from a gang of AIB speakers, the comments petrifying and undignified which would make anyone grunt in disgust but for the affable Ranveer and Arjun who were chuckling in absurdity, swearing back at the speakers now and then, and cringing uncomfortably in their red armrests (as would anyone) as their personalities were being torn apart by waves of filthy lexicons. For a good reason I was shocked why 2 young and promising actors put up their dignity and career at stake and signed up for this noxious onslaught, when the audience of their films was already doing it for them at the box-offices across the country regardless!

The whole debate about morality and culture, and the use of ‘offensive language’ has been raked up again in the garb of “hurting public sentiments”, and may I add, unnecessarily, and pulling us in the tussle between modernity and ethnicity; the right or the worse, the choice that we as intellectuals have to make over a mediocre event! It’s so depressing. The Maharashtra government has ordered a probe to investigate if the show was “vulgar” and in violation of laws, now why would one waste tax-payer’s money on such an ordinary event. The right-wing political party MNS in Maharashtra on the other hand has demanded an apology from Karan Johar, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and others warning of dire consequences, luckily for them because their political fortunes were sinking already in the state for lack of a political agenda. And a police complaint has also been filed by the Brahman Ekta Seva Sanstha in Mumbai for use of “filthy and abusive language”. I am doubly upset now because the media and politicians haven’t helped by raking up an unnecessary controversy and offering credibility to such a crass show that it’s going to garner more hits and likes in the coming days.

Indeed the humour lacked an entertainment appeal so to speak, the speakers and the host sounded drab after a period with their continuous diatribe of raunchy and repulsive language, it was also shocking to see the free and open use of offensive language. Point taken. Let’s not forget that it was a privately funded show with full-grown adults paying for their own tickets willingly, it wasn’t a charity show involving the government or state money, and I don’t think any politician could be seen in the crowd applauding – if that’s true then it’s again his/her private business. The participants, the actors and the audience knew what they were signing up for. If so many others like me found the content to be offensive, my advice would be don’t watch it! If I felt any more offended than this I would hire a lawyer to fight a case in the highest courts of law in India. But any form of moral policing will only dent the fundamental structure of our democracy which we as a nation feel so proud about. Let’s stay away from advising others on the standards of entertainment and what others should and should not do, as long as they are doing it at their own expense and within legal terms. Let’s not play by our rules and pile up our definition of moral standards of entertainment and humour on others and ask them to “SHUT UP” and to fall in line.

A rational advice on choosing entertainment came in the form of a judgement from the Supreme Court of India. In its petition the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front had argued that some scenes from the Aamir Khan starrer ‘PK’ hurt religious sentiment disturbing public order and hence the apex court should ban the film. The Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha said, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch the film. Don’t bring religious facets here.” also adding “These are matters of entertainment.  If you restrict it, it will affect others’ rights. Everything is on the internet.  What will you hide?”. Yes I am upset and offended, and it has hurt my sentiments. And honestly speaking, I won’t watch this crap again.

Of Tarts, Beer & All That

Beer MugWhen will I know everything and attain nirvana? This is a question I keep asking myself everytime I find myself in an embarassingly idiotic situation. We ordered some desserts in the office and it was my longtime wish to eat a tart. Let me honestly say that apart from a few references (and perhaps with some visual ones as well) from books, I had no clue how a tart tasted. This is my time to experiment with my palate, I told myself. So I went ahead and ordered a Lemon Tart and it finally arrived and before anyone could realise what I was doing I had started eating the lemon ‘cream’ from the so called ‘cup’. I also invited my friend Aadesh to the table to have a scoop and he did the same until everyone laughed their guts out. The tart was supposed to be eaten entirely with the ‘cup’ which was a bread. That explains why the cream tasted pretty much like our local shrikhand. Everyone had a good time laughing at me including our VP who’s going to speak to my Group Leader about the kind of “mentoring” he’s giving his lads.

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