The Far Side of the World

Stacy in the News

Dave — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:20:47 +0000

Just a quick note for today. Stacy was recently quoted in an article on ComputerAndVideoGames.com. The article was an opinion piece by Emma Boynes on how game developers should be looking at females when it comes to game development. Though Stacy doesn’t consider herself a “gamer” by the standard definition, she still does play video games and was able to offer some insight. It’s a really interesting article that has opinions from a number of different females across the spectrum of gaming. Check out the whole article after the jump.

Spring is Coming…I Think.

Dave — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:57:43 +0000

It’s been a long winter here in Wisconsin and I really think we are all ready to see the sun and feel the warmth of its rays. I know I am. Life in the Sterling household is pretty much business as usual as we start to get ready to transition from our indoor winter hermit status to enjoying all the outdoor fun that Western Wisconsin has to offer. This summer will see many new adventures in N6929D as we travel to various out-of-the-way airports in search of the perfect $100-Hamburger.

It’s also time to pull the bikes down from the rafters and get out and get some exercise. I actually went on the first ride of the season this past Monday night and even got a chance to shoot some video with my new POV Camera from DriftInnovation (I’ll post that on our YouTube channel sometime soon). I can safely say that I have gotten pretty out of shape over the winter. One too many Chai Chillers from Mugby, I guess.

Stacy returns home this evening from her Ohio adventure and I’ll be glad to have her back. It’s never quite the same when she’s not around.

A Quick Note on Updates

Dave — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 02:12:35 +0000

It’s been about six months since we have updated anything here but the summer has been pretty busy for us. As usual, we went to Brickworld 2010 in June and had a blast seeing all of our LEGO friends and showing off our Train/Town/Harry Potter layout. Upon returning home we tore down our Hogwarts Castle and are working on a brand new one for 2011. We also have a Space layout in the works and are making some progress on that.

Business travel hasn’t been too bad, but is slated to pick up in the next couple of months. Ahh…another Fall we are going to miss. *sigh* Travel will be fun though as it includes a trip to Europe this year and a visit to The LEGO Group in Billund, DK. Woot!

Finally, we are about to add a new addition to the Sterling family…and no it’s not a child. It’s actually a 1957 Piper Tri-Pacer and we will (hopefully) be bringing it home on September 11th. We’ll be based at 36WI just outside of Holmen, WI and that should be a lot of fun. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures.

As a final bit of news, we have added some things to our homepage at http://www.smsrallysport.com/. More will be coming in the next couple months including an area dedicated to the Tri-Pacer and Piper Shortwings in general. Keep watching for it.

That’s all for now kids.

P.S. I read the first volume of the “Scott Pilgrim” graphic novel series. Totally kicks ass…go buy it and read it. Very much worth it. L8r Sk8rs…

2010 La Crosse Model Train Show Wrap-Up

Dave — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:26:59 +0000

So we’re back from the 2010 La Crosse Model Train Show and it was a fun (and tiring) weekend. We had about 2,500 people come out from around the area to see the show and it was great to see some familiar faces and meet a whole bunch of new people! The layout was the same size as last year (12′ x 15′), but we added a lot more detail this year including our newest addition…the LEGO Monorail. We had four trains and two monorails running at any given time and it seemed like the kids were on sensory overload when they stopped by.

The local news outlets also stopped out and we talked with both the La Crosse Tribune and Channel 19 News. Channel 19 ran a story on their 10 pm news program on Saturday night. The story is available on their website and I have embedded it below as well.

It was also a great chance to hang with our fellow LEGO enthusiasts and sample the fine Cajun cuisine at Buzzard Billy’s in La Crosse. Next stop will be Brickworld 2010 which will be held at the Westin Chicago North Shore June 19th-21st!

2009 MOCOlympics…

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:03:44 +0000

The 2009 MOCOlympics is in progress…which is just another excuse for me not updating the blog in awhile. The good news is that I have made it to the final round! We started with 128 people and we are now down to 2…and I am one of them. Hooray! You can see the MOC’s that got me here by visiting my MOCPages page. My latest creation was a replica of the Nintendo Entertainment System built entirely from LEGO elements!

Aside from that, life at the Sterling house is pretty normal. FIFA 10 and Brutal Legend are out now so I am making some progress in both. My team in FIFA is absolute rubbish, but then again it might also be the person managing/controlling the team. Stacy has been enjoying watching me play Brutal Legend…which you all should go out and buy right now (you’ll need a PS3 or XBox360). We’re looking forward to winter and some good hiking (maybe even snowshoeing) and lots of LEGO-related nonsense.

And on that note…I have things I need to do. More to come…someday.

Supermac (yes, it was SUPER!)

Stacy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:43:22 +0000

Traveling for work can be, well…mundane. Usually the sights I see are the inside of the airport, the hotel and convention center. The one thing that is certain is that I will find at least one new restaurant to try out while I’m visiting.

The Quattro

While in NYC I was using Google maps to help find one of these unique establishments and came across a place called Supermac – even better it was less than a block from my hotel! I walked right by it twice, it’s just a tiny little place but it was absolutely fantastic! The service was great, everyone was incredibly friendly and the Quattro Formaggio was super delicious!

For anyone visiting NYC and looking for a unique (and tasty) treat, my recommendation is to take the time to find Supermac and enjoy!

~Stacy

My Newest Assignment

Dave — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:49:05 +0000

So I know I am a horrible blogger on here and I totally admit that I am lame at keeping this blog up. Barb…stop nodding your head…I get it. But now I have an excuse!!! I’ve recently been ‘hired’ by Classic-Town.net to blog LEGO creations that relate to the Classic Town genre. For those of you not familiar with the ‘Classic Town’ genre, it’s basically referring to sets that were produced from the late-1970’s through the late-1990’s. That style of building is what most current AFOL’s refer to as the ‘Classic Town Era’. Newer sets such as the Town Plan, Cafe Corner, Market Street, and etc generally fall under the newer ‘Modular Standard’. But fret not new-skool builders…Classic-Town.net does cover the gamut of town-related MOC’s and generally has a little something for every fan of the Town theme.

With my new assignment, I will be stretched even more and will probably not get much posted here at all. I swear I am going to try…but I’m not promising anything. If you want content…e-mail Stacy and tell her to get on with blogging. She’s better at blogging our adventures anyway.

So head on over to Classic-Town.net and check out my posts. It’s my first blogging assignment in the LEGO community and I’m pretty stoked to be on board. Many thanks to Hinckley (aka Mark) for tapping me for this gig.

Brickworld…is almost here.

Dave — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:32:35 +0000

That’s right kiddies…Brickworld starts in only 3 days! What is Brickworld you ask? It’s a four day Adult Fan of LEGO convention held in Wheeling, IL at the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel and Convention Center. It’s a chance for over 500 AFoL’s to geek out with friends and do nothing but LEGO-related stuff for four days! Sounds fun huh? You can even get in on the fun by stopping in for the Public Expo days on Saturday and Sunday (June 20th & 21st). Admission is just $10 for adults and $7 for kids and that gets you access to the 35,000 square feet of LEGO madness! C’mon…you know you want to stop by and hang out.

Stacy and I spent the weekend packing up our layout for Brickworld and tonight we get to hope we can cram it all into our 15 passenger mega-van (aka The ToT-LUG Love Van). It will certainly be close, but I think we packed better than we have previously so here’s hoping! We also managed to put Heather’s BeachHouse back together after an epic packaging FAIL! as shown in the picture here. It looks pretty good now and should be an awesome addition to the ToT-LUG layout.

I’ve still got a few things to take care of today (liquor store run, print out layout diagram, pack clothes, etc.), but at least the major stuff is done. Yesterday we bought snacks and a bunch of Red Bull to get us through the week. I actually feel like I am somewhat ahead of the curve this year. Last year at this time I was still building like crazy to try and fill all of our space. My how a year changes things.

The plan is to make a couple blog posts from Brickworld…assuming we have WiFi…so keep checking back here over the next few days. Til then…

More Blog Mentions

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:37:25 +0000

Over the past few months we garnered a few more blog mentions on various LEGO-related (and non-LEGO) blogs. It’s pretty cool that people are checking out our stuff and feeling that it’s cool enough to want to promote on their blogs. This kind of feedback really pushes us to build more stuff and really push the limits of our building acumen. It seems like the bulk of our mentions are related to capturing architecture in LEGO form. Stacy has really taken this to a new level with her recent build, The Eames House (aka Case Study #8). This build is amazing! Be sure to get over to MOCPages to check it out when you have a chance. Stacy also did the Addams Family house and a really nice LEGO version of Mickey’s Diner in St. Paul, MN.

Anyway, here are the various blog mentions we’ve received in the past few months. Thanks to all of the bloggers who are taking the time to showcase our creations and help us promote our work. We really appreciate it!

Emily Sevenoaks’ Job Search Blog (Eames House Featured)
ClassicTown.net Blog (Starbucks Featured)
ClassicTown.net Blog (Fire Station Featured)
ClassicTown.net Blog (Eames House Featured)
Dude Craft Blog (Eames House Featured)
If It’s Hip, It’s Here Blog (Eames House Featured)
Another Bla Bla Blog (Eames House Featured)
Sparkle & Fade Blog (Eames House Featured)
Chris Stout’s Twitter (Eames House Featured)
The Daily What (Eames House Featured)
The Haunted Lamp (Eames House Featured)

Leg Godt!

Brickworld Countdown

Dave — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:03:55 +0000

The count-down to Brickworld 2009 has started and we are only 20 days away from the big event! Stacy and I will be bringing our Train/Town/Harry Potter layout along again and this year we are 12.5′ x 18′. We will also be featuring MOC’s from other prominent AFoL’s such as Chris Phipson, HeatherLEGOGirl, and Brian Kescenovitz. This event will also mark the first time that Stacy, Heather, Chris, Brian, Alex, Dave, Dennis, Lee, Matija, Mark, and I will all be in the same room together. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. We’re a wild bunch and anything could happen when we all get together. Make sure you stop back here to keep up with the craziness. Assuming we have wireless access at the Westin, we’ll try to post updates each day with a couple pictures.

As far as preparations go, we’re getting close to being ready. I just finished building a new ‘warehouse district’ to go near the port along with some new vehicles. As always, we are ballasting train track like mad and getting close to running out of 1×1 tiles…again. Looks like I’ll be placing another Bricklink order soon. Tonight I’m going to try and build some additional freight rolling stock as well as some town ‘enhancements’ (streetlights, stop-lights, etc.). We should also receive our parts for the ‘container swap’ and should start putting those together as well. Looks like we’ll be busy right up to the day we leave!