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Shannonia expanded - part 1 . You can't stop it -- you can only hope to contain it. . Once upon a time, there was a mouse named Mickey who served a brief stint as a sorcerer's apprentice. One day he used the sorcerer's magic hat and animated a broom to help him with his chores. It seemed like a fine idea at the time... but as we know, things got out of hand and snowballed out of his control. That's kind of how Shannonia feels to me.
It all began as a diversion, something small I could actually finish while struggling with several big projects. Well... Shannonia has become, by my definition, a big project in its own right. Those other projects? Either scrapped or on hiatus -- not a single one of them finished. Meanwhile, like the average American's waistband, Shannonia just keeps on expanding.
Debuting at Northwest BrickCon '07 to rave reviews (not rave enough to win the Best Microscale award, but hey, I'm over that -- really), now available online throughout the world, I give you Shannonia in all its augmented splendor!
While all four new modules were built at the same time, I'm going to stick with tradition and give each one its own page, working our way from north to south. I need the time in between to finish inventing all my ridiculous descriptions for these little bits of molded plastic. Shannonia -- 90 percent talk, 10 percent MOC.
First Shannonia Bank Tower. I don’t know, it just looks like a bank building to me.
Bibby's Books. You know those books that are commissioned by greedy executors of a dead author's estate, ghostwritten by some hack but with the famous dead writer's name on it? Well, Bibby's won't sell those. They will, however, buy them back so that these atrocities can be destroyed and removed from circulation.
Star’s department store -- everything we sell is made in the U.S.A.! (Undisclosed Sweatshops in Asia)
Space Ninja Dojo. A hugely popular tourist attraction, visitors line up around the block to file quietly through the dojo where the Space Ninjas stay in condition between their major scheduled bouts, hoping and praying that Black and White will actually be on the floor practicing by the time they get inside. Otherwise it’s a $20 tour of an empty room.
You will notice more trees around town. Once upon a time there were only five in the whole city. This was a gross oversight on the Mayor's part -- Shannonians like their greenery. So he imported a whole forest of them, out of his own pocket. It was an election year.
The Inferno hotel -- as in Dante’s, not Towering. One of Shannonia’s newest theme hotels, the Inferno staff are dressed as devils, and all the thermostats are locked at 95 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s uncomfortably hot, for all you Celsius types). Oddly enough, there are plenty of vacancies.
New Shannonia city ordinance: Buildings consisting of two or fewer pieces will not be named or noticed, excepting for the possibility of rare future exceptions made at the Mayor’s whim. With no ocean taking up a third of the space, I have a lot more buildings to make stories for. This isn’t as effortless as I make it seem, you know.
In the unlikely event that you feel one of these 1x1 slopes atop a headlight brick or 1x1 round plate atop a square one is just too fantastic to be ignored, you may lay claim to it with a suitably witty description below. It’s a Shannonia land rush!
Zero-g Rocketpack Lasertag. Even more fun than it sounds.
The Shannonian version of Where's Waldo -- how many crooked spires can you count?
Mayor’s Movie Palace. Only films that live up to the high standards of our beloved Mayor get shown here. Want to see the latest Hollywood lowbrow-big-budget-all-special-effects-formulaic-plot-terrible-acting blockbuster? You’ll have to go somewhere else.
So it's not The Strip, but there are still good times to be had.
Pablo Razzi’s Beauty Salon -- bring your camera, and gawk through the huge show window at the stars! The rich and famous, when in town, invariably show up at Pablo’s to do their hair, nails, botox, etc.
Mama Mia’s Pizzeria. No joke this time, just words that rhyme.
The Raspberry Creme hotel... um... yeah. Hmmm... I think I’m running out of funny captions. Doesn’t bode well for the next three installments, does it?
Starship Lounge, birthplace of the “Alien Abduction.” The ingredients in this wicked shot are a closely guarded secret, but it’s no secret that patrons who toss a few of these back will experience the phenomenon known as “lost time.”
Intelligent conversation, ferns, piano music, plenty of natural light, and a smoke-free environment. I don't know what establishment I'm describing here, but it's certainly not Gruff's Tavern.
As an adamantly neutral city-state, Shannonia is the logical site for the United Factions. Here all members of the Legoverse meet to have their concerns buried beneath a stream of endless blather and yet another layer of suffocating beauracracy. From fan-created themes to official Lego® offerings, everyone is represented. Even Belville and Bionicle. Yes, even Star Wars and Halo. If it’s Lego®, it has a place. (But any peacher who gets within 20 feet of the “yellows only” drinking fountain will face the dogs and firehose.)
And all too soon, we're at the end. But you've got three more to look forward to...
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