Hello. It is Monday. On Thursday, my very-good-smelling Mexican friend and eternal rival Adan returned to jiujitsu after a few months’ break, and put me in a devious straight-ankle lock. My ankle now hurts pretty good. Make sure you tap early kids, or you’ll end up limping around like me. (P.S, I ended up getting my revenge with a crazy armbar that even had Professor hyped.)
Anyways, enough about me and my athletics. As I’ve said, it’s Monday, thus, we have another issue of Monkey Monday for y’all. Hope you enjoy, and have a good start to your week. Love y’all.
Monkey Monday 3 #11, coronating in…
LEGO Nostalgia Trip
Growing up, I was a LEGO kid. I had a big wooden “LEGO table” under my loft bed that I would spend hours playing on. I wasn’t much for preserving sets, and would rather just tear them apart to make whatever I wanted. That being said, I still put together a fair amount of sets over the course of my childhood. So for today’s article, let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the LEGO themes my friends and I grew up on.
Here we go
3
Aqua Raiders (2007)
Starting off with one of the less-nostalgic ones for me we’ve got Aqua Raiders. I don’t remember anything about this theme. The only Aqua Raiders set I remember having was the small little scuba-bike thing (the second picture). Pretty cool, nothing too crazy.
Power Miners (2009)
Next up we have an absolute HEATER that I have no idea if anyone remembers. LEGO POWER MINERS. I thought these sets were so cool, especially everything that had to do with the little crystal dudes. The only set I had was the medium sized drill (which was actually one of the biggest sets I ever had), but I remember seeing these in the store, yearning for one of the huge sets with the big crystal monsters. They also ended up releasing a lava-themed series, which I also thought was super cool.
World Racers (2010)
Next up is World Racers. This concept was cool, just a bunch of rivals racing each other in different vehicles: boat races, helicopter races, snow races, bike races, etc. I actually had TWO sets from this theme (both pictured above) and I was ecstatic. I always pretended the green team was team Italy, and they were the heroes. This was around the time Cars 2 came out I think, with the Italian speedy character. Now that I think of it, did I actually have the bikes? Oh brother.
Ultra Agents (2014)
Ultra Agents is a continuation of LEGO Agents from a few years prior, which I also had some pieces from (not sure I ever actually had a full set?). These sets followed ULTRA agents as they fight the criminal disasters! I had the set with the fire dude on the surfboard, but the COOLEST set was the Psyclone set, which my neighbor Ethan had. So cool.
Alien Conquest (2011)
Super rad space theme with aliens and space ships with a cool space defense force. Of course, the only set I had was that little buggy. Still awesome.
Space Police (2009)
Genuinely thought this was the same thing as Alien Conquest until I couldn’t find that little green guy in any of the conquest sets. Another awesome space theme. I had the set with that green guy.
Legends of Chima (2013)
Legends of Chima was instantly the cool new kid in town. It had everything I liked: anthropomorphic factions, glowy pieces, and vehicles! I was obsessed with the sides of the great chi war: The evil crocodiles, ravens, and wolves versus the heroic lions, eagles, and gorillas! MAN it was so cool. I also loved the SPEEDORZ bikes that you could rip like a beyblade. I love the animal universe thing they had going, and they kept expanding it by adding polar bears, tarantulas, phoenixes, and more. So cool. I had that crocodile buggy; and yes, that giant set did exist.
Ninjago (2011)
You already know. Possibly the most successful original LEGO theme ever. As far as I know, they are still dropping new Ninjago sets to this day (just checked, yes they are. That’s insane). But I want to go all the way back to 2011 and talk about the OG Ninjago: 4 ninjas, skeleton bad guys, master Wu, spinjitzu, golden weapons, and a card game. This was the theme I had the most sets from, and I’m proud of it. I had Zane and his ice dragon, the earth dragon I had the training dojo with master Wu and a skeleton dude, and I had the tiny Cole and Kai sets. OG Ninjago, with the dragons and the skeletons was the GOAT. I’m not even going to go into the card game because it’s midnight and I have 2 other assignments I need to do tonight. But there was a cardgame, with the spinjitzu tops, and man it was just all so perfect.
BIONICLE Glatorian (2009)
I can’t talk about LEGO without mentioning two themes that have a special spot in my heart. Both are quite similar, and I probably played with and adored these sets more than any other set. The battles I would have, the legendary warriors I would create, the generational tournament runs some of these guys would go on, it’s just all too amazing. The first is BIONICLE, specifically the Glatorian run, as these are the ones I grew up with. Pitting warriors against each other, playing the Glatorian Arena game, was just so perfect. I had a few of these sets, such as Vastus, Gelu, and Mata Nui. And they came in these sick little canisters. Also shoutout to the small little BIONICLE Stars sets, I got a bunch of those too.
Hero Factory (2010)
Last but not least, the part 2 of my earlier statement, Hero Factory. The spiritual successor to BIONICLE. These guys were just as awesome, and had some ICONIC runs; form the original theme, to the fire series, to the breakout series, to the wild animal series OH MAN the wild animal series was cool. But yeah, I really loved these LEGO Technic action figure-type themes as you can tell. Love Hero Factory, love BIONICLE, thank you LEGO for providing such an amazing creative outlet for young Nate.
-Nate
Pick of the Week
Alright y’all, as we approach April and leave this dreaded March behind us, of course I’ve got a new playlist cooking up! This time around, I decided to compile a gigantic playlist of some of my favorite singy songs. There’s lots of indie stuff, country stuff, folk stuff, and more. Nothing super broad sonically, but there’s a lot of quantity in here. Check it out.
P.S., in case you were wondering, no that is not a picture of my niece. Another cute baby I know who was very interested in the camera on my phone.
-Nate
Just when you think a vegetable can’t have a cell phone, onion rings
Playlist · Nathaniel · 162 items
Is It Ripe?
Continuing my quest for twangy enlightenment, I decided to check out Zach Bryan. I checked out some of his newer stuff, and thought it was pretty good, but I wanted something more stripped down, just guitar and voice. I decided to check out some of his earliest works on Spotify, and decided to check out an album that I saw in ol’ George’s collection: DeAnn.
And maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan I really like it! It can be a little sappy and corny at times, but I keep coming back. Just a young Zach singing a bunch of songs about love, about heartbreak, and about his momma. Give it a listen, it’s pretty great.
Favorite Songs: Don’t Give up on Me, Shivers Down Spines, Moon in Oklahoma
-Nate
Ripeness: 8.5/10
Ashley’s Animals
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Eastern Grey Kangaroos weigh anywhere from 37-146 pounds, and stand around 6-6 ½ feet tall. They have light grey fur.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos are the most social kangaroo, and are known for making unique, lasting bonds in their mobs.
E.G.K.’s are found in a wide area covering the eastern part of Australia, and are not considered endangered or at risk.
E.G.K.’s can be hard to tell from Western Grey Kangaroos; the difference is that E.G.K.’s are bigger, lighter furred, and fuzzier ears.
E.G.K.’s are also called “Scrub Kangaroos” or “Scrubblers” by locals because of the type of habitat they frequent: dense scrublands
Parin’s Ponderings
Fun and funny do not mean the same thing. This is a horrifying realization.
Verse of the Week
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
