See n Say

You will see it with your own eyes and say,

"Great is the LORD - even beyond the borders of Israel!" - Malachi 1:5

See n Say is a talking toy with pictures of animals, numbers or the alphabet on its perimeter. When the toy's draw string is pulled, it plays the recording of the corresponding picture upon which a spinning arrow randomly lands. In the randomness that we call life, may we "See n Say" the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

B is for Bionicles


We would like to think that as parents our children are being molded into our likeness, but at times it seems that the opposite is true. Take, for instance, Bionicles. For the uninitiated, Bionicles are a set of Lego bricks that are assembled into android-like characters. Stuart and Ethan can spend hours in mock battles and wars until, that is, the fighting get too personal - when a punch to Ethan's Bionicle is retaliated in kind on Stuart's person. (Carolyn and I can tell when things are getting rough as we will hear our children shouting in Gollum-like voices using only the verbs - kill, murder, die, destroy or blow up.)

Still, I can live with that, if it weren't for the fact that these toys have invaded every other aspect of our lives. Like all toys of this generation, Bionicles are diversified into all media - Gamecube and GameBoy games, comic books and DVDs. Fashion is not immune as Nike makes children's shoes with interchangeable Bionicle masks. Though we don't own any of those overpriced shoes we do have a couple of Bionicle electric toothbrushes. You can't get away from the merchandizing. A trip to the market must include a Bionicle or a Bionicle GameBoy game. A visit to Grandma and Grandpa's home will inevitably end with the boys at the computer on the Bionicle website. Dinner is not dinner without a Bionicle comic book as reading material. Any conversation will always include the phrase, "Mommy, Daddy, when can we get the new Bionicle...?"

It's hard not to get cynical about the toys and their pseudo-classical mythology - God-like creatures called the Toa of light, Toa of fire, Toa of wind, Toa of rock, etc. Last holiday season, I mockingly asked Stuart, "Hey, do you know that Lego is making a new Bionicle for Christmas? It's called Mistle Toa and his power is blowing kisses! Ha ha ha!" Of course, Stuart rightfully ignored me as did the webmaster on the Lego website when I entered that joke on their bulletin board - "You're comments have been eliminated as they were deemed inappropriate for this site."

If you can't beat them, join them. We have given in to their habits. Trips to the bookstore have been replaced by Target runs for new Bionicles. So far no weekend fishing expeditions: We took a Saturday outing to a Legopalooza convention, which unfortunately had no Bionicle display. I am sure Stuart and Ethan thought the convention was "Legos for losers." One of the games for Stuart's birthday was a Bionicle building contest, which Stuart won in a cake walk as you can see in this film clip. All his friends were amazed at how fast he was. I wonder if his Lego-building prowess can be harnessed for good... Civil engineer? Architect? Cybernetics? Bionicle evangelist? Or will Carolyn and I find ourselves in ten years time hawking Legos on EBay to recoupe our losses? See n say...