Forbidden LEGO

If you want to see LEGO models go acid and then make them to impress all your non-techy, too-cool-for-school friends, pick up a copy of Forbidden LEGO: Build the Models Your Parents Warned You Against by former LEGO Mindstorms employees Ulrik Pilegaard and Mike Dooley. Pilegaard was a senior designer and studio manager and Dooley was senior product manager at the LEGO arm responsible for the design of the consumer robotics kits, which unfortunately weren’t around yet when I was a youngin’ but hasn’t stopped me from checking out as an adult. Under their step-by-step tutelage, you’ll tap into your inner geek and construct a ping-pong launcher, a candy catapult, a high-voltage car and an insanely sick toy gun that shoots out LEGO plates (see the video of it in action here) "” all from whatever LEGOs you can root out of storage and other material catching dust around the house. They also do a lot of encouraging on how to think out of the box and come up with other snazzy models good for terrorizing the family pet and siblings (and so what if you’re in your 20s?). Just don’t shoot your eye out.