Halloween is here

Finally, after weeks of getting ready, Halloween has arrived. Everyone in Lego Land, including the NBA players, is very excited. Antoine Walker and Allen Iverson are going trick-or-treating dressed as samurai warriors (see photo above). Like every year, they will also be collecting money for the United Nations Children's Fund (more commonly known as UNICEF) to help needy children around the world. It is a good thing that Antoine Walker and Allen Iverson are professional athletes and in excellent shape, because the collection box can become quite heavy after a long night of trick-or-treating.

There is one surprising Halloween-related development, however. Due to a lack of communication, both Vince Carter and Tony Parker have dressed up in the same costume. Hopefully Jalen Rose can help them sort out this mess. (See photo above)

Below: Happy Halloween from everyone at Ape Canyon News Service and the Overflow Blog!

Antoine Walker wants you to know that drinking bottled water is bad for the environment

The weekend supervisor at the water company is unhappy that some people in Lego Land choose to drink bottled water rather than regular tap water. He has decided to start a public education campaign to teach people about how wasteful it is to drink bottled water. He wants to let people know about the negative impact of bottled water, from the creation of many plastic bottles to the high cost of transportation.

Joining him in this effort is Antoine Walker. Together they are going door-to-door trying to convince folks to stop wasting money and resources on bottled water. Today they are visiting an office where the workers pitch in to rent a water cooler and pay for bottle water to be delivered. The weekend supervisor and Antoine Walker patiently explain the many negative environmental effects of bottled water. They also point out that the high-priced water in the bottles comes from the exact same source as the municipal water does.

After hearing what the two men have to say, the office manager decides that she and her co-workers are wasting their hard-earned money. As soon as they finish the last bottle they have already paid for, they will be cancelling their service.

Below: Steve Francis and Jalen Rose inspecting the forklift from the bottled water company.

Game night in Lego Land

Tonight Jalen Rose has invited all the NBA players over to play Clue-- "Parker Brothers Classic Detective Game". Clue is a game in which six players try to solve a mystery about which one of them committed a murder. The players also have to figure out where the murder took place and what the murder weapon was.

Below: Dirk Nowitzki and Shaq examine the roll of the dice.

Steve Francis thinks he is on to something-- he has found this lead pipe lying on the floor of the lounge. Vince Carter definitely agrees that the lounge is a strange place to find a slightly-bent lead pipe.

Meanwhile, Jalen Rose and Dirk Nowitzki are investigating the kitchen. They both believe that this large candlestick may hold important clues.

The time has come for the players to make their accusations and then to reveal the true identity of the murder. They have all gathered (see photo below) for the final showdown.

Everyone wonders-- "Who will it turn out to be?"

How tall was William Shakespeare?

Recently, some of our readers were curious about the photo below which shows noted author William Shakespeare standing with Vince Carter and Gary Payton during the two NBA stars' trip back to the 17th century. William Shakespeare appears to quite a bit taller than both professional basketball players. This leads to an important question-- just how tall was William Shakespeare?

This afternoon, Kevin Garnett (inventor and builder of the time machine) and his friend Jalen Rose have decided to try to answer this question. Unfortunately for them, Gary Payton and Vince Carter were unable to bring back any measurements of William Shakespeare, but, by using the photo above, a few simple tools and the power of ratios, Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose are confident that they can find the answer.

Below: Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose are using the calculator.

Below: The two NBA stars discuss how to interpret the data and calculations.

After several minutes of work, Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose have come up with an answer. According to their best estimate, they believe that William Shakespeare is somewhere between 10' 8" and 10' 11" tall. Both Kevin Garnett and Jalen Rose also believe that if they can find away to bring William Shakespeare to 21st century, there might be several NBA teams interested in giving him a tryout at center.

Playing soccer

Today the NBA All-Stars have decided to take a break from playing basketball, so they are playing soccer instead. They have been joined by two world-famous soccer stars -- Alexandre Pato of Brazil and Gennaro Gattuso of Italy. (See photo below - Pato is on the left next to Allen Iverson and Gattuso is on the right next to Shaq.)

Both Pato and Gattuso play professionally for AC Milan, a club that is considered so important that it is owned by Italy's long-time Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. All of the NBA stars are quite excited that they are getting the chance to play with two soccer stars as famous as Pato and Gattuso.

Here are some photos of today's historic match:

Below: Kevin Garnett gets ready to take a corner kick.

Below: Allen Iverson commits a handball inside the penalty area.

Below: Pato gets ready to take the resulting penalty kick.

Below: Pato scores on goalie Jalen Rose.

Below: Later on, Pato is fouled by Tony Parker.

Below: Gattuso and Dirk Nowitzki are fighting. Shaq and Antoine Walker rush over to break it up.

Special thanks to Dorothy for her assistance in creating this post.

The long wait is over (for some people)

The long-awaited package from the Lego factory has finally arrived, and many of the people and NBA players in Lego Land are quite happy. Predrag Stojakovic was able to get rid of the white firefighter's helmet that he was forced to wear-- now he has a black captain's hat that he wears backwards. (See photo above)

The first person that Predrag Stojakovic shows is Kevin Garnett. Kevin Garnett tells him that he looks cool. (Photo below)

Below: Eva Longoria Parker (on the left) did not get anything new, but her friends did -- new heads and hair.

Below: Jalen Rose and Steve Francis are excited to try on the new flippers.

Not everyone is feeling quite so excited, however. Allen Iverson still has not heard anything about a contract for next year, and he is starting to get a little worried. Instead of relaxing and enjoying his off-season, Allen Iverson has been spending a lot of time on the computer checking to see if there are any new developments. (See photos above and below) So far, there has not been much to report.

A little three-on-three

Tonight, some of the NBA players got to together to play a little three-on-three basketball. The teams were Gary Payton, Vince Carter, and Shaq versus Kevin Garnett, Jalen Rose, and Antoine Walker. Here are a few photographs of the game.

Below: Gary Payton drives right by Jalen Rose.

Below: Seeing Gary Payton go by Jalen Rose, Antoine Walker does the right thing and slides over to help out. Antoine Walker knows how important it is to keep his opponents from getting too many easy baskets.

Below: Later on, Antoine Walker shows off his dunking skills.

Below: Jalen Rose can dunk the basketball as well.

Below: Kevin Garnett and Antoine Walker both know how important it is to keep your hands up on defense.

Below: All the while, Allen Iverson is watching patiently from the sidelines. Allen Iverson hopes that he will get a turn soon.

Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker have decided to take flying lessons

Tony Parker and his wife, Eva Longoria Parker, have decided to take flying lessons. Their flight instructor is the man who directed the television commercial that Allen Iverson recently appeared in. (See photo below--the flight instructor is giving them instructions using his megaphone.)

When Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker arrive at the local airport, they are happy to see that their friends Shaq and Jalen Rose are working there as air traffic controllers. Shaq has always been interested in law enforcement and in giving back to the community. Working to help planes safely take off and land is one way of doing that. (See photo below-- Shaq is in the air traffic control tower. He is wearing his yellow Lakers jersey and looking out the window.)

Jalen Rose (pictured below) has not been working as an air traffic controller very long, but, with Shaq's help, he is learning fast.

Below: Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker are ready to taxi down the runway.

Below: Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker are speeding down the runway.

Below: Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker are flying up in the sky.

Below: Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker are now safely back on the ground.

Looking for a place to stay

Since they are new in town, Jalen Rose, Kevin Garnett, and Predrag Stojakovic need to find a place to stay. For the time being, they have decided to rent a house together. They have looked at a couple of places that they did not really like, and now they are meeting a potential landlord to see a possible house. (See photo above)

Below: The three NBA players follow the potential landlord into the house.

The three NBA stars do not know this, but the man they have come to see about a rental property is actually Steve Francis' supervisor from the public swimming pool. Life can be full of little coincidences sometimes.

Below: The potential landlord/swimming pool supervisor (in the white hat and red shirt) shows the three players the living room.

Jalen Rose, Kevin Garnett, and Predrag Stojakovic take their time checking out the house. They do not want to rush into anything that they will regret later. They look upstairs and downstairs and make sure to ask the potential landlord questions about the house, the utilities, and details of the lease. (See photo below) Predrag Stojakovic once got ripped off by a landlord who did not return his security deposit, and he does not want that to happen again.

After talking it over amongst themselves, the three NBA players decide to take the house. Kevin Garnett shakes hands with their new landlord to seal the deal. (See photo below) Later the three will sign the actual lease papers.

Everyone is very excited about the new place. The three NBA stars cannot wait to move in.

News from Lego Land

There is both exciting and disturbing news from Lego Land this morning. First, the exciting news:

• Three new NBA stars have arrived! Allen Iverson and all of his NBA friends are very pleased to welcome three new players -- Jalen Rose, wearing the Chicago Bulls uniform and black top hat; Kevin Garnett, wearing the Minnesota Timberwolves uniform and chef's hat; and Predrag Stojakovic, wearing the Sacramento Kings jersey and white firefighter's helmet. (See photo below)

Now, however, for the disturbing news:

• Jalen Rose, Kevin Garnett, and Predrag Stojakovic brought with them a large box that has photos of all the Lego NBA players. (See photo below)

• A close inspection of the photos on the back of the box revealed that Steve Francis and Tony Parker have been wearing each other's heads. No one knows how long this has been going on, but rest assured, the problem has been corrected.

Above: Steve Francis and Tony Parker, now wearing the correct heads

Below: Another shot of the newly arrived NBA stars

Check back soon, because word has it that more Lego NBA stars are on their way.