A magpie sits in a frost covered tree near Wascana Lake on 14 November 2010. Photo by Troy Fleece / Regina Leader-Post Files
Welcome to the final Magpie Monthly of 2015!
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Need to spice up your sushi-making? JunsKitchen provides a tutorial on how to create a swimming koi out of sushi ingredients. The opening’s a little heavy on the “driving about with a cat” bit for my taste, but the tutorial itself is fascinating to watch. (Via)
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Snow Globe Cocktail, anyone? (Via)
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For a year, artist Michael Zee has been making symmetrical breakfasts for himself and his boyfriend Mark and posting them on Instragram. I love everything about this project! (Via)
A symmetry breakfast by Michael Zee
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A new edition of Juan Santapau‘s The Secret Knots is waiting for you to read it!
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Check out the Story Pod, designed by the firm Atelier Kastelic Buffey in Toronto. The Story Pod “serves as a book exchange and an urban marker…. During the day, two of the walls pivot open like the covers of a book, welcoming people inside or to gather around the front. Visitors can take or leave something to read, or lounge quietly on the built-in seating.” This project is very cool, kind of like a not-so-little Little Free Library. You can read more and see additional photos at AKB’s website. (Via)
The Story Pod, photo by Bob Gundu
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What do you think of Book Riot’s advice on how to turn from a book hoarder into a book collector? I’m a bit of both, I’m afraid, so perhaps there’s no hope for me.
Related: Book Repair 101. It’s a good beginner’s guide.
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The Morrigan (2015) by Forest Rogers
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I’m sure you’ve heard by now about this Starbucks controversy that’s been dredged up again: images of their polar bear cookies from a few years ago have been trotted out to flame the (I’m gonna say it: wacky) belief that Starbucks is trying to destroy Christmas. The incensed see not scarves around the necks of these polar bears, but slit throats–and the bears smiling happily! Oh, the humanity! To be honest, I would eat all of these polar bear cookies, slit-throated or scarved, I don’t care. (Via)
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In related news (how many connections can you spot?), artist Renato Garza Cervera sculpts rugs that look like skinned gang members, collectively titled Of Genuine Contemporary Beast—check out the link for more images. (Via)
Of Genuine Contemporary Beast by Renato Garza Cervera
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Artist Trina Merry‘s “Lost in Wonder” series of photographs are pretty neat. (Via)
Stonehenge, UK, by Trina Merry
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New teaser-trailer for the revival of Twin Peaks:
And a teaser-trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them:
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Benedict Cumberbatch looks like he’ll be a mighty fine Doctor Strange, if this cover of Entertainment Weekly is any indication, and I’m okay with that.
Truth be told, I still have a soft spot for Peter Hooten, who played the good Doctor in the 1978 TV movie. He hasn’t acted in many films since Dr. Strange, just a handful in the 80s, though IMDB tells me he was in House of Blood (2013) and recently completed Souleater.
I was sooooo excited when Dr. Strange came on TV; he was my favorite comic book for a good chunk of my youth (yes, even more so than the Claremont-Byrne run on The Uncanny X-Men or The New Teen Titans or ElfQuest, all of which had my slavishly devotion). I don’t recall the movie being terribly good, and I was certainly disappointed with the ways they chose to diverge from the canon (so little remains of the source material, I’m not even sure why they bothered to call the film Dr. Strange, or why Marvel ever thought this would appeal to fans). Still, there was Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, on the TV screen. The movie wasn’t good, but it existed, which is saying a lot.
That said, I cannot wait to see the Cumberbatch Strange!
While we’re on the subject of Doctor Strange, check out artist Paul Smith‘s retelling of the Sorcerer Supreme’s origin, commissioned by Gerry Turnbull.
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I’ve been kind of, well, uninterested in the current cinematic iteration of Superman (this coming from someone who almost expired from the ecstasy of seeing the 1978 Superman movie with Christopher Reeve). I like Henry Cavill just fine, but I’m just not feeling this Kal-El. And while I think Ben Affleck will be a fine Batman, the trailers thus far for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice haven’t wowed me. Until this trailer, and it’s all because of the ending:
Ten seconds of Wonder Woman turns that trailer completely around for me, and maybe the movie, too (though Jesse Eisenberg‘s acting choices for Lex Luthor cannot be redeemed in my eyes). I’m definitely down with Gal Godot as Wonder Woman at this point. And check out this new poster:
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“Dear Brother” is a lovely made-for-love commercial for Johnnie Walker, directed by Dorian Lebherz and Daniel Titz. Apparently, the Internet wept (okay, I did, too):
