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Dear Puffin,
So Maurice Sendak died. A little bit of light has gone out of the world, and I’m all the sadder because it was a snarky, asinine, mean old light that really understood how freaking weird children can be.
So I’ve rounded up a few cool Sendak bits and pieces. I’m going to miss the old bastard.
Deviantartist AgarthanGuide made a really wonderful Avengers/Where the Wild Things Are mashup. Go here for a desktop sized version. It’s based on the Chertoff Mural, which is also lovely.
This great tshirt from Out of Print clothing features the cover of my favorite Sendak book, In the Night Kitchen.
I don’t know where this quote comes from, but I love it.
Despite being famous for grouchiness, here is an illustrated envelope he sent to a young fan
This was Sendak’s cover of Rolling Stone from 1976
An extraordinary Where the Wile Things Are cake from here
And continuing our theme of edible eulogies, Anna the Red did some great bento boxes based on Sendak’s work.
An amazing cake by Blue Cupcake
I really kind of love these Wild Things wall decals. They’d be so great in a nursery.
I’m sad Puffin
I’m going to go reread The Sign on Rosie’s Door.
Love
MacGuffin
Dear Puffin,
The Arrested Development movie has been in the works for ages and ages (and ages), and much like Dance of Dragons, I won’t really believe it’s happening until I’m actually sitting in a movie theater watching the credits roll. But there have been some interesting rumors flying around, like ScreenRant’s highly dubious scoop from an unnamed source who claims to have talked to an unnamed person involved in the movie in an unknown capacity. This person suggests that the plot may run thusly:
Ron Howard is making a movie about the Bluths using an A-List cast. But Dr. Tobias plays himself because nobody wants to play him in the movie. The Bluths decide to make their own movie in contention with Ron Howard’s.
Am I skeptical about the source? Yes. Do I think this would be a great great storyline? HELLS YES! It has a delightfully Tristam Shandy-esque intricacy of plot and the opportunity for more cameos than It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which I believe holds the record for most cameos ever. So in honor of this probably bogus development, I’ve put together a roundup of cool Arrested Development stuff. And I shall lead off with something I’ve shown you before Puffin, the Arrested Development version of Clue! Go over to Pleated Jeans to see the game board, the suspects, the murder weapons, etc.
Shirtoid has a bunch of great Arrested Development shirts. Like this one of the Bluth family crest. Or the Blues Brothers mashup. I think that one is an especially good idea. Their #1 hit would of course be a cover of Divinyl’s I Touch Myself reworded as I Blue Myself.
Chase Black did a great Star Wars/Arrested Development mashup poster.
Olly Moss, who I’ve mentioned before, did a silhouette of Gob and Franklin which I think is pretty cute.
Kyle Hilton has done a great series of Arrested Development paper dolls. I do think it’s a little unfair that Tobias gets two sets and Oscar gets ignored. No one loves Oscar. It’s very sad.
Matt De Lanoy has recreated the model home and the staircar in lego form.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a roundup without something from Bill Mudron, the genius behind the art deco Doctor Who posters, the Mucha Amy Pond, and the Madam Vastra slaughtering cybermen print, which I need to purchase for my mother’s birthday. Anyway, this is a Peanuts/Arrested Development mashup. Follow the link for purchase info.
I can’t wait for the movie Puffin. Even if it’s bad, I’ll enjoy it.
Love
MacGuffin
Previous roundups
Alarm Clocks from Heaven and Hell
Art Nouveau Slave Leia, sinful Disney princesses, and more
Variations on a theme: Game of Thrones
Dalek Propaganda Posters and Doctor Who Miscellany
Dear Puffin,
To celebrate this weekend’s return of Doctor Who, I have put together another great big Doctor Who roundup. Some people may remember the last one. It was…. pleasing to me. Last time I did a roundup because I could’t watch the episode due to a bad case of Overdue Essay. This time I suspect I won’t be able to watch it due to Hurricane Irene, which is making a concerted effort to nail both my house and my parent’s house, even though they’re about 500 miles away from each other. I spent a large chunk of yesterday dithering over which house to worry about more. But at this stage we’ve done as much as we can, and all we have left to do is wait. And thus was born the giant Doctor Who roundup.
I’m going to lead off with the best thing ever: the Tardis sneaking into travel posters by Andrew Le. These totally qualify as Doctor Who travel posters, something I’ve been wishing for for a long time. It’s silly that people haven’t made Steve Thomas style travel posters for all the wonderful worlds the Doctor visits. Also, with the personality they’ve given the Tardis in the new series this is exactly the kind of thing I can see her sneaking off to do. All those times that the Doctor and Amy are running around some imploding space station and we don’t see the Tardis for three quarters of an hour? You just know she’s gone off and snuck into some family’s holiday snaps.
Next we have some recent episodes done as B-movie posters: The Hungry Earth, Victory of the Daleks and The Lodger, by Stuart Manning. They’re all available for download as desktops at the BBC.
Next is a blown glass Dalek. Because why not. It’s beautiful and made by Charlotte Huges Martin and Tim Boswell. Apparently one of these featured in a Colin Baker era episode Revelation of the Daleks. I admit that I don’t remember that one, but hey, it’s pretty. Although… I thought for one joyous moment that it was a glass pipe. Because I would smoke the hell out of that! Sadly, ceci n’est pas une pipe.
James Hance (the guy behind the Winnie the Pooh/Star Wars mashup, Wookie the Chew) has been making more relentlessly cheerful art. This might actually be the cutest thing ever. And no, I didn’t find a non-watermark version, because you should be buying things from James Hance. There’s also a great list of Doctor Who mashups here.
This is a technical readout of the Type-40 Tardis. One of the reasons I love this fandom is that so many of us find stuff like this interesting. Click to embiggen. I think this was done by Deviantartist Time-Lord-Rassilon. On a related note, you can also read the Doctor Who technical manual.
Alex Freeman has done some different minimal Doctor Who posters, that I think are great. And they’re all available for sale here.
S/he’s also done Amy and Rory.
There is also a Tardis lunchbox! God I hope it’s bigger on the inside. I want an entire Redwall-style feast in there.
I’m also thrilled to report that you can now purchase the incredibly awesome portrait of the Doctor from The Impossible Astronaut. I think this would go nicely over the credenza in your foyer, Puffin. I suggest a heavy gold frame and the strategic placement of a drool bucket for female guests. Thanks Thinkgeek!
This makes me giggle. According to the internal narrative of the show, the earth must be getting pretty crowded. There’s Silurians, the Silence, humanity, the Racnoss and that’s just since the series reboot! There were 25 years of plot before that! Someone else clearly had the same thought, and came up with a handy infographic to explain to the current residents of planet earth. It’s really unclear who came up with this, but the credit may possibly go to Lindsey Cathryn on Tumblr.
NateTheNerd has lived up to his name and done a really neat timeline of the last 6 seasons. Click to embiggen.
Ignitethesky has done a very pretty sketch comparing the 10th and 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdrivers.
Etsy-ist Geekiana made this custom Tardis sweatshirt. *grabby hands*
A Harold Saxon campaign poster by the amazing SBSiceland. Incidentally, the Master would eat the Highlander for breakfast. As far as I’m concerned, the only man in the universe who could out BAMF the Master is Rory, the man who waited. You know why I think Rory could take the Master? Because…..
….did you know that Arthur Darvill has been moonlighting as Mephistopheles in the Globe’s production of Doctor Faustus? Cause he has. I fully expect Moffat to somehow work this into a storyline someday. It’ll turn out that Rory is secretly the White Guardian or something. Or maybe the Black Guardian. That’d be cool. Almost as cool as this shot from the production. Rory the Centurion was already pretty hardcore, but Rory the DEVIL is a BAMF! And apparently it’s a really good production too.
Arthur Darvill creates a Mephistopheles as dark, enigmatic and smooth as a coffee liqueur. There are no clichés in his performance, no pointy tails or pitchforks: just a subtle sense of one who has long communed with darkness and contemplated intensely the face of evil. When he speaks, it is like a needle dipped in lemon juice pricking the tongue. Every sinew is extended and every breath expended to ensnare the soul of Faustus. Via
And in tangentially related news, take a look at Captain Jack. This is the most fabulous combination of garments I have ever seen or could ever imagine. Context: John Barrowman recently earned his PHD from the Scottish Academy of Dramatic Arts, according to the totally reliable guy who told me that on Reddit. Personally I prefer to believe that Barrowman just wears outfits like this while picking up his dry cleaning. I could believe it of him. And you know what? He could carry it off!
And to wrap things up, a truly unexpected mashup. Southpark and Doctor Who? Actually it works just fine. Well played Megaloo. Well played.
Well Puffin, send up some prayers. Irene is pretty much heading right for me with a storm surge that may make my life really exciting. Frankly I don’t care what happens so long as the cable and power last until after tonight’s new episode. Happy new Who, Whovians!
Love
MacGuffin
Read the previous Doctor Who roundup.
MacGuffin,
News is a constant source of irritation in my life. I rarely sleep these days because I keep my eyes glued to three televisions broadcasting news in 8 languages and often have 14 separate RSS feeds running. As such, I consider myself to be among the most well informed men on the eastern seaboard. Well, what’s left of it after yesterday’s adventures.
Here are some interesting pieces from today’s research.
Peter Jackson and longtime wife/partner/co-producer, Fran Walsh will continue to fund the defense investigation of the West Memphis Three. I followed this case quite closely after HBO’s excellent documentary, Paradise Lost. I’m sad to see that the trio was forced to confess to a lesser crime, but hope this will ultimately lead to their acquital.
Michelle Bachmann is no stranger to controversy, only to facts. And today has earned my shit stain of the day award.
Not content with simple revising history, see above, Bachmann is now revising the present. Someone with an internet connection decided to look up Waldron and found out his past was a bit checkered. That is to say he spent time in Uganda for terrorism and is linked to a radical Christian ministry who has pushed for legislation in Uganda to make homosexuality punishable by death. After realizing this could be unpopular, Bachmann’s staff is tirelessly editing his personal details from the internet, including his movie trailer. If anyone has a copy downloaded, please send it to me.
And on the home front, it turns out raising 23 foster children is surprisingly easy. Well, claiming to have raised them is easy. She is also one of the prime reasons I want homeschooling outlawed. Letting her decide what children should learn is like letting Idi Amin choose your dinner menu.
And, in other news, orangutans keep it cool.
Enjoy.
-P
PS. And because I’m physically incapable of going 35 seconds without thinking of Dr Who, here’s a great interview with Matt Smith.
Today’s is a quick post because Puffin and I are actually having lunch in the real world, making digital correspondence seem totally superfluous. But what can you do.
Puffin and I are both ocean dwelling sorts of birds, but for those tree dwellers out there I found some extraordinary tree houses. Although tree mansions might be more accurate.
Heres a pirate ship by Peacemarket Treehouses:
This treehouse lodge is actually a hotel you can stay at in Preston, Washington.
I can’t find an especially good photo of this one, but it’s called the City of Angels treehouse and it’s by The Living Treehouse
I don’t know anything about this one. I found it on SunSurfer’s tumblr (which is my new favorite tumblr and everyone should be following it). UPDATE: ok, it looks like it comes from Back To Basics‘ site, but I can’t find it anywhere there. Although I did come across the now immortal opportunity to “stay in a romantic yurt.”
“Why yes dahling, that is a canoe in my pocket… why don’t you come into my romantic yurt and see it?”
Another mystery. I want to know who built or designed this little yellow treehouse. But I can’t seem to find any info at all. Photo by Magnus Persson
This one (which apparently has a zipline, OMG cue major childish freakout!) was designed and built by Pete Nelson, who I officially love. Also his blog is sweet. 
A nyone out there got any more treehouses to share? I’m collecting them as of now.
Love to all
MacGuffin
Dear Puffin
A new working week is almost upon us. Well upon you, such things don’t apply to those of us who are self unemployed. In honor of a new and shiny Monday morning, I give you a roundup of the best and worst alarm clocks imaginable. There are alarm clocks that fly, ones that make tea, ones that run away and hide forcing you to hunt all over the place for the blasted beeping devil, ones that cook you bacon, ones that force you to do math (yuk!), ones that shred cash, and one that forces you to defuse a bomb in order to turn it off. Some are unspeakably inspired, and hold the promise of a morning filled with dozy, cozy, breakfast-food-laden wonder. And some make medieval torture devices look like cuddly terrycloth duckies.
We shall begin with the latter.
See, my biggest problem is that any alarm clock will rouse me to a sufficient state of wakefulness to turn the alarm clock off. In fact I’ve gotten incredibly good at silencing my alarm clocks (all 4 of them) without actually waking up. That’s not the problem. Waking up, in fact, is not the problem at all. My problem is that somewhere between waking up and getting out of bed, I tend to lose an hour or so just snuggling down in my lovely lovely comfy bed. (Admittedly, while I desperately want to sleep in the swinging-hammock-lawnchair-nest, it would make mornings 10x more difficult). Wakefulness is only half the battle. So an alarm clock, which requires that you actually arise from bed, holds the promise of being horrifyingly effective. Yes, it’s true, you have to stand on this in order to turn it off. Designer: Sofie Collin & Gustav Lanberg.
In a similar vein Shake-up; the Dumbbell Alarm Clock forces you to lift weights in order to turn the curséd beeping off. What a barbaric way to start your morning. This is evil, pure and simple from the 8th dimension. Fred, you are based in my home state! Why do you promote such horrid torture devices???
On the other end of the spectrum we have the Teasmade alarm clock, which wakes you up in a civilized way, by brewing you a good morning cuppa. (Floral wallpaper, and tassled curtains not included). You can buy it at Swan.
This thing, however, is cruel and unusual punishment. Imagine being woken up by the nerve-shredding drone of a mosquito every fucking morning. Fortunately this abomination does not seem to be available anymore. The product page is dead. And good riddance!
The Danger Bomb Alarm Clock is… well quite clever actually, but also absolutely wicked. Theres no snooze button, and in order to stop the noise (loud recorded explosions, in case you were wondering) you have to ‘cut’ one of the wires according to a randomly generated code. I get the whole stimulate-higher-brain-function method of waking up in the morning but this seems…. excessive. It’s available in Japan, but as Engaget points out, good luck getting it through customs! And for the love of god don’t bring one back in your carry on luggage!
But then theres the Speaking Butler Alarm Clock, which uses the dulcet tones of Jeeves, aka Stephen Fry, to gently urge you out of bed. It has 126 different messages recorded by Stephen Fry hisownself. Here are some of the phrases (click on the links to hear the message):
- I’m afraid the staff have absconded sir, and it is my day off…..
- Let us seize the day and take it roughly from behind, as the Colonel used to say in his unfortunate way.
- The world has been very anxious to hear from you for the last eight hours. Shall I inform the news agencies you’re about to rise, Sir?
- I feel sure you have slept soundly, feel thoroughly refreshed, and await the day with the anticipation of an energetic gazelle.
- It is time to face the day. Shall I cancel your appointments and book a hotel for a month in Seychelles? Very good Sir.
You can get it at Thinkgeek for $69, under the name Good Morning Sir Alarm Clock, or from Hammacher Shlemmer for $99 under the name The Speaking Butler Alarm Clock. Striking similarity of product, don’t you think?
This one shreds cash until you stop hitting the snooze button. Horrifying little object!
This thing is pure evil, but it is also, fortunately, not real. But it’s a vile and cunning idea. The SnūzNLūz Wifi Donation Alarm Clock connects to your bank account over wifi and donates money to a charity you hate until you stop hitting the snooze button.
ThinkGeek, it sounds great! But how does it really work?
Glad you asked….it’s quite simple actually. The SnūzNLūz uses the very complex psychological phenomemon known as ‘HATRED’. Basically it’s human nature to wish harm upon your enemies. Similarly, it’s human nature not to give your enemies gobs of cash so that they can grow big and dominate the world with their totally wrong, stupid and invalid point of view. ThinkGeek realized that. That’s why everytime you hit the snooze button, the SnūzNLūz will donate a specified amount of your real money to a non-profit you hate. The problem of sleeping in is solved. Also, ThinkGeek people, you are evil evil monsters who should be locked up in order to prevent ideas like this from taking root in the real world!
This is The Tyrant, and it surely is aptly named. The idea is that it will shame you out of bed. You plug your cell phone into the alarm clock in the evening, and when the alarm goes off you have 3 minutes to get out of bed or it starts randomly dialing numbers in your contacts list. Alice Wang Design is responsible for this monstrosity, and if I had my way I’d rig every one of these to dial Alice Wang, personally, every morning at 5. That said I do actually think this is kind of brilliant. It would sure as hell work on me. Just a sadistic sort of brilliant. Via Unplggd.
But why end on a note that will guarantee major emotional trauma among all my readers (both of you)? I present you with balm for your bleary monday morning souls. Behold, the healing power of BACON! This wondrous invention is called the Wake N Bacon and I adore it. Unfortunately I can’t yet buy it. This is how it will work, when Matty Salin gets it to market.
Just put a couple strips of pre-cooked bacon on a paper towel in the teflon cooking tray the night before, and set the Cook Time for 4 minutes. The bacon can be left out overnight with no problem since most of the moisture has been already cooked out of it, and there’s no preservatives besides the fact that it is salt-cured and smoked like all bacon is. Set your alarm for 7am and by 7:04 your bedroom is filled with the strong aroma of cooking bacon. You can then use the included tongs to pull out the cooking tray and eat the bacon without getting your fingers greasy.
Ron Swanson needs one of these STAT! Do I think this is a fire hazard? Yes. Do I think this means horrid grease spots on your sheets? Yes. Do I care? No. Put this up on kickstarter immediately, gentlemen!
Well Puffin, I hope these will help the gainfully employed make it to their gainful employment on time. I never thought I’d say this, but I envy you all.
Love
MacGuffin
This post is Ron Swanson approved
Dear Puffin
Forbidden Planet is selling Doctor Who shirts for each of the Doctors. It is totally essential that I own all of these immediately. IMMEDIATELY!
I must tragically report that this glorious Art Nouveau style Inara appears to be a once off. I would give my right arm to see a full set of these, much in the style of Bill Mudron. But in the meantime Tiffany is a WINNER.
This purports to be a graphic representation of the development of Science Fiction. I’ll admit that I haven’t really looked at it in detail, but it looks pretty neat. Click to embiggen.
This leaves something to be desired graphically, but the thought behind it is so perfect that I’ll let it pass. From Deviant Summerfic
I also found some fun minimal comic book posters by Greg Guillemin
We also have Rebel Alliance and Imperial snowflakes. Yu can also get them as tshirts at Redbubble. I really want to get these somehow laser cut and available as Christmas tree ornaments.
And finally, someone possesses the greatest of all possible hot air balloons. A Darth Vader hot air balloon, for your delectation:
And on that note, I am off to frost a gigantic birthday cake. Because happy birthday Jeremy!
Love
MacGuffin (who is trying to decide between dark chocolate and bittersweet chocolate ganache for the frosting. Thoughts?)
Dear Puffin
Apologies for the radio silence. Terrible catastrophes have had to be averted and so, rather than send you something with actual content, I am sending you some little bits of awesome.
This is a beautiful, simple, Game of Thrones poster from somewhere on Tumblr, but I can’t for the life of me find where it came from. Anyone know?
These are some wonderful infograhics explaining some of the mad machinations of the houses of Westeros, created by the truly magnificent Magda. The full maps themselves are enormous, so go here to see them full sized, or just click the images. Caution, the map contains spoilers, although the family tree does not.
This is Game of Thrones Monopoly from i09 and John Pedigo. Not as good as Big Lebowski monopoly, but then nothing is.
This is possibly the funniest thing ever. Screengrabs from Game of Thrones mashed up with lines from Arrested Development. AWESOME! See more are ArrestedWesteros.
On a different note, this is from the series Invitation to an Assassination. Very odd, but very interesting. Other assassinees(?) include MLK Jr, both Kennedys, Malcom X, Lee Harvey Oswald and Abraham Lincoln.
There will be more in the near future Puffin.
Love
MacGuffin
Dear Puffin
Somehow my brain is not on track and I can only seem to think in bite sized chunks. So here are some bite sized bits of random from around the internet:
A Ministry of Silly Walks minimalist poster by Daniel Norris. Because obviously:
A Game of Thrones infographic, for those of us who have trouble keeping the 7000 plots and 20,000 POV characters straight. It’s nowhere near good enough, but it’s a little bit of fun. Click to embiggen:
There is a whole website of Tom Haverfoods, which makes me happy on so many levels….
In honor of May 4th, aka Star Wars Day, I have some new Star Wars propaganda posters by Cliff Chiang:
And these are from Joe Corroney:
The most cutest Star Wars art that has ever or will ever be made from James Hance. His daughter is suffering from a rare medical condition so buy a print to help them out and also because look at them! They’re awesome!
The first ever Zombie-proof house. It goes from this:
To this:
It has a freaking drawbridge Puff. We need to live here. Liquidate all our assets. How much do we have left from that job in outer Mongolia?
Travis Pitt’s minimalist Robocop poster:
And Peter Weller’s thought on Detroit’s totally pressing need for a Robocop statue, which is actually happening by the way, and the world will be better for it.
Something that I desperately want- it’s a paper art thingy of the Doctor and Madame du Pompadour dancing and I love it! From etsyer Shake the Dust.
The gifs have been exploding on Tumblr lately. Robert Downey Jr is irritable and Tom Baker is awesome:
And this is the biggest/best eye roll ever. I save it for people I need to truly scorn.
A minimalist Thor poster by Dave Williams! Because May 6th is finally coming!!! Asdfghljk!
Tetris sugar cubes. Yeah.
Hopefully at some point in the near future my brain will return from its safari and let me form coherent thoughts. The passing of HR3 will, I’m sure, result in some major ranting. In the meantime I leave you with this, which warms my heart.
Love
MacGuffin
Dear Puffin
My recent radio silence has been the unfortunate result of thesis related insanity. (That video pretty much sums it up). So I have prepared a quick roundup of posters that caught my eye, while diligently working surfing the blogosphere.
Nota bene: I am aware that not everyone is as captivated by alternate movie posters as me, but suck it up, it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.
First I found another set of gems from the always amazing Brandon Schaefer. Incidentally, he does commissions. Do you think we can raise enough money to commission a Buckaroo Banzai poster?
There is also this from Stanley Chow. Its BatHamm and SuperHamm!
These are clever as all get out
There is also this from Eric Canete, which I adore.
And to conclude, these Superman posters by Justin Van Genderen are stunningly lovely
But this might actually be the most purely beautiful movie poster I have ever seen
Aside: Puffin’s response to these was “Buy prints@!!!@#@!@#!” So I guess I know what I’m getting him for his birthday.
Love
MacGuffin
