Spock's Pickled Brain

Although this fantastic bird has yet to make it to the big screen, I think this precursor for the golden snitch deserves to be made real. This extremely rare, very cute bird is mentioned in the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages , described as a round, fat gold-feathered bird with red jewel eyes and incredible speed and agility. Based on this, I've created my own version of a snidget, which I meant to be hung as a holiday ornament, but could be modified to pin to a costume. I drew inspiration for this project from depictions below. Going clockwise starting with the upper left, there's the drawing from the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book released in 2001 (unknown illustrator), how it appears in the video game Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (2003), concept art by Emmanuel Orquendo (2015) , and the illustration by Olivia Lomenech Gill in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Illustrated Editio...

There are a lot of ways to approach wand-making. Of course the easiest wand to make is the branch in the backyard. Another way is to modify a dowel or chopstick. But since I've always admired the ornate, turned handles of some wands in the films. However, I don't have the access or skill to use a wood lathe. So instead I set out to make my own simplified version with materials found in craft, thrift, and hardware stores. The raw materials for the wand itself cost only $1.60, and not much more when you add in stain and superglue. Wands from the Harry Potter films (graphic by Albus_Silente ) Materials -Wooden dowel  -Wooden candlestick -Large wooden beads, finials -Danish oil (for light stain/finish) or wood stain -Superglue -Sandpaper Tools -Hacksaw -Pocketknife 1. Gather the materials For this version of a wand I visited craft, hardware, and thrift stores to gather the materials. For the main segment of wand, I bought a 5/16 inch diam...

Hey everyone, the often-silent Starbat is here at last! So, you may have seen the Loonatic's recent post on her Fantastic Beasts 20s Ravenclaw outfit. She went for the professional, Ministry-approved suit look, so I decided to go the opposite route, with a sparkly dress, shiny heels, and a lot of black with a 20s Slytherin look. This was heavily influenced by Phryne Fisher of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries fame. It also draws on looks like the one Leta Lestrange sported in the Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindlewald trailer. Basically, I went for dark, sparkly, and overdressed for everyday activities. 1. Dress This is one of those things I found in a thrift store ages ago and just had to buy. As such, it was definitely $20 or under, and it has been waiting for years to actually become part of something more interesting than Starbat's Closet for the Wayward and Overdressed. It's not really a perfect 20s dress, but more like a 20s dress as seen t...

So last Friday Starbat and I went to see The Crimes of Grindelwald in theatre. In short it's a great movie, and I definitely need to watch it about a dozen more times. Originally I was going to write a review here, but I realized this turned into more of a deconstruction of themes and impressions I got from the film and less about being a thorough and ranked review. And there's certainly a lot to unpack. So warnings abound: Spoilers Ahead! So Many Romantic Subplots Merlin's beard there's a lot of romantically involved people in this movie. At the risk of sounding like a grumbling cynic, maybe too many? We've got Tina and Newt, Jacob and Queenie, Leta and Theseus, Credence and Nagini, Dumbledore and Grindelwald, etc. We get a little lost in the weeds of these relationships, to the point that it gets pretty romcom. Awkward meetings with crushes, misunderstandings, heated arguments, and...kidnapping? It's a bit like they needed to check off all the r...