Mad Quickies: Spirograph in Wood Gears, Art in The Danish Girl, Puppetry in Movies, Comics in the Classroom, Weapons in Space and More!

Welcome to the working week, my fellow geeksters. Grab a cup of joe/tea/chai/pomegranatejuice/kelpsmoothie and ease into things with these Quickies. Have at it!

“While some artists are ambivalent about being viewed through the lens of gender, the all-women’s group show, which fell out of favor in the ’80s and ’90s, is flourishing again.” Female Artists Are (Finally) Getting Their Turn.

“Lumberjanes” is moving to the classroom, leading what we hope is a trend to integrate top-shelf comics into education. FYI: here’s the 411 on Lumberjanes. Via Courtney

It’s Tree Lobsters Theater: short stories created from 18 of TL’s responses to the hashtag #FirstLineToMyNovel.

Art critic Holland Cotter writes: Why Mapplethorpe still matters. HBO will air the documentary “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures” this evening at 9. Read a review of the doc here.

You can debate and critique the movie and the performances by Vikander and Redmayne but what I really wanted to know after I finally saw the movie this weekend was more about the paintings in The Danish Girl. [Also- dear Susannah Brough, I’d have that gorgeous work plastered all over my website.]

PowerPuff Yourself! Via Dr. Ray

Growing up, I LOVED Spirograph even if the plastic templates frustratingly jumped out of place when I was overzealously drawing. This hand-crank drawing machine takes Spirograph to the next level.

Manning Krull makes a bird skeleton and his post on this construction is mad detailed.

A simple penetrometer, a meat cleaver, laser pistols, power tools and Alan Shepard’s golf club are only some of the items in The Ultimate List of Weapons Astronauts Have Carried Into Orbit.

“Among a Thousand Fireflies” is a children’s book that “shows the sweet, alien love stories unfolding in our own backyards.” Photography by Rick Lieder, poem by Helen Frost.

The winners of the 2015 James Tiptree Jr. Awards have been announced. These awards honor scifi and fantasy authors who “expand or explore our understanding of gender.” Here is the complete list with notes.

In case you’ve missed this news, RiffTrax and the original Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast are getting together for a live reunion show.

Here’s a special treat! The history of puppetry in cinema. A few super cool showreel shorts are included, as well as an interview with Howard Berger [also included below].

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Howard Berger – Monster Maker Interview

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Featured image is an excerpt from a “Lumberjanes” cover.

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