First Class
IMPOSSIBLE
PUZZLES
Prior to cable TV, puzzles were
de rigueur for whiling away
a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Without reruns of Seinfeld to
lull you into a coma, piecing
together that ’70s wilderness
scene made for a mind-sharp-ening exercise. These days,
aesthetes and puzzle fiends
alike have good reason to resurrect this meditative pastime,
thanks to SoHo-based artist
Alex Beard’s new Impossible
Puzzles. Based on four of
Beard’s original paintings, each
puzzle poses a new kind of
challenge, with pieces that can
be arranged in various ways to
create multiple images.
“I hope my puzzles will
inspire creative thinking,” says
Beard, the nephew of famed
photographer Peter Beard.
“Hopefully, they will provide
a doorway into the artistic
process as well as engage a
new generation in the joy of
sitting down [to a puzzle].” This
fresh approach renders these
vibrant abstracts equal parts
art project and brainteaser.
Seems like reason enough to
hide the remote next time the
clouds roll in. $14.95. Available
at Barnes & Noble.
alexbeardimpossiblepuzzles.com
Isabella Rossellini heats
up the small screen
The Mating
Habits of Isabella
Rossellini (sort of )
Have you ever wondered what Isabella Rossellini is
like in bed? Of course you have! Well, we can’t exactly
help you there, but we can point you toward some videos
that might intrigue you nonetheless.
Rossellini wrote and stars in a second series of videos
that depict sea creatures’ sex moves, er, mating techniques.
Available at sundancechannel.com/greenporno, the series is
educational, not to mention entertaining. Perhaps if eighth-grade science had included videos of Rossellini dressed as
a squid, mating with another squid, you might have passed!
The new season debuts in April.
