Weekly Rewind: May 22nd, 2020

IKEA at home...

IKEA has released instructions for how children can build six of the most architecturally sound blanket forts, using various combinations of household items. Part of a campaign by IKEA Russia and creative agency Instinct (part of BBDO), the guides follow the visual aesthetic of traditional Ikea instruction manuals depicting line-drawn forts, fully assembled, and a list of items you’ll need to create that fort.

There are six fort designs (note the added accents for Swedish authenticity): Förtress, Wigwåm, Cåstle, Cåve, Cåmpingtent and Höuse. The instructions use Ikea products, but stipulate you don’t need these exact items, just similar ones from around your house. Most of the forts centre around a piece of furniture – a sofa, table, dining chairs, a clothes rail – and require a big blanket (no surprises there), pillows, pegs or bulldog clips for securing the blankets, and books for weighing down the ends. For added cosiness, some suggest including fairy lights or a lantern, and a giant teddy bear.

Taika Waititi's latest offering is a real peach

We've all been Zoom-ing around with pals whilst in lockdown, but few of us could claim to have as impressive a digital rolodex as Kiwi director Taika Waititi. Using his unmistakable charm to pull in A-listers like Lupita Nyong’o, Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Ryan Reynolds and Meryl freakin' Streep, Waititi has set himself the task of reading the entirety of Roald Dahl's beloved classic James and the Giant Peach. 

As reported in The Guardian, instalments are to be released on the Roald Dahl YouTube channel every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the collaboration intended to raise money for global health non-profit Partners in Health (PIH), which is fighting Covid-19 in the world’s most vulnerable areas.

Sexual kneads

Sunday of last week [May 17] was World Baking Day and, if you were able to source any flour... or yeast... or eggs, then the baking world was at your mercy. But therein lies a problem. Since global social distancing measures were introduced, couples are now spending more time together at home, but a recent survey by condom brand Trojan showed that only 19% of those people are having more sex with their partner, In the meantime, 37% of people are spending more time baking.

So, Trojan and 72andSunny New York created a cookbook entitled Rising Time, which has 69 (obviously) pages of 'sensual baking recipes and surprisingly sexual bread photography' to remind couples quarantining at home together that they could be having sex instead... or at least while the bread rises. Every recipe is paired with a Trojan Condom that matches each bread’s sexual energy (obviously?) and Trojan is also donating 50,000 meals to those in need through Feeding America.

When Penguins Peer at Paintings

While the rest of the populace may be in lockdown, three penguins got a private tour of the Nelson-Atkins Galleries. According to Colossal, Bubbles, Maggie, and Berkley had some dissenting opinions about art, but seemed to prefer images with human faces, "react[ing] much better to Caravaggio than Monet." The three Humbolt penguins adorably waddle throughout the museum, stopping only briefly through each gallery. The museum and Kansas City zoo partnered to give the penguins a tour, and the you can watch the super-sweet sojourn yourself.