Fans of The Hunger Games trilogy have waited for a very long time and it seems that the time to decide which district they belong to is back again. The teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes may finally be out, but the questions remain! Let’s dive deep into the games again to see what we can expect from this one.
The Story of the Prequel
The prequel provides the fans with the backstory of Coriolanus Snow, the power-hungry president of the original trilogy. Suzanne Collins’ novel showcases Snow during the 10th annual Hunger Games wherein the young Snow will mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a girl from District 12. Lucy Gray sings, attracting the attention of everyone, and it makes Snow think that he might be able to guide and train her to make things work in their favor. They both love showmanship, which they combine with the newly found political astuteness and run the race against time to survive.
The Trailer
The ominous 2-minute teaser doesn’t show any film footage. Instead, it offers a golden snake creeping toward a gold songbird as they come to life from their frozen state with the Snow falling off their bodies. Though the teaser doesn’t give much information, the graphic imagery of the snake and the songbird is sure to stick in your mind.
The Cast
The film will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who has previously directed three Hunger Games movies. Tony Blyth of Billy the Kid fame is all set to play young Snow while Rachel Zegler, who won hearts as Maria in the new West Side Story will play Lucy. The expectations are high after the first teaser and the wait till November 17, 2023, is about to become more exciting. As for watching Coriolanus Snow turn into his later self on the big screen, we definitely volunteer!
The Blanton Bake-Off Is Engaging Museum Artworks in an Entertaining Way
Although baking and decoration is an art itself, the Blanton Museum of Arts has taken things up a notch. For the third consecutive year, the museum has hosted its great annual bake-off. 18 competitors compete by recreating any one of the 21,000 artwork in the collection of the museum at the University of Texas in cake form.
The Bake-Off
The social media and digital content management head, Lizza Isabella first came up with the idea of a bake-off in 2020. People were stuck at home and Lizza found out that many were using baking as a therapeutic fun activity at home. She took this opportunity to combine the museum’s art and baking and the bake-off was born.
The Virtual Contest
The aim of the contest was to engage people in the collection of the museum. The bakers taking part in the competition were given access to the online catalog of the museum’s collection. The bakers chose one artwork from a range that included everything from the Italian Renaissance to modern contemporary art. They recreate it on the cake and upload it on Facebook or Instagram before the deadline. The artwork on the cake and the winner of each category were revealed to the public on 17th May, World Baking day.
The Participants
Blythe Johnson, who won the competition in the amateur category two years in a row, stated that she entered the competition in 2020, as a way to improve her skills. This year Johnson took inspiration from an untitled piece by New York artist, Mac Wells. She created a blueberry walnut sponge cake with lemon cream inside to recreate the colorful symmetrical art. The under 18 category’s winner, George Chido, took inspiration from the textured work of artist Luis Montiel and recreated it by making a gluten-free vegan cake. All the winners received gift coupons from bakeries and the museum’s membership package.