‘Planet Weird' Review: National Geographic WILD's Nutty Nature
Much of the three-part 'Planet Weird,' which goes out of its way to find the nutty in nature, is simultaneously fascinating and disgusting—the much sought-after synthesis of wildlife programming: animals eating other animals, mating with other animals (not other species, heaven forfend), and finding revolting ways to do both.
It would be difficult to be a funnier nature show than the recent 'Octopus!,' which featured narration by Phoebe Waller-Bridge ('Fleabag'). But Ross Noble, English comedian and shameless punster, gives it a go. Abetted by writer Siddharth Nambiar, he finds a quip around every corner of northern Canada, the African savanna and the Indian Ocean. It would be unfair to simply steal their jokes, but some groaners deserve special recognition: 'For never was there a story ending in more roe,' Mr. Noble says of the mating ritual of the sockeye salmon, 'than of these salmon Juliets and their Romeos.' Pass the fish knife.
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'Overcompensating' hair department head talks Kaia Gerber's nod to mom Cindy Crawford and inspirations for each style
Benito Skinner's series Overcompensating on Prime Video has been easily one of the most exciting new shows of the year. It's brilliant comedy crafted with incredibly entertaining characters, but Skinner clearly went into this project with attention to detail, from the script all the way to the hair details. "The hair was infused in every aspect of the script from day one," Blake Arsenault, the Canadian to took on the role of the head of the hair department for the show, told Yahoo Canada. "You can read a thousand scripts and you never see the word hair mentioned once, but every page I turned there were hair notes." So to ... utilize that to tell the story, ... what a pleasure." Funny enough, the moment that Arsenault got really excited about being part of Overcompensating came from a scene that was cut from the show. "The opening scene was Wally Baram as Carmen in her bedroom following a hair and makeup tutorial, and she burns her hair off with her flat iron," Arsenault said. "Immediately I said, 'This is the show for me.'" "I knew that was setting the comedic tone and Benny, ... being such a brilliant writer and comedic genius that he is, infusing that hair gag right from the beginning, I was like, this is the kind of challenge I want to take on."While that scene didn't make the final edit, the character Carmen's journey is so closely linked to her appearance, her hair specifically, as she tries to fit in after showing up to college feeling like a fish out of water. "We sat down and we discussed it quite deeply, me and Benny and Wally and our amazing showrunner, Scott King, ... and where to bring those changes and how to show her evolution and her overcompensating to fit in with everybody around her," Arsenault explained. "So it was very important for her to be othered and to be separate. So when she walks onto campus, immediately everybody is polished, everybody has long, smooth, sleek, straight, blonde hair blowouts. They really put the effort in and she was completely opposite of that." "Knowing that she has to pretend that she is somebody she's not, ... straightening her hair was a big part of that. So we took the character through that journey throughout the entire show, and there were very pivotal moments where we wanted to showcase that, and moments where she was trying to fit in more. ... The more she tries to fit in, the further she becomes removed from herself and who she is." Another character highlight is Holmes as Hailee, one character who really expresses her true self. "Growing up queer in a small town in East Coast, New Brunswick, I found idols in people like Britney Spears and Christian Aguilera, Jennifer Coolidge in Legally Blonde and Alicia Silverstone in Clueless. So we infused bits of all of that into Hailee," Arsenault said. "Everybody is overcompensating, except for Hailee. This is who she is through and through. You get what you see with her. And when I looked back at these divas and these empowering female characters, ... they have a look. Their hair is the same. Dolly Parton has had the same hair for years and years, there's a diva look. Donna Summer, Diana Ross, they may change their looks, but their hair is the same, and it's a staple. And that was what I wanted to bring to Hailee's character as well. So we do a few small hair changes, but for the most part her hair is a signature, because it showcases very much that she owns who she is, and she knows exactly who she is, whether she realizes it or not." One element of Overcompensating is that while the story is inspired by Skinner's real college life, with the early 2010s being a clear influence, it also feel timeless. Arsenault was skillfully able to extended that timelessness to the hair looks we see as well. There are elements that feel like they're from the late 2000s, 2010s and even present day. A perfect example of that is styling Kaia Gerber's hair with a side part for the show, which also happens to be a nod to her mother, Cindy Crawford. "Kaia's side part was actually a big moment of discussion for me and Kaia, when she sat in my chair, because we wanted her ... to have this long, sleek hair that's a contrast to Wally. And I said, 'Kaia, how do you feel about doing a side part?' She's a model. She's been a model since she was a kid. She's game for anything," Arsenault shared. "And when we did it I said, 'Do you feel like your mother?' Because her mother practically invented the side part. And she says, 'Yes, very much.' And then she goes, 'I'm embracing it.'" While Overcompensating is certainly a meticulously crafted and fun show, it's incredibly impressive that Arsenault was so affectively able to really tell a story through his work on the series, amplifying all the core elements of the story with hair styles and hair transformations. But it's a reflection of Arsenault's commitment to hist craft.
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'Is that your podcast you're listening to?' McDavid, Draisaitl exit interview interruptions derail proceedings
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Mixing business with pleasure: Pomeroy bartender serves special cocktails to G7 leaders
Now that the G7 Summit has ended, the head mixologist at Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge has a few stories to tell. Working closely with Global Affairs Canada, Graham Hart and his team created the G7 Global Cocktail Series, seven cocktails inspired by each G7 country, plus one non-alcoholic option and one for the group as a whole. 'I've never had the federal government weigh in on the ingredients I've used in a cocktail until now. Every ingredient had to be discussed,' says Hart, who began crafting the special menu for the hotel in September 2024. 'There's been a lot of pressure. But I like to say: no pressure, no diamonds. We had one opportunity to do something fantastic, so there's no point messing around.' The nod to Germany? A Berliner Sommer beer cocktail with raspberry and dill. France? La Fille en Rose, a floral martini. And Japan's special drink paid a nod to kintsugi, the Japanese idea of embracing imperfections by repairing broken pottery. Hart hand-cracked and carved ice spears, then put the cubes back together with 24-karat gold to serve to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. 'He just looked and me and said, 'You know what kintsugi is?' Hart says. 'I do. It's about finding strength and beauty in things that are broken.' Served as part of the offerings to the G7 delegates, the cocktails weren't the only drinks imbibed by the world leaders this past week. It turns out that French President Emmanuel Macron is a big scotch fan — in particular, Lagavulin. Hart poured him a rare Lagavulin 12-year-old Fireside Tales, and Macron liked it so much, his delegation came over to take photos and to ask where they could buy more. 'Macron requested the moustache guy — that's me. I had a big white cowboy hat on and a white shirt. I looked a little like Yosemite Sam,' Hart said with a laugh. During the week, Hart served British Prime Minister Keir Starmer a wheat ale from Bragg Creek's Cowboy Trail Brewery. And European Council President Antonio da Costa tried the Canadian Club Chronicles' 45-year-old whisky. On Sunday evening, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted a dinner where Hart served Grizzly Paw Brewing Company's Highway 40 Pale Ale, alongside Establishment Brewing Company's Afternoon Delight Hazy IPA beer from Calgary, and Red Hart Brewing's Irish Red ale from Red Deer. 'I served almost all the world leaders and they were great but, being Canadian, it was one of the highlights of my life to serve our newly elected prime minister,' says Hart, who describes himself as a 'proud Canadian' who has visited 12 of the 13 provinces and territories and has each provincial crest tattooed on his leg. 'It was such a huge honour.' For those of you who are judgy about the thought of world leaders sharing a few drinks, keep in mind Hart's biggest G7 cocktail. Designed for two, the Liquid Diplomacy is served in a globe-shaped decanter and features an ingredient from each of the official G7 countries: Italian amaro, German Riesling, Canadian icewine, port from Portugal, a Japanese yuzu wine, you get the picture. (Because of the Canadian boycott on alcohol from the U.S., Hart used American apple juice.) 'Just like the summit, the Liquid Diplomacy is designed to bring people together, to get them to relax and enjoy a conversation together,' says Hart, who holds an MBA in international hospitality from Switzerland's Glion Institute of Higher Education. 'It was one of the most difficult drinks I've ever made in my career, but it turned out fantastic. 'To be able to express my creativity and contribute in a small way to the G7 is one of the biggest honours of my life.' Cabane a Sucre, a.k.a. The Carney This recipe comes from Graham Hart, head mixologist at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, where the G7 was held in June. It's the cocktail of the month at the Pomeroy in July. Ms. Better's Bitters ( are made in Vancouver; Canadian Club is made in Windsor, Ont. The process of making the Applewood Smoked Ice is complex – Hart cold-smokes the ice, thaws it, re-freezes it and then hand-carves it into cubes. If you're making it at home, he recommends simply making the ice by mixing liquid smoke and water, a ratio of 100 grams of water to two grams of liquid smoke. 2 oz Canadian Club Invitation Classic 15 Year Old Whisky or 2 oz Canadian Club Chronicles 45 Year Old Whisky 1/4 oz (about 1.5 tsp) dark maple syrup 2 dashes of Ms. Better's Bitters Aromatic Bitters Applewood Smoked Ice 1 Maple Taffy candy stick Add smoked ice to a negroni (old-fashioned) glass. Add ice to mixing glass. Add syrup and bitters to mixing glass. Add whisky to mixing glass. Stir 20 times and strain over smoked ice. Garnish with maple taffy stick in the glass. Place on plaid napkin. Serves one.
