Supersize This When Port Clyde painter Barbara Ernst Prey was asked to produce a painting depicting of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art’s expansion before it was renovated, she leapt at the chance. The result? A watercolor painting measuring 8 x 15 feet and weighing a hefty 300 lbs. Prey falls short of saying the MASS MoCA Building 6 “may be the world’s largest watercolor,” though smaller watercolors have claimed that title. The expan- sive painting echoes the pre-film art of panoramas on rollers that entertained crowds around the country in the early days of the 20th century. In a recent travel story titled “A Perfect Weekend Away in Southern Maine,” Vogue Magazine writer Ellen Leduc waxes lyrical about Portland’s transformation from “small, weather-worn coastal city playing second-fiddle to big shots like Boston” to a chic desti- nation for the knowing traveler. The article offers readers the perfect weekend itinerary, from sipping brews at Austin Street Brewery and feasting at Drifters Wife, to browsing “vintage gems like Levi’s cut-off shorts and Ferragamo loafers” at Magpie Vintage store… Wait a second. Magpie Vintage is in Portland, Oregon–a bit of a drive for a pair of loafers, don’t you think? Maybe Vacationland is best explored in person rather than via Google. Camden vacation- er and sci-fi producer-extraordinaire JJ Abrams was recent- ly confirmed as director and writer for the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Episode IX (projected release date: May 2019). The honorary Mainer seems to have the Mi- das touch: The Force Awakens, directed by Abrams in 2015, raked in $2.06 billion in box offices. Imagine waking in a fictional Maine to find you’re an avatar in a video game. C.J. Deering’s new novel Cronica: Acadia Bend Sinister (Fantasy Pub- lishing, $16.96) hooks you on page one and never lets you go. Deering, a for- mer Portland Monthly intern, author, and USC Film School grad, tells us “It’s a hybrid high fantasy/modern fantasy, but Maine still shines through in Acadia, Vinland, and a Great Lighthouse for the human capital city.” Kirkus Reviews digs the dynamic: “A witty tale that revels deeply in computer-game tropes.” Feeling lucky? Lobsterman Alex Todd is after catching a pearly, translucent lobster off the shores of Chebeague recently. The chance of catching an albino lobster is 1 in 100 million, according to Marine Science Today. Todd threw the lobster back after noticing she had a notched tail, indicating she may be carrying eggs. “My uncle, Andy Todd, caught [her] a week later,” says Alex’s son, Josh Todd. “We call it the ghost lobster.” “The emoji sea is filled with crab, shrimp, octopus, squid, whale, even blowfish […] There’s a large void in the shape of our favorite Maine lobster,” says Luke Holden, founder of Luke’s Lobster restaurant chain. Holden has launched a petition to convince the panel of The Unicode Consortium, the governing body that determines which emojis should be added each year, to select the lobster emoji as one of 2017’s finalists. At press time, the petition has 4,020 signatures of its 5,000 goal. “We know you want it–you ask us why there is #NoLob- sterEmoji daily,” Holden says on the Change.org petition page. “Now we finally have the chance to help get it. Sign our petition. Fill this clawed void.” The Director’s Chair Rogue Vogue Vacationmind O C T O b e r 2 0 1 7 2 7 from top: courtesy barbara ernst prey; josh todd; Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film Festival; f11photo - adobe