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LOVE IT

TIME’s James Poniewozik says that the five-episode final season of HBO’s Treme, returning Dec. 1, “leaves post-Katrina New Orleans on a surprisingly hopeful note.”

Makers of GoldieBlox, the engineering playset, turned the Beastie Boys song “Girls” into an anthem for smarter girls’ toys: “We are all more than princess maids!”

A Philadelphia coffee shop has started selling $2 short-fiction books in a vending machine, in order to make people love literature as much as they love … Cheetos?

Zappos started marketing a $100,000 plunger after Kanye West accused the e-tailer of selling “s— product.” Quoth one reviewer: “You’ve just won the Internet.”

FACE OFF

What’s in an expression? Nothing–at least, in this work from artist Martina Bacigalupo. Her installation of discards from a photo studio in Gulu, Uganda, proves that there’s a lot more to portraiture–and identity–than the human face. The Gulu Real Art Studio series is at the Walther Collection Project Space in New York City through Feb. 8.

THE DIGITS

852

Thai schoolchildren who stood side by side in a shopping mall to form the world’s largest human Christmas tree (even though Christmas isn’t an official holiday there). But the Guinness world record may not stand long: a Canadian city is aiming for a 1,000-person tree on Nov. 29.

QUICK TALK

Josh Gad

He established his musical bona fides in Broadway’s The Book of Mormon. Now Gad, 32, is serenading audiences again–this time as the voice of Olaf, a snowman in the Disney princess pic Frozen (out Nov. 27).

–LILY ROTHMAN

Do you mind if I record this interview, for my notes?

I’d rather you memorized everything. I don’t even want you to write on a notepad.

Uh-oh.

I want you to paraphrase me as best as you can. [Laughs.] No, it’s not a problem.

Phew. As the voice of a snowman, what’s your stance on actual winter?

I’m kind of the opposite of Olaf. I was born and raised in Florida, so I’m technically a summer guy, but I live for snow. But if I were to ever put on skis and try to go down a slope, I would die. It would be the equivalent of melting.

Have you ever tried?

Last year I got close. I went to Sundance, and I watched as little 5-year-olds went down a slope. And then I thought about what would happen if I did it. The thought of the 5-year-old being able to do so much more than I could do kept me off the mountain.

Never have, never will?

Are there different levels?

Yeah.

If there’s a negative-two slope where it’s just like a little anthill, I’ll do it.

So what’s your favorite non-skiing winter activity?

I love driving around at Christmas and seeing all the lights. I grew up in a Jewish household where there weren’t any, so again, it’s the Olaf in me.

The landscape in Frozen is inspired by Norway. Have you been there?

No, but I’ve always wanted to go.

Any particular reason?

I’m fascinated by the idea of fjords. Just the name itself and the difficulty of pronouncing it are intriguing to me.

“ON MY RADAR

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

“For some reason, it puts me to sleep. I read it to my daughter, and then I have my wife read it to me.”

Imagine Dragons

” ‘Radioactive’ has been the song I just cannot get out of my head.”

ALL ABOARD

The replicas of New York landmarks seen here (that’s the Statue of Liberty at top right) are part of the annual holiday train show at the New York Botanical Garden, for which artists get creative with–what else?–natural materials like bark and twigs. But not everything in the display is from the Big Apple: those meticulously crafted models are made in the Alexandria, Ky., workshop of artisan Paul Busse. This year’s show runs from Nov. 16 to Jan. 12.

HAIKU REVIEW

Brit came roaring back/ Imploring us to “Work B—-!”/ Guess she took a break?

–DAN MACSAI ON BRITNEY SPEARS’ BRITNEY JEAN (OUT DEC. 3)

ROUNDUP

Hollywood’s Most Profitable Penguins

The head bird in Adventures of the Penguin King (out Dec. 6)–think March of the Penguins with funny voice-overs–is just the latest in a long line of singing, talking penguin movie stars, dating back to 1964’s Mary Poppins. Here’s who made it snow at the global box office.

1992

$266.8 MILLION

PENGUIN

(BATMAN RETURNS)

1995

$3.98 MILLION

(THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN)

2007

$149 MILLION

CODY MAVERICK

(SURF’S UP)

2006–11

$534.7 MILLION

MUMBLE

(THE HAPPY FEET SERIES)

2005–12

$1.9 BILLION

SKIPPER, RICO, KOWALSKI AND PRIVATE

(THE MADAGASCAR SERIES)

LEAVE IT

A series of instructional videos on YouTube is pushing the “cotton-ball diet”: dipping cotton balls in juice to absorb liquid, then eating them to feel full.

Lady Gaga’s label reportedly spent $25 million to market ARTPOP, which sold just 258,000 copies in its first week, far short of Born This Way’s 1.1 million.

A new app for Microsoft Kinect allows users to scan their bodies and then send the data to a company that makes minifigurines. Just what we need: 3-D selfies.

Fox’s Family Guy killed off Brian Griffin, one of the most beloved talking dogs in TV history. We’ve got only one question: Why?!?!

FOR TIME’S COMPLETE MUSIC, FILM AND TV COVERAGE, VISIT time.com/entertainment