Keith.js retweeted
Under the majority recommendation, Edmonton and Calgary would have 13.4% more people per riding than those outside the major cities. At the last redrawing of federal districts, Alberta had 8.9% more people per riding than Quebec. Time for a referendum!
Keith.js retweeted
From the minority report on electoral boundaries, re: Lethbridge (the new map is a complete calamity).
Keith.js retweeted
The UCP drew a map. They couldn't get it past an independent boundaries commission, who recommended a different one after public input.
The UCP tore up that map and is imposing their own, without public consultation.
They want you to believe this is normal. It's not.
Keith.js retweeted
I dunno what's gonna happen Tuesday but this is the sort of political ease and willingness to poke fun at yourself that can help sway certain types of voters. Sorta reminds me of that story of "We're voting for the [racial slur]" during Obama era.
Keith.js retweeted
Just once I would like someone to ask a prison abolitionist if Donald Trump commits so many crimes because he lacked access to affordable education and healthcare as a child
Mark Guiducci: “Do you believe that someone who is convicted of murder with intent should be physically confined to protect the public?”
Darializa Avila Chevalier: “But that is what happens in the day-to-day.”
This is Fair Game, where no subject is off the table. Watch the full episode: vanityfair.visitlink.me/Wlue…
Keith.js retweeted
Today marks exactly 10 years since Hacker T. Dog delivered the greatest unscripted line in British television history.
"We're just normal men... We're just innocent men."
Keith.js retweeted
Ten years ago this month, three sleep-deprived SNL writers accidentally created one of the most beloved Halloween characters in television history.
And apparently, Tom Hanks thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
The story behind David S. Pumpkins is almost as funny as the sketch itself.
In October 2016, SNL writers Mikey Day, Bobby Moynihan, and Streeter Seidell were working late into the night on a Halloween sketch about a haunted elevator.
The premise was simple. Every floor would reveal something terrifying.
But around 4 or 5 in the morning, someone suggested a character named David Pumpkins. Moynihan added the middle initial. Nobody knew what the S stood for. Nobody knew who David Pumpkins was supposed to be.
And that was basically the entire joke.
They found a cheap pumpkin-covered suit, gave him two dancing skeletons, and decided this completely ordinary-looking middle-aged man would act like he was a legendary Halloween character everyone should recognize.
Tom Hanks reportedly thought the sketch was so bizarre that he suggested saving it for Chris Hemsworth, who was scheduled to host the following week.
But Hanks eventually committed to the bit.
The ridiculous grin. The awkward dancing. The absolute confidence. And, of course, the immortal question:
“Any questions?”
The genius of the sketch is that nothing ever gets explained. The people riding the elevator are just as confused as the audience. And every time David S. Pumpkins returns, it somehow gets funnier.
The sketch became an instant hit. NBC eventually made an animated Halloween special around the character, and Hanks brought him back to SNL in 2022.
Ten years later, people still dress up as David S. Pumpkins every Halloween.
Three writers came up with a completely nonsensical idea at 4 a.m. Tom Hanks wasn’t sure it would work. Nobody bothered to explain the joke.
And somehow they created a Halloween icon.
Oh, and years later, the writers revealed what the S stands for.
Simon.
Why Simon?
Absolutely no reason whatsoever.
Which, honestly, makes the whole thing even funnier.
Happy Halloween. 🎃
ANY QUESTIONS?
Keith.js retweeted
I've heard a few stories from people who make it a point to trick-or-treat at Christopher Walken's house, because he doesn't decorate or dress up. What he does is take a single dining room chair, and sit in the middle of his driveway with a bowl of candy on his knee. And when people approach him, he takes out once single piece, hands it over, doesn't blink, and whispers weird things like "Watch out for the leaves. They're... slippery." lol
Keith.js retweeted
Patrick Stewart asked McKellen for advice on Macbeth.
- Well you’ve got that speech, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…
- Yes. But I know what that means.
- I think perhaps you don’t. The important word isn’t ‘tomorrow,’ it’s ‘and.’
Stewart lit straight up.
Keith.js retweeted
Since everyone is posting their fav scene with Stewart, here is mine. Masterclass acting from him (and phenomenal acting from Frakes too, for that matter) to convey the subtext under the formalities that he feels terribly hurt by someone he thought he knew better.
Keith.js retweeted
One week ago, lawyers at Canada’s top firms received urgent calls from their IT departments about a critical software update or an expired password. The agents were happy to stay on the phone and help.
Even to a skeptic, the calls could seem legitimate. They were often placed through Microsoft Teams, appearing to come from internal IT employees, or they were phone calls from the IT department’s number.
The reality: Hackers were on the other end, spamming Canadian lawyers en masse.
The tactic the hackers used is called vishing, short for voice phishing – and it worked. At least four companies were broken into, all among the country’s most prestigious law firms: McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Bennett Jones LLP and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but the fallout is already immense. Law firms market themselves as trusted advisers, and the nature of their work means they store sensitive files on their servers. These include non-public corporate information, communication between client and counsel, and their clients’ tax, financial or health records.
theglobeandmail.com/business…
Keith.js retweeted
Patrick Stewart's stories from DUNE are pretty great. There's a whole thing about how David Lynch was disappointed when he showed up because ... well, I won't spoil it. And then this, on his first conversation with Sting, is quite funny:
Patrick Stewart was amazing, a bygone sort of actor with working-class ethics and classical aesthetics. One of the most generally beloved men in Hollywood. Could play a nasty villain! Great actor, he will be missed. thebulwark.com/p/patrick-ste…
Keith.js retweeted
Your computer will be some kind of dumb terminal incapable of running anything more demanding than Notepad, and you'll need to connect to a data centre to get anything done under this glorious future envisaged by the tech bros.
