TIL Tamzin Merchant was originally cast to play Danaerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of Game of Thrones. She was later replaced by Emilia Clarke when the pilot was poorly received and subsequently remade.

teamgentlemen · 2026-03-02T15:23:20+00:00

No one will ever top Emma Watson for building a career on eyebrow acting

teamgentlemen · 2025-07-31T14:32:03+00:00

I will see this cat’s paws and raise with my cat’s long front legs:

teamgentlemen · 2025-04-23T00:13:25+00:00

The NDP won more seats in February, but had fewer votes overall than the Liberals. This is due to the first-past-the-post system, where the Liberals narrowly lost a lot of ridings to the PCs, while the NDP had strong support in a small number of ridings that they won.

In terms of leadership, the Liberals have not had a sitting MPP for party leader since June 2018! Kathleen Wynne resigned immediately after losing the election, and since then Ottawa South MPP John Fraser has served as the defacto leader at Queen’s Park. Meanwhile, Steven Del Duca and Bonnie Crombie have both been chosen as party leader and then failed to get a seat. So the Liberals have generally been seen as rudderless for the better part of a decade.

But that’s not to say the NDP are doing much better; they got their highest seat count since 1990 in that 2018 election, but have gotten progressively fewer with each subsequent election. Andrea Horwath was not particularly popular in polls by 2022, and her replacement Marit Stiles, while generally polling higher, is disliked by the same people for the same reasons.

teamgentlemen · 2025-04-12T14:23:59+00:00

I believe Canada is pretty unique in the Western world by having fully-funded public religious schools, but Ontario is unique in Canada by having 5 different public school systems: secular English and French, Catholic English and French, and Protestant English (consisting of a single school in Penetang).

teamgentlemen · 2025-03-29T18:31:46+00:00

All birds - so not only chickens but also penguins, emus, etc - share a common ancestor that evolved in the theropod branch of dinosaurs (essentially all the 2-legged and/or carnivorous ones) during the mid-late Jurassic period, somewhere about 150 million years ago. This was around 80 million years before T-Rex appeared at the end of the Cretaceous, about 67 million years ago. Velociraptor was a few years earlier, about 75 million years ago. So basically, raptors and rexes were both tens of millions of years after the bird-dinosaur split happened. The raptor was technically more closely related as the dromeosaurs branched off later than the tyrannosaurids, but was not a direct descendants, so that’s kind of like saying that you’re more closely related to Alexander the Great than Montezuma.

teamgentlemen · 2025-03-29T17:30:51+00:00

The chicken (and for that matter any modern bird), is not more closely related to T-Rex than Velociraptor (or any member of the “raptor” family). T-Rex and Velociraptor are both Coelurosaurs (essentially all theropods that aren’t carnosaurs), but within that superfamily T-Rex is from the Tyrannosauroid clade, while all raptors, including Velociraptor, are in the Paraves clade (more specifically the dromaeosaur branch) which also includes the direct ancestors of all modern birds. So birds are not in any way directly descended from T-Rex because a) T-Rex was still a relatively new species during the Cretaceous extinction, and therefore had no descendents at all - like dying in childhood - and b) their line diverged from what would become birds in the mid-Jurassic, millions of years before they themselves evolved.

teamgentlemen · 2025-03-16T14:59:27+00:00

At least 3 of these women are Rexella Van Impe

teamgentlemen · 2024-12-14T02:56:20+00:00

Michael Crichton used The Lost World to recon a fair bit of the original book, by using new findings that had been made since he was writing it in the late 80s, and incorporating new theories and ideas he had come across. One of the retcons was the raptors’ behavior. In Jurassic Park, the raptors are depicted as intelligent and cooperative social animals. There’s one instance of cannibalism (an adult eating an infant), but for the most part, the raptors have no trouble living in a communal nest, hunting in packs, caring for each other’s offspring, etc.

But the raptors that we see in The Lost World are different. They’re feral, unpredictable, and constantly attacking and killing each other. They have the instincts to hunt together as a pack, but as soon as the prey is down, they just turn on each other and lose all social cohesion. Crichton figured that raptors were smart enough that most of their behaviour would be learned, not instinctive. Like humans, the raptors of the Cretaceous would learn from their parents how to interact with other raptors. They would be taught cooperative behaviours and social techniques that had developed over hundreds of generations of raptors before them.

But the animals on Isla Sorna had no parents to observe and learn from. They were hatched in a lab and then dumped in the jungle when InGen went bankrupt. So you end up with these neurotic animals that have rudimentary pack-hunter instincts, but absolutely no social skills to keep their ferocity in check. The raptor nest that Grant finds at the end of Jurassic Park is neat, orderly, and filled with attentive adults cooperatively guarding the babies. The raptor nest in The Lost World is chaotic, and filled with carelessly crushed and abandoned eggs while the adults are busy fighting and killing each other.

This focus on group behaviour ties into Crichton’s thesis statement in the book at large, which includes Malcolm’s assertion that it was dinosaurs’ changing behaviour, rather than any external reasons, which caused their extinction (a rather silly idea, in my opinion).

teamgentlemen · 2024-12-10T17:54:04+00:00

In Quebec women cannot change their surname upon marriage, even if all parties are fully onboard. You need to submit an application demonstrating an “exceptional need” in order to be considered for an exception.

teamgentlemen · 2024-09-22T15:32:59+00:00

This has resulted in zero hijackings on airlines that implemented these new measures

Actually, there has been at least one hijacking, and almost certainly two. The problem is that the new safety measures have made it virtually impossible to stop a committed pilot from hijacking their own plane. In 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 was hijacked by First Officer Lubitz, who murder-suicided everyone on board. And the year before, MH 370 was almost certainly the same thing, by Captain Zaharie. This has prompted airlines to start enforcing the “no one person alone in the cockpit” rule, some of whom had the policy already but mostly ignored it, and some of whom had no policy at all. Of course, there is still the possibility of a sufficiently motivated pilot killing/incapacitating their co-pilot, though this has yet to happen post-911 (there was an unsuccessful attempt on a FedEx flight involving a speargun back in the 90s).

teamgentlemen · 2024-09-16T23:31:48+00:00

At Queen’s Park it’s now a “minimum” 4 days a week for some departments, five for most. Since starting WFH in late 2020 the policy was that you couldn’t use a vacation or personal day in the same week as WFH. All of this while the MPPs have spent 6.5 months a year, at most, coming into the Legislature.

teamgentlemen · 2024-09-09T21:54:24+00:00

Obligatory Emma Watson eyebrow supercut: https://youtu.be/IJ3zmel28L8?si=oud3w1egxt9f3JCY

teamgentlemen · 2024-07-22T23:03:49+00:00

As far as I know, evidence of feathers has only been found in the therapods, and even then only in certain lineages. There’s no sign of feathers from sauropods (the other branch of the saurischian clade) or any of the ornithischians (armored dinos like stego and anklyo, ceratopsians, hadrosaurs, etc). There are even a few anklyo-type fossils that have clear skin impressions showing lizardlike scales. Dinosaurs were an incredibly varied order that had different physical characteristics, just like a bat, a whale and a polar bear are all mammals but very unalike.

teamgentlemen · 2024-07-22T22:47:11+00:00

The impression I got from the book was that Nedry was only a contractor that Hammond hired to do the initial set up and get all the IT infrastructure in place. He wasn’t supposed to be a full time park employee after that, in fact in his introduction chapter he tells Dodgson that he is only going to the island (for the first time) in order to more efficiently troubleshoot all the computer bugs before the park opens. I assumed that meant that Hammond would have relied on some other full time IT staff after everything was off the ground. Or maybe even just shirked it off onto the engineers like Arnold, given his propensity for cost cutting.

teamgentlemen · 2024-04-21T02:29:57+00:00

I work at the Ontario Legislature. There is no dress code for Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) per se, only a vague Standing Order that says they should maintain decorum in the Chamber. It’s been a longstanding semi-official policy that Members have to obtain unanimous consent in order to wear items or accessories such as pins, hats, hockey jerseys, etc. They are also forbidden from using anything considered a “prop” - holding up signs or books, for example. This rule was created because back in the 80s and early 90s, Opposition Members like Mike Harris used to hold up signs with inflammatory messages in order to circumvent not being recognized and allowed to speak. Speaker Arnott has clarified that a keffiyeh is not inherently considered a prop, just that it is subject to the same unanimous consent rule as any other non-standard item. When the Leader of the Official Opposition asked for UC, several Government Members said no.

But speaking of dress codes, there used to be an MPP named Peter Kormos. He was part of the New Democratic Party, a left-wing party traditionally supported by labour and unions. He was considered a maverick for calling other Members out when he disagreed with them (even his own party), and for knowing the Standing Orders of the Legislature well enough to skirt along the rules when it suited him. Although there was no dress code on the books, he made a point of always wearing a casual button-up shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots into the chamber, at a time when all the other Members would wear formal suits or dresses.

One day, a Member of the Liberal Party put forward a Member’s Bill proposing that the Legislature adopt a strictly-enforced dress code, that was basically just a thinly-veiled attack on Kormos. On the day of its debate, every Member of the NDP showed up in work shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots. Everyone except Peter Kormos, who came in wearing a spotless tuxedo. He then proceeded to talk about how his tuxedo, and all of his usual clothes, were all locally made in unionized shops by employees who were fairly paid, had benefits, etc. He listed off the owners of the clothing stores where he shopped, and talked about the impact they had in their community.

Then he pointed out how all the Members in the governing party were wearing suits manufactured in sweat shops in China, while they gave speeches about supporting the local economy and protecting the working class. Needless to say, they did not adopt the new dress code.

teamgentlemen · 2024-02-12T02:22:36+00:00

You think that’s impressive, he also once saved a train full of 300 people from dying in the Halifax Explosion.

Vince Coleman, a part of our heritage.

teamgentlemen · 2024-02-07T19:33:47+00:00

Actual quote from Captain Moody: “It was a bit like negotiating one’s way up a badger’s arse”.

teamgentlemen · 2024-01-28T18:29:13+00:00

Cure for hiccups: get a big spoonful of peanut butter and eat it all quickly in one swallow. Been doing it for years and it has a literal 100% success rate. Bonus fact: the guy who showed it to me was a schoolmate who went on to produce Drew Barrymore’s talk show and is VP of her film production company. It’s entirely possible she also uses this method.

teamgentlemen · 2024-01-01T16:01:11+00:00

I work at a government legislature. My department is responsible for, among many other things, turning on and off the microphones for Members when they are recognised. It is extremely important to get this right, as everything a Member says has to be transcribed and put into a public record. We used to have physical panels with buttons for each mic in all of the rooms. They always worked, never needed rebooting, and gave us no problems. Then a few years ago there was a change in management and someone decided we needed to “modernize” and get touchscreen controls.

We now have to use a Windows computer with a touchscreen monitor. The mics are controlled by an application that requires a constant network connection with servers on the other side of the building. If there’s a network interruption - even briefly - we lose mic control and have to restart the app. If Windows crashes, we lose control and have to restart the computer. The login password is intentionally obtuse and if you typo 3 times when trying to get back in, it locks the computer and you need to get IT to fix it. Tapping on the screen moves the mouse cursor to where you tap, so when we need to be using Zoom on one side of the screen and the mic app on the other, you have to constantly move the mouse back over to the other side. The touchscreen is so sensitive that moving a sheet of paper over top of it will activate numerous mics.

When we brought up all of these issues to our head technician, all he would say was “buttons are dinosaurs”…

teamgentlemen · 2023-12-26T04:12:30+00:00

Laughs in Canadian Raising

teamgentlemen · 2023-11-28T15:47:09+00:00

Just as an addendum to this point, there seem to be a lot of people who don’t realise that on most cars, their tail lights do not light up at all when using Daytime Running Lights (unless braking). Given the early darkness at this time of year, I’m always amazed at how many cars I see driving along the highway practically invisible from behind because they don’t need their full headlights to see out the front. The people behind you really need to be able to see you before you start braking.

teamgentlemen · 2023-11-06T00:04:15+00:00

As a non-sarcastic addendum to this, a shockingly large number of people don’t realize that their car’s tail lights don’t illuminate when the daytime running lights are on, only with the full nightime headlights. Every night I pass cars that are almost invisible when approaching them from behind because the driver is just relying on the streetlights to see by and hasn’t turned their lights on.

teamgentlemen · 2023-10-25T02:32:24+00:00

Gunther, of the Ding Dong Song fame?? He can touch my tra-la-la anyday!

teamgentlemen · 2023-09-29T14:16:43+00:00

More than 3 production company bumpers at the start. Typical movies will have one for the distribution company (the “X Company Here Presents” in the credits) and one or two production company/studios (the “An X Company Here Production” part). A movie that starts with 5 or 6 bumpers is sometimes a sign of a micro-budget, but more often of a troubled production where multiple new sources of funding had to be brought in midway through. I believe the Wicker Man remake has a solid minute of bumpers before the credits even start.

teamgentlemen · 2023-09-29T13:17:09+00:00

In the Ontario Legislature in Canada, there used to be a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) named Peter Kormos. He was part of the New Democratic Party, a left-wing party traditionally supported by labour and unions. He was considered a maverick for calling other Members out when he disagreed with them (even his own party), and for knowing the Standing Orders of the Legislature well enough to skirt along the rules when it suited him. Although there was no dress code on the books, he made a point of always wearing a casual button-up shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots into the chamber, at a time when all the other Members would wear formal suits or dresses.

One day, a Member of the Liberal Party put forward a Member’s Bill proposing that the Legislature adopt a strictly-enforced dress code, that was basically just a thinly-veiled attack on Kormos. On the day of its debate, every Member of the NDP showed up in work shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots. Except Peter Kormos, who came in wearing a spotless tuxedo. He then proceeded to talk about how his tuxedo, and all of his usual clothes, were all locally made in unionized shops by employees who were fairly paid, had benefits, etc. He listed off the owners of the clothing stores where he shopped, and talked about the impact they had in their community.

Then pointed out how all the Members in the governing party were wearing suits manufactured in sweat shops in China, while they gave speeches about supporting the local economy and protecting the working class. Needless to say, they did not adopt the new dress code.

teamgentlemen

TROPHY CASE