One of the most commonly known life hacks is the old trick where you put your wet electronics into a bag or bowl of uncooked rice. The rice is supposed to help dry it out by absorbing the extra water. I think just about everyone I know has tried this method at least once. It seems to be tried-and-true. Hell, my mom once put her old Macbook into a giant tub of rice (I kid you not) and it turned on after a few days.

Well, I don’t know if saving wet iPhones is cutting into Apple’s billion dollar bottom line or not but the company just put out a warning against this method. According to Apple, doing so could “allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.” In fact, they recommend merely leaving the wet device on the counter to dry. That’s so old school of them. They actually advised several different things to try in the event of a wet iPhone. All are common sense techniques.

Instead of resorting to rice, Apple provides users with an alternative solution. If your iPhone or charging connector is wet—in the latter case, an alert will appear and disable charging—Apple recommends the following:

Unplug the cable from your iPhone and unplug the other end of the cable from the power adapter or accessory. Don’t plug the cable in again until your iPhone and the cable are completely dry.

Tap your iPhone gently against your hand with the connector facing down to remove excess liquid. Leave your iPhone in a dry area with some airflow.

After at least 30 minutes, try charging with a Lightning or USB-C cable or connecting an accessory.

If you see the alert again, there is still liquid in the connector or under the pins of your cable. Leave your iPhone in a dry area with some airflow for up to a day. You can try again to charge or connect an accessory throughout this period. It might take up to 24 hours to fully dry.

If your phone has dried out but still isn’t charging, unplug the cable from the adapter and unplug the adapter from the wall (if possible), and then connect them again.

In case Apple’s advice doesn’t work, it’s safe to say that you probably need help from professional repair experts and may even need to prepare yourself to buy a new iPhone. Whatever you do, resist the temptation of reaching for the rice.

[From Gizmodo]

Okay, so the cynical part of me that has anecdotal evidence that the rice trick works without causing damage thinks “In case Apple’s advice doesn’t work, … [you] may even need to prepare yourself to buy a new iPhone” kinda sounds like the statement that gives the game away, no? Apple also mentioned some fairly obvious no-gos such as using external heat to dry the phone (no blow dryers, people!) or sticking Q-tips into the connector (that’s a thing?). All that said, I’ve never really thought about it before, but I’m willing to concede that there could be better or equally effective ways at trying to salvage a wet iPhone.

Last summer, my son went into a pool at my SIL’s house and forgot to take his watch off. She gave us one of those silica gel packets to put it in. We put them both in a ziploc bag for 24 hours and it worked like a charm. Honestly, if you live in a dry environment, you can probably just leave it on the counter to air dry out. Idk, there’s just something (the cost and our reliance) about wet electronics that triggers our anxiety and having something extra to help the process along feels calming.

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Huzzah — the drought is over! On Sunday Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returned from their quirky November to February hiatus, and they kicked off the new season with a bang. The main story focused on the decades of grifting Clarence Thomas has been up to, namely the undisclosed gifts he’s received from GOP donors, not to be outdone by the income he has been disclosing… from a defunct business. None of this is breaking news, true. But between Last Week being off air a lot of 2023 due to the writers strike and this week being the season premiere, I’m fine with having a Last Year Tonight – SCOTUS Edition episode. Plus they really upped the ante by making Thomas an offer he (hopefully) can’t refuse. Oliver closed the show by offering to pay Thomas $1 million a year in exchange for Thomas leaving the Supreme Court. Plus they’re throwing in a $2.4 million luxury tour bus, the justice’s favorite mode of transportation, to sweeten the deal. Thomas has 30 days to accept:

The British-born, progressive comedian’s offer came after a steady drumbeat of media investigations in the previous several months established that Thomas failed to disclose that political benefactors bought him lavish vacation travel and real estate for his mother. Thomas also failed to disclose — as required — that he allowed school fees for a family member to be paid off and had been provided a loan to buy a luxury motor coach, all after openly complaining about the need to raise supreme court justices’ salaries.

As a result, Thomas’s impartiality came into question after he sided with the contentious ruling that eliminated the federal abortion rights once provided by the Roe v Wade case.

He also recently listened to arguments over whether Donald Trump can be removed from states’ ballots in the presidential election after the former president’s supporters — whom he told to “fight like hell” — staged the January 6 attack at the US Capitol in Washington DC. Thomas resisted pressure to recuse himself from matters pertaining to the Capitol attack, even though his wife, Ginni Thomas, is a conservative political activist who has endorsed false claims from Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden was stolen from him — which in turn fueled January 6.

Oliver alluded to all of those circumstances as he extended his lucrative offer to Thomas, saying: “Lot on your plate right now, from stripping away women’s rights to hearing January 6 cases … and you deserve a break, you know, away from the meanness of Washington. So you can be surrounded by the regular folks whose lives you made demonstrably worse for decades.”

The host suggested that Thomas could upgrade his “favorite mode of travel” by signing a contract requiring him to step down from the supreme court in exchange for $1m annually from Oliver along with the tour bus, which is outfitted with a king-sized bed, a fireplace and four televisions.

Oliver joked that Thomas possibly feared that making such a trade might attract negative judgment from one of his top benefactors: the Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow, who was reported to have maintained a private collection of Nazi memorabilia that included a pair of paintings by Adolf Hitler.

But Oliver said: “That’s the beauty of friendship, Clarence. If they’re real friends, they’ll love you no matter what your job is. So I guess this might be the perfect way to find out who your real friends actually are.

“So that’s the offer — $1m a year, Clarence. And a brand new condo on wheels. And all you have to do … is sign the contract and get the f–k off the supreme court,” Oliver remarked. “The clock starts now — 30 days, Clarence. Let’s do this!”

[From The Guardian]

This is genius. Oliver is calling Thomas’s bluff — “you need money? I’ll be your new donor daddy!” — in the name of an actual good cause (unlike gutting affirmative action and women’s healthcare). The poor man has been trying to survive on only $298,500 a year from the court, he deserves the raise! **insert eyeroll here** It was a bold and brilliant move by Oliver, one that did not go unnoticed by his HBO bosses, it seems. The day after the show aired Oliver went to tweet out a YouTube video of it, something he always does on Mondays. But without telling Oliver, HBO says they have a new policy of not posting the video to YouTube until the end of the week. To boost Max viewership they say, but methinks this probably has to do with the HBO lawyers still being at loggerheads with Oliver. Which is a shame, because Oliver clearly said he was putting up his own money, not HBO’s. And there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that Thomas will ever accept anyway! No, I fear Thomas and the rest of the horsemen of the apocalypse are just getting started with their reign of terror. **insert sobbing here**

Photos credit: Avalon.red, Cover Images

People tend to forget this, but in 2016-2017, there were some rumors about Cate Blanchett’s marriage to Andrew Upton. The tabloids got photos of Upton looking very cozy with a 27-year-old, and there were some quieter rumors that Cate and Andrew’s marriage was on the rocks, or that they lived separate lives. Cate never addressed the rumors directly and she and Andrew were seen together in the years since then, but people have just realized that it’s been a while since anyone heard about their marriage or saw them together.

Cate Blanchett has left fans puzzled after stepping out at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards without her wedding ring on Sunday night. The Australian actress, 54, who has been married to playwright Andrew Upton, 58, since 1997, stunned at the British film industry event in a maroon Louis Vuitton gown and striking body chain combo. However, rather than wearing her white gold and diamond wedding sparkler, the Blue Jasmine star sported a large emerald cocktail ring. Her husband didn’t attend the event.

Curiously, Cate was also spotted ring-free earlier this month, when she attended an event in New York at the Museum of Modern Art on February 6th. Joined by Sophie’s Choice co-star Ethan Hawke, Cate oozed sophistication in a gradient-print grey pantsuit and lariat necklace. Cate made no attempt at hiding her bare wedding finger as she smiled for photos outside the exclusive event. In October 2023, Cate was once again seen without her wedding ring as she sat front row at the Stella McCartney runway show during Paris Fashion Week. Instead the thespian wore a set of elegant gold bands on her wedding finger.

Speaking to Woman’s Day magazine on Monday, a source close to the couple said Cate’s missing ring has sent off alarm bells about the status of her marriage.

‘Seeing Cate without her ring has sent shockwaves through their friends. For the first time they’re wondering if things aren’t so rosy,’ the insider claimed. A question mark has been hanging over Cate and Andrew’s marriage for some time now. The couple also haven’t been seen out on a date since August, when they were photographed enjoying a sun-drenched holiday in Ibiza.

They also raised eyebrows earlier this month after putting their sprawling mansion in Prahran, Melbourne, on the market. The three-bedroom family home, which the couple purchased in 2006, is set to be sold at auction with a price guide of $2.25million – $2.45million. Cate and Andrew have been living in the UK since 2015 and still own several other properties together. Their portfolio includes a glorious Victorian mansion in East Sussex, England, which they bought for £4.9 million (AU$9.4million) in 2015. The couple also own an investment property in Sydney’s CBD.

Cate and Andrew share three sons, Dashiell, 22, Roman, 19, and Ignatius, 16, and a daughter named Edith, eight.

[From The Daily Mail]

Every interview I’ve read with Cate in recent years – especially when she was promoting Tar – it sounded like she and Andrew had been Britain-based for a while. I guess that’s the “Victorian mansion in East Sussex,” where they have some kind of larger estate and Cate is always tooling around in the garden. Given her increasingly cozy relationship with the Windsors – sitting with Prince William at the BAFTAs and being a celeb ambassador for Earthshot – I would assume that she’s committed to spending more time in England in the future. I always assumed Andrew was okay with that, especially after they spent so much time in Oz, nurturing the Australian theater community. I don’t know. They’ve been together for 26 years, and I kind of hate Ring Watch. Who even knows.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Kensington Palace.

This whole story is asinine but I’ve seen people on “both sides” amplifying it, so we might as well get into it. Paul Burrell was Princess Diana’s butler and friend. After Diana’s death, he was accused of stealing Diana’s belongings and he was about to be put on trial, but then Queen Elizabeth II intervened at the last minute and told prosecutors that she recalled telling Burrell years before that he could and should keep some of Diana’s things for safekeeping. Since then, Burrell has fancied himself some kind of royal expert, and he regularly gives quotes to various media outlets about the royal stories of the day. In recent years, he’s taken a hard anti-Sussex bent, because I guess that’s what pays. Burrell’s recent interview has the feel of Burrell being issued certain talking points and just sort of mindlessly reciting them. This is all having to do with the British media’s biggest fear/desire for Meghan to write her own memoir, something which there is literally no indication she will ever do.

Meghan’s nonexistent memoir: “I am waiting for Meghan to release her own memoir,” Paul Burrell exclusively told The Post. “[She] is inevitably going to write her side of the story because of how absent she was from ‘Spare,’ and that is because she is penning her memoir and telling it from a woman’s perspective.”

Meghan’s story: Burrell warned that the royal family should “watch out” for the “explosion” that the “Suits” alum’s rumored book could cause. There’s “going to be another bomb in the House of Windsor…another explosion will go off when we find out that she is going to publish, and she will. There is no way she is going to stay quiet: she is going to want her side of the story out there and that will do even further damage to the royal family and rock them even more.”

Harry is mad at Kate: “I understand why they are upset because Kate went to great lengths to find out if a royal life was for her and it caused her issues, but they both worked it out and she committed herself to a life of public service. This wasn’t a case of fitting the mold — it’s a case of finding the right person to do the job. Harry has got a nerve to say that because his mother was pressured into an arranged marriage and made to fit the mold. Harry is not always the sharpest tool in the box so he should lay off Kate and William. Kate is doing an amazing job.”

Harry’s regrets: Burrell believes that the Duke of Sussex, 39, “will come to regret” the comments he made about his family. “He has to be careful about attacking the royal family,” the former butler said on behalf of Slingo. “Meghan and Harry have forgotten their only unique selling point is being royal, so why are they trying to destroy the institution? It doesn’t make sense.” He also insists that the Sussexes will never be invited back into the royal fold “with open arms,” adding that “the doors are firmly shut.”

No space for the Sussexes: The royals “are keeping tight-lipped and they are keeping everything in-house,” Burrell added. “I think that is their tactic. They have regrouped and pulled together and there is no space for Meghan and Harry.”

[From The NY Post]

It’s like royal-commentary Mad Libs at this point. The royals are mad at Harry, Harry is mad at Kate, Harry and Meghan desperately need the royals, the royals don’t want him but he better not say anything bad about them or else they’ll never let him come back! The thing about “This wasn’t a case of fitting the mold — it’s a case of finding the right person to do the job” is a reference to Robert Hardman’s dumb book, in which sources claimed that William was furious with Harry for making a “blatant attack on Catherine.” That attack? Harry said that men in his family tend to marry women who “fit the mold” rather than their soulmates. Most people believed Harry was referencing his own parents’ marriage, but William kept screaming to everyone that Harry’s words were about his marriage to Kate. William has done more to insult Kate than Harry ever has. Besides, absolutely no one thought that Kate fit any mold, nor did anyone think that Kate was the best person for “the job” of being William’s wife. She was simply the only one who wanted that job.

Also: the royal peeps are desperate for content and they would love nothing more than a memoir from Meghan. That would keep them in business for another year. Truth be told, I would love for Meghan to tell her story too, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen at this point.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

As we discussed, Prince William’s new private secretary Ian Patrick already seems to be in over his head. William has been trying to brand himself as a “global statesman” for a few years now, ever since he saw his brother get embraced internationally and also get invited to speak at the United Nations on Mandela Day. William wants the exact same thing as Harry, but without having to do any of the work. William wants to show up somewhere and have everyone scream “the global statesman is here!!” All of which to say, William has now blundered into the Israel-Palestine mess with zero training, zero briefing and nothing but self-interest and vibes. He’s issued a bizarre set of statements about his “concerns,” statements which… in retrospect were completely unnecessary, given today’s event.

These are photos of William visiting the British Red Cross headquarters in London. It wasn’t some highly political event after all – just a prince visiting the Red Cross HQ, speaking briefly with the head of the Psycho-social team and getting an in-person briefing from British aid workers about how they’re getting medical supplies to Gaza and working in partnership with the Red Crescent. He also did a video link-up with people on the ground in Israel and Gaza. That’s it. Kensington Palace could have done a brief preview of this trip by saying “the Prince of Wales will visit the British Red Cross HQ today to get briefings on what is happening in Israel and Palestine.” And that would have been perfectly acceptable and even royally “apolitcal.” There was no reason for William to issue two statements within 24 hours, neither of which sounded like they were vetted by Downing Street. That being said, Richard Palmer claimed on Twitter that Peg’s statement today was “run past the Foreign Office before he issued it.”

I know everyone has their own trending topics on Twitter, but from what I can see, William is being ripped to shreds for being political in the most bone-headed way. It’s not just by regular anti-royal critics either – there are historians and policy experts criticizing William’s statements and his event. It’s like people don’t even understand that William merely wanted a quick “statesman” photo op and he really doesn’t give a f–k about anything other than his competition with Harry’s successful trip to Canada.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

After Buckingham Palace announced King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, Queen Camilla had to temporarily suspend her very obvious “Camilla is the last one standing, she’s ruling this bitch all by herself” campaign. She gave it two weeks, and now she’s ready to relaunch the same campaign. “Sources close to Camilla” went to Camilla Tominey at the Telegraph to talk about how Camilla is doing these days, how she’s amazing for doing events while her husband has cancer, and how Camilla surrounds herself with loyal friends. The stuff about Camilla’s inner circle isn’t that surprising – Camilla is well-connected in aristo circles and has been all of her life, and these were the same women who helped her gaslight Diana and destroy Charles’s first marriage. At the end of this piece, there’s yet another hilarious aside about Camilla’s relationship with her ex-husband though. Some highlights:

Camilla spent Valentine’s Day with friends: It was an intimate Valentine’s Day gathering of some of the Queen’s close confidantes. Organised by her friend Gyles Brandreth, the evening saw Camilla finally let her hair down after what has been a fraught fortnight behind palace walls. Joined by her sister Annabel Elliot and pals including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joanna Lumley and Sir Stephen Fry, the ‘Celebration of Shakespeare’ event was designed to bring some welcome cheer following the King’s cancer diagnosis. Although the monarch, 75, was originally expected to attend, after another round of treatment in London on Wednesday, he left his wife to enjoy an evening of performances by stars of stage and screen. Ever the King’s “rock”, Camilla once again put best foot forward to honour the commitment, in the interests of crown and country.

Camilla’s kept the show on the road: If the shock news of her husband’s condition has been taking its toll on the Queen, then she certainly hasn’t been showing it as she continues to live up to her reputation as someone who “gets on with it”. Even a whistlestop visit by Prince Harry, who described her as his “wicked” stepmother in his autobiography Spare, wasn’t enough to put her off her stride. As one source close to the couple pointed out: “It has been pretty phenomenal how the Queen has kept the show on the road.”

Camilla IS the slimmed-down monarchy: Referencing the royal engagements she has carried out since Buckingham Palace announced the news on Feb 5, the insider added: “She has undertaken a range of duties, both big and small, including a visit to the Maggie’s Centre at the end of last month when she knew the King’s condition but couldn’t share it. What a trouper she is at 76 with a poorly husband.” Ailsa Anderson, the former press secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II said perhaps not enough credit is given to Camilla for being front and centre of the King’s “slimmed down” monarchy. “People forget that she hasn’t been brought up to do this role. The King and Prince William know their destiny but she’s relatively a newcomer to the Royal family. She’s a grandmother, but she’s a wife as well – she’s got to support her husband. Anyone who knows someone who has had cancer knows how hard it is for the spouse.”

Camilla still gets so much support from her ex-husband: There is one more person in her life upon whom she is increasingly reliant – her ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles. Some were surprised to see the former Army officer, 84, at the Coronation but they remain in “regular contact”, according to someone who knows them both well. As one friend previously explained: “He arranges so much for her. They have lunch together the whole time. He’s right in there. He was always, and still is, Camilla’s co-conspirator.” Known as “The Bridgadier”, Andrew is thought to have become closer to Camilla, who he divorced in 1995, following the death of his second wife Rosemary Pitman, in 2010 – although they were never on bad terms, as evidenced by Parker Bowles’s invitation to the royal wedding in 2005. The former military man is bringing up the rear of a formidable army of supporters ensuring that Camilla can keep calm and carry on while the King fights his cancer battle.

[From The Telegraph]

We’ve heard many times before that Camilla enjoys a warm relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles, but I still find it weird that he “arranges so much for her.” Previously, we heard that they were still “joined at the hip” – that was when we learned that he would attend the coronation, a coronation which was very much Camilla’s victory lap and a total Parker-Bowles affair. I mean, what can we even say at this point? Camilla, as always, runs circles around the royal clownshow and she positioned herself to have so much power over everything that happens. What’s happening now, with Camilla’s PR campaign during her husband’s cancer treatments, is part of her victory lap too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

Here are some photos of Taylor Swift in Sydney today. She went out to dinner with Sabrina Carpenter, who is opening for the Eras Tour during the Australian leg. Taylor has been in Oz since the Super Bowl, first playing in Melbourne and now in Sydney. Aussies love Taylor, although from what I’ve heard, Aussies love Pink more. Pink basically has to do a two-month residency in Australia, doing multiple concerts in every single city. Don’t get me wrong, Taylor is making sure her Aussie fans get to see her. But she’s no Pink!

Anyway, Taylor and Sabrina went to Pellegrino 2000 in Sydney and it looked like Taylor’s security guys were doing the most to make sure Taylor wasn’t swarmed by fans. Again, I like that Taylor isn’t hiding these days and I’m glad she feels safe enough to go out to eat. She was out and about in Melbourne too, and she was photographed wearing a Chiefs hat and the TNT bracelet given to her by Travis Kelce.

Speaking of Killa Trav, the Australian media has been tracking Taylor’s plane, and they found something interesting – after her private plane dropped her off in Sydney, the plane headed out to Honolulu. People think Taylor has sent her plane to pick up Travis. I guess the idea being, he would fly from Kansas City to Hawaii on a commercial flight and then get picked up by Taylor’s private plane? Hm. I genuinely hope that’s true, actually – I would love for Travis to join Taylor in Sydney and then stick around for Singapore. I bet he’s never been to Australia or Singapore!

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

As we discussed, the Times reported this weekend that Prince Harry apparently offered to “come back” temporarily and do some royal work while his dad has cancer. I said that it didn’t even feel like the Times spoke to anyone in Camp Sussex, that the whole “story” was either being pushed by Buckingham Palace, or it was a tabloid fantasy cooked up by piecing together random quotes from Harry’s recent GMA interview and other interviews he did last year. Hilariously, The Times barely even mentioned Prince William in their article, which is why I thought the original story probably didn’t come from Kensington Palace. Still, Kensington Palace rushed out to scream about the story immediately.

Prince William has told pals there is no chance Harry will be allowed back into the royal fold. The Prince of Wales is so angered by his brother’s continued attack on the monarchy that he will block any of his bids to return to The Firm. Sources close to William say that in the wake of King Charles’s cancer ­diagnosis, he would be the one to take on more duties himself if needed while it is understood he believes Harry and his wife Meghan “cannot be trusted”.

Reports have emerged that the Duke of Sussex, who quit as a senior royal with Meghan in 2020, is willing to return to a temporary royal role to support his ailing father. The Duke and Charles are said to have had several “warm exchanges” before Harry flew from his Californian home to the UK last week and spent 30 minutes with his father.

William and the King have had one-to-one meetings at the Royals’ Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where the monarch is recuperating after weekly cancer treatment in London. A source close said there is “no chance” the heir would allow his brother back.

“Whatever has been discussed between William and the King is private, but it is absolutely and categorically clear that he (William) would not allow Harry to return. He thought it was a bad idea at the time and he’s even more clear now. If anyone is going to take on more duties it will be William and that isn’t even on the agenda for now. His main focus is on his father’s health, his family and what is best for the monarchy. There is a zero per cent chance Harry is coming back in any capacity.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

LMAO @ “If anyone is going to take on more duties it will be William and that isn’t even on the agenda for now.” I’m picturing William stomping his feet and rage-shrieking: HARRY CAN’T COME BACK, I’M THE ONE WHO SHOULD DO THE WORK BUT I’M NOT GOING TO. Given this reaction, I really do believe the theory that Buckingham Palace is invoking Harry’s name and his potential “comeback” to smoke out William and force him to get off his ass and do some work. BP has been blatantly briefing against William for two weeks, openly discussing their “bewilderment” that William refuses to do anything. It’s fascinating to watch, especially when you don’t particularly care about either side.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Awards season alert: we have a double-header coming up this weekend (look at me using a sports term!) with the SAGs on Saturday and Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday. The SAGs always feel like a relief in the middle of the season, because they’re only about actors and therefore clock in at a tight two hours. But given the lean running time, I don’t understand why the SAGs don’t honor supporting actors in the TV categories. They do it for the film actors! That’s my only quibble with the show. And that is how we have this stacked category for Male Actor in a Drama Series, where Billy Crudup (The Morning Show) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) — who won the Critics Choice and Emmy in supporting categories, respectively — are nominated for the same roles alongside leading performances by Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin (both Succession), and Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us). All the nominees (save Brian Cox) just participated in a round table discussion for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, wherein Pedro shared a glimpse of his “psycho” method for learning lines:

“I bet I could show you a psychotic physical example of what I now have to do to learn my lines,” Pascal said in the video that also included Billy Crudup, Matthew Macfadyen and Kieran Culkin. “This is like a psycho first letter of every word. You see the letters, right? Basically, I’m the Unabomber.”

He continued, “You use the first letter of each in these towers or columns, I guess, and it’s this very, very tedious way of making yourself learn the line so that you’re not making choices. It’s not even sort of artistic, it’s just this really technical way I’ve had to acquire because of that horrible experience of forgetting my lines.”

Pascal will seemingly continue using this method of learning his lines for The Fantastic Four, the Marvel film he was recently confirmed to star in as Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic. The actor will also share the screen with Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

In addition to the superhero movie, Pascal will be seen in the near future in the second season of The Last of Us and the Gladiator sequel.

[From Deadline]

Not to split hairs here, but I’d call that worksheet he revealed more Zodiac Killer than Unabomber, though I concede that’s based on a fleeting glance. This story actually brought out the acting class nerd in me, when he briefly referenced wanting a purely technical method for learning lines. The idea is, you don’t want to predetermine or get stuck in one way of saying a line — at least not at the getting off book stage. Whenever I have anything I want to memorize, my method is equally as tedious as Pedro’s, if a little less convoluted: I handwrite the material in its entirety over and over and over again until I can write it all out by heart. Simple! So I appreciate where Pedro is coming from, and I applaud anyone who champions notetaking by hand. Where I’m losing him is with the practice of only writing out the first letter of a word. Because, you know, a single letter can be the start to any number of different words! What keeps this system from turning into live action mad libs? What stops a Joel Miller line like “You think I can still handle things but I’m not who I was,” from coming out as “Yo that ice cream sundae has triple butterscotch inside new wasabi infused walnuts.” And I love how the rest of the actors try to jump in and save him, like Billy Crudup saying “so you write this shorthand on the script?” And Pedro is like “no.” He knows he’s insane and he’s made peace with it. Hey, whatever works Pedro.

Photos credit: IMAGO/Jennifer Bloc / Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and screenshot from YouTube

In 2018, Prince William visited Israel and Gaza and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other local leaders. During the five-day trip, William’s staff briefed the British press that William “pledged to make Middle East peace his lifelong project.” He promptly forgot about it and did absolutely f–k all. Then, last fall, he and Kate issued a carefully-worded statement following the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack. And since then… nothing. No visits to synagogues or mosques, no follow-up statements of concern. Don’t get me wrong, this is one of the most sensitive political hot potatoes ever, and I completely understand why Downing Street would tell a bald, insensitive, charisma-vacuum to simply shut up and not blunder into this situation whatsoever. William couldn’t even attend the BAFTAs and chat with actors without his ghastly gaffes making international news. So… it’s interesting that Kensington Palace thinks that William is capable of threading this particular needle right now.

The Prince of Wales will recognise the scale of “human suffering” caused by the war in Gaza in his first public comments on the conflict since it began last October. Prince William, 41, expressed “profound concern” about the ongoing violence in the Middle East ahead of an engagement on Tuesday, in which he will meet aid workers involved with the humanitarian effort in the enclave.

The Prince will be briefed on the latest developments in Gaza and how charities are supporting those on the ground. He has been “closely following” the Gaza conflict since the Hamas terror attacks in Israel on Oct 7, the Telegraph understands.

He will join a synagogue discussion with young campaigners against hatred next week, in the wake of a sharp rise in anti-Semitism caused by the conflict. The Prince is keen to use his platform to highlight the plight of millions of innocent civilians on both sides. The two engagements will be among the first he has conducted since returning from looking after his wife as she recovered from abdominal surgery, and their three children.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “The Prince and Princess were profoundly concerned by events that unfolded in late 2023 and continue to hold all the victims, their family and friends in their hearts and minds. Their Royal Highnesses continue to share in the hope of a better future for all those affected.”

[From The Telegraph]

All of the British papers got the same statement and the same briefing, likely from William’s brand-new private secretary Ian Patrick. Patrick comes from the diplomatic world, and it looked like Patrick was basically assigned to William to help tutor this dumbass on How To Be A Soft Power Diplomat 101. Except William hates to read, he surrounds himself with incompetent staffers who fail to prepare him for events and he cannot be trusted in these kinds of sensitive situations. Weirdly, this whole “visiting a synagogue and speaking with anti-hate campaigners” is exactly the kind of thing King Charles would have done and has done a million times. Say what you will about Charles, but he’s always been very good in inclusive multi-faith conversations. His heir, not so much. Oh, William just issued this statement ahead of his events today:

“I remain deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October,” he said. “I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible. There is a desperate need for increased humanitarian support to Gaza. It’s critical that aid gets in and the hostages are released. Sometimes it is only when faced with the sheer scale of human suffering that the importance of permanent peace is brought home. Even in the darkest hour, we must not succumb to the counsel of despair.”

[From Sky News]

This is 100% the new guy, right? Worse yet, I absolutely believe that William is doing this last-minute, without guidance and approval from Downing Street or the Foreign Office. It will be interesting to see what happens.

A statement from The Prince of Wales pic.twitter.com/LV2jMx75DC

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) February 20, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.