Kadchgall, as we all know, is a Pashtun hard cheese that originated in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is made by clotting sheep's milk with yogurt, but in some cases camel's milk is also used. In other words? It has absolutely nothing in common with this reasonably high-quality newsletter. That said, I've used it in today's cheese pun because there's a wide variety of cheddlines today, and we needed an umbrella term to cover the hold lot. What better? Don't do anything too focused and specific today. Let's keep it broad and general, yeah? —Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor |
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"Hey, look, we can take a joke. It's all in good fun." – Steve Silverstein |
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1. Miss Last Night's Meteor Storm? Try Again Tonight! |
Last night the Draconid meteor shower, which lasts until Thursday, "peaked" just after nightfall. Still, the Draconids are expected to produce about 10 meteors an hour tonight, caused by the Earth passing through the debris left by comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which orbits the sun approximately every seven years.
In some years, the Draconids have displayed a significant increase in activity, known as a "meteor storm," with the most notable ones occurring in 1933, 1946, and a recent large showing in 2011. While the next close approach of the comet is predicted for 2025, there remains a chance of an outburst. It's sort of like when you innocently ask your wife if she took the trash out yet. Brace yourself.
The best viewing experience is from a dark location away from city lights, using the naked eye. No special equipment is necessary, but the experience can be enhanced by using a reclining chair or lying on one's back [insert Beavis and Butthead joke here]. Read More |
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2. Did 'Joker: Folie A Deux' Flop at the Box Office? Mais, Oui. |
I hated The Joker because it felt like the sort of movie made deliberately for the kind of people intent on doing mass shootings. Still, it got 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and debuted at $96.2 million, making a total of $1 billion worldwide. That's the most ever for an R-Rated movie until Deadpool & Wolverine broke the record in August this year.
Evidently that was enough money to persuade the, er, creative minds at Warner Bros. to make a sequel which, oops, flopped this weekend. Does this mean we can quit while we're behind with the Joker movies, then? Puh-lease.
The oddly named "Joker 2: Folie à Deux" performed disappointingly at the box office, earning only $39 million during its opening weekend. That's despite costing over three times more to produce than the original. Critics panned the film, which also received a low D CinemaScore from audiences, marking a stark contrast to the original "Joker" that won multiple Academy Awards,
The film's budget ballooned to $190 million thanks to high costs, including significant paydays for stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, and extensive location shooting. The film's reveal at the Venice Film Festival, aiming for an awards season buzz, backfired with mostly negative reviews. Marketing the film as a musical was also completely insane. Like, wow, people. Seriously.
Next up: "Joker 3: Menage à Trois". Kidding. Although that's a pretty good idea if they do need to recoup some of their outlay. Go for the lowest common denominator, folks! Read More |
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| Look, no hands!
HL Mando, a South Korean company, has developed an autonomous valet parking robot called Parkie. This little gadget can slide under your car, lift it, and squeeze it into super tight spots where the doors can't even open.
Drivers hop out first, and then Parkie takes over parking duties.
Right now, HL Mando is aiming their invention at owners of big buildings and parking lots, helping them fit in more spaces by packing cars closer together. |
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3. Mark Zuckerburg Joins the $200B Club…Eugh |
It's the stupid RayBan glasses and the restyle to look like that friend of yours from high school who got arrested for dealing drugs that did it, people. Mark Zuckerberg, the tech genius behind Meta, is now the fourth person to be worth more than that amount of money. The others are Jeff Bezos ($200.9 billion); Larry Ellison ($203.8 billion) and Elon Musk ($249.6 billion).
This is where I'm supposed to say something nice about these men but I'm afraid I would not want to go to that dinner party because they all strike me as…well. Maybe I'd like to go to the dinner party if it was on Mars and they paid for my space rocket home. Okay. I'll bite. But we're not watching any meteor showers after. That's a hard no, Mark-o.
Meta's stock ticked up 1.4% late last week, and Zuckerberg's fortune is closely tied to his vast ownership of Meta shares, totaling around $345 million, which translates to an approximately 13% stake in the tech behemoth. The firm's shares are up 67% since early 2024. The bounceback is in stark contrast to 2022's low point, where Zuckerberg's net worth dwindled to a paltry $57.7 billion. Loser.
The billionaire landscape saw LVMH's Bernard Arnault slipping to the fifth spot with a net worth of just $185.6 billion. It must absolutely suck to be him, huh? Read More |
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4. Spirit Halloween CEO Reacts to SNL Skit and Why They Clapped Back (Hint: Free Publicity) |
We spoke with Spirit Halloween CEO, Steve Silverstein, who didn't like that Saturday Night Live mocked his store last weekend. In the Season 50 premiere that aired Sept. 28, a fake commercial poked fun at the store for "helping our struggling communities by setting up shop in every vacant building in the country."
The skit joked that Spirit Halloween stores often appear in "a condemned AutoZone where a murder happened" and provide customers with "wigs that give you a rash." It also made fun of the store's employees.
Spirit hit back on Twitter by posting a mock costume for SNL called an "Irrelevant 50-Year-Old TV Show." The costume comes with "dated references, unknown cast members, and shrinking ratings."
"Hey, look, we can take a joke. It's all in good fun," he said. "We've got something to say as well. And thank you to Saturday Night Live for noticing us, and it's all part of the spirit of Halloween."
The store was officially open on August 1.
"We call that the official first day of Halloween, because Spirit says so," he said. "We opened 500 the first week in August and we will be fully open by the by next week, 1,525 stores this year."
That's a lot of Halloween stores. Last year Steve and his wife went to Halloween as Barbie and Oppenheimer. This year, Deadpool and Wolverine have been big, and so has Beetlejuice. So have Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Or you could come up with your own Halloween costume that doesn't involve spending money at the store. But that would be un-American. Read More |
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5. The Gulf Braces for Another Storm: Hurricane Milton |
The weather people have named a hurricane after the character from the 1999 movie Office Space who famously said, bargaining with the mundane horrors of office life; "I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven".
That's all that's even remotely funny about this storm, which is set to make landfall on Wednesday in Florida. It's rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, fueled by the record-warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite a possible decrease in category, Milton's increase in size means its dangerous effects will be felt across a broader area. Areas from Cedar Key to Naples, including Tampa and Fort Myers, are at risk of facing the hurricane's dangerous eye and eyewall. It comes just 10 days after Hurricane Helene battered the same regions, claiming more that 265 lives.
Efforts to mitigate the impact are in full swing, with local communities and FEMA mobilizing resources. If you're in Florida, I'm sending you my best wishes and best of luck. Read More |
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