Julie Penner
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julespenner.bsky.social
Julie Penner
@julespenner.bsky.social
1.8K followers 470 following 1.1K posts
Musician, mother, arts worker. I play violin with Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, JP Hoe, etc. Made radio/podcasts with The Vinyl Cafe and William Prince. I tend to post about Winnipeg, biking, urbanism, and politics.

https://linktr.ee/JuliePenner
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julespenner.bsky.social
kenwhite.bsky.social Okay Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d
I saw Jesse Jackson speak at Stanford in 1988. He spoke in, with perfect irony, White Plaza. He was an extraordinary speaker, a master of classic oratory. Conservative writer P.J. O’Rourke famously gave him a backhanded compliment on it:
/1
February 17, 2026 at 7:30 PM
julespenner.bsky.social
❤️
cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 3d
Stuart McLean was one of the most beloved storytellers and humorists in Canadian history.
Known as the Story-Telling Comic, his stories explored both humorous and serious themes.
His show, Vinyl Cafe, was acclaimed.
This is his story.

🧵 1/10
Stuart McLean sits cross-legged on a dark green couch, hands clasped in front of him, wearing a black short-sleeve T-shirt, blue jeans, and dark socks. He faces the camera and is centered in the frame. Behind him, tall black bookshelves fill the wall from floor to ceiling, packed with books of many sizes and colors, with rows of CDs on the left. Two green throw pillows with light-colored designs rest on the couch, one on each side.
February 15, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Julie Penner
purlgurly.bsky.social
That observation reminded me of this story that I heard Michael Sheen tell on a podcast, about the best acting advice he was ever given:
What is the best advice you've been given for a speech? "I don't think I've ever been given advice about giving speeches, but the best advice I was ever given about acting was by another actor, Fiona Shaw. I was doing a play called Look Back In Anger at the National Theatre. I'd already done the play once before somewhere else and I thought I was pretty darn great at it. I started giving the performances at the National and the next day I came into the theatre and I saw her coming up to me and I thought, 'She's going to say how great I was in this play.' She came up and she said, 'It was very good, very good, but just be careful you don't enjoy yourself too much.' And she was absolutely right. Now, that's not to say you shouldn't enjoy doing what you're doing and put everything into it, but don't enjoy your self too much. There's no room for that, no time for that. You've got to be present, in the moment, connecting with people. But don't be standing there going, 'Oh, I really did that very well. Oooh, I got that laugh! I'm so funny!' None of that. No time for it. Do that in the bar afterwards."
February 15, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Julie Penner
jimsdouglas.bsky.social
Statscan has an annotated chart of Canadian fertility since 1920, highlighting changes and reasonable explanations. And Max Roser comes to similar conclusions:

ourworldindata.org/global-ferti...

www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91f00...
Canadian fertility rate since 1920.
February 13, 2026 at 4:19 AM
julespenner.bsky.social
It’s such a great song!
February 14, 2026 at 11:52 PM