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Sunday is International Women’s Day. Yes, the same day as Daylight Savings Time, meaning it will have only 23 hours—rendering it one of the shortest days of the year. As our Princess Weekes brilliantly phrased it, “the Black History Month of days.” But fear not, ladies. Giant corporations are stepping up to make token gestures of solidarity to tell us that we as women really matter. You know, for a day at least.

A single female-owned Shell gas station in San Dimas California will become “She’ll” for a day on Sunday, as part of a wider “She Will” initiative from the company which will include social media elements and a video “featuring some of Shell’s female employees and the company’s dedication to creating a gender-balanced workplace.”

This is a nice gesture, I guess, as far as oil companies can make nice gestures. As noted in the release: “While She Will is Shell’s latest initiative, over the past several years Shell has been committed to improving gender equality by increasing female representation on the Board of Directors from 8% to 33% over the last five years.” Overall there aren’t a lot of women, just 15% actually in the oil and gas industry, despite the fact that the featured “She’ll” station owned by Rene and Reem Anabi is one of the most successful in California.

The rebrand is supposed to show how “small gestures can motivate and deliver big messages,” but gestures do need to be part of bigger changes. That actually does seem to be the case here—though I’m sure the silly name will get more attention than the overall initiative, which is unfortunate, because the initiative is commendable.

I’m just sad San Dimas is inland so we can’t see Shell sell “She’ll” Shell down by the seashore.

Here are a few of the other things we saw today.

• Students are leaving personal notes to Elizabeth Warren by her picture at Harvard and we’re not crying, YOU’RE crying. (via CNN)
• Speaking of:
  

  Silver lining on today is that I can finally tweet this truly epic shot of Warren staff reacting to Jacob Wohl claiming our boss was having a BDSM affair with a young marine. #GoCougars pic.twitter.com/LcmB1eSnFj

  — Lee Sova Claypool (@lee_gsc) March 6, 2020

• And here’s how much it would actually cost Marvel heroes to live in their neighborhoods. (I always just assumed SHIELD or Tony paid their rent?) (via AM New York)
• AJ and the Queen has been canceled. (via Variety)
• In a turn around from earlier in the week, Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle has been rescheduled because of COVID-19.
  

  After many hours of conversation internally & consultation with local government officials and the tourism bureau, we have decided to move next week’s Emerald City Comic Con to Summer 2020 with date & detail announcement forthcoming. Read more at https://t.co/ahL1TOmHLF #ECCC2020 pic.twitter.com/qq3ZnDPXWb

  — Emerald City Comic Con (@emeraldcitycon) March 6, 2020

• SXSW has ALSO been canceled.
  

  An Update on SXSW 2020. Please read our full statement here: https://t.co/P56nF8KFmE pic.twitter.com/ouJPKM9GNy

  — SXSW (@sxsw) March 6, 2020

• The DA has recommended that Harvey Weinstein receive a harsh sentence because of his “total lack of remorse.” Agreed. (via Deadline)
• Get paid to watch The Office! (via Thrillist)
• The Russos and The Obamas are making a movie for Netflix. (via Comicbook.com)
• And finally: stroll happily into your weekend like this sweet, senior porcupine:
  

  Porcupine fitness routine is on point pic.twitter.com/3FJykiJsUb

  — Oregon Zoo (@OregonZoo) March 6, 2020

It’s the weekend! What did you see today?

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In today’s edition of “everything you loved from the past is inevitably coming back,” Deadline is reporting that the Canadian sketch comedy series The Kids in the Hall will make a return some 25 years after it left the airwaves. Only this time, the Kids are coming back via Amazon Prime. And this reunion will include all the original cast members from the 1989-95 series; Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson have all signed on to return for an eight-episode run. Producing this revival, as he did the original show, is SNL‘s Lorne Michaels.

Amazon Prime

In a statement, Michaels said “Even after 30 years, The Kids in the Hall has retained its brilliance and originality. We are happy to be bringing back all of the original ‘Kids’ for the new series.” The fellow Canadian Michaels saw the troupe perform in 1986 and started plans for a TV series. He sent the Kids to a “Comedy Boot Camp” in New York in 1987 and by 1988, they made the pilot.

Running for five seasons and over 100 episodes, The original Kids in the Hall was a weirder, quirkier version of SNL, produced in Canada for the CBC. But it found many fans here in the States, running on HBO, Comedy Central, and even on CBS for a brief period. The show ended in 1995, but the following year the comedy troupe came together again for a feature film called Brain Candy. There have been other reunions since then, such as the 2010 mini-series Death Comes to Town, and a pair of live tours in the 2000s.

CBC

The actors from the series all went on to successful solo careers. Dave Foley ended up in the popular sitcom NewsRadio, and voiced Flik in A Bug’s Life. Bruce McCulloch would become a writer in SNL, and Mark McKinney would be a regular cast member on that series for several seasons. Scott Thompson would continue to act in several movies and television series, most recently American Gods. And Kevin McDonald became a prolific voice actor, and you can hear him in shows like Invader Zim, Phineas and Ferb, and more. But as good as these guys are separately, together they were magic.

One thing the original report mentioned that should make longtime fans happy is that the cast is said to be bringing back most their original recurring characters. So yes, this means we will very likely see the return of the Chicken Lady, Francesca Fiore and Bruno Puntz Jones, Headcrusher, and The King of Empty Promises. We can imagine that after so long a time away, the cast has a ton of new characters that would love to unleash on an unsuspecting and eager audience as well. And we can’t wait for it. Just be sure to keep that awesome theme song “Having an Average Weekend” by  Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. It just wouldn’t be the same without it.

30 Helens agree, a reboot of The Kids in the Hall will be just what the comedy doctor ordered.

Featured Image: CBC

The post THE KIDS IN THE HALL Return in New Amazon Prime Series appeared first on Nerdist.

BMW’s round logo is receiving its first redesign in more than two decades.

The German automaker’s refreshed logo ditches the black ring for a transparent circle. The rest of it, including the typeface, has a flatter and more modern look. The blue and white emblem inside the ring remains, according to CNN.

The new logo, which will be used in BMW’s communications efforts, including its social media platforms and website, is meant to “radiate more openness and clarity,” Jans Thiemer, BMW’s senior vice president of customer and brand, said in a statement. He added that the new look also symbolizes BMW’s “significance and relevance for mobility and driving pleasure in the future.”

Fans have speculated that the inside of the most recent logo represents a propeller, but BMW said the white and blue pattern represents its German home state of Bavaria. The “propeller myth” originated from the company’s old ads that promoted its airplane engines. Doug Sellers, executive creative director for design firm Siegel+Gale, told CNN Business that the new logo feels “more open and accessible” to younger customers that are digitally savvy.

Including segments MINI and Rolls-Royce, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) generated around 97 billion euros in revenue in 2018. As of June 2019, the BMW marque is the third-most valuable automotive brand in the world, according to statista.com.

Furthermore, BMW has announced plans to double electric vehicle sales within two years. If successful, this should increase the company’s electric passenger car market share in Europe, which currently stands at 1%. Full electrification awaits the company’s MINI brand, and the company may even have ambitious ideas for fully electric, high-performance sports cars and motorbikes. The global electric fleet-size is expected to grow ten-fold to 127 million vehicles in 2030.

(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

In a meeting with airline CEOs and coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, Donald Trump let everyone know how much better he is at coronavirusing than the rest of us.

After discussing what airlines are doing to protect passengers and what passengers can do to protect themselves (seriously, wash your hands!), Trump chimed in to tell the room, “I haven’t touched my face in weeks,” adding “I miss it!”

In a humorous moment, as Dr. Birx talks about precautions people should take in washing their hands and not touching their face amid coronavirus outbreak, President Trump interjects: “And I haven’t touched my face in weeks, in weeks. I miss it.” https://t.co/aiXgwPARlr pic.twitter.com/T5ckD9y2qj

— ABC News (@ABC) March 4, 2020

He was, obviously, joking. (And it is legitimately hard to avoid touching your face.) But it’s still a weird time to try to get a laugh. 11 people in the US have died from COVID-19, with at least 149 known cases across 13 states, and Trump and his administration seem determined to screw up their response to the epidemic at every turn.

Trump: “I haven’t touched my face in weeks. I miss it.”

A real president: https://t.co/KsUzM7YINJ

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 4, 2020

On top of that, many people were quick to point out that his statement wasn’t even accurate. Not that jokes have to be 100% factual but come on:

Here’s President Trump on Monday during a coronavirus meeting https://t.co/yA7mJ2qjBL pic.twitter.com/kM4e4aDqdU

— Tyler Bartlam (@tylerbartlam5) March 4, 2020

By the way, someone should pass that advice on to Mike Pence, Trump’s appointed head of the coronavirus task force. This is from the same task force meeting as that picture of Trump:

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We’re so f***ed.

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