Thomas P
@tpshea.bsky.social
Music, education, bicycles, live band karaoke, existential dread. thomaspshea on Discord in case bsky becomes untenable and you want to stay in touch
seasonal hot take:
"O Holy Night"
is lyrically indistinguishable from
"December 1963 (Oh What a Night)"
"O Holy Night"
is lyrically indistinguishable from
"December 1963 (Oh What a Night)"
November 28, 2025 at 3:39 AM
seasonal hot take:
"O Holy Night"
is lyrically indistinguishable from
"December 1963 (Oh What a Night)"
"O Holy Night"
is lyrically indistinguishable from
"December 1963 (Oh What a Night)"
1. Ani DiFranco at the Mohawk college pub (Not a Pretty Girl tour)
2. Rheostatics (Whale Music tour)
3. Oasis when they were still called Rain
4. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard twice so far
5. Blues Traveler ↗️ Soundgarden ↗️ Pearl Jam ↗️Neil Young + Booker T and the MGs at the Ex.
2. Rheostatics (Whale Music tour)
3. Oasis when they were still called Rain
4. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard twice so far
5. Blues Traveler ↗️ Soundgarden ↗️ Pearl Jam ↗️Neil Young + Booker T and the MGs at the Ex.
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Wanda Jackson in a dive bar
Mary J. Blige & Nas together
Aretha Franklin
Lauryn Hill (she showed up over an hour late, performed for 45 mins 😒)
Grandmaster Flash
Wanda Jackson in a dive bar
Mary J. Blige & Nas together
Aretha Franklin
Lauryn Hill (she showed up over an hour late, performed for 45 mins 😒)
Grandmaster Flash
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:
David Bowie
Peter Gabriel
Devo
Tom Waits
Cab Calloway
David Bowie
Peter Gabriel
Devo
Tom Waits
Cab Calloway
November 28, 2025 at 1:22 AM
1. Ani DiFranco at the Mohawk college pub (Not a Pretty Girl tour)
2. Rheostatics (Whale Music tour)
3. Oasis when they were still called Rain
4. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard twice so far
5. Blues Traveler ↗️ Soundgarden ↗️ Pearl Jam ↗️Neil Young + Booker T and the MGs at the Ex.
2. Rheostatics (Whale Music tour)
3. Oasis when they were still called Rain
4. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard twice so far
5. Blues Traveler ↗️ Soundgarden ↗️ Pearl Jam ↗️Neil Young + Booker T and the MGs at the Ex.
a vampire but they only bite eyeballs: count macula
November 27, 2025 at 2:40 AM
a vampire but they only bite eyeballs: count macula
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - the Darlene Love version, which is the greatest of all Xmas pop songs, so that's alright.
It will be stuck in my head for the rest of the winter.
It will be stuck in my head for the rest of the winter.
Name the last song you've heard.
November 26, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - the Darlene Love version, which is the greatest of all Xmas pop songs, so that's alright.
It will be stuck in my head for the rest of the winter.
It will be stuck in my head for the rest of the winter.
Reposted by Thomas P
"Fascism ... is committed to a play of power and aesthetics that regards a desire for truthfulness as an admission of weakness. It loves a bullshit generator, because it cannot conceive of a debate as anything but a fight for power..."
Great piece from @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer.
Great piece from @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer.
Deflating “Hype” Won’t Save Us
The problem with AI isn’t hype. The problem is who and what it’s useful for.
www.liberalcurrents.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:22 AM
"Fascism ... is committed to a play of power and aesthetics that regards a desire for truthfulness as an admission of weakness. It loves a bullshit generator, because it cannot conceive of a debate as anything but a fight for power..."
Great piece from @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer.
Great piece from @hagenblix.bsky.social and Ingeborg Glimmer.
Reposted by Thomas P
LLM-powered chatbots need to be regulated for everyone, not just children
November 25, 2025 at 5:16 PM
LLM-powered chatbots need to be regulated for everyone, not just children
Reposted by Thomas P
The Fall-Winter 2025 legislative session is a full assault on municipalities, schools, pedestrians, cyclists, local democracy, and accountability.
Everything Ford does is to consolidate power, this sucks
There’s much chatter about Ford changing local government structure. What does it mean for Waterloo Region?
www.therecord.com/opinion/colu...
www.therecord.com/opinion/colu...
November 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM
The Fall-Winter 2025 legislative session is a full assault on municipalities, schools, pedestrians, cyclists, local democracy, and accountability.
Reposted by Thomas P
Holy effing shit. So long democracy.
November 25, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Holy effing shit. So long democracy.
I was gifted a class set of King's latest collection of poetry for my new NBE course, but having heard rumblings to this effect this summer I kept them in the box.
Not sure now what to do with them...double disappointed because I think it's his best work.
Not sure now what to do with them...double disappointed because I think it's his best work.
King's books, many of which i have read and enjoyed, are conspicuously absent from Bad Indians Book Club.
In case you were wondering if this was something a lot of us already knew.
In case you were wondering if this was something a lot of us already knew.
November 24, 2025 at 11:44 PM
I was gifted a class set of King's latest collection of poetry for my new NBE course, but having heard rumblings to this effect this summer I kept them in the box.
Not sure now what to do with them...double disappointed because I think it's his best work.
Not sure now what to do with them...double disappointed because I think it's his best work.
Dear World Socialist Website: the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.
smh
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
smh
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
<em>World Socialist Web Site</em> to launch Socialism AI
This revolutionary tool will harness artificial intelligence for the development of socialist consciousness in the international working class.
www.wsws.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Dear World Socialist Website: the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house.
smh
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
smh
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
Proposed Scrabble variant:
If someone has played a blank tile and you hold the letter that it represents, on your turn you are allowed to pick up the blank, put down your corresponding letter, and score the new value of that word (no premiums).
If someone has played a blank tile and you hold the letter that it represents, on your turn you are allowed to pick up the blank, put down your corresponding letter, and score the new value of that word (no premiums).
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Proposed Scrabble variant:
If someone has played a blank tile and you hold the letter that it represents, on your turn you are allowed to pick up the blank, put down your corresponding letter, and score the new value of that word (no premiums).
If someone has played a blank tile and you hold the letter that it represents, on your turn you are allowed to pick up the blank, put down your corresponding letter, and score the new value of that word (no premiums).
@clareblackwood.bsky.social is a karaoke champ. honored to be her ukulelist (ukulelian? ukester?) for the evening.
I got to make the entire karaoke crowd sing "Okay Blue Jays" with me last night at a charity media event, so we can tick that one off the ol' bucket list!
November 24, 2025 at 12:46 AM
@clareblackwood.bsky.social is a karaoke champ. honored to be her ukulelist (ukulelian? ukester?) for the evening.
"So… imagination is a way of rejecting domination. But now I want to turn that on its head and say that domination is the enemy of imagination." 👩🍳💋
So I was invited to accept an award for "imagination in service to society." This forced me to think a bit about what "imagination," "service" and "society" mean to me.
Here's the speech I delivered last night:
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
Here's the speech I delivered last night:
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
"The Enemy of Imagination": Here's the Speech I Gave Last Night
I had such an incredible day yesterday, y’all. First I was at the Trans Day of Literature at George Mason University, talking with incredible authors...
buttondown.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:50 PM
"So… imagination is a way of rejecting domination. But now I want to turn that on its head and say that domination is the enemy of imagination." 👩🍳💋
Reposted by Thomas P
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
We need more forceful ways to tell some people to go fuck themselves.
Opportunities abound for a whole new language of social disapprobation.
Opportunities abound for a whole new language of social disapprobation.
NEW: US senator Thom Tillis wants Canada to cough up a $300 billion “make up payment” for what he claims are Canada’s “shortfalls” on military spending over the past 20 years.
www.readthemaple.com/u-s-senator-...
www.readthemaple.com/u-s-senator-...
U.S. Senator Wants $300 Billion Military ‘Make Up’ Payment From Canada
Thom Tillis also suggested that Canadians should not criticize the lack of a universal public healthcare system in the U.S.
www.readthemaple.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
We need more forceful ways to tell some people to go fuck themselves.
Opportunities abound for a whole new language of social disapprobation.
Opportunities abound for a whole new language of social disapprobation.
Counterpoint: we could support parents' ability to spend more conversational time with their toddlers and encase AI in a cement block we sink into the icy depths of Lake Superior.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Canadian researchers look into how AI can better understand toddler talk like 'doodidees' | CBC News
Two researchers at Western University in London, Ont., are studying how to improve the way artificial intelligence understands toddlers' speaking patterns. They're recruiting preschool-age children to...
www.cbc.ca
November 22, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Counterpoint: we could support parents' ability to spend more conversational time with their toddlers and encase AI in a cement block we sink into the icy depths of Lake Superior.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Nothing to worry about. It'll only kill older people.
And people with underlying health conditions.
Maybe children too? We don't know yet.
Probably won't kill you.
You'll be fine, right?
You're built different, right?
Astonishing levels of eugenic-tinted ableism on display here.
And people with underlying health conditions.
Maybe children too? We don't know yet.
Probably won't kill you.
You'll be fine, right?
You're built different, right?
Astonishing levels of eugenic-tinted ableism on display here.
BREAKING: Man from Washington state dies after being infected with H5N5 bird flu
November 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Nothing to worry about. It'll only kill older people.
And people with underlying health conditions.
Maybe children too? We don't know yet.
Probably won't kill you.
You'll be fine, right?
You're built different, right?
Astonishing levels of eugenic-tinted ableism on display here.
And people with underlying health conditions.
Maybe children too? We don't know yet.
Probably won't kill you.
You'll be fine, right?
You're built different, right?
Astonishing levels of eugenic-tinted ableism on display here.
Reposted by Thomas P
Rails to trails
🚫 Pits trains vs bikes and pedestrians
Highways to bikeways
✅ gets rid of cars
🚫 Pits trains vs bikes and pedestrians
Highways to bikeways
✅ gets rid of cars
November 22, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Rails to trails
🚫 Pits trains vs bikes and pedestrians
Highways to bikeways
✅ gets rid of cars
🚫 Pits trains vs bikes and pedestrians
Highways to bikeways
✅ gets rid of cars
Reposted by Thomas P
The lesser evil is still evil, and will always give way to a greater evil.
Gramsci:
Gramsci:
November 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The lesser evil is still evil, and will always give way to a greater evil.
Gramsci:
Gramsci:
Reposted by Thomas P
I'm looking forward to performing at this tonight! Anyone who knows me knows that the only thing I love more than journalism succeeding in the face of an increasingly volatile and underfunded climate full of bad actors who slander the free press in order to further their own goals...is karaoke
It's mostly been bad news for journalists this year/decade/century, but here's some good news: Newzapalooza, the live-band karaoke charity party for journalists and media folks, is back on Nov 22 at The Duke (Queen St E, Toronto). Party for a good cause.
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
November 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I'm looking forward to performing at this tonight! Anyone who knows me knows that the only thing I love more than journalism succeeding in the face of an increasingly volatile and underfunded climate full of bad actors who slander the free press in order to further their own goals...is karaoke
Good thing my tele is waterproof. If I don't get beer sprayed tonight, we're not doing it right. See you tonight, #toronto
This was a great moment from last year's Newzapalooza party - my drums still have the beer stains.
November 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Good thing my tele is waterproof. If I don't get beer sprayed tonight, we're not doing it right. See you tonight, #toronto
Reposted by Thomas P
It's mostly been bad news for journalists this year/decade/century, but here's some good news: Newzapalooza, the live-band karaoke charity party for journalists and media folks, is back on Nov 22 at The Duke (Queen St E, Toronto). Party for a good cause.
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
November 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
It's mostly been bad news for journalists this year/decade/century, but here's some good news: Newzapalooza, the live-band karaoke charity party for journalists and media folks, is back on Nov 22 at The Duke (Queen St E, Toronto). Party for a good cause.
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
www.tixtree.com/e/newzapaloo...
fast entering the running for "best pope ever"
(yes, i know how low that bar can be, thank you very much please let me enjoy this moment of clarity)
(yes, i know how low that bar can be, thank you very much please let me enjoy this moment of clarity)
November 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
fast entering the running for "best pope ever"
(yes, i know how low that bar can be, thank you very much please let me enjoy this moment of clarity)
(yes, i know how low that bar can be, thank you very much please let me enjoy this moment of clarity)
re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"
November 22, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Reposted by Thomas P
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…