Penticton Herald

Baby wishes, Dune, Borat & Chris Wallace

- JAMES MILLER — James Miller is managing editor of The Penticton Herald. Email: james.miller@ok.bc.ca

Let’s start with some happy news. Congratula­tions to former Penticton city councillor Max Picton (2014-2018) and his wife Desiree on the birth of their first child. Ivy Summer Picton was born at Penticton Regional Hospital (seven pounds, 14 ounces). Her proud grandparen­ts, who also all live in Penticton are: Wayne and Lilia Loewen, Debbra Loewen and Randy and Lynele Picton.

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Now some fun news... Sacha Baron Cohen is back in “Borat 2,” coming to streaming services, just in time for the election — Oct. 23. Among the gags is a visit to a Mike Pence rally. I’m hoping the bear from the ice cream truck returns for the sequel.

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A new “Dune” is coming to the big screen. I hated — and I mean hated — the 1984 version with Kyle MacLachlan and Sting, surprising because I usually enjoy David Lynch movies. It’s only one of two movies in my lifetime that I can remember walking out of.

——And the winner of the Mark Ruffalo look-alike contest is... the BoundarySi­milkameen NDP candidate Roly Russell.

——Cut some slack to Chris Wallace, moderator of Tuesday’s U.S. presidenti­al debate. I think he did as well as he could. What we’re witnessing is a public meltdown by the president, one that reminds me of Charlie Sheen.

Meanwhile, I thought Joe Biden missed a golden opportunit­y when he spoke proudly about his son Beau’s military record. I would have added, “...and who in your family has military service, sir?”

With the president and first lady now in quarantine, I don’t think we will see a second or third debate, unless it’s done on Zoom. That’s OK. Tuesday’s debate made the theatrical version of “Cats” look like Fellini by comparison.

I agree with outgoing BoundarySi­milkameen MLA Linda Larson that her riding should have held a proper nomination meeting rather than giving an instant coronation to candidate Petra Veintimill­a.

Larson, however, is hypocritic­al because she too was “appointed” as a candidate in 2011 when the BC Liberals parted ways with John Slater. She was the wrong person saying the right thing.

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National news outlets must read “Miller Time.” After last week’s column comparing Erin O’Toole’s letter to Conservati­ve members with Peter MacKay’s leadership platform, media in Ottawa picked up the story. We weren’t credited, but a monogramme­d pen-and-pencil set would have been nice.

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Thanks to the team at CBC Daybreak for having me as a guest, Monday morning, where we chatted about the Penticton riding in the upcoming election. If you missed the show and want to hear my clip, email me at the address below and I will send you the link.

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