Mission Impossible: Choosing Between Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Ethan Hunt

🍿 Let’s go to the movies! Judging by the aesthetic of this newsletter, it’ll come as no surprise that we rock with these immaculate vibes.

Be that as it may, we still can’t decide which summer blockbuster we’re seeing first. For the first time in what feels like forever, the internet is united in excitement to head to the theaters thanks to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Barbie, and Oppenheimer.

The internet agrees on nothing. But there’s as close to a consensus as you can get on this: these movies are going to be awesome.

Who cares how old Ryan Gosling looks as Ken? Who cares that he was a liability at defensive back in Remember the Titans? He’s going to be hilarious alongside Margot Robbie. And we could go on about Robbie all day. She’s a global treasure.

In Oppenheimer, you have Christopher Nolan plugging his longtime utility “that guy” into the lead role in Cillian Murphy. It’s enough to make you figure out how on earth to pronounce Cillian (it’s Killian). Early reviews are calling it Nolan’s masterpiece. This is a guy who made Inception, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, The Prestige. And THIS is his masterpiece.

Love or hate Tom Cruise, he lives to make entertaining cinema for viewers, and he’s wildly successful at it. With the latest entry in the Mission Impossible franchise, he’s done it again. The reviews are absolutely glowing. His longtime stunt double must’ve crushed it.

The best part? All three movies seem to be well-received critically. Not only are the memes fun, but the movies are actually delivering on the hype.

Go see them all. There’s nothing better than going to the theater. A couple hours in the dark with no phone, no worries, and no distractions. Two hours with no phone?! Talk about an impossible mission, but that’s the beauty of it: a true escape. Get a comically large soda. Get a comically large popcorn. Treat yourself, you deserve it.

🎺 Sound the trumpets. If you can’t tolerate the beginning of the movie Up, you might want to skip this section. The vibes are similar.

Three years ago, retired businessman Larry Kingsley’s wife Georgeanne was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. To stay connected with her, Larry dug out his old trumpet and re-learned how to play, ultimately taking to the street with his wife by his side to play for strangers. All the while, he was collecting donations for Alzheimer’s research.

Sadly, Georgeanne passed around this time last year…but the 83 year old Kingsley plays on.

He now plays six nights a week, raising more than $15,000 to combat the illness. We need to get a whole damn marching band to play alongside this absolute legend of a man. If you find yourself in Cary, NC, be sure to drop Larry a donation. [CBS News]

🥫Hungry to end food insecurity in the UK. We were inspired by two stories out of England this past week that feature good people doing their best to combat hunger in the community.

First, the Milton Keynes Food Bank must want to be featured in our New World Record section, because they’ve tasked their community with assembling 132,000 cans of food in a local park later this year. The aim? Break the world record for the longest continuous line of food cans. A little bit of fun could lead to a lot of meals for those who need them. Go on, MK! [MKFM]

Then, there’s the Felix Project. In memory of their son, Felix, who died of meningitis at age 14 in 2014, Jane and Justin Byam Shaw started a charity that takes surplus food from grocery stores and redistributes it to those in need. Felix once helped feed some fellow boys at a football tournament who had come to play without eating, moved and in disbelief that this could happen. Naturally, the Felix Project was a fitting way to honor his memory.

Last year, the charity saved 12,000 tons of food. The Byam Shaws have taken on a project that requires immense logistical work - packing and transporting so much fresh food to various locations - but their impact is just as immense. Their son would surely be proud, and they’ll feel that they’re helping to fill the void in the community left by his loss. Incredible. [BBC]

❤️ At last...Plenty of high school sweethearts have been forced apart by differing choices in college. It’s rarer, though, when they end up getting engaged six decades later.

Dr. Thomas McMeekin and Nancy Gambell went on to marry different people after their high school courtship ended. They saw each other at 50th and 60th high school reunions, both single at the latter, where there chemistry was apparent. Unwilling to waste any more time, when Gambell came to see McMeekin in Florida last month, he was armed and ready with a proposal.

@angelial.fedrick3

Rekindled love after 60 years! ❤️ There’s hope for us all! Congratulations Nancy and Dr McMeekin ❤️🥰🤗#DrMcMeekin #AAD #dermatology #truelo... See more

We’re ready to see Gosling as McMeekin and Robbie as Gambell in High School Sweethearts, hitting theaters summer 2025.

🥊 We got inflation on the ropes. Last week’s Consumer Price Index reading was very good news for investors and consumers. A 3.0% annual rate of inflation was the smallest increase since way back in March of 2021. Why does that matter? It means we might finally be shaking inflation, that the Fed can be encouraged against hiking rates much further, and that things just might get easier on us consumers.

And man, wouldn’t it be sweet if mortgage rates stopped flying higher too? If that happens and the price of avocado toast drops, millennials might just have a fighting chance at buying a home this lifetime.

In 1959, when Soviet First Secretary Nikita Kruschev spent a couple weeks in the United States, he had just two requests: meet John Wayne and visit Disneyland.

The famous American park opened on this day in 1955, providing decades of family memories ever since. While it was later usurped by Disney World in 1971, it remains a heavily-visited attraction, and it of course inspired the beloved parks around the world. Better yet, a 2005 report suggested that it supports over 65,000 jobs.

Kruschev did not get to visit due to security concerns, but maybe if he did, the Cold War would’ve ended much sooner, and Rocky Balboa wouldn’t have had to go all the way to Moscow to fight Drago on Christmas Eve to finally achieve peace.

Those keeping score at home will recognize that’s my second Rocky IV reference this month. Folks, I have so much more where that came from.

70 year old Bill Warner loves to ride his bike. Being such an avid cyclist, he didn’t suspect he had any heart issues. Nevertheless, he recently blacked out and suffered a heart attack on the bike. The next day, he needed emergency quadruple bypass surgery.

It could be worse. Warner would almost certainly be dead if not for a stranger who pulled over to help, administering CPR until paramedics arrived. Sadly, Warner’s family doesn’t know the identity of the great Samaritan who arrived at his aid in a blue Camaro like a white knight on a majestic steed.

Hopefully, we can all find out who this mystery badass is.

*Pull up in a sweet ride. Save a life. Hop back in and keep cruising.*

Just another day’s work for the Camaro Crusader. [NBC San Diego]

🏅No obstacle too high. Over the past couple weeks, the World Para Athletics Championships have unfolded over in Paris, and American athletes have been rewriting the record books. Among the history makers:

• Jaydin Blackwell broke the world record in the T38 400 meter, running 48.49 despite suffering from cerebral palsy.

• Ezra Frech was born missing his left knee and fibula. Think that stopped him from taking to the skies? Absolutely not.

• Noelle Malkamaki has amniotic band syndrome, but she still competes at the Division 1 level in the shotput at DePaul. She threw the shotput 13.32 meters to set the F46 world record.

These athletes haven’t been deterred by the obstacles in their paths. Next time we encounter one, we’ll keep them in mind as we try to fly right over it.

💪 Oh it’s a deep burn! How many pushups could you do before the burn became too much? Before your arms became wet noodles, hilariously incapable of holding your body aloft?

Well, Australian Daniel Scali just did 3,249 pushups in AN HOUR, eclipsing the prior world record of 3,206. Dude averaged 54 pushups a minute, and only three were disqualified due to form. The burn is bad enough without complex regional pain syndrome, which Scali has in his left arm, resulting in near constant pain traced to a severe break at age 12.

Next up for Scali? The abdominal plank record. He’ll have to hold it for over nine hours and 38 minutes to reclaim a record that was also once his.

Cool it, Dan, you’re making Ron Burgundy blush. [NBC 24]

🎾 Never too late to break through. Just months ago, Chris Eubanks was ranked outside the top 100 in the ATP Rankings. The 27 year old American had never made it out of qualifying at Wimbledon, nor had he ever made it past the round of 64 at a Slam.

Over the last two weeks, though, he set the tennis world on fire, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinal and coming within a set of the semis. On his path, he beat world #12 Cameron Norrie, world #5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, and he pushed world #3 Daniil Medvedev to 5 sets before bowing out.

“Big Banks” (he’s 6’7) has arrived, pushing his ranking to a new high of #43. Not everyone is a teenage phenom, but with consistent hard work and a little bit of confidence in an incredibly mental game, it’s never too late to assert yourself on the big stage.

If you’re frustrated things haven’t quite come together for you just yet, keep going - that big breakthrough might be right around the corner.

🏈 A miracle takes a village. By this point, we’re all familiar with Damar Hamlin’s story. But that damn sure doesn’t mean we’re tired of celebrating it!

Last week at the ESPYs, Hamlin presented the Bills with the Pat Tillman Award for Service, honoring all those who helped save his life. The tearful moment reminds us that sometimes, miracles do happen. It’s not his survival itself that’s miraculous - it’s the incredibly quick-thinking, well-trained, and coordinated actions of so many well-intentioned human beings that made it possible.

It’s crazy to think that when things align the way they did that night, humans can literally restore life where there was none. Judging by the video, we can count on Damar to make the most of what they gave him.

⚾️ Sometimes, you can meet your heroes. Every big leaguer started as a little leaguer, just looking up to the pros and pretending Big League Chew was chewing tobacco. Imagine what it would have meant to them to have an actual MLB player stop by practice for a meet and greet?

Without a sponsor in sight, at a humble folding table, Corbin Carroll did just that, visiting his old little league for photos, autographs, and fun. Just a couple hours of time can make a few dozen kids’ entire summer. Maybe their entire year.

Corbin Carroll, one of the good guys.

P.S. Little League really was just an endless exploration of ways to imitate dipping, huh? Sunflower seeds, Big League Chew, Bazooka Joe. The goal was always to fit as much into your mouth as humanly possible. That was a badge of honor. Ahhh, pastimes.