• The Good Times
  • Posts
  • Quantum Computing, Krispy Kreme, T-Pain & Tennessee Whiskey

Quantum Computing, Krispy Kreme, T-Pain & Tennessee Whiskey

Author

Ed Festa
December 22, 2023

Welcome to the Good Times. We all need a break, and we’d love to be yours in your regular news diet. Count on us for great reads, amusements, and fascinating stuff from the last week or so (in 5 mins or less).

Yes, we're doing this to amuse America (and ourselves), but we’ll also donate 10% of revenue to education and affordable housing charities when we start monetizing (not to worry though, this will remain a free newsletter). So kick back and enjoy.

The Good Times Roundup

QUANTUM COMPUTING: The Race for Quantum Supremacy is on. It's been quite a 5-yr stretch for the 'next big thing.' First, blockchain promised safer, decentralized everything and instead delivered bored apes and Sam Bankman Fried. And then it was the metaverse, still insisting that masks and avatars really are better than the real world. But finally, dear reader, we're getting somewhere - Chat GPT showed overnight the stunning power of generative AI last year, and quantum computing's now ready for its closeup. 60 Minutes did a segment on it a couple weeks ago and quoting Scott Pelley, quantum computers could 'solve problems in minutes that would take today's super computers millions of years.' Major players include IBM, Google, Honeywell, Microsoft, and China, all racing to create a workable and efficient machine because, as theoretical physicist Michio Kaku puts it, 'the nation or company that does this will rule the world economy.' Full segment here.

KRISPY KREME: Krispy Kreme Comes to France. I know I'm a little late to the party here but let's keep this fiesta going: a couple weeks ago, 400 Parisians lined up outside the 1st Krispy Kreme in France for its grand opening and per Krispy Kreme's director general in France 'when I shut the doors at 10pm I honestly thought people were going to kill me. They were tapping on the glass, wanting me to open up again.' God bless America and fear not Frenchpeoples, 500 Krispy Kreme 'points of access' are planned across the country in the next 12 months.

DODO: Dodo de-extinction plan in the works. Colossal Biosciences, the same company trying to resurrect the woolly mammoth, now wants to revive the dodo. Colossal's sequenced the dodo's genome and plans to pair it with that of a Nicobar pigeon, the dodo's closest living relative. Paired cells will then be injected into a sterile chicken and rooster, making them (in theory) fertile and capable of reproducing dodos (makes total sense, I know). Mauritius, home to the last known dodo that died in 1681, is the planned habitat for reintroduction. Saber-toothed tigers and triceratops aren’t in Colossal’s plans (yet)… but if anyone organizes a petition I’ll gladly sign.

GODZILLA: 'Godzilla Minus One' continues its global rampage, earning universal praise from critics (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) and more than $57M at the global box office so far. The movie was made for less than $15M, a pittance for something of its scale (for reference, Game of Thrones cost more per episode in the later seasons), and it's now generating oscar buzz.

T-PAIN & TENNESSEE WHISKEY: Early Christmas present here, this cover will blow your hair back.

Take the Day Off 🍪

It's National Cookie Exchange Day. Break out the mixer and the sprinkles, or do what I do and outsource to the pros - shout out to Brightside Bakery in East Nashville, best chocolate chip cookies around (per my 3-year-old). 

With every newsletter we'll run a featured article on topics ranging from kids, dogs, news, sports, or anything in between. Thanks for reading and without further delay...  

Today's Article: Sometimes Ignore the Memo

We're all proven wrong in life, some of us more often than we'd care to (or ever will) admit. But since humility's a good thing, I'd like to demonstrate some today and admit that I was all wrong in my assessment of Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins nerd troll of a Head Coach.

One look at him probably explains why my snap judgment was off. ‘Football guy' didn’t exactly come to mind.

He's a goof. At a recent press conference in Germany, he saddled up to the podium and greeted the press corps with 'I know what you guys are thinking. I'm bigger in person.'

And he's trollish. During Thanksgiving week, Jets fans hectored him for cozying up to the sideline heater, and he gave it right back: 'I'm cold,' he yelled. And then, 'Also winning.' 

It'll be a while before he reaches Mike Leach levels of quotability (sidebar, here's Leach's classic breakdown of a battle between PAC-12 mascots) but he's now on the shortlist of 'best interviews in sports.' A couple weeks ago, Peyton Manning asked McDaniel for 10 mins before the Dolphins Monday night game - McDaniel's response:

Oh, and he's a great coach too (see how long it took me to get to that?).

McDaniel doesn't look the part (5'9", 165 lbs), and his background's atypical. He walked on as a receiver at Yale (attended on a full academic scholarship, btw) and never caught a pass, but he once did 39 straight pull-ups and earned the title 'strongest on the team' pound for pound. 

After college he turned to coaching, landing an internship with Mike Shanahan and the Denver Broncos, and that sent McDaniel on his way - the Texans were next, and then a couple stops in the UFL under Denny Green before Shanahan hired him again onto a Redskins staff so jammed with NFL head coaching talent it's become legendary: Sean McVay (Rams), Matt Lafleur (Packers), and Kyle Shanahan (49ers) were all there - young, smart, and out to prove something. 

They cut good figures too - looked and sounded like coaches - but McDaniel was different, and maybe that (partly) explains why his journey to Head Coach took longer than his counterparts. By 2019, all three (McVay, Lafleur, and Kyle Shanahan) were in HC jobs, but McDaniel toiled for years more as an assistant before the Dolphins finally came calling with the big job in 2022. Finally, McDaniel could flex not only his technical skills but also his character as a leader. At the start of his tenure, he was asked what’s been different about the job from what he’d expected:

‘I didn’t think about how many people were depending on me, and my job more than anything was serving them… and so, in that regard, it’s the easiest job to get motivated for on a day-too-day basis.’

His players have clearly responded. This year the Dolphins lead the AFC East with a 10-4 record and they’re positioned well to make a run at the Super Bowl. And when they hung 70 on the Broncos a couple months ago they turned a lot of heads, especially those of casual (lazy?) types like me. The league record of 72 fully within reach, McDaniel ordered his troops to take a knee instead of lining up for a field goal at the end.

'That's called karma. Try to keep good karma with the Miami Dolphins,' said McDaniel after the game.

I'm obviously a convert - include my name on the fan club rolls. And I'm not the only one - for Halloween, Mike McDaniel was a popular costume for the under 4 set and when told about it, he responded 'that does not compute.' 

It does for the rest of us. Sports can be boringly predictable so when originals arrive we lean in, thrilled with the surprises they deliver. After his first look at Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio allegedly said 'who's this guy, he looks like a fire hydrant.' And then Yogi hit a couple out in his first two games. A befuddled DiMaggio gave him a look - 'what? I can hit homers too,' Yogi responded.

Maybe McDaniel's at the start of his own Hall of Fame career, or maybe he’ll flame out. Regardless, I'm glad he’s here and ignored lazy snap judgments like mine along the way.

Instagram’s a lot more fun now. To carry you out:

More Good Stuff

Lastly, a Great Pic

Arnold Palmer, Augusta, and an Eldorado (1973).