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'Top Gun 3' in the Works, John Daly Hits a Ball over a Highway, and a New Family Member

Author

Ed Festa
January 19, 2024

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

TOP GUN: 'Top Gun 3' in the works at Paramount. And it appears they're getting the 'Top Gun: Maverick' band back together. Writer Ehren Kruger's on board, Director Joseph Kosinski's being recruited, and Cruise is planning to return too (obviously). But, before anything's a go, Cruise needs to sign off on the script (it's good to be Cruise). No timeline for release, but the rumors are putting this out to ~2026 or beyond.

COIN FLIPS: Scientists prove coin flips aren't 50/50. It's not heads. It's not tails. It's the side facing up when it's tossed that has the edge. A study out of the University of Amsterdam tracked 350,757 coin flips and found the upward-facing side 'won' 50.8% of the time. The study's by far the biggest ever (the previous record tracked 40,000 flips) and it’s being hailed as definitive. And while an .8% advantage may not seem like much, it’s better than a casino's edge on 6-deck blackjack (.551% by comparison). 

HISTORY: Alexander Hamilton's pistols sell at auction. Engraved with 'A.H.', a pair of pocket pistols dating between 1798 and 1804 belonging to Alexander Hamilton are headed to auction. $500K's the expected selling price, well under $1.15M that another pair belonging to 'A.H.' fetched in 2021. Note: neither pair are the ones Hamilton used in his ill-fated duel with Aaron Burr - those belong to JPMorgan Chase, and they keep them under lock and key. 

UVa: The University of Virginia makes tuition and fees free for in-state families making less than $100K. A great step in the right direction, UVa made this announcement last month in an effort to widen access for lower-income applicants. Elite universities do a bad job of enrolling students from poorer backgrounds - it's old data, but per the NYTimes in 2015, only 2.8% of UVa's student body came from the bottom fifth of household incomes. So cheers to this development, and let's hope even broader efforts are in the works.

Take the Day Off 🦆

Yesterday was National Peking Duck Day. Plum sauce and pancakes rank up there with God's greatest creations, and a shout out to Baoding in Charlotte, NC who've made me many a duck in recent years.

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: Manchego

We went to the playground last Sunday and left with a dog. 

That was a left turn this humble newsletter writer hadn’t expected as I'm notoriously slow to make big changes. I can overthink anything resembling a large commitment (insert joke about getting married late in life here). 

But I love dogs. I've always wanted one and before we got married, I got my wife to co-sign my plan for an English Bulldog named Johnsmoltz. 

Not John, or Smoltzie. Johnsmoltz (she still said yes).

But between fatherhood, the pandemic, a cross-country move, and multiple job changes for both my wife and me, it never felt like 'the right time.'  

Our daughter, however, has taken a different view. She’s been telling complete strangers that 'we don't have a pet yet' (emphasis most definitely hers).

Thinking middle ground might be the answer, my wife tried selling me on a chicken coop just a few weeks ago. 

'Less work than a dog, and we get eggs out of it,' she reasoned. 

I passed on the chickens (as you probably guessed). It seemed certain the family's collective interest would move on but the chickens would not, so against that backdrop, we went to the playground and ran into one of our neighbors. We buy girl scout cookies from these neighbors so I waved - I would've waved anyway but getting a jump on Samoas was added motivation. 

We got to talking, and soon her daughter (the girl scout) and husband joined - he was tethered to a herd of four dogs on leashes, two of which I didn't recognize.

The two were rescues they were fostering, a brother/sister pair of yellow labs found in a kill shelter in Bowling Green, KY.

'Kill shelter.' It's an awful term, intentionally so of course, and it got my attention.

The sister was off to a 'forever family' the next day but the brother was still available, and his name was Manchego. 

Good name. I wouldn't have chosen it, but it's still a good name.

He jumped up and licked my face, and I was stunned by how gentle he was. Only one year old he acted like he was six, and he seemed much more interested in people than trouble. 

And most importantly, he was great with our three-year-old. She hugged him, a lot. 

'Is he house-trained?'

'Yep,' our neighbors replied. 

'The only issue,' uh-oh, here it comes... 'is that he wants to be around you all the time. We let him out of his crate at night once and he ended up on our faces.'

A lab-on-the-face is a bit much, I concede, but otherwise that's a feature not a bug.

My wife gave me a look. We were on the same page - assuming appearances matched reality, I was in.

It was that fast.

Our neighbors proposed a trial run with Manchego, so on Thursday of last week, he came home with us. 

And by day two, he was helping my wife with her work:

By day three, he was cozying up to his best bet for extra food and treats:

And by day four, his examination of the best spot on the couch was nearly complete.

We asked the rescue to make it official at that point. They sent the paperwork, and we'll sign today.

And so far, still good. After an impressive stretch of perfect behavior, the pup's loosening up too - he pouts when he thinks his walks end too early (read: every time) and coaxing him off the bed before bedtime is a challenge. He figured out quickly that ignoring my first, second, and third 'commands' to get off resulted in no adverse consequences, and last night, he even gave me side-eye when I pointed to the ground. 

I won the battle eventually, but I suspect these negotiations will get tougher.

A big change, made quickly. Warren Buffett famously said that 'the biggest mistakes by far are mistakes of omission and not commission.' If we'd passed on Manchego, that would've almost certainly applied. 

But we didn't, and life's already better. More dog pics in subsequent newsletters (so buckle up). 

More Good Stuff

Lastly, a Great Quote

'All you need in life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.'

- Mark Twain