🎮 Rocky road
Don't call it a "girl dinner," masters of a different universe, and much more...
Mornin’. As a tried-and-true Californian, the answer to the recent heat wave means a trip to the beach for a cool dip in the water.
But what do you do when that cool dip feels more like a crab broil? That’s something the folks in Southern Florida experienced this week when scientists measured the ocean water off the coast of Florida at a temperature of 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit (or 38.4 degrees Celsius).
We know, we know: We’re beginning to sound like a broken record about broken records this summer. The hottest June ever was last month. The globe’s hottest day was July 4…then July 5, then July 6. Then it was the hottest week of all time.
We don’t mean to add another record to the playlist, but if the Florida temp is officially verified, it would be a record for seawater, eclipsing the previous mark by 1.5 degrees (Kuwait Bay, 2020).
I guess we can hold on to the idea of Hot Tub Time Machine 3: Where Back to the Future meets Bay Watch until the writers and actors return to work.
—Marques Edge, Tim Leong, Eric Alt, Andrew Nusca
Buffed/Nerfed
What’s up and down in the world rn.
Buffed: DIY draping. Los Angeles teen Karla Torres was crowned winner of a duct tape prom dress competition. Adorned in a Marie Antoinette-style gown, she was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. Her date must have been singing stuck on you.
Buffed: Adidas’s Yeezy sales. The German sportswear brand sold a batch of the leftover shoes following its split with Kanye West. The $565 million in online sales helped the brand recoup some of its losses, so you could argue that it definitely was the shoes.
Buffed: Cherlato. The 77-years-young pop singer Cher teamed with a New Zealand ice cream company to bring her own gelato brand to fruition. Like Jack McFarland, we can’t wait for a scoop of “If I Could Turn Back Lime.”
Nerfed: Trader Joe’s recall. The popular grocery chain was alerted by a supplier about potential “rocks” in two of its branded cookies. (It’s asking customers to either discard or return the products for a full refund.) Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Buffed: Beavers saving the environment. Once seen as a pest, California is now embracing the tree-chomping rodent to help with water issues and wildfires. Time to invest in that Buc-ees franchise. —ME
Field Upgrades: Have you heard of 'girl dinner'? Now there's 'gamer dinner.'
Level up.
It’s a TikTok trend that has sparked discourse, backlash, and imitations (as they do).
While the world is held in the sway of so-called girl dinners—a term, for the record, to which we vehemently object—we explore how a snacking-like approach to dining can actually help gamers fuel up and reduce clean up.
Contributing writer John DeVore lights the fuse on the next big food trend—well maybe.
Speed Run: The real Wolf(e) of Wall Street
Two-minute talks with today’s movers and shakers.
What’s it like to be a finance guy whose vibe is more Wade Watts than Jordan Belfort?
Well, we found one such person. Meet Joe Wolfe.
The BlackRock portfolio manager and chief analytics officer sat down with contributing writer Reggie Wade to discuss how he balances life chasing financial success on Wall Street while pursuing his love for video games.
Shameless Plug: ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II’ Season 05 is coming
The fifth season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II arrives at 9 a.m. Pacific on August 2, and let’s be honest: We’re stoked.
There will be new maps. There will be new threats. There will be new twists. There will be…a celebration of 50 years of hip hop? Yeah, we really can’t wait to dig into this one.
The official Call of Duty blog has all of the intel you need before the operation gets underway.
Fun Fact Friday
Where my chocoholics at? Today celebrates the most popular member of the chocolate family. Happy National Milk Chocolate Day!
Milk chocolate was born in 1875 to Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter, who combined his chocolate with powdered milk that was invented by Henri Nestlé. (That’s right, the founder of the Nestlé chocolate company.)
After much fine-tuning, they finally created the first successful milk chocolate bar in 1887. It was dubbed "Gala Peter," gala being from the Greek meaning "from the milk."
Did you know? The average American consumes approximately 10 pounds of chocolate per year.
OK, but who leads the world? That be Switzerland, with an average consumption of about 22 pounds per person a year. (That’s a whole lot of Swiss Miss.) —ME
Wormhole
Click the following image and…well, we don’t want to ruin the surprise.
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