Would you pay $150,000 for a dog?
Here's the best things I found on the internet this week!
What’s up party people!
Real quick, gotta get something off my chest. Apparently news of the movie theater demise was premature? Despicable Me 4 blew up over the holiday weekend ($230 million global) and the YoY gap has narrowed. Deadpool and Wolverine is gonna be a huge hit later this month. What gives?
We need to stop judging the “state of the movies” by any one individual release, whether good or bad. The two aren’t related. The truth of consumer behavior is that people will and want to come out to the theater, but only a couple of times per year for releases that feel like major events (ex. Barbenheimer or the “gentle Minions” phenomenon). For those movies, ticket sales will be as good or better than pre-pandemic levels. The difference is that no baseline exists for middling fare. If you fail to generate massive pre-release buzz, you fail to make profit. It’s as simple as that.
But here I am gassing on like it’s a Friday movies newsletter! Happy Tuesday!
This day is all about my “conversation starters,” a round-up of the best, most interesting and most entertaining content I found on in the internet in the past week. The goal here is help you cut through the overwhelming tidal wave of content you’re served up every day, and give you a chance to share some interesting tidbits with the people in your life. Enjoy!
What’s the coolest story or thing you found on the internet this week? Reply to this email and shoot me a link. Would love to hear from you!
What’s the most money you would pay for a dog? This rare dog breed in Montana costs $150,000 each — pairing military-grade protection instincts with the temperament of a house pet. This New York Mag story explores the types of people who would drop that kind of cash on a pet, and the growing market for ultra-luxury anything.
The website “internal tech emails” published an email thread between billionaire investor Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg from 2020 that is both incredibly interesting and also very instructive of the public path both Facebook and Zuckerberg have taken in the past few years. The basic premise — cater your appeal toward millenials over Boomers since they’re next to rule the world.
You’ve heard of homeschooling, but the latest trendy practice is “unschooling.” It’s exactly what it sounds like. “We don’t teach our children anything,” says one devotee, leaving the child to determine what they are interested in learning. If I grew up under this system, it’s amazing how much I would’ve learned about videogames.
Did the media botch the Joe Biden age story? There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over the past week, but I thought this column from Brian Stelter did the best job of presenting an even-handed take on why coverage was and wasn’t as critical as it could’ve been. I also found the conversation on Derek Thompson’s “Plain English” podcast about the topic to be very illuminating.
We already know the Boomers control all the money and real estate in the United States. Now developers are catering to their audience, starting seniors-only communities like the one the Wall Street Journal visited in Texas, the fastest-growing city in America, where 50+ers are partying “like college except they don’t have to go to class and they have $3 million in the bank.”
Andy Roddick was one of my childhood heroes, making his THREE Wimbledon finals defeats a core tragedy of my (admittedly spoiled) childhood. In a humorous new commercial, Roddick comes out of retirement to finally win Wimbledon….Wimbledon, North Dakota. (I’m just glad the famously tortured A-Rod can laugh about it finally)
On Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a revolutionary new technology for the city — the trash can (*gasp*). This video is so ridiculous, if it got parodied on “Veep” it would be called too unbelievable.
This is crazy. A one-armed chef in New York City is single-handedly (literally) running a sandwich operation from the shopping to the cooking in his home kitchen, to the marketing, graphic design and delivery in a custom cart. He’s relentlessly optimistic and the food looks delicious!! So inspiring.
Thanks for reading and sharing! On Friday we’re Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and Daddio…sorry to all the Minion-heads out there. You probably don’t want my thoughts on Despicable Me 4. Until then, take it easy!