Head over heels

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Rollout sloppy for AI-driven pre-authorization in Medicare; Actress Cate Blanchett launches registry for people to protect their image and likeness; and a floating convenience store lands in the Toronto Harbour…🏪

Let’s get into it!

You probably don’t think of lemonade when you think of Jack Daniel’s, so maybe it’s surprising that there’s a lemonade-containing cocktail with the Tennessee sour mash as its base.

Try it, though, and you’ll quickly understand what a summer in paradise tastes like.

The Lynchburg Lemonade was named after the town in which the Jack Daniel’s Distillery operates, but it was actually invented in Huntsville, Alabama by restauranteur and bar owner Tony Mason in 1980.

Containing Jack Daniel’s, triple sec, lemon juice, simple syrup, and lemon soda, it’s a citrusy and refreshing beverage fit to take a load off any hot and humid day in the Heartland.

After a Jack Daniel’s sales rep met with Mason in 1982, during which he was served the drink and told the recipe, the company began advertising it nationally, which resulted in Mason suing for over $13 million. The court ultimately ruled the recipe was not a trade secret, and that Mason wasn’t owed damages for Jack Daniel’s using it.

He wasn’t awarded compensation, but Mason is unofficially still credited with inventing the drink, and its unguarded secret recipe is the following:

• 1 ounce Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey

• 1 ounce triple sec

• 1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

• 4 ounces lemon soda

• Lemon wedge, for garnish
  
  
  

When NCAA athletes secured the right to be compensated for their name, image and likeness (NIL), it changed the landscape of college sports, allowing the athletes to protect the value of their identity and its value.

While there are protections for actors, they’re under unprecedented threat with the rise of AI, which is sophisticated enough today to easily replicate the likeness of anyone for profitable content.

Cate Blanchett is among those in the industry leading the charge to protect people everywhere from having their name, image, and likeness being infringed upon. The actress has just announced the launch of the Human Consent Registry, through her organization, RSL Media.

“Your identity is your intellectual property, and every person should have a clear way to say what is, and is not, allowed to be used by AI systems,” the organization said in a press release.

The registry allows users to create an account, enter biographical details, and set their policy for use in AI at one of three levels: red (prohibited), yellow (permitted with terms), and green (permitted).

There’s nothing convenient about this convenience store. You need a boat to get to it, or a strong tolerance for extremely cold water. There’s nothing to moore your boat to when you arrive, and on top of that, nothing inside is what it seems.

That’s because this “fully-stocked” lifelike variety store is actually an extraordinary piece of artwork constructed by Toronto artists Trevor Wheatley and Cosmo Dean.

The piece is sitting pretty just off the shore of Toronto’s harbourfront, and is part of the city’s annual Floating Public Art program. It’s stepped up its game this year with the FIFA World Cup in town and more foot traffic along the harbour to pass by and admire the work.

According to Wheatley, the corner store concept was chosen given its unassuming but strikingly obvious depiction of ordinary Toronto.

"It's one of the most familiar and universally understood spaces in a city," he told Creative Boom.

"Almost everyone has a relationship to a convenience store, whether as a place to buy something quickly, meet a neighbour, or simply pass by on a daily route." Moving it onto the water “[lets people] see something incredibly familiar with fresh eyes. The store becomes less about what it contains and more about what it represents—ideas of convenience, desire, access, and our relationship to the urban environment."

“Nervous Nellie” is a term you almost certainly first heard used by a grandparent; it’s just one of those phrases.

But you probably didn’t know that the first documented use of the term was in 1915, when it was the name of a film.

The second documented use was found in The Journal, a Connecticut newspaper, in 1917, which wrote, “Nervous Nellie sees a mad dog on every corner. They’d got her going,” seemingly using the phrase in its modernly understood context.

However, its fame and widespread use are likely owed to former Minnesota senator and Secretary of State to President Calvin Coolidge, Frank B. Kellogg.

Kellogg was known for his visible display of nervousness, often twitching and stuttering, and laboring over every decision, big or small. It earned him the unfortunate title in print media at the time.

“Every Senator has a nickname, after he has been in Washington any length of time, and that by which Senator Kellogg was known in the privacy of the Capitol corridors and in all the official by paths derived from real or fancies traits in Senatorial character was “Nervous Nellie.”
—-The Baltimore Sun, 27 Oct. 1923

Was there actually a “Nellie”? No, but like many English phrases, writers and orators just couldn’t resist the alliterative attraction.

Lyrical madness

You might need to do some singin’ today to jog your memory, because we’re giving you lyrics, and you’ve gotta guess the song with today’s trivia! 🎵