Keepin' it bubbly

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Hubble cracks a few eggs, a new resort in Scotland’s famous whisky region, and another new record set for comic book collectibles.  

Let’s get into it!

The Coleburn Distillery opened in 1897 in northern Scotland’s Speyside, the heart and soul of Scotch whisky tourism and home to distilleries including Macallan, Glenfiddich, and Glenlivet.

41 years after going dormant, the Coleburn is being refurbished as a luxury whisky resort. The project is being led by an all-star team including former Benromach master distiller Keith Cruickshank and distillery design experts at Organic Architects.

D&M Winchester, a Scottish whisky company owned by brothers Dale and Mark are ushering in the project, and will be assisted by hospitality expert, Gwenda Smits.

Its soft launch is ongoing, and began with last fall’s launch of Local Heros—three different spirits comprised of the best the area had to offer, including Sweet Peat, Sherry Bomb, and Big Smoke.

A fine-dining restaurant will open this year, which used to be where the distillery kept its pigs. Oh, how far it’s come!

The hotel portion is expected to be finished some time next year, and will include luxury suites, a seriously luxurious penthouse suite, tasting rooms, a spa, and other features that will set a new standard for whisky tourism in the Auld Country.

The Hubble Telescope reminded the world it’s still got some game the other day, with the capture of the Egg Nebula sitting 1,000 lightyears away.

The Egg Nebula is in the pre-planetary stages of its death, meaning its Sun-like star began shedding its outer layers just a few hundred years ago. The solar dust is yet to be ionized by the heating core of the dying star, resulting in the misty glowing cloud you see in the photo above.

Astronomers are now positioned to follow nearly from start-to-finish the process of a dying Sun-like star becoming a planetary nebula, examples of which include the Helix, Stingray, and Butterfly nebulae.

“Twin beams from the dying star illuminate fast-moving polar lobes that pierce a slower, older series of concentric arcs,” Hubble said in a statement. “Their shapes and motions suggest gravitational interactions with one or more hidden companion stars, all buried deep within the thick disc of stardust.”

The planetary nebula formation process takes a few thousand years, so we’ve got a ways to go before the majestic cloud blossoms into its final form.

Is the codeword slang language of Gen Z cooked? Or does it have even more aura now that the New York Times has put its name on a (mis)guide to understanding today’s slang terminology?

The recently published NYT guide appears to believe it’s cracked the code, simply by suggesting today’s slang is actually just recycled from the past.

“Calling someone a ‘goon’ is no longer just a 1920s habit,” America’s paper of record wrote in its seminal work.

The elder Millennial children of Stakers have children of their own, and from what we can tell, these kids and their kids are definitely inventing new meanings for old terms—not recycling them.

Don’t believe us? Try asking a Zoomer what “goon” means 🙃.

The article also argues the term “brain rot” was actually invented by esteemed American author and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau. The preeminent scholars at Green’s Dictionary of Slang appear to disagree, given the term is yet to appear in the 16-year-running guide to history’s use of slang, dating back to the inventor of the concept—one William Shakespeare.

Green’s dictionary, by the way, is now available online for free if you’re looking for some choice content and a good giggle.

After an Action Comics Superman no. 1 CGC 9.0 sold in November for a record US$9.12 million, Heritage Auctions Consignment Director Nathan Howerton thought it could be the right time to arrange the sale of some other pristine copies of classic comics.

A former U.S. Marine himself, Howerton contacted his friend Simon Seymour, a fellow Marine, and owner of SemperFi comics to see if anyone in his circle would be interested.

The comics in question? Batman no. 1 CGC 9.4 and Superman no. 1 CGC 8.5 Mile High pedigree, the former of which is the highest-graded Batman comic known to exist, and the latter the second-highest Superman after the one that sold in November.

Both copies were originally bought for 10 cents, and they sold last week for $6 million and $7 million, respectively.

The Batman copy stands at the “summit of scarcity,” a term Heritage uses to describe comics that have transcended collectibles and stand as cultural icons (it also sounds like it could be its own comic book). The Mile High pedigree represents a similar status, in which a comic itself attracts serious investors as a store of major intrinsic value.

“We may be witnessing a transformational era in comic collecting,” Seymour said. “The combination of extreme rarity, global demand and sophisticated buyers has permanently reshaped the ceiling of this market. These books are no longer simply nostalgic artifacts—they are tangible pieces of world culture.”

Love is in the air

Just in time for Valentine’s Day this weekend, we’re testing your knowledge of love songs with today’s trivia 💝

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Thursday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*