Dak Prescott had tears in his eyes after the game while talking about his mother, who passed away in 2013: “I woke up this morning just a little emotional, way more than normal. … In the moment (of breaking the Cowboys’ TD pass record), I just felt my mom. My mom was never short or never hesitant to tell me how proud she was of me. She was never, never, never short of that.
“And I could just hear that. And that’s enough. Thankful that my teammates, my coaches and everybody believe in me and all that, but that’s enough. And I heard that my whole life growing up and I hear it now as loud as I’ve ever heard it. I’m just blessed.”
I'm good with this pic. What you see is assimilation into American culture. None of these individuals will turn into America hating lowlifes. They know the USA is a great place and will contribute every way they can to continue it. "Welcome to the party pal !"
I reread this every year.
I cry like a baby every year.
Todd Beamer died a father, husband, and hero.
Todd: Hello… Operator… listen to me. I can’t speak very loud. This is an emergency. I’m a passenger on a United flight to San Francisco. Our plane has been hijacked.
Lisa: I understand. Can they see you?
Todd: No. There are three that we know of. They have knives — razor knives, like box cutters. Someone announced from the cockpit there was a bomb. It sounded fake.
Lisa: Your name?Todd: Todd Beamer. United Flight 93.Todd: They killed one passenger in first class. They forced most of us back. Fourteen of us here. Five flight attendants. The guy with the bomb ordered us to sit on the floor.
Lisa: Are you okay?
Todd: We’re going down… wait. No. We’re leveling off. We changed directions. We’re flying east again.
Todd: A guy named Jeremy called his wife. She told him two planes hit the World Trade Center. Lisa, is that true?
Lisa: I have to tell you the truth. It’s very bad. Both towers are gone. A third plane hit the Pentagon. Our country is under attack. I’m afraid your plane may be part of their plan.
Todd: Oh God. Lisa, will you do something for me? Call my wife and my kids. Promise me you’ll call.
Lisa: I promise.
Todd: Our home number is… You have the same name as my wife. Lisa. We’ve been married ten years. She’s pregnant with our third child. Tell her I love her. I’ll always love her. We have two boys — David, he’s 3, and Andrew, he’s 1. Tell them their daddy loves them and he is so proud of them. The baby is due January 12th. I saw an ultrasound. We still don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy.
Lisa: I’ll tell them. I promise, Todd.(Lisa patches in the FBI.)
Agent: Todd, your plane is on a course for Washington. Best guess is the White House or the Capitol.
Todd: I understand. I’ll be back.
Todd: Everyone knows this isn’t a normal hijacking. We have decided we will not be pawns in their plot.
Lisa: What are you going to do?
Todd: Four of us are going to rush the one with the bomb. Then the cockpit. A stewardess is getting boiling water. We’ll take them out.
Todd: Would you pray with me?They pray the Lord’s Prayer. Then: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
Todd: God help me. Jesus help me.Are you guys ready? Let’s Roll.
I spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes this morning.
He said we should end the war with Iran, quit giving aid to Israel, stop spying on Americans without a warrant, and he’s really sorry about how my primary turned out.
enjoying doom’s latest chapter is bittersweet because of the layoffs particularly at id software. as bad as it feels, i like caring and wondering about the people who made this game, its excellent level design, improved soundscape and music, and blazing fast gameplay. im glad to be caring about the humans that made it, that it’s not just content for the sake of it. im grateful to the people who made it, to their talents and skill to finish killer projects consistently for the last 10 years. what a legacy!
We made the film INDEPENDENCE DAY patriotic by divine intervention because the producer is a woke Hillary Clinton fund raiser who is not patriotic at all! He thought he was making fun of America’s spirit. Boy does he regret casting me. 🤣🤣🤣 Up yourrrrs, Roland!
🚨#BREAKING: A 28-year-old confirms he has spent the last 10 YEARS of his life interviewing World War II combat veterans to keep their stories alive...
...in fact, for the last 10 years, he has interviewed World War 2 veterans EVERY SINGLE DAY
He started as a teenager, ditching school to ride his BIKE to the local retirement home, walking up to the front desk and asking to, "meet some World War II heroes."
His name is Rishi Sharma.
He's crossed all 50 states and half the world.
He's slept in his car and lived on gas-station food to afford it.
He asks these men for hours of their memories, and then he hands the entire recording to their families...
...FOR FREE
So that 200 years from now, a great-great-grandchild will know not just their hero's name, but how he laughed, how he cried, and what he sacrificed.
Rishi has no military family, his parents immigrated here from India.
He does it out of pure gratitude.
In his words:
"My parents were given the opportunity to immigrate and raise a family because of veterans like these. It's a debt of love I'll spend my entire life trying to repay..."
As one 100-year-old Marine who stormed Iwo Jima told him, remembering the flag going up:
"The hair on my arms still stands up when I think about how beautiful it was."
THAT is America.
250 years of ordinary people doing extraordinary things...
God bless our veterans. 🇺🇸🇺🇸
Oliver Nickell
June 29th, 1993 – June 14th, 2026
Oliver Tree Nickell, beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend, passed away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday, June 14, 2026, in a tragic accident at the age of 32. Known as Oliver Tree, he was an artist, storyteller, singer, songwriter, producer, director, editor, actor, filmmaker, entertainer, traveler and creative force; he had just performed in São Paulo as part of his 7-continent world tour.
Oliver was born in Santa Cruz, California. From the beginning, Oliver always had the most astonishing and relentless creative drive. He began producing skits, music, and drawings as early as 5 years old. He spent ten years racing BMX, cycle cross, cross country, mountain biking, downhill racing and free-style dirt jumping. Oliver was a DJ in his teenage years and started performing shows under the name "Kryph", where he opened up for big artists in the dance scene. At 17, he signed with R&S Records, under the moniker "Tree", where he put out his first official body of work "Splitting Branches”. During this period, he attended San Francisco State University and later graduated from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2017. At CalArts, Oliver created the “Oliver Tree” project, which included producing, directing, acting, touring, film-making, and song-writing.
In 2016, “Turbo” was born, a character he developed for the internet, who was loud, colorful, bright and hilarious. That same year, he released his first single on all platforms as Oliver Tree, in collaboration with Whethan titled "When I'm Down". The song became a huge success and went gold. In 2017, Oliver signed with Atlantic Records and shortly after released his first viral hit song “Alien Boy” which was produced with his childhood friend Casey Mattson, as well as frequent collaborator Imad Royal. It was a song that truly encapsulated the Oliver Tree brand. Oliver then went on to release his debut album “Ugly Is Beautiful”, which hit the top 15 of Billboard 200 and reached number 1 on Billboard‘s Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. Oliver also released a deluxe version of the album which included the song "Life Goes On", a track that was produced with long-time friend and collaborator Getter. This song propelled Oliver into a global audience and was a commercial hit. Followed by the success of Oliver’s song "Miss You”, with Robin Schulz, which became a worldwide hit and was nominated for Best International Song (The BRIT Awards) in 2024.
Oliver never stopped reinventing himself. Each album featured a distinct character in the Oliver Tree universe: Turbo for “Ugly is Beautiful” in 2020, Shawney Bravo for “Cowboy Tears" in 2022, Cornelius Cummings for “Alone in A Crowd" in 2023 up until "Love You Madly Hate You Badly” in 2026, where he removed the fake personas and decided to show the world his true self for his final album which was 100% written and produced by Oliver.
Oliver had a deep curiosity about the world and wanted to experience every country and culture. Over the past two years, Oliver was a global citizen, visiting over 100 countries: eating local cuisine; connecting with locals of all kinds; participating in ceremonies; giving concerts; and recording music on his laptop. He went to the Middle East, sailed in Antarctica and became an honorary Maasai tribal chief in Tanzania.
Oliver was more than a musician; he was a true artist in every sense of the
word, seeing the world as a stage for his performance art. He pushed boundaries in every form of media and life. Oliver was on a mission to bring the world together through art and inspiring other artists to create. Being a forward thinker, Oliver created a non-profit entitled "Dr. Oliver Tree's Extremely Epic Art Grant for Baby Geniuses”. He wanted all of his money to go into funding other aspiring artists in all facets: music, film, installation and performance art projects.
Oliver cared so deeply about spreading art, joy, laughter and love into the world. He blended his characters seamlessly with his authentic self, which left the audience often wondering what is real or a prank. He found beauty in the ordinary and would constantly preach his "Ugly Is Beautiful" mantra on and off stage. He wanted everyone to feel like they had a place to be themselves. Under all the absurdist humor and outlandish stunts, he wanted to create an inclusive environment where everyone belonged and could realize their true potential.
Oliver was a creative force of nature, a true “Alien Boy” among human beings. His imagination was boundless, his laugh was contagious and his creativity and ideas were prolific.
Oliver is survived by his parents, Jesse & Christine Nickell of Santa Cruz, brother Jessup (Zoe), Grandmothers Ann Begin & Lorraine Nickell, Aunts Cynthia Begin, Mia Begin (Bill Schroeder), Uncle Dan Begin (Melissa), Aunts Sheree Kouffeld (Dave Christopher) and Jan Lamascus (Marvin), many beloved cousins, Beth, Breanna, Kaitlin, Kimmy, Maggie, Meadow and Nicolas; and numerous friends worldwide. He considered his team and colleagues his family: Dan Awad, Paul Donatelli; his bandmates: Casey Mattson, Amir Oosman, Jake Jamieson, Jmsey; his creative collaborators: Ethan Snoreck aka Whethan; Ryan Farber; Steve Zilberman; Jacob Dennis; Sebastian Hackett; his love Fiona Chernavskaya, as well as many others who touched his project and helped him execute his vision, who are too innumerable to be named.
We’ll leave you with a quote which Oliver said at almost every show he performed at, his mantra to the world: “No matter how strange you think you look, no matter how ugly you feel, you are beautiful.”
A celebration of his life / memorial service will be held at the UCSC Quarry Amphitheater on July 25th. Due to limited space for family and friends, this event will also be streamed live.
Donations: The family requests donations be made to “Dr. Oliver Tree's Extremely Epic Art Grant for Baby Geniuses”. Oliver’s vision is to support and encourage young artists to follow their dreams. See more at https://t.co/XY1lQhixpQ