AT&T Lily Posts Cryptic Message About Hole In Her Sweater, Dan Campbell's Big Balls & Buy Sydney's Autograph
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Imagine being paid to work for this guy on a daily basis and how energized you'd be to show up, work your ass off and give 100%
Holy shit, what a euphoric feeling it was to go from Dan Campbell going for it on his own 30, getting stuffed and giving up a touchdown, to GOING FOR IT in a 31-31 game with :48 seconds on the clock with his kicker ready to make a chip shot.
This guy is giving us the best drama on television right now. It's must-see TV because you just never know what he's going to do at any point in the game.
Millions of people were sitting at home with the clock running out yelling, "Don't do it, Dan. Nooooooo."
Watch me.
And then they don't try to draw the defense offside or call a timeout to think about it.
Dan's conviction is so beautiful in a sports world where so many are so fake. It doesn't get much more authentic than Dan Campbell and sports is better for it.
The night a Screencaps reader went drink for drink with the Chinese Red Army to secure a multi-million dollar business deal
- Rick in California shares an instant classic:
Been on Screencaps coming up on a year - love it and all the work you & the team do. Truly good/fun stuff.
On your "China Business Trip" thread. I went there twice - once in 1998 and in 2017. Back in ’98, I was there for 16 days. We were putting in an advanced videoconferencing network back when that tech was in its infancy. Client was the Red Army - literally. We traveled to remote parts of the country - not just big city Beijing. We ate & drank every evening with Generals & other officers dressed in their full military uniforms. I could write pages on those evenings and what went on.
Fast-forward to my last evening prior to flying back to the USA. I am all packed at the hotel and completely shot from all the crazy drinking & eating stuff. In my hotel room was a book on the history of China.
In the back of the book, there was one of those foldout things that is a timeline of tons of documented stuff accomplished by China.
Stuff like they invented gunpowder & the color purple for paint pigment.
It went back over 10,000 years. I read that entire timeline and when I got to 1776, there was some mundane factoid about what happened in 1776 in China. I stopped & stared at that and literally thought: "wait a minute…we - The USA - give you guys a 10,000 year head start. You have all these great inventions & natural resources. We only jump into the mix in 1776 and in the next 250 years, blow by you in every way that can be measured." It was in that instant that I fully realized the greatness of America: our Constitution. We simply put a way better system of government in place and blew by China and everyone else on the planet. Not even close.
I was never so glad to be back on US soil after that trip. Upon my return, I told friends, family & colleagues about that book. When put into that context, they all agreed: America is a special place. If communism was so great, China would have leveraged those initial advantages they had over those 10,000 years. Free markets & individual liberty is the way to go.
Rick added:
The partying in China - at least with our Red Army client - was insane.
After putting in 12-15 hours a day on the tech stuff, the "night shift" started. Drinks & dinner were 5+ hour ordeals. Course after course of all sorts of food items (many origins unknown, some living/moving on your plate & others stationary) on a big lazy susan turntable in the center of a huge table with everyone stabbing at all of it with chopsticks. And alcohol of every kind.
The Chinese Military loved their toasts.
Toast after toast after toast.
"To our partnership". "To new technology". "To a long life".
You name it, they toast it. I was the top person representing our company (VP of Global Sales), so all their toasts were directed at me. At the end of every toast, they expected whatever was in your glass to be slammed down shot-style.
It would be an insult if you did not do the shot. They began the evenings with some wine, so after 5 toasts, I had done "shots" of wine of about 9oz each in about 30 minutes.
The tough part was that each General or other officer would do a toast, then the next guy would step in. So, in essence, I was taking on the entire table by myself since I was the "guest" of the toasts.
Following the wine, they bring out the serious stuff. Rice liquors, etc. Private label, home grown stuff. One bottle had a serious-looking angry red dragon on it and when they opened it, I could see the fumes flowing from up top. Pure gasoline like stuff. More toasts, etc.
Our head of tech support was a Canadian guy and was at our table. He saw them gang toasting me and wanted to help. Being from Canada & loving beer, he leans in and whispers to me: "hey, if you can somehow get these toasts to switch from wine & this Chinese liquor stuff to beer….I will take on the entire Red Army !!". Switching to beer was not in the cards, but I truly appreciated his strategy, effort & gesture.
Believe me, I would have loved to tag him in.
When all the dinner & toasting was done, things hit high gear with about 3-5 hours of intense karaoke. They love their karaoke. Private karaoke rooms within military buildings. They all smoked like chimneys and belted out tunes from all over the globe.
There were hot "Chinese Karaoke Gals" in all the rooms singing & dancing & amping up the vibe. I have to admit, watching Red Army military folks going crazy on Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Van Halen & Elvis tunes at 2am was not something I ever envisioned happening in my career.
Crazy world.
Things wound down each evening around 3am.
While there were no Waffle Houses in China that I could see (which would have been hugely welcomed), I did stay at a nice American Brand hotel that had a 24-hour kitchen.
When I got back to the hotel each evening after 3am, I put in my order for pasta bolognese, hot rolls and a couple of Cokes. Nothing tasted better in all my life. Perfect tonic for getting up in a few hours and doing it all over again. Looking back, it is amazing the stuff you do to close & implement multimillion dollar deals. Whatever it takes.
Kinsey:
Between Dan Campbell's 12-1 locker room speech and a Screencaps reader going drink for drink with the Red Army, it feels like this will be a Friday edition we're going to reflect on for years to come.
The blood better be pumping as you get ready to attack the day. If not, I don't know what it's going to take.
Mike N., who got all the China talk going this week because he's in China working and sent me one photo, reports back (has anyone had the Chinese vending machine hard boiled eggs?)
- Mike N. is on the move:
High speed train for a 5-hour trip today to Beijing. Nicest train car I have ever been in. 300 km/hr. This first-class cabin is the same price as a plane ticket.
Both hotels I have been in (IHG partners for points) have these robots that carry the food deliveries from DiDi Eats (bought Uber in China) lobby to your room.
The video was too big to send - pictures below. High speed train station vending machine with chicken wings and hard boiled eggs. Take that English breakfast basement…
God Bless the grandest column in the land!
A question for the Screencaps old-timers: Do you remember your emotions when gas stations started converting from full-service to self-service?
- Scott S. asks:
Screencaps continues to impress. Your mention of potentially paying premium for human assistance at retail checkouts made me think about self-service gas pumps.
Maybe some of Screencaps more experienced contributors can let us know when the self-service gas pumps started and how long did it take for everyone to accept.
Thanks for all you do!
Kinsey:
I remember pulling into a New Jersey gas station for the first time years ago and how a worker came barreling out to yell at me for trying to pump my own gas. You know, I've never had that issue at a grocery store.
That said, I'd pay a premium at the pump for someone to fill ‘er up on a cold Ohio night.
Saints fan is looking for advice from Green Bay experts for his upcoming visit
- Jacob B. asks:
First, thanks to Reagan B for the treehouse build tips. I’ve started the process and will update when I’m done.
My wife and I are about to embark on a trip to Green Bay to watch our beloved Saints get stomped by Mr. Love. I’m looking for advice on what to do/eat while in town.
The game is on a Monday night and we fly into Milwaukee and spend the day/night there on Saturday, then head over to Green Bay. Thanks ahead of time.
Kinsey:
My only advice is to prepare yourself for sticker shock if you need to Uber out of Lambeau after the game. My dad and I got a rude lesson about eight years ago after a Bears-Packers night game.
Maybe times have changed. Just be prepared.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Jumbo bay scallops drama
- Jim M. has been fighting this battle for a couple of years. He says:
The "Great Shrimp Conspiracy" industry is now trying to get to the Scallop industry! Gotta nip it in the bud! No such thing as Jumbo bay scallops!
Kinsey:
I don't know anything about this industry. Maybe one of you works in the Big Shrimp and Big Scallop lobbying industry. Please tell me what's going on.
What is Big Scallop up to? I'm all ears.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
Readers are still reacting to Mike T.'s English breakfast
- Hans in Southern AZ checks in:
I agree that the T's English breakfast looks absolutely disgusting but you gotta live like a local wherever you are visiting.
My wife and I visited my relatives in Austria back in 2007 and my cousins were ordering us Red Bull and Champagne until 4 am the first night we arrived.
Horrible drink but that's what they do over there so we went along with it. After that it was Schnapps with every meal and super sweet white wine. We hated them both but had to be a trooper.
The breakfasts were amazing.
Assorted meats and cheeses and some sort of pastry. Highly recommend Austria to anyone looking for a European vacation. Fly into Munich and take the train.
We went to Vienna and Salzburg and a little village called Ohlsdorf where my aunts and uncles live. Absolutely beautiful scenery and beautiful churches and museums and what not.
- Tom in Houston emails:
Normally I don't suggest content, because you do a great job, but after two days of "Full English Breakfast" pictures, I have to suggest / protest - where are the counterbalancing American breakfast pictures?
Where is the bacon & eggs, pancakes & sausage, chicken & waffles, and biscuits & gravy that make this the greatest breakfast country in the world?
Where's the black coffee and the hash browns?
Where are the cheese grits? Etc.
I apologize for not sending my own breakfast pictures to help right this wrong. I generally don't really do a real breakfast during the work week, and I don't think you want a picture of my bagel and coffee this morning.
This weekend will be a different story, and I have faith in the Screencaps community to send in enough American breakfast pics to make you gain 10 pounds just by looking at them.
Kinsey:
Great point. It's time to fight back against the English and show off what a real breakfast looks like. That said, I will be working tomorrow morning and will probably have a bagel.
- Bud G. says the English breakfast is fine from time to time:
I'm a bacon & eggs guy but always enjoyed the English breakfast when I was in England and Scotland on business.
For a real treat, try the breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore, once part of the British Empire. Linen table cloth, crystal, china, porcelain and sterling silver.
Everything offered in separate serving tureens by formally attired attendants. Makes even the blood sausage look good.
Automation in the food industry and what's going to become of our beloved institutions
- Mitch in Trafalgar, IN shares:
The talk of automation in Pizza Hut is just upsetting and reminds me of the now sad state of the once pride of semi-fast restaurants, Steak n Shake. First, quality went down and prices went up, then they took away the wait staff and you get your food on one of those plastic baskets. The gall of these people!
Listen, if I am going to pay $20 for a steakburger, chili mac, and a vanilla coke, I want it brought to me by an actual person, on actual ceramic dinnerware, and not have to retrieve my own refills!
Man, I miss going to Steak n Shake in high school after Friday night football games and terrorizing the other patrons or when I was younger, going to Pizza Hut with my parents and playing The Simpson's arcade game before my own medium cheese pizza came to my beautifully checkered table.
Chi-Chi's brings back some fond memories as well. Ours had the saloon-style, swinging wood door to enter the bar and I can still remember the non-separated smoking and non-smoking seating areas (dad was a smoker).
I was too young to get into the bar at the time of the swinging doors and they were closed by the time I was 21, which still haunts me that I never got to walk in like there like the boss I thought I was.
However, Chi-Chi's was my go-to restaurant to take first dates, classy enough to impress and cheap enough to not kill all of my allowance. What did we end up with? Crappy jarred salsa that tasted nothing like the restaurant did and I had to start going to Don Pablo's (RIP as well). By the way, I have a great recipe for their seafood nachos.
Martha Stewart's $90 balls on QVC
- Ryan N. makes a great point:
$90 is insane for 4 meatballs, no matter what they’re made of. But even more insane; the "5 easy payments of $18" advertisement. If you’re making payments on dinner, you need to reevaluate your life.
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That's it for this Friday. Mike T. reports he's made it to Spain. No more English breakfast drama.
Did that week fly by or what? We're just humming along. The content is dialed in and we're having fun. Let's keep it going.
Go have a great conference championship weekend. I'm planning on golfing Sunday. Fingers crossed the weather holds.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com