Ivanka Trump Triggers The Fat Libs With Spring Break Bikini Content, Joe Flacco Mesmerizes CLE & A Dagwood
Screencaps Newsletter No. 2 drops TODAY. If you're not signed up, we have no way of sending it to you, so get signed up, wait for it to send and keep an eye on your junk folder
In today's edition, I give subscribers a behind-the-scenes look at last week's White House trip and how something like that comes together, plus more photos from my personal collection.
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— Matt C. tells me:
I've signed up for the newsletter 3x and still not hit.
Kinsey:
We're going to try this again today, Matt. Keep in mind, the first newsletter went out April 9. Let's see if today's newsletter hits your inbox before we start setting off too many alarms. The first one had an open rate of like 60% or something crazy like that.
We'll get this dialed in. We'll figure out if the emails are going to junk. Have faith.
Look at Jason Gay starting to tread into my content
My big complaint with this post is that Jason uses "Little League" 14 times. Jason, Little League is DEAD. Feel free to call it "Travel Ball."
But…but…but…what about the sunglasses and swag they give the kids at the Little League World Series?
Yeah, that's done to make it seem like Little League is cool for TV. Meanwhile, I have had dozens and dozens of emailers tell me over the years, and now Little League admits, that travel ball players are brought in for the Little League World Series runs in late July and August.
ESPN has a show to put on and finding a sponsor to give away a bunch of swag so the kids look cool on TV is part of the show. Jason should know better.
I just got my 12U team's rec ball schedule as I was writing this edition and let's just say I'm, fingers crossed, going to have some weekends off this summer
The baseball gods are shining down on me right now.
The schedule consists of:
— 15 games total (not counting the playoffs)
— 3 Saturday games
— No Friday games
— Memorial Day completely wide open
— July 4th weekend completely wide open
— Only 1 game I am scheduled to miss for the June golf trip
Tech that you own that is completely useless
— Rob says:
We recently purchased a second home in Marrietta Georgia that was completely redone from its original 1957 floor plan, complete with "Smart" appliances. I did the normal new homeowner thing and had the Wi-Fi set up and went to work getting the phones and the I-pad hooked up.
Much to my surprise, the washing machine and stove immediately came up on my phone. I’ve never seen anything like that. It scared me. (We call the fridge Megatron because I know I’m going to get up one night and see it and the washing machine sitting on the couch drinking my beer and watching professional Cornhole on ESPN 5 at two in the morning).
Both of the appliances require you to scan the code on the front of the machine and log into the manufacturers' website to connect. That’s a hard No. I already get enough e-mails, phone calls and texts from companies pedaling their products.
Look, you can be cool and have the fridge hooked up to your phone, have at it, I just don’t need it. I can open the fridge and see what I have and don’t have. It’s really not that tough. I also do not need my stove on an App, I’m afraid my old ass is going to open the wrong app in a drunken stupor one evening and burn the house down with the auto start on a gas stove. Color me out on this technology.
One other thought: The new place is 2 hours east of Augusta and I can tell you, that area of the country is beautiful in the spring, it looks exactly like it does on TV, but better, truly beautiful.
— Jim F. tells me:
My opinion is that all the tech on home appliances is to collect and sell data to companies that want to target advertisers to personal profiles. Two months ago, I sold my 2011 Toyota 4-runner (264K miles and running good) that had a factory navigation system in it that failed when the touch screen stopped working, probably about 10 years ago, so I have relied on my phone ever since.
I recently upgraded to a 2023 4-Runner with a Apple Car Play. Big upgrade for phone connectivity and driving directions visibility, a lot better than the old stick-on-the-dash phone cradle I used for the prior 10 years. The 2023 also has a ridiculous clunky factory navigation system that I will never use, I don’t know why Toyota put this in the vehicle. Probably less cost to leave it in than to re-engineer it out and find a different part supplier.
I disagree about the Weber phone connectivity. I recently bought a Webber wood pellet grill/ smoker, and I am really impressed with it. Nice to not be locked into standing around the grill and have the data continuously displayed wherever I am on the phone - no excuse for over or under cooking anything on the grill.
This system does a great job of searing meats and also "wood fire" baking like pizzas, nachos, meatballs, etc.. When smoking meat that is the best reason for the phone connectivity capability- Good to know the meat temperature while it is smoking for 6 hours and you don’t have to be anywhere near the grill/smoker. I bought a rotisserie for it to cook whole chickens- works great but you still need to use a hand-held thermometer for this operation, so not perfect yet, but more than good enough.
— Jim T. in San Diego emails:
When we bought our house 14 years ago next month, it came with a nearly new GE suite in the kitchen - and so my not that old Kenmore fridge became the beer fridge in the garage. Since then, we've had to have 3 computer boards replaced on the GE fridge - and it's not even a "smart=" frridge. But it still has computer controllers. (Also, the GE dishwasher died and was replaced by a Bosch, the range died and was replaced by a Maytag, and the microwave died and was replaced by a generic brand - never buy GE!)
Meanwhile, the old Kenmore, circa 1997, just plugs along - no computers, but lots of cold beer.
About 15 years ago, I picked up a new Harman Kardon receiver for the living room media center. It lasted about 3 years before a computer board went out. I'm now using my dad's old 1968 Sony receiver that works just fine.
I'm not anti-tech, mind you - I'm anti-BAD tech. Anti-stupid tech.
The first job of any manufacturer is to make stuff that works. All the bells and whistles are useless if it doesn't keep your beer cold or play your music.
Screencaps private Facebook group (go follow the page!) readers check in:
— Phil says:
A wi-fi enabled electric cooktop. "Yeah, let me turn on the stove before I get home."
— Millennial Chris B. in Bowling Green knows useless tech. Virtual golf nearly ruined this guy's real golf game. He says:
Golf+
— Scott in NY writes:
Zilkee ultra recovery converter
— Marty:
WiFi toothbrush
— Paul J.:
Smart TVs with any gaming console plugged in. Never connected to the web cause the console does all that and more, better.
RIP to Great American Larry who went out doing what he loved
I can't remember which Twitter user sent this to me, but I promised to post it in the column due to how many readers I have in the Dayton area.
According to Larry Bales' obit, he loved riding motorcycles, racing cars, golfing, drinking bourbon and was called "the most badass grandpa ever" by his grandchildren.
"Most importantly," the obit reads, Larry loved paratrooping with the Phantom Airborne Brigade.
My cousin's husband is part of the honor squad at Dayton National Cemetery. Based on what I've learned about that unit, Larry will not be forgotten at his funeral.
What happens when you power rake your lawn?
- Scott S. tells us:
This Saturday I took on the task of power raking my entire lawn. I'm in the NW 'burbs of Chicago and we had a bad drought from mid August through October last year and not much snow fall this past winter. Needless to say, my lawn took a beating from the end of summer sun and dry winter conditions. Attached are two image of my backyard after power raking and an overhead view the day after with all of the dead grass collected. Don't be fooled by my neighbor's lawns being green. Their lawns have the same issues, but I cut mine before they have cut their lawns.
I started the day at 10 am with the usual edging around the house and sidewalks and then with a basic lawn cutting with second lowest setting on my mower. This takes me an hour and then I get the power rake going for the front lawn.
I forgot to take photos of the front lawn, but it looked pretty much like the backyard. After I finished the front lawn, I got out my manual rake and bagged the dead grass I pulled up. That was 6 bags full of dead grass. A couple of my neighbors saw what I was doing on my own and they were both in agreement that I should have someone else do this.
I was not having it because I like doing hard thing that I know I can do. Sure it's going to take eight hours, but I know I'm going to get all of it instead of some guy I would have to pay a hundo and a half and not do as good a job as me.
I start the sides of the house and backyard around 2:30 pm and get the all of that power raked by 4 pm and then I have to collect the dead grass. I ran out of lawn bags and had to run to Home Depot (#sponsorednotsponsored) for more bags. I also picked up a couple bags of Kentucky Bluegrass for the overseeding I'm going to do after all of this is done.
Finally finished collecting all the grass by 6:30 pm and I was beat. I decided to seed on Sunday morning and new there was rain coming, so it was perfect to get it done before 9 am. I've done this same project a couple years ago and the results were very good to bringing back my lawn. Not going to cut the lawn for a few weeks to let the seed take hold, so I'm going to have a long wait to mow even when I know it will need it.
Final bag count is two bags of fresh grass cuttings and 16 bags of dead grass.
— Tom in Menomonee Falls, WI is ready to mow:
Thank you for your community you have created that is always entertaining to this old man (I'll be 80 in August).
I thought a picture of my annual Spring work on my Land Pride Zero Radius might be entertaining as well as educational. Before my first mow, I always change the oil and filters on the Kawasaki engine and both Hydro-Gear drives. This picture shows how I safely change the three mower blades out: note the jack stands under the front axle. Relying on just the jack is dangerous, especially since my mower weighs over 800 pounds!
I use this mower on my .45 acre lot, which may seem like overkill, but not to me. My previous house was on 5.3 acres, and when I moved, I kept my mower.
AP classes and high schooners playing Senior Assassin
— Gerard checks in:
Wait until you hear a kid in high school mention A Push. A Push is sort for AP US History. Everybody just calls it A Push for some reason. You also need to score a 4 or 5 on the test at the end of the year to have it count for college credit. (No clue what a 4 or 5 means but my son supposedly has some college credit as a senior in High School because he got a 4 or 5 on these AP tests…..)
Senior Assassin looks like an absolute blast around here. The kids must use colorful squirt guns so that the public knows they have a squirt gun and not the real thing. The game takes several weeks to play because you cannot "assassinate" someone on school grounds, at a school event, church, or work. You also can not get "assassinated" if you are wearing goggles or a pool floaty. My sons game started a couple of weeks ago and it’s still going on. There are only 50 kids in his senior class. Pretty clean fun if you ask me.
— Screencaps Ragnar Relay runner Greg E. says Senior Assassin has been around since the early 1990s, which is news to me:
Hate to break it to Brad S. (although kudos on the movie reference), but this game goes back more than 20 years. I played it my senior year in high school, and that was back in the benighted days of 1990.
— Raccoon slayer Sheriff John in Houston checks in:
Both of my boys - age 15 and age 18 - were very excited about the Minecraft movie and made plans with their friends to go see it almost as soon as it came out. I didn't understand it. The younger ones and his friends even went to McDonalds beforehand and purchased Minecraft-themed happy meals. They hadn't played Minecraft in several years (I remember it was big when they were in elementary school) but apparently this movie was a big deal for kids these days and has been very popular nationwide. When I asked them if the movie was any good, they shrugged and said it was "OK". That's high praise from a teenager.
Also, the older one has been playing this Senior Assassin game for about a month now and it has been driving me and his mom crazy. It's ridiculous. Last weekend he and I went to buy a new sport coat for Easter last weekend, and he had to make a detour on the way to the store (he was driving himself and meeting me there) because one of his "targets" was nearby. Alas, the "kill" was unsuccessful. The Wall Street Journal did an article about it last month and it was reassuring to know that all kids everywhere are dumb about this game:
Vintage Pizza Huts you spot in the wild
— Homebrew Bill in Nebraska shares this one:
Harlan, Iowa about 10 miles north of I80 and 35 miles away from Council Bluffs.
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And that's it for this BEAUTIFUL spring morning. The doors and windows are about to be open all day as we soak up the Vitamin D. and the sounds of birds frolicking in the garden.
Go have a good one. Thank your golf course maintenance crew for working their asses off to get the track dialed in. Thank your maintenance guys who show up to fix things around your house.
Let's get rolling.
Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com or use my personal Gmail which doesn't have a period between my first and last name.