Claudia Schiffer Stops By, Dana White's An Audiophile & Andy Dalton Picks Up His Guitar And Plays
I wasn't wired to be a drug-smuggling pilot flying out of Colombian jungles
There I was last night transfixed on National Geographic's Narco Wars, a documentary series that has aired over the last couple of years, and all I kept thinking is how this George Jung character flat out said he got into smuggling drugs out of Mexico and Colombia by plane for the thrill of it all.
Sure, George liked the money, but after serving a five-year federal sentence, he went into business with cellmate Carlos Lehder to create a smuggling ring for Pablo Escobar and Jung sat there and told the Narco Wars producers that he enjoyed the thrill of it all.
This is proof that it takes a special talent to do certain jobs or find joy in random acts. Indy Daryl of 'Do Hard Things' fame enjoys ultra-runs along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Some people chop and stack 20 cords of firewood to survive winters. Jung enjoyed trying to get 1,700 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. and the feds finally got him in 1994 in Topeka, Kansas. He got 20 years after testifying against his old cellmate Lehder and eventually got out of prison in 2014, but went back on a parole violation that ended in 2017 with his release. George died in 2021.
I was thinking about this whole 'thrill of it all' aspect and I started thinking about how my thrill-seeking adventures have resulted in things like flying around the sky above Akron, OH in the newest Goodyear Blimp while sitting on the toilet (lid was down) in the very first Blimp bathroom. Or getting into a two-seater with Mario Andretti and doing 180 around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Or trying to survive a weekend in an M&M's tent (no AC!) at Kentucky Speedway in 100-degree heat and multiple nights at the Turn 2 Tavern (RIP...you're damn right I was devastated to learn NASCAR was leaving Kentucky...I was at the tavern in 2019 and it was truly a sight to behold).
HT: Joe M. for the photo
Jung liked flying blow out of a jungle and into the U.S. I prefer trying to go hard for 24 hours in Vegas without going broke & passing out. Or laying there in Kentucky trying to get comfortable with a battery-powered fan while sweating out Fireball.
Anyway, start thinking about your own thrill-seeking adventures. Without telling me you broke a federal law -- unless you're cool with it and you've done your time; I really don't want to end up in federal court having to turn over my emails -- hit me with some good stuff.
Any of you guys ever climbed up the side of a skyscraper without ropes? I'm beyond intrigued by those guys. What about the side of mountains? Try me.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
• Rann R. has a message for all of you white chicken chili lovers:
When I was an ex-pat in Brazil, we joined the Newcomers Club, comprised of ex-pats from around the world. One year, they had a chili contest. My wife, from Michigan, decided to make white chicken chili. I warned her, but she did not listen. Well, at the end of the day, it was hardly touched. I had 2 helpings to try to spare her feelings, while all the other pots were nearly empty. Moral of the story - the whole world hates white chicken chili!
• Chris D. writes:
Chris in NE here (towel king). AA is a great song! It seems like there is a contingent of Nebraska folks that email in. Joe, I'm telling you, you gotta come out here for the College World Series one of these years. It's phenomenal. While the atmosphere isn't quite as good as the old Rosenblatt days, it's still pretty darn great. While a lot of folks dislike the SEC, I for one, embrace our southern friends because they always show up ready to party. Hell, LSU comes up here every year regardless if they make it or not. Actually, there is one person who isn't welcome. The Vandy Whistler. That guy STINKS.
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I'll have you know, Chris, I was at the College World Series a few years ago when I was working with Pizza Hut on a project. I ended up at a Creighton indoor facility competing in an athletic competition amongst fellow Internet nerd bloggers. Joe Carter threw Wiffle balls to me in the home run derby, Jay Williams was in charge of the free-throw shooting. I threw footballs in front of Tom Osborne. Taylor Twellman was in charge of the soccer station.
And then after that, we went to Game 2 of the CWS and saw the Florida Gators win the title.
I really like Omaha. Three years ago I was hired by my Internet buddy Paul E. in Omaha to run the Facebook Live stream at the grand opening of a massive Facebook data center outside the city. Talk about pressure. It was my job to make sure a Facebook Live stream at a billion-dollar Facebook data center ran without a hitch. We're talking the governor of Nebraska at a podium. Speaking of thrill-seeking, that was another moment in my life.
Moving along....
• Dan McM. writes about the AA song mentioned in Wednesday's Screencaps:
Great song that hits a lot of what we love in the screencap community. I just wanted to make a shout-out to our brothers and sisters in the AA/Recovery community. We may not be hitting the garage beers or trying out the latest bourbons, but I promise you we are enjoying each other’s fellowship and loving life while enjoying our lawn stripes on a Thursday evening! Hang in their my brothers and sisters, life is happy joyous and free with, and without the patio beers.
• Brent P. in Indiana wants one of you Texans (Tim L.?) to send in your best Texan chili recipe:
Great Freaking article today. I new you had lit a fuse and was going to send you a short note to warn you. But I got busy with work. I loved all the responses, especially Tim L’s. It was short, to the point, and humorous. I have to admit that I look forward to the reader responses every day more than I do the screencaps. I mean Hannah Palmer and Paige’s Vanzant and Spironac are nice to see, but it just reminds me how old I am.
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Hang in there, Brent. I know some of you oldtimers have a tough time with the Instagram models, but we have the data and this community is LOADED with readers from 35 to 40. The IG models are still in their wheelhouse. These Screencaps readers tend to end up with a bunch of money, maybe a divorce (if they've even been married) & they absolutely dominate the Instagram scrolling department. It's my job to trim out the algorithm nonsense for these guys.
• Caleb S. writes:
In my 29 years on this earth, UGA has come up painfully short or completely disappointed on the big stage. That all changed night. Gone are the 1980 references and the pain of 2nd and 26. I was left speechless and teary-eyed as the clock hit 0. This is easily the most emotional and happy sports moment I’ve witnessed. My only regret about this year in Georgia sports is that my 10-month-old daughter won’t remember the Dawgs or the Braves overcoming recent history, but I’ll definitely make sure she knows what happened in her first year on this earth. What a game and season!
I saw this picture on Facebook last night and share it only because I’m now a temporary Bengals fan and hope they exorcise their own demons this weekend. If we can get over 1980, the Bengals can win a game worth texting by about as well. Lastly, I hope your dad is doing well, went through similar circumstances a couple years ago with mine. All the best.
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Thanks to Caleb for the pep talk. I can feel the pressure starting to mount as we get closer to Saturday afternoon. I had the talk last night with my wife about how we need to get things knocked off the to-do list well before 4:30 Saturday when I venture underground into the bunker to get focused. I'm going to need the mini-Crockpot for the buffalo chicken dip. I need to figure out what's on the drink list. I need to dial in the LED lights to the perfect Jungle orange.
• Speaking of Crockpots, Mig has a question for the community:
As a regular Crockpot user I have had some issues with some recent dishes. Nothing fancy, just a pork loin with some veggies and potatoes. The pork is heating too fast and getting done long before the veggies and potatoes are soft and making the pork less tender. So the last dish I prepared I only put it on the lowest setting, 'warm' and waited. Again, same problem.
After a quick search, I found this article saying manufacturers were told newer pots are set to be hotter to reduce the chance of food poisoning. Once again the government is in our Crockpots. This year I will be hitting the garage sales in search of old Crockpots to replace new-fangled pot which will be reserved for chili and cheese dips.
Are the Newer Hotter Cooking Crockpots Good or Bad?
• Rory M. writes:
I'm almost afraid to share this as it's my grandmother's recipe. I've probably tried 50+ Brunswick stews in BBQ joints over the years and nothing ever comes close. If you don't want to cook/grill all the meat you can sub pre-cooked to cut down on the work. I usually smoke some leg quarters for the chicken and use leftover pulled pork instead of the 1/2lb lean.
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
½ lb lean pork (chops or loin)
1-20 oz bottle ketchup
1 qt tomatoes mashed or blended (juice also)
2 qts cream style corn (5 cans)
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp red pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
¼ tsp tobasco
1 qt chicken stock
3 large onions chopped
Cook chicken and pork until tender. Bone and grind. Cook beef and onions in chicken stock. Add all other ingredients and cook slowly for 1 hour stirring often.
Yield 8 pints
• Speaking of food, Guy G. from outside Buffalo knows food. Read the details on his weekend plan:
Everything that we’ve done this year for football food, has been a bit labor-intensive, and needs severe planning. As Bills fans, you’d think we could do pizza and wings every Sunday. Not true. So, we’ve been making opponents regional food this year. Pretty sweet, as we got seafood for 3 Florida teams, I made bbq for Atlanta, Houston, KC and Carolina, Detroit pizza, fondue for GB, crab cakes for Washington, steak and shrimp cocktail for Indy, and even a Cajun breakfast for NO….Life is good here, and we eat well!
Half the league is out of the playoffs, but pick a team, and make that or their opponents' food! We will be having grilled lobster rolls and clam chowder. Not Campbell’s, scratch-made rue, extra clam, extra bacon. Of course, it’ll be 5* here Saturday, so extra charcoal will be needed. (Damn right I’m making it over the new Kudu!!)
Joe, Vegas food is tough, but a quick search says you may have to have pastrami this week. Hopefully, you started it already. Last time I made it, it took 10 days.
While searching for the perfect football game day winter food, search Alton Brown. Best quick resource I’ve found in my years of cooking!
• And with that, let's close it down. You guys have plenty of material to keep you busy. You have recipes to copy into your recipe books. You have my thrill-seeking challenge from up top.
Keep the emails rolling. This is like talk radio. Screencaps readers are showing up more and more to see what the emailers have to say. Let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com