Friday, July 17, 2026

Sometimes when I have a ranked list, I like all of the listed items – or dislike all of the listed items – but usually I like the top items and dislike the bottom items. A fun (?) exercise for the reader would be to try to pinpoint the inflection point where the list goes from good to bad. Perhaps you'd like to take a shot with today's labor of love.

But first...

Item 1: a link

Brian Grubb has discovered the best way to watch baseball:

I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I love reading about baseball. As a much younger and more able-bodied man, I loved playing baseball. One time, when I was pitching in a high school game, I beaned the same kid twice in one inning, and I love bringing that up every time I talk about baseball, which I do a lot because, again, I love baseball.

You would think, given this lifelong love of the sport, that I might be starting to run out of new ways to enjoy it. I was worried about that, too, at one point, that maybe it was starting to get stale for me and I was entering the stage of fandom where I become a cranky old man who yells at the TV about players who retired a decade ago. Luckily, as I was beginning to get concerned about all of this, I discovered the 3D graphics on the official MLB app.

The MLB app is great. You can check in on any game and follow along live through the Gameday feature. When you open it up and select a game in progress, the standard view is the 2D option from behind home plate, which looks like this…

Sometimes I'll watch a whole game like this, especially late at night, when I’m supposed to be sleeping but I’m looking at my phone. Whenever a batter makes contact, the view switches to overhead and a bunch of little dots representing the players chase the ball around. It’s weirdly mesmerizing.

Earlier this season, though, I noticed the little button up there in the top-right corner that says “3D.” Hmm, I said, I wonder what that does.

Go see what it does.

Item 2: a list

At Long Last, the New Foods at the Minnesota State Fair, Ranked:

1. Longanisa Cheese Curd Lumpia
   Homemade Filipino longanisa pork sausage combined with garlic and Wisconsin cheese curds, stuffed and rolled in a lumpia wrapper and deep-fried. Served with a side of sweet chili sauce.
2. Pickle Pie
   Pie crust filled with a blend of chopped pickles, pickle juice and cream cheese. Topped with homemade savory whipped frosting made with ranch and Cholula Hot Sauce. Garnished with a gherkin and a sprinkle of dill.
3. Apple Donut Ham Grinder
   First Kiss® apples from Pleasant Valley Orchard, sliced into rings, battered, deep-fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. Stacked with sliced uncured ham from Hidden Stream Farm, dressed arugula and drizzled with Crybaby Craig's Hot Honey, made with honey from Bolton Bees. Served with herb-whipped ricotta spread on a toasted hoagie roll from Emma Krumbee's Bakery.
4. Sligo Slider Bites On-A-Stick
   Handmade dumplings stuffed with a cheeseburger blend made of beef, cheddar, pickle and onion. Skewered on-a-stick and deep-fried. Served with homemade Thousand Island dressing.
5. Elote Tots
   Deep-fried tater tots tossed in Tajín and topped with an elote-style sauce made with roasted corn, diced peppers, cheddar cheese, crema and cream cheese. Finished with cotija cheese and more Tajín.
6. When Pigs Fly
   Flight of pork sausages wrapped in puff pastry and served on-a-stick. Varieties include: Chorizo Sausage with chimichurri; Texas Two-Step Sausage with sweet pepper coleslaw; Oktoberfest Sausage with melted cheddar and chili crunch; and Porketta Italian Sausage with pickle aioli.
7. Hmong Corndog
   Pork Hmong sausage flavored with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, chili and lemongrass made in collaboration with Kramarczuk's. Skewered, dipped in a cornmeal batter and fried. Served with a side of citrus Kua Txob sauce.
8. Chorizo Manchego Croquettes
   Spanish-style potato croquettes filled with manchego cheese and Spanish chorizo. Lightly breaded, fried and garnished with chives. Drizzled with homemade lemon garlic aioli.
9. Strawberry Crunch Mini Donuts
   Strawberry donuts dusted with vanilla sugar, drizzled with vanilla icing and topped with homemade strawberry streusel crunch. Served in a bucket rimmed with vanilla icing and more streusel crunch.
10. Strawberries & Blueberry Creme Parfait
    Fresh whole strawberries layered with blueberry non-dairy whipped topping and garnished with gluten-free waffle chips.
11. Bao Belly
    Smoked barbecue pork belly drizzled with RC's hot sauce and yum yum sauce. Topped with pickled vegetables and cilantro and served on folded, steamed bao buns.
12. Chinese Sausage & Cheese Poppers
    Fried dumplings with savory & sweet Chinese sausage and provolone cheese
13. French Chouxnut Sundae
    Bridgeman's Salted Caramel Espresso ice cream piled atop a choux pastry donut filled with milk chocolate mousse and topped with dark chocolate fondant icing and chocolate curls. Finished with caramel drizzle, whipped cream and a cherry.
14. Shakshuka Lamb Meatballs
    Seasoned lamb and pork meatballs stuffed with whipped garlic herb goat cheese and flash-fried. Served atop shakshuka – a blend of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions and spices – garnished with parsley and served with a side of chimichurri-spiced sourdough crostini. 
15. Cracklin’ Corn Ribs
    Corn cob quarters dipped in tempura batter, then fried. Brushed with seasoned butter and topped with bacon ranch, green onion and candied jalapeños. Served on a bed of pork rinds.
16. Birria Crunch Bombs
    Deep-fried tortilla balls filled with birria beef, Oaxaca & mozzarella cheese rolled in a tortilla chip coating and drizzled with lime crema, served with a side of consommé dip
17. Bucket of Chicharrones
    Freshly deep-fried chicharrones (pork rinds) sprinkled with chili pepper and lime seasoning. Served with a trio of dipping sauces: hot sauce, creamy chipotle sauce and chamoy.
18. Fairground Fiesta Tacos
    Deep-fried flour tortilla cone filled with al pastor pork, pineapple pico, queso and finished with cilantro & onion
19. Brandy Old Fashioned Cookie Dough
    Edible cookie dough infused with nonalcoholic brandy flavor and combined with orange zest, cinnamon, dark chocolate chips and tart dried cherries. Served on-a-stick, hand dipped in brandy-flavored bittersweet chocolate, and rolled in Biscoff® cookie crumbs.
20. Banana Butterscotch Barnraiser
    Vanilla pound cake layered with roasted bananas, butterscotch sauce and caramelized croissant croutons made by Patisserie 46. Topped with whipped cream from Stony Creek Dairy and garnished with nut-free cereal mix made with Corn Chex®, Biscoff® cookie butter, chocolate chips, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt.
21. Ube Cheesecake Wontons
    Deep-fried filled wontons, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled with crushed Biscoff® cookies – vegetarian
22. Apple Fries
    Minnesota's Original Apple Fries serves Apple Fries (fresh-cut apples, fried, tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with a side of caramel); Apple Fries Deluxe (larger portion of Apple Fries served with a side of caramel and whipped cream); and apple cider. All gluten-friendly and vegetarian.
23. Tacos de Mole
    Flour tortillas filled with shredded chicken, cheese and house-made mole sauce. Deep-fried, drizzled with more mole sauce and garnished with queso fresco.
24. Dubai Whoopie Pie
    Dubai chocolate-inspired whoopie pie made with pistachio cream sandwiched between two dark chocolate cakes. Rolled in Dino's Dubai crunch topping of shredded filo, crushed pistachios, honey and brown sugar. 
25. Jamaican Jerk Chicken Loaded Fries
    Battered french fries topped with Jamaican jerk chicken, melted cheese and green onions. Drizzled with ranch and jerk sauce.
26. Strawberry Ume Sundae Tart
    Swirled strawberry and ube marshmallow cream mixed with chocolate chips, chilled and scooped into a fudge-filled gluten-friendly shortbread crust. Topped with whipped cream, strawberry sauce and edible glitter sprinkles.
27. Pumpkin Bar Funnel Cake
    Real pumpkin, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla blended with original funnel cake batter, then deep-fried. Lightly brushed with melted butter and topped with homemade cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
28. Peri Peri Bowl
    Fried peri-peri hot chicken, seasoned with African Bird's Eye chili peppers, garlic, lemon and herbs. Combined with mini beef sambusas and fried sweet plantains, all topped with peri-peri sauce and choice of: basbaas (spicy Somali green chili pepper sauce) or spicy red chili sauce.
29. Jive Turkey BBQ (I can’t bring myself to list all of these items separately)
    Jive Turkey BBQ serves Crack-n-Cheese® Bowl (homemade macaroni and cheese, hickory-smoked turkey barbecue, deep-fried turkey cracklins and signature sauce); Soul Rolls (macaroni and cheese with collard greens deep-fried in an egg roll); Soul Punch (muscadine lemonade); and Stuffed Turkey Legs in two varieties: Cajun Shrimp and Alfredo (stuffed with cajun shrimp and dirty rice, topped with alfredo sauce) and Thanksgiving Stuffed (stuffed with choice of three fillings: macaroni and cheese, stuffing, gravy, yams, collard greens or cranberry sauce). Plus, hickory-smoked turkey legs and turkey barbecue sandwiches.
30. Blue Moon Crunch
    Fluffy shave ice infused with blue moon flavor, dusted with Fruity Pebbles™ cereal and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk. Inspired by the flavors of blue moon ice cream.
31. The Fried and the Furious: Cubano Drift
    Deep-fried Cubano-style sandwich made with a crunchy tortilla filled with vegan Cuban pork, vegan Swiss cheese, dill pickle relish, vegan garlic mayo and mustard. Served with a side of jalapeño citrus sauce.
32. Savory Cones
    Roon's Savories serves hand-rolled waffle cones flavored with parmesan, cheddar and herbs. Savory Cones are available with four choices of fillings: BBQ Pulled Pork Mac (slow-smoked pulled pork layered with macaroni and cheese), Chicken Tinga & Rice (chicken and smoky tomato-chipotle sauce layered with seasoned rice – gluten-free), Classic Chicken Salad (house-made chicken salad with fresh herbs – gluten-free) and Three Cheese Mac (three cheese macaroni and cheese – vegetarian).
33. Mango Sticky Rice Refresher
    Coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, mango flavoring and half and half poured over ice and topped with fresh and dried mango. Finished with a dried mango sugar rim. Inspired by the flavors of mango sticky rice.
34. Surf ’N’ Turf Burger
    Lobster tossed in garlic-herb butter stacked on a 1/3-pound seasoned grilled beef patty topped with pepper jack cheese. Drizzled with homemade chipotle mayo, served on a toasted brioche bun with a lemon wedge.
35. Tanghulu
    Fruit skewered and coated in a hard candy shell
36. Dockside Poppers
    Seasoned cream cheese, bacon, artichoke hearts and jalapeño peppers combined, breaded and lightly fried. Served with a side of homemade tomato chili jam.
37. Butter Brew Mustache Pretzel
    Handmade soft pretzel dough rolled in the shape of a mustache and baked. Coated in melted butter and tossed in a butter brew sugar mixture flavored with caramel, vanilla and butterscotch. Served with a side of vanilla soft-serve dip. 
38. Honey Brisket Battered Potatoes
    Deep-fried Australian Battered Potatoes topped with beef brisket, smothered in nacho cheese and drizzled with hot honey.
39. Korean BBQ Bao Buns
    Vegan Chunk plant-based shredded "meat" tossed in hot Korean barbecue sauce. Topped with pineapple slaw and served on folded, steamed bao buns.
40. Salted Mango Yuzuade
    Mango puree, yuzu juice, salt, simple syrup – vegan)
41. Caramel Apple Iced Tea
    Black tea brewed with natural tart apple flavor and topped with caramel-infused cold foam. Garnished with a Caramel Apple Pops® lollipop
42. Two-Tone Bloody Mary Mocktail
    Homemade tomatillo salsa layered with a zero-alcohol blend of tomatoes, herbs, spices and olive brine. Garnished with a skewer of pickle, cheese, tomato, olive and an Urban Glow Cheweenie™ sausage.
43. Walking Chopped Italian Grinder
    Chopped Italian grinder sandwich-style blend of sliced salami, pepperoncinis, green olives, artichokes, roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella pearls, tossed in Italian dressing. Layered over a bag of Dutch Crunch® Parmesan & Garlic Kettle Chips and drizzled with Calabrian chili aioli.
44. Dill with it, Cookie!
    White chocolate chips, finely chopped dill pickles and fresh dill baked into a cookie. Finished with a sprinkle of sugar and Maldon sea salt.
45. Sweet Peach Lemonade Sparkler
    Fresh-squeezed lemonade layered with peach syrup and peach sweet cream cold foam. Topped with a sprinkle of popping candy and garnished with a peach slice.

Item 3: a media recommendation

Item 4: word of the week

Farouche

I encountered him often at faculty events, but we never really got deeper than small talk about our departments and research. I always thought he was farouche, but found out later that he just loathed me.

Item 5: an image

See ya!

Next time you hear from me I will have seen The Odyssey. I really hope it's a good movie. Perhaps you'll be able to figure out my opinion from its placement whenever I rank Christopher Nolan's filmography.

Thanks for reading. See you again soon.