Scot's Thoughts

Here are two photos that were taken at ESPN gameday the day of the UT - Missouri game. Of course, the sponsor, Home Depot, was advertising like crazy. They took your picture, gave you a code to look it up online and a gift card worth somewhere between $1 and $1000 (you have to go to the store to find out - smart!). Now we just have to teach Paul to turn his hand around for the horns instead of rock and roll.

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Like most places, you approach the pits, and request your meat. Today we got brisket (a must), pork ribs, and prime rib.
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Now for the review. Since we were just at Smitty's last week, their meal is fresh on my tastebuds. I thought the brisket at Cooper's was superb. The pepper crust was really really good. I would say that the crust was the best that I've had, but the meat itself at Smitty's brisket is slightly better. The ribs at Cooper's were really good as well. Fall-off-the-bone, peppery-crust good. At Smitty's they use a sweet glaze on the pork ribs which taste really good, but the meat wasn't as tender and didn't fall off the bone. The prime rib at Cooper's was divine. I really like the smoked prime rib at Smitty's, but this was even better. Melt-in-your-mouth better.
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At Cooper's they ask if you want your meat dipped in sauce. We declined and got some on the side. We were happy with this choice. The sauce is thin and vinegary, like Louie Muellers. At Cooper's you can use a knife and fork, which was nice, but I was tempted to just dig in with my fingers.
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Now, for the desserts. At Smitty's they have Blue Bell ice cream, a local Texas ice cream that is really good. At Cooper's, they have blackberry cobbler. HEAVENLY BLISS. So good! Too bad it is 2 - 2.5 hours away. It would have joined the rotation long ago.
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If I had to rank my favorite Texas BBQ, I would say:
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Brisket: Cooper's, Smitty's, Louie Mueller, Rudy's
Sausage: Rudy's, I haven't loved anyone else's or haven't tried it
Pork Ribs: Smitty's, Cooper's, My own, Rudy's
Prime Rib: Cooper's, Smitty's
Sauce: Rudy's
Ambiance: Louie Mueller, tie: Smitty's, Cooper's
Dessert: Cooper's
Best Motorcycle Ride Destination: Cooper's (I saw it on the wall and there were a lot of bikers)
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I may update this next week when we go to Smitty's again since Becca's mom will be in town and she loves Texas BBQ. We usually take her to Rudy's but we think we are going to step it up this time. Great BBQ three weeks in a row. I also know that there are many good places around Texas that may be equally good. Too bad. We are moving and we want to keep our favorites.

Here is the route that we took up Enchanted Rock. Going up was a real calf burner, especially with Riley on my back. The profile actually kind of looks like the granite batholith that is Enchanted Rock.

BTW, A couple of weeks ago, I actually read a book for fun. I don't read leisurely much because I seem to read a lot of technical papers and online periodicals (ok, espn.com and stuff like that). Becca was finishing Ender's Game, so I picked it up and read it in two days. Not bad. I liked it. At least I proved to myself that I can still read and get engrossed in a book and finish it quickly.

I used to be a band geek. I guess today, I was a band geek again. I think that Becca and I were the only adults at a marching band competition that didn't know anyone who was in any of the bands. This is what I was doing 11 and 13 years ago - directing my HS band as a drum major and playing sousaphone. We went to a marching band competition today and I had a good time and Becca was a good sport. She was "mildly entertained" at some points. A recap is found here. I have to admit that I got goosebumps a few times, especially when a band did a crowd push (all in a line and marching forward and blasting as loud as they can).

Sometimes I feel a little of my grandad in me. He was an electrical engineer. Whenever we go to his house, he has something new on his computer to show us. One visit when we were kids, we made a shotgun mic out of pvc pipes, the top of a 2-liter bottle, and a tape player microphone to listen to people from far away. One time we took apart a VCR (there were always plenty of old ones around the house). One time we made a little circuit. I still like mechanical over electrical, but I do enjoy electronic gadgets and playing around with things.

Finally, after years of thinking about it and two trips to Fry's (electronics store), I finally put our church's semi-annual conference on our TV. We don't have cable or a dish, so we usually watch/listen through the audio feed on lds.org or video feed on byutv.com. I finally got the connections to hook my laptop to the TV. I routed the sound through the TV to the stereo. The stereo sound was awesome, especially on the bass during the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At the end of their opening song, the organ played a really low note that shook our chairs.

Completed dissertation sent to advisors. That is all.