Good evening! I hope your week has been a success thus far. Here is your chance to enjoy a quick respite as I cover five random topics. The latest Thursday Rundown starts now…

Comparison – On July 28, 2020, I took the photo on the left. Yesterday morning I decided to replicate the pose and took the photo on the right. Beau has ditched the helmet and Sloan has grown…both in height and hair follicles. I sure love these two!

Same pose, same calendar date, different years.

Cheers – My brother and sister-in-law recently received their wedding pictures from Zach Nichols Photography and they are beautiful. Well, except for this one below because it is of…um….me. I had the honor of delivering the best man speech at the reception and this shot captures a moment from that address. In future Thursday Rundowns I hope to share a few more photos from that special day.

I attempt to drive home a point at Glen and Carrie’s wedding.

FlatStickPub – Last Saturday we joined my brother, my sister, and their spouses at FlatStickPub, an entertainment/restaurant center in downtown Spokane. There are a few other locations in the United States and each one focuses on two activities along with its food and craft beer/special cocktail menu: miniature golf and duffleboard. You read that latter activity right—duffleboard. It is an original game that FlatStickPub made up that you can research on your own because we didn’t play it. Instead, we opted for miniature golf and let me tell you, it was a unique experience. It wasn’t like the Happy Gilmore-esque courses you find on every corner in Myrtle Beach. Rather, it was a more industrial experience that focused much more on angles and out-of-the-box thinking. FlatStickPub had a nice vibe to it and I think a lot of my readers would have a good time if they tried it out.

FlatStickPub is a fun place. Beau got to play some miniature golf and the course has Spokane-themed holes (my sister-in-law, Carrie, is pictured in the bottom right photo).

Favorite New Olympic Sport – Four years ago I wrote about my five favorite Olympic sports but that countdown now needs to make room for another one. I loved watching the 3×3 basketball over the past several days. What a fun brand of basketball! What’s not to like about 10-minute games, 12-second shot clocks, and no stoppage for change of possession? It was my impression that the sport was going to take the form of traditional 3-on-3 basketball tournaments that communities annually host but I was pleasantly surprised. Congratulations to the USA women on winning the gold medal.

I really enjoyed watching the 3×3 basketball during the Olympics.

Big Brother 23 – I didn’t write a Big Brother preview post for this current season but that doesn’t mean Sid and I aren’t watching it. We have enjoyed the first few weeks of competition. The team concept seems to work, the high risk/high reward theme is interesting, and Julie Chen’s fortune cookie signoff lines are as corny as ever. But what I find pretty cool is that there is a houseguest named “Brent.” Thus far I have enjoyed watching the game play and I especially appreciate the way that Kyland and Derek X. have approached the competition. We are hooked!

Big Brother 23 is shaping up to be a another great Big Brother season.

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That will do it for tonight. Don’t let the Olympics pass you by, make sure to tune in for the best international competition there is. Enjoy your weekend. Don’t Blink.