Friday OT - All My Friends

It may be easiest to explain this one by example.

I have a few different core groups of friends - a few from school, several mom friends, some couple friends and individual relationships that are offshoots, and work/volunteer friends. I think most likely mom friends and couple friends/combinations are my closest.

When you think of your closest core group of friends, are they the same people with whom you went to grade school? Are they friends from a club? Work? How has this changed over time?

Need a sealer for external metal stair treads

anybody ever done something like this? I have an old fixer upper I constantly work on. the exterior stair rail is steel with 1/8" diamond plate treads. clearly haven't been resealed in 40+ years. I pressure washed the entire thing, and 95% of the primer remained intact and probably 50% of the paint. The treads at some point has some sort of rubberized coating that pealed off with the pressure washer.

These things were built poorly and are in kind of rough shape to to how it was constructed. I will have to go over a small amount of rust and existing paint/primer/rubberized coating (still remains in nooks.

Thoughts? heavy duty exterior paint?
truck bed liner?

Cooking myths and other common misconceptions

Cooking myth No. 1 (IMO): It's crucial to let a steak rest before slicing into it after cooking. WRONG! It's not crucial and the benefit of letting it rest is negligible to begin with. The idea is that resting the steak allows the juices, which migrate toward the center of the steak during cooking, can spread out to the rest of the steak during the resting process. The truth is there's just not that much juice involved to begin with, maybe a tsp, if that, and resting the steak adds very little value to the finished product. Thicker cuts may benefit more, but even that is arguable. So next time you hear some high-end chef telling you that you need to rest your steak before eating it, call BS on the guy.

SUMMER SERIES: CW sit down with ISU football’s GM

Chris Williams sits down with Derek Hoodjer, the GM of Iowa State Football, to discuss what the last few off-seasons have been like from his chair. The two look ahead to the 2025 Cyclone football team as fall camp will begin next week. Breaking down key position battles and more on the first episode of our summer series for 2025.


My Crash Davis beliefs

Randomly thinking of the Crash Davis "I believe" speech in Bull Durham here are my beliefs on superficial stuff. I believe in top shelf bourbon, Maduro cigars, stouts of no less than 10% ABV, steaks done no more than medium rare to light medium, dungeness crab is way better than blue crab, leaving no less than a 20% tip at a restaurant ever and no one will ever be as happy to see you come home at the end of the day as a dog will.

Position Preview: Wide Receivers

We are 38 days away until Iowa State kicks off the season against Kansas State in Ireland. To keep getting you prepared for the season, we will continue with out position previews every weekday through July 25. Next up is a group with a blend of experience and unknowns; the wide receivers.

ISU star Audi Crooks basks in Star-Spangled Gold glory

CFTV: Blake Buchanan Fitting Like a Glove, Audi Talks Gold, Curt's Big Night

On Wednesday's edition of CFTV, Jake Brend dives into the relationship between T.J. Otzelberger and Virginia transfer Blake Buchanan. We also hear what Audi Crooks had to say about her lifetime memory of winning a gold medal. Plus an update on Curtis Jones' big night in the Summer League.

Williams & Blum: Executive order regarding NIL and ranking Iowa State’s road schedule

Chris Williams and Brent Blum react to President Trump’s executive order that could change the NIL landscape. What does it mean for Iowa State? Ranking the Cyclones’ road games and more. Presented by Mechdyne.


WTF "Why The Fence?"

In the Des Moines metro, there is a brand new chain link fence that runs along the south side of Beaver Creek between the Des Moines River and the Merle Hay exit. And I believe that I saw a similarly placed fence south of the metro near Raccoon River and I-35. Other than attempting to keep flood debris off the interstate I have no idea why it was installed. I am guessing others know the real answer, so my question, why the fence?

No more Iowa Preps?

I would occasionally stop by the high school football forum by to see what the 7 people that still used that site had to say. Looks like it is now on3.com, or at least that is where I get sent when I type in iowapreps.com. It is still run by rivals but posting is behind a paywall. All the old forums are gone.

On That Note: Annual Album Series, Part 1 - Take 5's

This week we launch our annual albums-by-decade series.

For part 1, this week, post your favorite LPs released in 1965 and/or 1975. (Those years only, NOT the entire decade.)

Include 2-4 sound clips. In addition to the tracks, we encourage you to expound on why the album is meaningful, including personal history of your relationship with the record and its music.

Choices should focus on studio albums. Avoid greatest hits/live LPs/compilations. We’ll allow it, but it should be a definitive element of an artist’s body of work that isn’t otherwise generally available from studio output.

If someone posts an album on your list before you get to it, you still may reference it, but use different song clips.

(You can find dozens of best/favorite album lists, by year released, online.)

And, If you’re more singles-oriented, you may substitute top singles from either of those years.

(In subsequent weeks, we’ll do 85/95 and 05/15)

Your hosts for OTN are @cyclones500, @CycloneRulzzz and me.

CFTV: How Milan Momcilovic is focused on being ‘the guy’ in 2025

What T.J. Otzelberger and Milan Momcilovic had to say about Momcilovic taking the next step in 2025.

ISU star Milan Momcilovic is eager to destigmatize the term "volume shooter"

Jeff Johnson head of ISUAA retiring Sept 1

Received a email that Jeff is retiring on Sept 1 this yr. Wish him well in his retirement and with his Parkinson challenge. IMO they are some pretty big shoes to fill. I think he did a good job of growing the Association. Even though I'm a long ways from a big donor he always had a handshake and a hello for me whenever I ran into him somewhere. It'll be interesting to see who gets that position as well as who gets selected as the next ISU president.

Heads up: OTN's Annual Best-of Music Series

On That Note alert: Best-of music series heads up!

For advance notice only, do NOT post selections in this thread.

This week at “On That Note,” we begin our annual best-of series. We’ll explore favorite albums (or singles) from years with the same last digit as this year — 5.

On Tuesday, or possibly Wednesday, I will launch the first segment, with focus on 1965 and 1975. We’ll continue that theme for two subsequent weeks.

We want to provide a heads-up if anyone wants to do preliminary research on what music you like from those years.

Again: Do NOT post clips in this thread.

On That Note is hosted weekly by @cyclones500 @CycloneRulzzz and me.

CFTV: What can Rocco do for his legacy? Plus a Cyclones in the Summer League Update

On Monday's CF Daily Update, Jake Brend kicks off the 2025 Iowa State position previews with a take on how high Rocco's legacy can reach this year. He also provides an update on Curtis Jones and Hason Ward in the NBA Summer League and previews Paul Shirley's event on Thursday.

2026 Big 12 vs P4 schools non-con

Made this list last year. We will be judged based on our record against the rest of the P4 conferences. I like to watch these games outside of all the Iowa State games, need to root for our fellow Big 12 brethren. I'll update this with wins/loses throughout the season.

Week 1

Nebraska neutral Cincinnati - L
Auburn @ Baylor - L
Utah @ UCLA - W
Georgia Tech @ Colorado - L
TCU @ UNC - W

Week 2

Arizona State @ Mississippi St - L
Kansas @ Missouri - L
Iowa @ Iowa State - W
Oklahoma St @ Oregon - L
Baylor @ SMU - W
Stanford @ BYU - W

Week 3

Pitt @ WVU - W

Week 4

UNC @ UCF - W
SMU @ TCU - W

Number of games against other conferences:
Big10 - 4 (2-2)
SEC - 3 (0-3)
ACC - 7 (6-1)

7 Home/6 Road/1 Neutral

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