As the Office Microwave, I keep an ear to the streets and hear the best conversation topics for your work friends, for your boss, for your latest client, and everyone in between. Here is this week’s totally not boring Work Talk.
#1: For your office's biggest NFL fan
TLDR: That animated robot from Fox Sports' NFL broadcasts is named Cleatus and he was created by a 7-year-old.
Even if you aren’t a football fan, you are likely familiar with Fox’s broadcast of the NFL.
I did some research and learned that the robot’s name is Cleatus, and he was created by a 7-year-old.
According to Fast Company, Gary Hartley, who is now the executive vice president of graphics at Fox Sports was part of the team working on a 2005 rebrand for the network. Hartley’s son drew him a football player/cowboy humanoid.
Hartley pitched the idea, and it was approved.
Starting that year, commercial breaks were bookended by animations of Cleatus getting hype on the sidelines. As time passed, the animations got zanier and zanier, with Cleatus transforming into a turkey for Thanksgiving and even wearing a hula skirt.
When Eric Shanks, who was among the first Fox Sports employees, took over as the network’s CEO and executive producer, he reeled in the Cleatus gags, but let the robot’s legacy live on.
#2: For your coffee nerd
TLDR:
The world's best baristas compete in the World Brewer's Cup.
You might be into coffee, but do you brew your coffee like a champion?
This week, I learned about the World Brewers Cup, the Super Bowl of making coffee. If you’re a nerd like I am and have the money to spend on a new coffee rig, here is how to make championship-winning coffee.
Here is one of the winning recipes from a past year:
Heat 200ml of water to 97 degrees Celsius. Grind 12 grams of coffee and put it in the filter of your V60.
Pour 50 grams of water evenly over the coffee and then stir it. Wait 30 seconds. Pour another 50 grams of water and want another 30 seconds. Then pour 100 grams of water.
If this sounds like a lot of work, then I agree. But at least watch footage from the competition. It’s so soothing.
#3: For your office chemist
TLDR: Remember studying the Periodic Table? Neon signs are made from tubes filled with neon gas.
I always admire old neon signs, but never knew how they worked. I looked it up and realized I must have missed that day in 9th grade science class.
Neon signs are made from hollow glass tubes that are filled with small amounts of neon or argon gas. Positive and negative electrodes are placed at either end of the tubes, making the neon or argon atoms bounce around to create photons, particles of light.
Please pardon the Bill Nye segment I just dropped. But you have to admit that is cool.
FOR YOUR NEXT CONVERSATION STARTER
Circling back to my Limp Bizkit story from last week, this is going to be the holiday song of 2022… mark my words.
Job listings show that Netflix has its eyes on the video game business.
If you like video game music, here is a good mix to throw on while you’re working.
FOR YOUR WAY OUT: 5 MEMES
That’s it for this week’s Work Talk. These topics are meant to be shared with your co-workers, so if you liked it, forward this email to you best friend or colleague and have them subscribe here.
And if you made it this far, reply back to this email with a Twitter bot to follow.
Oh, and finally, if you ever have memes or stories to share, just reply back to one of my emails. Who knows... you might see your content in future sends.
