The announcement of a Sheetz location coming to my neck of the woods has realized I haven’t poked this bear in a bit.

So, what are your rankings of convenience store / gas station food?

Mind, I’ve not had Buc-ees, but my picks are…

1. Sheetz - Awesome variety of food, usually prepared well, great drink menu.
2. Wawa - If their menu were a bit more eclectic, I’d give them the nod, but even with the latest additions (pizza), it’s a lesser option than Sheetz.
3. Royal Farms - The chicken is awesome. But that’s the thing: just the chicken is awesome.
4. Highs - Their ice cream is decent? 🤷‍♂️
5. 7-Eleven - Trash. Every now and then a taquito hits a spot, but for the most part, not worth the time or money.

What say you? This, of course, is with the asterisk of Japanese Convenience Stores being far far better than anything US ones have produced.

Wisconsin State Fair:

For 10 years, The Sporkies have encouraged our State Fair vendors to create next-level foods… and drinks worthy of mouth-watering Instagram pics. The Drinkies, State Fair’s non-alcoholic beverage competition! This sip-tacular competition will refresh the drink options at the State Fair for all ages.

Once again, we have ourselves the annual listing / competition for the most bizarre, insane, intense and absolutely ridiculous fair food.

Among the, uh, highlights (?) this year…

• Loaded Baked Potato Churro
• Elvis Nachos
• Cool Ranch Doritios Pickle
• Deep Fried Lemonade Bites

You can view the full breakdown of entries for The Sporkies here.

What a world.

David Pierce, The Verge:

But I’d wager that if you wanted to see the most exciting drama happening at the MGM on this Friday night, you’d have to walk through the casino and look for the small sign advertising something called The Active Cell. This is the site of the play-in round for the Excel World Championship, and it starts in five minutes. There are 27 people here to take part in this event (28 registered, but one evidently chickened out before we started), which will send its top eight finishers to tomorrow night’s finals. There, one person will be crowned the Excel World Champion, which comes with a trophy and a championship belt and the ability to spend the next 12 months bragging about being officially the world’s best spreadsheeter. Eight people have already qualified for the finals; some of today’s 27 contestants lost in those qualifying rounds, others just showed up last-minute in hopes of a comeback.

I did not expect to be enthralled by a write up about a spreadsheet writing competition. Yet, here I am.

I very much recommend clicking through if just to see the awesome visual style that The Verge’s team applied to the article. Nice touch, and helps make the site feel like a magazine.

Alex Young, Consequence:

HFStival, the long-dormant, yet supremely iconic Washington, DC-based alt-rock music festival, looks to be making a comeback in 2024.

Today, the social media accounts for both the 9:30 Club and Nationals Park in Washington, DC indicated the festival would return on Saturday, September 21st, 2024, at Nationals Park.

The flashback vibes, they are strong.

For those not from the DMV region, WHFS was an incredibly important alternative rock station, who held an annual event, called the HFStival. Tens of thousands of teenagers/early 20’s folk would descend upon an area stadium, and enjoy the bands of the day. Famous alums include Rage Against the Machine, Eminem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, but also made sure to spotlight area bands.

In 2010 and 2011, these were run again as a nostalgia play, but today, we’re getting a possible return.

My hope is that it focuses on what alt is in 2024 – even with a throwback headliner or two – and maybe, just maybe, has a path to return of the station?

Kyle Wiggers, TechCrunch:

Wix, the platform known chiefly for its web design tools, is launching a generative AI feature that’ll let customers create and edit iOS or Android apps by describing what they want to see in plain English.

The capability, which is set to arrive in Wix’s app builder tool this week, guides users through a chatbot-like interface to understand the goals, intent and aesthetic of their app. With this info, Wix’s AI generates an app that can be customized from the app editor, and then optionally embellished with first- and third-party integrations, widgets and connectors.

What could possibly go wrong?

F’s in the chat for the App Store Review team.

20th Century Studios/YouTube:

“Alien: Romulus” takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Civil War”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (“Don’t Breathe 2”) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. “Alien: Romulus” is produced by Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”), who directed the original “Alien” and produced and directed the series’ entries “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” Michael Pruss (“Boston Strangler”), and Walter Hill (“Alien”), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (“Charlie’s Angels”), Brent O’Connor (“Bullet Train”), and Tom Moran (“Unstoppable”) serving as executive producers.

This looks big, and loud, and scary, and exciting, and dark, and gorgeous and basically everything-I-have-wanted-in-an-Alien-movie-for-years.

Hard to believe this was originally set for Hulu, right?

I will be there, August 16th.

Sony Pictures on YouTube:

Till death do they part. Tom Hardy returns in Venom: The Last Dance – coming exclusively to theaters this October.

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker.

Looks absolutely ridiculous.

Dance sequences, giant CG monsters, and crucially, VENOM HORSE. Sign me up for the next version of whatever goofiness Tom Hardy has put together here.