Mike Gray Blog

Mike Gray Blog: Barbecue, Productivity, Photography, Catholicism, and Everything Else That Catches My Attention

  • Turkey Troubles

    Turkey Troubles

    I have messed up turkeys every possible way, usually winding up either on the over-done or under-done ends of the spectrum and rarely nailing it. A massive bird, that you have to feed to guests, is enough to trigger performance anxiety in even the most experienced cooks. This year was an exception. After purchasing a…

  • How to Memorize a Speech

    How to Memorize a Speech

    There is no better way to project knowledge and confidence when public speaking than to be able to speak without notes. Indeed, in this year’s presidential election season, it has become a political issue whether a candidate speaks with or without a teleprompter (the politician’s equivalent of reading from your notes). The teleprompter itself is…

  • Riot Fest: For Those Who Like to Rock

    Riot Fest: For Those Who Like to Rock

    Over the course of three days in a park in West Chicago last weekend, I saw The Vandals, Ween, GZA, Descendents, Method Man & Redman, Social Distortion, NOFX, NAS, Andrew W.K., Tiger Army, Chevy Metal, Bad Religion, Rob Zombie, Sleater-Kinney, and the Misfits with Glenn Danzig. This is Riot Fest. Basically, it was a live…