Fall, Football, Famous Arkansans ... and Food

Chewing the Fat

...in which Rex and Paul chew the fat about the fact that Paul is from Imdoden, setting a new Chewing the Fat record—nine seconds—for earliest mention, the Hope Watermelon Festival, the Hempstead County sheriff's otherworldly victory in the watermelon-eating contest, how the boys turned down the offer of a free 150-pounder, despite the generous offer of a burlap sack to carry it with, about the biscuits at Keeney's in Malvern, how Historic Washington has as good a lunch as one could get at any state park in the United States, how Paul likes well-cooked vegetables -- no crispy green beans, please! -- the greatness of catalpa worms for fishing but the grossness of the green goo that comes out when you step on one, Paul's sneaky book-buying methods, discovering Glen Campbell's grave site three days after his funeral, Rex and Paul's funeral fixation, the death of Frank Broyles, how Broyles and Campbell and Johnny Cash gave Arkansas things to be proud of in the 1960s and helped the state live down some of the national embarrassment after the 1957 crisis, Nashville versus Crowley's Ridge peaches, the Fish Net at DeGray Lake, great Arkansas football stadiums, Jeff Root (the Football Doctor), how the reinstituted Lyon College football team uses the school's bagpipe band at games but does not play while wearing kilts, the Little Rock Touchdown Club, the Last Nutt Backer, OBU's streak of winning seasons in football, the Petit Jean plant at Morrilton, SAU and President Trey Berry, Backyard Barbeque in Magnolia, McClard's barbeque sauce, the "half-spread" gut bomb, fresh-cut French fries, Scott McClard's resistance to restoring goat to his menu, the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Paul's need of a tattoo, the three great dairy bars in Hot Springs -- Bailey's, King Kone, and Kreme Kastle -- car-tag improvements, the boys' upcoming State Highway 7 trip, the Grady Fish Fry, the famous Grady hushpuppy machine and how it scares Paul, Rex's surprise for Dr. Tom DeBlack, the fact that the convicts at the fish fry all know Rex, how opening-day dove hunting is a social occasion in Arkansas, the great brunch at the Monroe dove hunt, the fact the Rex and Paul are not exactly crack shots, and how the 1992 Razorback loss to the Citadel and firing of Coach Jack Crowe squeezed Rex's coverage of Bill Clinton's upcoming election as President.