The ice cold Mindbender
May 12, 2026
There’s a classic rock song you’ve heard a thousand times. And it almost didn’t exist, for all sorts of reasons.
A struggling band given one more chance
A stairwell wall and a #2 pencil
A taxi driver who had no idea what he was carrying in his back seat
Oh, and a Mel Brooks movie, believe it or not.
You know the song. You don’t know what it took.
Beyond the Tracks, Episode 3 is out now. Watch it here.
TODAY’S MINDBENDER
Ideally, this will be about 20 to 24 degrees Fahrenheit.
I’ll have a clue coming up.
NOTE: If you haven’t discovered the Mindbender on YouTube, you’ll find today’s version here.
Sizzler is back!
If you get nostalgic about the businesses and brands from your childhood, this might put a smile on your face.
The iconic Sizzler steakhouse might be launching a comeback.
At the height of their popularity, there were more than 700 Sizzler locations in the U.S. After not just one, but two bankruptcies, that number today is 74.
In some of those locations, they’ve tried doing complete remodels and some refreshing—and saw their business jump by nearly 50%.
So now there’s talk of bringing back the sizzle!
I won’t be happy until they also bring back Burger Chef and Fuddruckers.
Life’s a beach and then you sue
You know how it works. You go on vacation to a beach or a resort with a nice pool, and by 7 am all the beach chairs have towels thrown over them, reserving them for later by people who’ve just gone back to bed.
Well, if that irritates the hell out of you, you might perk up at this story.
A German tourist was just awarded $1,100 by a court because he and his family were unable to get sun lounger chairs during a vacation in Greece.
He said no matter how early they got down to the beach, people had already staked out their beach chairs, even if the people themselves were nowhere to be seen.
The 11-day vacation—holy crap, that must be nice—was tarnished, he says, after paying nearly $9,000 to a travel company. The hotel has signs posting warnings that saving chairs is not allowed, but people clearly ignore them.
The man says he did get chairs one time, but only two of them. His two children had to lie on the ground.
The court ruled that the service provider must supply the chairs in reasonable proportion to the number of guests.
I’ve seen fights over pool chairs before. Now, people may just take their complaints to the judge.
Your Clue For The Mindbender:
Your goal is to figure out the right answer. Yes, that’s a clue.
I’ll have the answer coming up.
Pet parking spaces
People take their dogs everywhere these days, whether everyone else likes it or not.
(Gordon Ramsay is in the middle of an online debate about this.)
Now some supermarkets in Europe are being proactive. They’ve installed “pet parking spaces” outside.
Instead of leaving your pooch in a hot car or taking it inside to annoy everyone else, you can now park your pet in one of these secure, climate-controlled cubes, with a big glass front so the dog can watch people walk by, hopefully reducing some of the animal’s anxiety.
You use your smartphone to lock and unlock the unit. And if you’re wondering, they’re supposedly designed to automatically clean and disinfect after each use. I’d love to see how that works.
Here’s a quick video showing some of the units in use.
The Answer For Today’s Mindbender
What is ideally between 20 and 24 degrees Fahrenheit?
The ice at an NHL hockey game.
It’s not identical at every rink in the league. Some aim for around 18 degrees.
That ice, by the way, is usually between .75 and 1.25 inches thick. And it might take upwards of 11,000 to 13,000 gallons of water to create that frozen surface.
If you haven’t checked them out yet, the Mindbender mailers are now also YouTube videos, which I host.
Find today’s version here, and be sure to subscribe!
Dom
You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by yourself, you know, and you feel shame.