Month: August 2004

Dead Fucking Last @ this year’s Olympic games.

UPDATE: Also, Gold metal count ranked by medals/population: Austrailian Bureau of Statistics

Some of y’all might have read about the lobster eating contest held in Maine recently. Won by an Asian-American woman named Sonya Thomas. Like all good pseudo-celebrities she has a website where she nicknamed (herself?) “The Black Widow”.

Here are some highlights from her World Records page:

– August 21, 2004, Kennebunkport, Maine, 9.76 pounds of Lobster meat (38 soft shell lobsters) in 12 minutes.
– August 7, 2004, Centerville, Indiana: 84 Lumber World Baked Bean Championship: 8.4 lbs. of Baked Beans in 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
– July 8, 2004, Madison Square Garden, NYC, NY, Chicken Nuggets: 80 in 5 minutes.
– July 4, 2004, Coney Island, NY: New Women’s World Record (and American Record!) of 32 Nathan’s Hot Dogs and Buns in 12 minutes
– April 17, 2004, New Orleans, LA, Acme Oysters: 36 Dozen in 10 minutes.
– April 2, 2004, Orlando, FL, Cheese Quesadillas: 31 1/2 four-inch quesadillas in 5 minutes.
– February 21, 2004, Brooklyn, NY, NY, Cheesecake: 11 pounds in 9 minutes.
– January 30, 2004, Philadelphia, PA: Radio WIP Wing Bowl Record of 167 BBQ Chicken Wings in 32 minutes.
– December 30, 2003, Buffalo, NY, Fruitcake: 4 Pounds, 14 1/4 Ounces in 10 minutes.
– November 26, 2003, Manhattan, NY, NY, Thanksgiving Meal Invitational: 7 and 3/4 pounds of food in 12 minutes.
– October 3, 2003, Corinth MS, Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches: 23 in 10 minutes.
– September 16, 2003, NY, NY, Tacos: 43 1/2 in 11 minutes.
– September 13, 2003, Indianapolis Indiana, Boiled Eggs: 65 in 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
– August 9, 2003, Seymour, Wisconsin, Hardees Thickburgers: SEVEN 3/4-pound fully dressed burgers in 10 minutes.

[via MSNBC’s Week in Pictures]

On the subway ride home tonight, the 3 train from downtown uptown, a group of teenagers was “rough-housing” as they say. Yelling, playing basketball on the mostly empty train car, etc. One kid decided he needed to relieve himself immediately. He proceeded to pee on the tracks between two cars while the train was moving!

follow up to the javelin discussion:

I just learned that they changed the table-tennis ball from 38 mm to 40 mm after the 2000 olympics to make it better for TV and live audiences. Watching it now I can’t believe that 2 mm would make a difference, but it is indeed much easier to see the ball than I remember.

Slate has an article about the new vaulting “tongue” that replaced the old horse. I suppose the vault is better off for it, but what will replace the running headlong into the end of it on TV blooper shows?

Anyone have any other interesting equipment tidbits from the games?

Olympic Gymnastic all around champion and mild-mannered co-worker Amanda.

Anyone else notice that Michael Phelps is wearing Bose QuietComfort 2 noise cancelling headphones before his races?

I just got back from two days in Louisville, Kentucky.

We had lunch at a BBQ place called Mark’s feed store. They were instantly suspicious of the yankee with the blazer and pink dress shirt.

The good news was that I found a new interesting regional food item. Burgoo. Essentially it is a spicy stew made out of whatever meats they have left over. Delicious. 

Here’s a recipe I found online: [link]

600 pounds lean soup meat
200 pounds fat hens
2000 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
200 pounds of onions
5 bushels of cabbage, chopped
60 ten-pound cans of tomatos
24 ten-pound cans puree of tomatoes
24 ten-pound cans of carrots
18 ten-pound cans of corn
Red pepper and salt to taste
Season with Wochestershire, Tabasco, or A1 Sauce

Mix the ingredients, a little at a time, and cook outdoors in huge iron kettles over wood fires from 15 to 20 hours. Use squirrels in season.. one dozen squirrels to each 100 gallons.

Now playing: Faithless – In the End

I love this song.