Nathan’s Famous are the legendary dogs from Coney Island, and they’re the frank of choice at Nat Bailey Stadium. To celebrate their arrival in town, the promo team from the Vancouver Canadians organized their own version of the World Hot Dog Eating Championships, this was Nathans Famous Hot Dog a Thon.
I thought I could inhale those little tubes of mystery meat. But here’s the thing: Nathan’s Famous are real hot dogs. As in they taste good, are very filling, and have nice kick of spice. These are not your bulk bin rope dogs.
I was in trouble from the first bite. I had watched the video over and over of Kobayashi. He soaks the buns with one hand, and doubles two wieners in his mouth with the other hand. I tried it. I could shovel them in pretty good, but there was no way in hell I could get them down. It.was.brutal.
Here’s the video of me giving up rather early in the competition:
The Vancouver Sun was also there and shot a video.
The guy directly to my right is Ken The Demolisher Wong. A soft spoken gentleman who, apparently, is a competitve eater!
A slow start since for the first two minutes I only had two full large Nathans cups with water. I yelled out “water” with my mouth full. I again yelled out “water” with my mouth clear. I got 4 more cups and the water was filled constantly. Thank you for the cheering at the end. The Vancouver Sun newspaper took photos and video. At 8 and 1/2 hot dog and buns it was a decent win since I last ate at a blueberry pie (660 grams) eating contest and won two days earlier on Saturday August 16. I could have eaten more if I had gotten all the water I wanted at the beginning. What happened to your projected 8 hdbs?
I have eaten in 5 x 12 minutes hdb (hot dog bun) eating contests [2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Canadian Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championship, 2003 Canada Cup (Women's Fast Pitch) Hot Dog eating contest] and 2 x 5 minutes hdb qualifiers [2002, 2003 Canadian Nathan's Hot Dog Eating].
At 8 minutes most contestants will bail out by hitting the wall and think they are full. This separates the men from the boys. I like 12 minutes hot dog eating contests. 10 minutes is a good compromise for next year.
They say they’re going to do this again next year. I’ll be glad to offer up my seat to any takers, it’s just too damn hard and Ken is just too damn good.
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Every year on the 4th of July, Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island, NY hosts the World Hot Dog Eating Champioships. 12 minutes of gluttony that was routinely pwned by a pint size Japanese fellow named Kobayashi.
In 2007, Joey Chestnut unseeded the great Kobayashi. This past summer, Kobayashi came back to reclaim his crown and the battle was a dead heat.
Tonight, at Nat Bailey Stadium, the Vancouver Candians host Boise and a little bit of Coney Island. It’s the 1st Annual Nathan’s Hot-Dog-A-Thon at the Nat. A bunch of “celebs,” a bunch of dogs, and 6 minutes to get ‘em down without any coming back up.
I’ve studied the tape and technique of Kobayashi and Chestnut, I’ve been stretching my stomach all weekend. I am prepared to do battle. Sooooo .. how many do you think I can get down, and keep down?
The boys can kick back about 60 in 12 minutes, I’ll stick my over/under at 8 in 6 minutes.
The battle goes at 630p just outside Nat Bailey Stadium, I’ll see you there!
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Jen’s new territory includes all the liquor stores in Vancouver, along with restaurants on Main St and Commercial Dr. It’s been a while since we had a “date night,” so we took this past Friday to hit up a couple of her clients on The Drive to see how things rock on a Friday night.
First up was DiVino Wine Bar. It used to be 1 big gelato shop, until the owner decided to put a wall up the middle and turn the corner piece into a wine bar. Brilliant move. It’s got a charcuterie styled menu, like Salt, with meats and cheeses, plus a nice full kitchen menu of Commercial Dr cuisine.
It was stinking hot inside, so we grabbed a piece of the patio and just chilled and chatted.
Okay, my Lake Breeze Zephyr Brut was okay, but Jen’s Sergio Mionetto Rose was not what the night needed at all. That said, the cheese was awesome. The battery died on the Flip or I would have done a piece with it, we had a cheese called Red Dawn from Hillary’s Cheese Company in Cowichan Bay. It’s a cow’s milk cheese with Merridale Cider. Wow!
After our bubble and snacks at DiVino, we wandered down to Lime.
It looks so groovy and cool from the outside. Very Yaletown in its colour, menu style, sign and entry way. BUT … walk inside and its a mish mash of styles with a hodge podge of bamboo in baskets tossed around the room. No warmth. No atmosphere. No style, nothing of the zen you would expect from the outside. From the street you’d expect something along the lines of what the Glowbal Group has defined for restaurant style in the city, on the inside you find something begging for a Restaurant Makeover.
The sushi rolls were creative; I had a lobster roll wrapped in cucumber, Jen enjoyed her beef sashimi roll. We each had a glass of white, Jen a Kettle Valley Chardonnay, me a Pentage Pinot Gris. They came not quite cold enough for such a muggy night and the entire experience was forgettable.
We walked back up the Drive to the other side of DiVino for a little bit of Dolce Amore gelato and called it a night.
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This Sunday night the Vancouver Whitecaps will host the Puerto Rico Islanders and the Canadian Diabetes Association is the charity of choice for the game! Bronze tickets are just $15 each and $4 from every ticket will go to the CDA!
If supporting the Diabetes effort wasn’t enough of a reason to head down, all ticket purchasers will be entered into a draw for a Helijet Crown Mountain Sightseeing Adventure for Four from the Helipad at Grouse Mountain, plus 4 passes for the Grouse Super SkyRide!
To have your tickets count in the draw, you must order them from Senior Account Manager, Tom Tompkins by Friday. He can be reached at: 604 669-9283 or via email at: ttompkins@whitecapsfc.com
On July 4, 2006 I went to meet a girl at the Cactus Club at Park Royal. We’d talked on the phone, and via email but this was our first “date.”
We sat at the bar, chatting, but not really looking at each other - the World Cup was on.
Over the next couple nights, as we spent hours on the phone, like newly daters do, we started to dream about how fun and spontaneous it would be to go to France for the World Cup Final between France and Italy.
We worked routings with our points from every angle, but we just couldnt find a way to get there and back in 48 hours. That was part of the challenge, just go and soak up the atmosphere with nowhere to stay, just go - at the drop of the hat, with someone you’d just met.
We even looked at Saint Pierre et Miquelon, the two islands in between Newfoundland and Halifax that are a bona fide French colony, but again the flights didnt work. So we settled on Montreal. A red eye in on Friday, the game on Saturday, and an evening flight home on Sunday.
July 4, 2006 was the first date for Jennifer and I. On July 7 we were on a plane for our first vacation together. We moved in together in October 06 and on May 31, 2007 our little Z was born (yes, we work fast)
We haven’t been in a rush to set a date, but then I flipped the calendar over today and realized our anniversary would land on a Saturday - the perfect wedding day! Sooooo …
On July 4, 2009 we’ll be making things a little more permanent. Yes, we’ve set the date.
Now we just have to set the place…. details to come…
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The Judgment of Paris is one of the most important points in the history of wine. Let’s flip to the pages of Wikipedia for an explanation, shall we?
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or the “Judgment of Paris” was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges did blind tasting of top-quality chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon wines from France and from California.[1] California wines rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world’s best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win. [wikipedia]
This was the moment that France was no longer alone at the top of the wine world. Suddenly, the American industry had legitimacy.
Now, it’s a movie, Bottle Shock. Here’s the trailer:
So while you’re off to The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder or Pineapple Express this weekend, Jen and I will be hitting up a boutique cinema for a little Bottle Shock.
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Okay, we didnt get a say in that awful VANCOUVER across the front of the new Canucks unis, but the team is giving us fans a chance to put our stamp on the team - by designing Curtis Sanford’s mask.
“We have great fans in Vancouver and I thought this would be the ideal way for them to express themselves in a creative way and to feel part of our team,” said Curtis Sanford. “There are a lot of talented artists in our city and I have no doubt that we will receive a number of innovative and interesting designs. I am looking forward to seeing what Canucks fans come up with.”
In addition to having the design featured on the mask itself, the winning design will also receive an autographed Curtis Sanford jersey and a meet and greet with Sanford.
Sanford’s nickname is “The Sandman.” The old guy on the top of the mask is The Sandman, the hands on each side of the mask have a crystall ball with the new Canucks logo, and a staff with the original Canucks logo. The bottom is a nod to Vancouver with the snow capped mountains.
So, for the new one will you continue with the Sandman theme, or toss something completely unique into the mix - like these Canuck Classics?
The Canucks.com page has all you need; downloadable templates, logos, biographical info, and more.
Here’s the fine print:
All applicants will be required to submit an artistic rendering by Monday, August 25, 2008 to be eligible for the contest. To enter, click on the “Design Your Mask” button to launch the interactive workshop and download the mask template. Submissions, produced either electronically or by hand, will be accepted via e-mail or via post. For more information and full rules and regulations, please visit Canucks.com.
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This morning I managed to grab Kris Krug on the streets of Beijing checking out a night snack market where he was offered pig’s penis, scorpions, silk worm larvae and other tasty treats. Here’s audio of our chat:
Kris Krugand his buddy Scales are ripping up the Games, I’ll have more of their story in Wednesday’s edition of 24hrs.
Now Z has stumbled and stealthily slipped from ottoman to chair in the past. He has fumbled to our outstretched arms, but what I saw this afternoon was a bona fide step. One foot, then another … okay, then a tumble. But he tried.
When I picked him up from daycare today we walked to the car. He seemed really balanced while I was putting his shoes on, so I held his hand and we walked all the way to the car. Then when we got one, I did it again. We walked all the way to the house hand in hand.
Then, while he was messing around, I saw him stand. So I crouched a few feet away with my iPhone. Z LOVES phones. It was the carrot he needed… he saw it and stumbled right at me. 2 steps, of his own volition without help! (Of course I announced the milestone on Twitter seconds later)
Later through the evening he would take more and stronger and braver steps, sometimes 4 or 5.
So.. we have a walker. I think all we really needed to do was help him practice. Since he can scoot so quick by crawling, he doesn’t really try and we just scoop him up when we need to go out… but now .. practice.
It was a big day, I almost cried when it happened.. was brilliant I could catch the moment with my iPhone.
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Nel Peach has been a supporter of Team Diabetes for a few years now, she’s gearing up for her 6th event in Kelowna this month, and then she’s off to Disney World for her 7th Team Diabetes event.
I’ve met Nel through the powers of the itnernets, and she’s been a great inspiration. I interviewed her on air this morning:
The deadline to join us in Florida this January is Friday. Here’s all you need to know about the Team Diabetes program, all that’s left is for you to join!
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Okay, we didnt get a say in that awful VANCOUVER across the front of the new Canucks unis, but the team is giving us fans a chance to put our stamp on the team - by 
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