|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| Following the NFL Combine, we decided to have a hot dog eating contest. Originally, the bet was to eat 8 hotdogs in 30 minutes, because Vince claims he chews slowly.
After much modification to the event, we decided to try to follow regulation Hotdog eating contest rules. 12 minutes.
So for a dual birthday extravaganza, we decided to actually do this on Vince's birthday. This is what 50 hotdogs looks like.
We grilled up 50 hotdogs, because, well frankly, the idea of eating 50 boiled hotdogs doesn't sound very appetizing.
Four of us partook in this competition. There was much discussion of strategy. We decided that we could condiment our hotdogs ahead of time to assist with "flavor fatigue." Some decided that drinking beer before the event would stretch their stomachs. Vince's brother claimed no one would finish 4. I thought getting past 6 would be tough, 8 impossible.
We each set up 4 hotdogs with buns on our plates, and waiting to begin. All was silent.
Ready. Set. Go.
Immediately upon starting, I could not stop myself from laughing at the hilarity. With one gigantic bite of hotdog in my mouth, I couldn't prevent myself from drooling on myself as Vince and I laughed hysterically.
Two minutes later, when I had stopped laughing, Ryan was already on his third hotdog.
10 grueling minutes later, I had only finished 4 and 3/4 hotdogs. Vince, 5. Dave, 6, Ryan 7. It really is a lot harder than it looks on TV.
A few notes to any of you that may try it:
- Flavor fatigue is real. You really do get sick of eating hotdog very quickly. Supposedly some people dunk their hotdogs in crystal light (SICK!), but it's supposed to help with flavor fatigue.
- The bun is really annoying. Eating the hotdog separate is much easier, then dunk the hotdog bun in water. Just like the pros. There's a reason they do it. There's a reason you should do it if you're trying to win a hotdog eating contest.
- It is unclear if drinking beer before will stretch your stomach. Vince, Ryan, and Dave all drank beer. They all ate more hotdogs than I did. But somehow I think was the real winner.
I do not believe I will be eating a hotdog anytime soon. And when I do, I will be much happier leisurely eating 4 hotdogs over the course of a BBQ, than 4 in 12 minutes. | | |
| 
51 Yards!
For the record, 30 yards from 1 knee is also very easy (although it sailed way past 30 yards, we did not measure because it was such a joke.)
And the rest of the combine? I ran a 40 yard dash in 5.1s and now have a lot more respect for 350 pound fat linemen.
It was a whole lot of fun. I was a whole lot of sore the next few days.
Next up? Hot dog eating contest. Vince seems to think he can eat 10, with buns, in 30 minutes. I say no way. NO WAY. (I also for the record am not looking forward to throwing up after trying this.) | | |
| It's time for our next informational dinner event, and I'm pleased that Joanna Su from the Asian American Institute will be joining us to talk about a variety of ways we can learn more about the community, and how we can use the resources available to us, and also lend a helping hand.
Topics Joanna could cover (we will tailor to the group interest level):
1. Education Working Group
2. Issues Platform
3. Impact Fellows Program
4. Annual Report Design
5. CRCL Project
6. Fall Fundraiser
7. Voter Registration
All the details can be found at the end of this email.
Now, for the important details:
Date: Thursday, May 22nd
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Noodles in the Pot (Thai place in Lincoln Park), 2453 N Halsted
Approx Cost: Noodles in the Pot is fairly cheap, so I can't imagine it would cost more than $15 or so.
Please RSVP to me as soon as possible.
Topic Details
Education working group: For those who have an interest in Asian American issues in K-12 education (poor performance outcomes for Southeast Asian students, lack of bilingual teachers, no APA studies curriculum); the group meets monthly during weekday daytime hours.
Issues platform: Our community organizer is working with a core group of leaders to do outreach to grassroots community members, to identify priority issues that concern them. This information will be turned into an issues platform paper (policy paper) which will be used to educate state and local candidates who are running for election in November 2008. There will be some community forums planned. A multilingual voters’ guide will be produced prior to the election, providing info on the candidates’ positions on our identified issues. The core group of activists meets during weekday early evenings but community forums would likely be on the weekends if folks want to help with that aspect.
Impact Fellows Program: We’ll have a summer leadership program in June and July with 15 or so APA college students. There will be a combination of leadership skills-building workshops, small group projects, and off-site internships. This program will run M-F during the daytime and we’re still clarifying what unmet human resource needs we have there.
A less glamorous, but very important, project is the development of our annual report for the fiscal year ending June 2008. After we close the year, we’ll be compiling all of our program achievements and photos as well as our financial statements, etc. to produce this document. We’ve never done a professional-looking annual report before so we really could use a lead person to help pull this together in a solid fashion.
CRCL Project (boards and commissions project I am working on): I am working with a consultant to do an assessment report on current APA representation on mainstream corporate, philanthropic, nonprofit and governmental boards and commissions. The report will be completed this fall. Meanwhile I need to develop a tool for assessing individuals’ current experience (related to serving on boards and commissions) and I will be planning a skills-building curriculum (series of sessions) which will be held starting February 2009. I could use help from someone who has experience in curriculum development for corporate folks.
Fall Fundraiser: We’ll be planning an event in September or October, date and details tbd.
Voter registration, education and getting out the vote: Starting in July or so, we will have 1 or 2 “Fellows” placed with us to do APA voter outreach in targeted areas (including Chinatown/Bridgeport as well as one of the northern suburban areas tbd). The Chinatown Fellow will be recruiting English-speaking as well as Mandarin-, Cantonese-, Taiwanese- and Toisanese-speaking volunteers who can help do outreach in the targeted areas and very likely this would involve weekend activities as well as weekday evening volunteer work. | | |
| I still feel bad about ranting on Randy Pausch. I retract. He's expressing himself. Who am I to judge? He certainly did not ask for my approval.
The world needs more love anyway. | | |
|
