Dub Dub

Remember my blood test report? What better way to celebrate my cholesterol number...


BK. Double double Whoppers.


Of the fast food burgers, I think Burger King's are the healthiest. Maybe even good for you what with the fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and crispy onions. Add the pickles and you have pure delight.


Didn't have time to eat two burgers. Just one.

Looks good.

First few bites. Great taste, and the integrity of the quad is surprisingly good.

Yum.

Still holding together well

Last bite


Here's the tray over which I ate the burger. That center splotch of ketchup, a bit of lettuce and just a few grease spots is quite extraordinary because most burgers - fast food in particular - produce much more in the way of drippings and fall apart alot more if they are packed with 4 juicy patties, delicious vegetables, and ketchup. That's why they are, as their name clearly says, the burger king.

And then I went to the grocery store to buy Powerade Zero and some sherbet.

Drill Baby Drill!

I hope that when T-bonz and I go to his rally on Sunday that his pals are there too. You know, his domestic terrorist pals and his anti-semite pals. (Buy the merch here)

The Results Are In

You might recall I last went to the doctor to get a physical and blood tests in December of 2006. I was primarily interested in my cholesterol level - 206 at that time.

I went again in the middle of October. "Turn your head and cough" and all that. And blood tests. And here are the results:

Like before, I was mainly interested in the total cholesterol number.

LDL (bad): 104
HDL (good): 62
TOTAL: 175

That LDL could be lower, the HDL could be higher, but 175 is pretty good. And considering the meat eaten lately, 175 is really good. That meat may have affected the uric acid number of 8.9; it was 7.2 before. But like the body fat %, that one number at any one time does not mean too much. I should go again in a few months to check it again.

Trapper Days

Back on the weekend after Labor Day, on 9/6, I went up to Fort Lupton for their Trapper Days festival. Well, for the hot dog eating contest and the pie eating contest. Tried the double.

Good contestant turnout for the hot dog contest. There were two divisions: 10-14 and 15 and up. The 1st division went first. The winner was a strapping corn-fed boy with 4 hot dogs in 5 minutes. We were up next. As the countdown to 0 began I was sitting, but when GO sounded, I stood up. Dunking was allowed. At the end of 5 minutes, I had put down 8, and the next closest had 5. It was 11:35am. My thoughts turned to the pie eating contest. Hands-free pie eating contest.

There were two divisions of the pie eating contest before my division. I would have preferred that our division was sooner because I knew my digestion process and I knew as time went on the hot dogs would get to me, and they did a little. At 12:05 our division began, so 1/2 hour after the hot dogs.

It turns out one of the guys was the three-time defending champion of the Trapper Days pie eating contest. The pies were banana creme, chocolate creme, or coconut creme. You got whatever pie was dealt to you, and I got stuck with the coconut creme. Ugh. At GO, I dug in. Made a HUGE mess! It was hands-free after all! The defending champ won again. I was scored in a tie for 3rd, but I say more like 4th but whatever. Only 1st mattered.

So I won the hot dogs, and didn't win the pie.

The photo above is the only photo I could find. That's me, during the pie eating contest. It's from the Ft. Lupton Press, and the article is here.

Musubi Eating Contest

Here's a bit of the video from the musubi eating contest in Colorado Springs at the one year anniversary of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.

At the end of September I decided to take October off so I could prepare for my blood test in the middle of October and also have some time before beginning Wing Bowl preparations in November. And I found out about this musubi contest on eatfeats.com just two days before it. So I did nothing to get ready, and T-bonz and I got there about a minute before the contest began. So I didn't know what I'd be eating. Or stretch. Check out the video.

Results: Burger Challenge #2

The voting is over for our 2nd burger challenge - Pizza Burgers - and you guys were great! In the first challenge I squeaked by Mega Munch with a final tally of 12-9. Munch finished ahead of me this time, 6-4. Wild Bill, though, finished with 12 votes. Here are a few more pictures of my burger:


The buns were actually pizzas! I threw on some red onion, the 80/20 patty, and lettuce for some color.


Taking a few bites. This is notable because, yes, in the photo of my burger that you voted on it did look dry but it wasn't after the first bite. The sauce on the pizzas oozed and was delicious.

More sauce

There it is. I sort of phoned that burger in. But the easy preparation led to an absolutely fabulous tasting burger and this concept of pizzas as buns is something that everyone should try right away.

Now with that being said, hopefully Mega Munch will tell us more about his burger because I voted for his burger. I want some of that.

Bathroom

By the entrance to T-Bar there is this old school and some outhouses. The site is the Tallahassee School for the mid-1800s or something like that. You have your outhouse for men, an outhouse for women, and this:

Looks pretty much like the others.

Maybe a bit wider. Early adopters of ADA?


I've seen two holers before, but I had never seen one with THREE holes!

Finally!

Oh yeah, what I have been waiting for is finally here on November 1st! Finally! After waiting over 8 years, the Legend of the Seeker is going to hit the airwaves soon. You say you do not know about this? Well you need to check out the trailer! If you read books you might know about this fascinating world that will come to life soon! Check it out!

And find out more here: http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

I Call Shenanigans!

So I checked in today on the burger challenge comments, and it is a good thing I'm not a dick or else I would say something funny is going on, right Bill? The tally as of now is Mega Munch: 5, Me: 3. "But wait", you say, "aren't there three competing?" Yes, but Bill is stuffing (or rather, stuffed) the ballot box.

He posted his article on his blog on 10/16 at noon. On that day, in about 8 hours, 13 comments were posted on his site. Of the grand total of 8 postings before the challenge posting there were 4 comments since May 2007. So there were 4 comments in a year and a half, but then 13 comments in 8 hours? Margaret, Steve, Karen, Ray, Barb, Ed, Diane, Rob. Good names. Mega and I have been "Juliet Lee'd". Much like her, Bill did not do anything against the "rules", but c'mon.

Good thing I'm, not a dick.

And by the way, I vote for burger #1. That thing looks awesome!

Hey McCain

Burger Challenge #2

Today myself, Mega Munch and Wild Bill are posting pictures of our pizza burger creations we whipped up this past weekend. We are each going to post the three pictures on our sites. There will be no way that anyone can determine which burger is which. You just vote for the one that looks better (however you want to define that) by posting your thoughts or choice here or on their sites, and in a few days we'll see who wins Burger Challenge #2 - Pizza Burgers.

Below are the burgers. Feel free to leave a comment voting for burger #1 (the top) or burger #2 (the middle) or burger #3 (the bottom). Sorry, as before: no anonymous votes allowed!

IHOP!

Woohoo! Just announced:


No Tricks, Just Treats at IHOP This October

Trick-or-Treat Early This Year at IHOP With "All-You-Can-Eat" Buttermilk Pancakes and International House Roast Coffee

GLENDALE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 10/13/2008 -- Kids won't be the only ones receiving a special treat this Halloween. IHOP, one of America's favorite restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is celebrating this spooktacular holiday by inviting everyone to enjoy Trick or Treat All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes any time of day or night from now through October 31. Guests can also compliment their pancakes with a Never-Empty Pot of IHOP's International House Roast coffee, a rich blend of premium beans selected, harvested and roasted exclusively for IHOP.

"This October we know our guests will find unlimited golden buttermilk pancakes and cups of fresh, hot coffee devilishly delicious," said Carolyn O'Keefe, IHOP's senior vice president, marketing. "There is no trick about it. IHOP pancakes are perfectly delightful for fall."

Available for a limited time at participating locations, IHOP's Trick or Treat All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes are available a la carte or as part of a combo, which start at $4.99 and begin with two, fluffy buttermilk pancakes, eggs any style, golden hash browns, and a choice of pork sausage links, crisp bacon or ham. Pancakes are then served fresh three at a time until the guest is satisfied. Pricing may vary by location.

IHOP's fresh, hot International House Roast coffee is available any time of day and is served tableside in IHOP's iconic Never-Empty copper-colored coffee pots.

For more information or to find an IHOP restaurant near you, please visit www.ihop.com.

Spam Spam Spam

L&L in Colorado Springs was celebrating their one year anniversary. Despite the rain and 40 degree temperatures, there was quite a good turnout to watch the ukulele players, hula dancers:

and...

Musubi eating contest!

What?

Sticky rice, wrapped in seaweed, with a teriyaki marinated piece of Spam in the middle.

There were only 4 - four! - of us willing to do it. The many polynesian-looking guys and girls enjoying the festivities wanted no part of this - did they know something?

I have some video to post, but until then: we each had 5 musubi blocks in front of us. First one done wins. My first couple of bites were tentative. I had not eaten this musubi before, let alone this sticky rice. I had eaten sushi, but musubi rice is salted and not vinegared like sushi rice so the taste was different. We were all pretty close for the first two. Then the 3 guys were neck and neck with one block to go. But in the end:

7th win!

Photo of the Year?

T-bonz took this picture. She said it best: "There's just something SO wrong with this photo!!"
(As if supporting McCain/Palin is not wrong enough)

Maybe the photo above is Photo of the Year but the Photo of the Millennium is this no doubt.

Extra! Extra!

JOHN MCCAIN THINKS THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT!

During the last presidential debate McCain used the expression "four corners of the Earth". Does he not know yet that it was proven the Earth is ROUND like, what, 500 years ago. Doesn't Palin think humans and dinosaurs coexisted?

The atheist monkey wrote some more about it.

Steve's

I returned again to the site of my 5th win back in June - Steve's Snappin' Dogs. Surprise birthday party for Mommye Tommye who coincidentally won the Chicago Dog division on the same day I won the qualifier.

On my stops at Steve's I had not been able to go too deep into the menu. I tried some new-to-me dogs this time.

First up: the Chicago Dog.
Spicy mustard, green relish, red onions, sliced tomato, celery salt, dill pickle spear, sport peppers.





Next, the Atlanta "Slaw Dog":
Chili con carne, cheddar jack cheese, coleslaw and red onions.

Then, the Bronx Dog with New York Onion Sauce, yellow mustard and cheddar-jack cheese:




And I stopped with the Rippin' Rockies Dog. It is a deep fried hotdog with green chili, grilled red onions, sour cream, jalapeno peppers, yellow mustard topped with diced red onions:


The coleslaw on the Atlanta & the sour cream on the Rockies - I'll leave those off next time. Other than that, perfection.

Each bun was toasted and then finished on the grill. Actually the buns were a little crumbly. Previously I believe the buns were steamed. Did they change from steaming to toasting? I like steamed. Sure, toasted+grilled buns are more flavorful, but they break apart too easily. And with all the toppings your buns have to be strong. So the buns are a potential weak link.

The dogs themselves are the best I have ever tasted - much, much better than the Nathan's hot dogs. Thumann's hot dogs have a fantastic taste unlike other hot dogs in Colorado, combining a natural casing with a flavorful blend of beef and pork with a smokey flavoring that "snaps" when you bite into it. They are nearly 1/4 pound. They're good. No, really good!

A couple pictures did not come out too well, but the dogs were too delicious to stop.

Burger Challenge #2

The next throwdown is on. Pizza burgers. This time myself and Mega Munch are going to be joined Wild Bill. Doesn't matter to me if I have to give one guy a beatin or two guys. Same deal as last time: each of us emails our final pizza burger picture to the others by Sunday evening Oct. 12th, we post the three pictures on our sites, you all vote for a few days, and a winner is determined by your votes.

UPDATED: My Poll

Here is my submission for the next edition of Hall Hunt's eater poll...

1. Joey "Jaws" Chestnut
2. Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti
3. Takeru Kobayashi
4. Tim "Eater-X" Janus
5. Rich "The Locust" LeFevre
6. "Humble" Bob Shoudt
7. Sonya "The Blackwidow" Thomas
8. Hall "Hoover" Hunt
9. Tim "Gravy" Brown
10. Crazy Legs Conti
11. Badlands Booker
12. Erik "The Red" Denmark
13. Patrick Vandam
14. Allen "Shredder" Goldstein
15. Juris "Dr. Bigtime" Shibayama
16. Pete Davekos
17. Pat Philbin
18. "007" Kevin Ross
19. Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston
20. Micah "Wing Kong" Collins
21. "Nasty" Nate Biller
22. Arturo Rios
23. Chris Abatsas
24. Russ "The Blackhole" Keeler
25. Dave "USMALE" Goldstein