The Nathan's Famous 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest 2007

I just watched the news this evening. This year Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest, an American Joey Chestnut won! Not Tsunami Kobayashi the six-time defending champion anymore.

Joey Chestnut from California gobbled down 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes, a rate of one per 10.9 seconds! This is a new record. The last best in last year Nathan's Famous contest by Kobayashi was 53 1/2 dogs. Kobayashi also broke his own record by gulping 63 hot dogs, coming in on a second place, despite the jaw arthritic he had before the contest. Apparently the winning of Joey Chestnut was quite an emotional experience for American people.

Jaw Arthritis

Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, the hot dog eating champion was diagnosed with "Jaw arthritis"! He wrote on his blog, which is in Japanese, on Sunday that he injured himself while practicing for the coming 4th of July Nathan's hot dog eating contest! Please note "while practicing"! He titled the post "Occupational hazard" and said "my jaw refused to fight anymore." It seems pretty serious. He can open his mouth as wide as a fingertip only! "I was continuing my training and bearing with the pain but finally I destroyed my jaw'', he said. Scary..that must hurt real bad. He actually won Nathan's hot dog eating contest 6 times in a row, but he has to say bye for this year.

Beware hot dog eaters and BIG eaters, you might have jaw arthritis!!





Picture from abcnews.go.com

32nd America's cup 2007: 2nd match

Kiwis beat Alinghi to even the series

Emirates Team New Zealand came from behing to snatch a 28-second win over defending champions Alinghi, levelling their best-of-nine America's cup series a 1-1

The Nation

Yeah!!! The third match is schedule for tomorrow. Way to go guys! Bring home the cup!

Stop Whaling!!

Save the whales and Stop whaling! I condemn Japan for whaling. Whales are enormous and they live in the ocean. They live in family. They do have their own language. I watched the news this evening and Japan's whaling season is beginning. I caught the most horrible sight of Japanese whaling on TV. Small students poked at a B-I-G dead whale in a place that looked like a whale slaughterhouse. I'm sad. They eat whale meat...and enjoy it and say that it's their culture. There was news before that too that Japan threatened to leave the International Whaling Commission. And that are they gonna do? Hunting whale freely and inconsiderately?

Our friends

White whale

Humpback whale

Orca whale or Killer whale in Canada

Orca whale family in Canada

Sperm whale in New Zealand

Humpback whale in Canada

* Save the whales
* Defend the whales with green peace

Hoodies and Wags go check cabon footprints of the mufin tops

Collins English Dictionary has added words like 'hoodies', 'wags', 'cabon footprints', muffin top, size zero, into its 9th edition, launched just on Monday the 4 June!

hoodie = a young person who wears a hooded sweatshirt, regarded by some as a potential hooligan. Get the picture?

wags = the pampered wives and girlfriends spending their partners' cash, take their place after a sterling performance accompanying the England football team at the 2006 World Cup. In other words, wives and girlfriends of footballers. Who?

pro-ana = those who believe anorexia is a lifestyle choice. Also, size zero

muffin top = the flabby bulge over the top of a tight pair of jeans. some muffins?

brainfood = foods containing nutrients thought to assist brain function.

carbon footprint, carbon offsetting and season creep - the changing length of seasons thought to be caused by climate change. Your cabon footprint?

Apart from these, words like 'Plasma screen', 'Tamiflu' - the anti-viral drug for influenza, 'wiki', 'me-media' - personal online services such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace. =D

Phew.. so many... I'm wondering if 'Ubuntu', 'Blogger', 'Cookie', 'Emoticon'...and the like are in there too.

However, Thai people not to worry! Our ราชบัญฑิตยสถาน or The Royal Institute is also updated the Royal Institute dictionary with words used between 1999 - 2007 (พ.ศ. 2542 - 2550) and they call it the dictionary of the current Thai language, literally translated from พจนานุกรมภาษาไทยปัจจุบัน. They have been collected 'new words' for about 2 years and currently there are about 1,000 words from the modern time. You will be amused when you hear what words are being included. They are...

Chill-Chill ชิวชิว = to take it casually, as in 'sit chill-chill at a club' or take it easy
๊ื
Ung อึ้ง = shocked and speechless

Kip-Kea กิ๊บเก๋ = chic

Gig กิ๊ก = a person you have an affair with, or as my experienced friend put it, it's someone who is more than a friend but less than a girlfriend/boyfriend.

Go Inter โกอินเตอร์ = to become famous internationally...(I guess this word got its root from Tata young Oh..boys love her..ha ha. There you will find her photo in the link.)

Cha-pai-toi ช้าไปต๋อย = too slow that someone has already taken your chance

Dek sil เด็กชิ่ว = a person who has re-enterd a university

Kan neaw กันเหนียว = to do something or have a contingency plan so that you are certain you will get the right result.

Kai-Kok ไขก๊อก ... This I don't know what it means, but it's from politics I guess.

So.. your gig has go-intered with the help of Dek-sil and what made you Ung was that he said Cha-pai-toi, but your girlfriend just chill chill. ha ha How's that?

Thailand's Eco car privilege

The Cabinet has made a decision yesterday on eco car project.

Excise Tax : 17%
Specification:
1. Engine size of no more than 1,300 CC for petrol engines.
2. Engine size of no more than 1,400 CC for diesel engines.
3. Fuel economy must be at least 5 liters per 100 km.
4. EURO 4 standard, emitting no more than 120 grams of CO2/km.

Source: Fincance Minister

What kind of cars are going to fill the streets of BKK...or...would there be more cars than what BKK roads can accommodate for? Would our air be cleaner or less dirty..?

Cruel shoes

Cruel shoes are shoes with pointed toes or thin soles, or hike spike heels.
This is according to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society.
High heel shoes will put stress not only on your feet but also ankles, knees and back.
The rule of thumb is "no more than three hours in three-inch heels".

So please just don't wear them, those cruel shoes, or I can lend you my cane.

City life is getting faster.

A British researcher Prof. Richard Wiserman from the University of Hertfordshire, north of London, found that we, people globally, are walking 10% faster than the last decade. The research used people's walking speed as an indicator of the pace of life. Singapore was ranked the most frenetic city in the world, followed by Copenhagen and Madrid! Singapore's walking pace rose by 30%, while Guangzhou's was 20%. However, New York, London, and Tokyo, that are usually regarded as busiest cities, scored a bit low down the scale, 8th,12th, and 16th respectively.

Are you realise you are walking faster?


Source: The Nation

DRM-free iTunes

Apple and EMI will offer DRM- (Digital Rights Management) free or unprotected music on iTunes. The DRM-free version will be available at twice the sound quality of existing downloads, and priced at USD 1.29 per track. Though, iTunes will still offer standard sound quality DRM-protected track at USD 0.99. Customers can upgrade thir DRM protected music for USD 0.3 per track. It's still unclear,however, whether other large music company will follow this suit.

Source: The Nation: 4 Apr 07; Dow Jones Newswires LONDON

China 's Moon rover

China is developing a atomic powered Moon rover for an unmanned exploration mission in 2012.
The six-wheeled rover is 1.5 m high and weigh 200 kg. It is designed to transmit video in real time, dig for and analyse soil samples, and produce 3D images of the lunar surface. The rover looks similar to Nasa's Spirit and Opportunity Mars explorers launched in 2003 and are still in operation. China plans to send an unmanned space ship to orbit the moon this year. The rover mission is next and a manned lunar voyage is planned for some time after 2017.

Source: The Nation: 3 Apr 07; Associated Press

TiSP

Google's official April Fools' Day prank. "Toilet Internet Service Provider" (TiSP)
Code-name: "Dark Porcelain"

On Sunday, Google posted a link on the company's home page to a site offering consumers free high-speed wireless Internet through their home plumbing systems with a mock press release quoting Larry Page, a step-by-step online installation manual and a scatological selection of FAQs. Page said "...and today our Toilet ISP team is pleased to be leading the way through the sewers, up out of your toilet and - splat - right into your PC." The TiSP works with Microsoft's Vista but..septic tanks are incompatible with the system's requirements. The service would be offered in 3 speeds: Trickle, The No.2, and Royal Flush.

Source: The Nation: 3 Apr 07; Associated Press

A boy charged for Wireless mooching!

A 17-Year-old boy, Garyl Tan Jia Luo, was the first in Singapore and possibly Asia to be sentenced in court for "Wireless mooching" or piggybacking on an unsecured wireless network to surf the Internet. In Singapore, Tan was charged under the Computer Misuse Act for securing access without authority to a computer for the purpose of obtaining computer services. He got probation, but conviction could have brought him up to 3 years' imprisonment, a SGD 10,000 (Bt 212,680) fine, or both.

Source: The Nation: 2 Apr 07; Agence France-Press SINGAPORE