Good afternoon peeps and peepettes! I hope everyone had a great 4^th of July weekend. Plenty of barbequing and beer whacking on the menu, I hope.

It was a beautiful weekend in the Philadelphia area too. It was great to be outside. The smell of burnt coals and burgers was in the air. They should try and turn that smell into a cologne.

Wifesense and I had a brand new addition to our family last week: LeBron James Haley III was born on July 1, 2009. We are going to call him Doo-Doo Haley. He looks like a Doo-Doo.

I will let Wifesense catch you up on the details of that particular day. She was great; actually she was better than great, she was stupendous!

It felt like we walked into the hospital and she promptly had a baby fall out of her poonanny. It felt like 12.2 seconds (probably not for her) she is going to blog about it later this week.

Baby and wife are doing great. Babies smell so freaking good! It is impossible not to hold one and kiss it. His little cheeks are so chubby!

Okay enough of the baby talk.

This past weekend, in between naps and feedings, I had the privilege to spend my 4^th of July like the rest of American: watching the Nathan’s Hotdog eating contest. It is as American as apple pie, baseball and indoor plumbing.

I don’t know how people watch this event and think to themselves, I want a hotdog. It is seriously, disgusting. I love eating too, but it is really gross what these guys do.

I knew this year’s event was going to be a special one. As soon as I turned the television on, they had a midget dressed up as Uncle Sam. That is a great way to promote anything. I was instantly engaged. Midgets really raise the bar for any event.

They announced the contestants and their accomplishments to date (I am only going to talk about the Top six finishers).

Let me give you a little run down of their eating accomplishments, along with how many hotdogs they ate (in ten minutes) on July 4^th, 2009:

1st: Joey Chestnut

68 Hotdogs (A True American Hero!) Here are some of Joey’s accomplishments:

• 16" Pizza: 45 Slices/Famous Famiglia Pizza / 10 Minutes/October 13, 2008
• Asparagus: 8.8 pounds Tempura Deep Fried Asparagus Spears/ Stockton Asparagus Fest / 10 minutes/ Apr. 26, 2008
• Chicken Wings, 12 minutes: 7.5 lbs Buffalo Chicken Wings / 12 minutes/ May 21, 2007
• Chicken Wings, Long form: 182 chicken wings / 30 minutes
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: 47 grilled cheese sandwiches / 10 Minutes/ June 10, 2006
• Gyoza: 231 chicken and vegetable gyoza/Los Angeles Nisei Week / 10 minutes/August 23, 2008
• Hamburgers: Krystal’s: 103 Krystal Burgers / 8 minutes/October 28, 2007
• He tells EPSN the magazine that he can drink a gallon of milk in less than a minute. That is insane.

2nd: Takeru Kobayashi

64.5 Hotdogs (They counted a half of a hotdog, awesome!) Here are some of Kobayashi’s accomplishments:

• Brats: 58 Johnsonville Brats / Brat Days / 10 Minutes/ Aug. 5, 2006
• Cow Brains: 57 (17.7 pounds) / 15 minutes (Disgusting)
• Lobster Rolls: 41 Lobster Rolls in Boston challenge / 10 minutes/Sept. 23, 2006
• Rice Balls: 20 pounds rice balls / 30 minutes (He ate balls!!!)

3rd: Pat Bertoletti

55 Hotdogs. Here are some of Pat’s accomplishments:

• Blueberry Pie (Hands-Free): 9.17 lbs blueberry pie/Stand By Me World Pie Eating Championship / 8 minutes/July 28, 2007
• Chocolate: 1 lb, 15.5 oz Chicago Chocolate Hearts / 7 minutes/Feb. 13, 2006
• Corned Beef & Cabbage: 10.63 lbs Corned Beef & Cabbage / 10 Minutes/ Mar. 16, 2007
• Corned Beef Sandwiches: 11 8-ounce Corned Beef Sandwiches / 10 minutes/Jan. 11, 2006
• Date Nut Bread: 29.5 Chock full o'Nuts Date Nut Bread and Cream Cheese Sandwiches / 8 minutes/December 20, 2006
• Deep-Fried Calamari: 6.625 pounds Mallie's Sports Grill World Calamari Eating Championship / 10 Minutes/ May 30, 2009
• Doughnuts, Cream-filled: 47 Glazed and Cream-filled Doughnuts/MLE St. Patrick's Day Chow down / 5 minutes/March 17, 2007

4th: Tim Eater X Janus

53 hotdogs. Here are some of Eater X’s accomplishments (besides painting his face and going out in public):

• Burritos, Long Form: 11.81 lbs burritos/Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill / 10 Minutes/Sep. 22, 2007 (I love burritos!)
• Cannoli (tied): 26 large cannoli/San Gennaro Festival / 6 minutes/Sept. 15, 2006
• Nigiri Sushi: 141 pieces of Nigiri Sushi/MLE: The Game Promotion / 6 Minutes/April 11, 2008
• Ramen Noodles: 10.5 lbs Ramen Noodles/NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution for Nintendo Wii / 8 minutes/October 27, 2007 (That is a crap load of Ramen Noodles, I think it would take a normal college student two whole semesters to eat this amount.)
• Tamales: 71 Tamales/Old Town Lewisville/Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory / 12 Minutes/Sept. 1, 2007 (I hope he did this in front of a port-a-potty!)
• Tiramisu: 4 pounds tiramisu/ Verducci's Market / 6 minutes/ Mar. 5, 2005

5th: Bob Shoudt

41 ¾ hotdogs (3 quarters of a hotdog, it keeps getting better!)

• Beef Brisket BBQ Sandwiches: 34.75 Beef Brisket BBQ Sandwiches/Cherokee Casino / 10 Minutes/July 26, 2008
• Chili Spaghetti: 13.5 lbs Skyline Chili Spaghetti/Kings Island / 10 Minutes/September 1, 2008
• Krystal Hamburgers, 2 minutes: 39 Krystal Hamburgers / 2 minutes/September 2007
• Steeplechase/Chow down Championship: Pork burgers, Beef rib eye sandwiches, Turkey Legs, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Cupcakes/Indiana State Fair / August 19, 2006
• Steeplechase/Ultimate Eating Tournament: Shrimp, Pralines, Hot Dogs, Nachos, Gelato/Broadway at the Beach / 10 minutes/ Apr. 22, 2006

6th: Sonya Thomas

41 Hotdogs. She weighs like 48 pounds too.

• Armour Vienna Sausage: 8.31 pounds Armour Vienna Sausage /Lowe's Motor Speedway Charlotte / 10 Minutes/ May 28, 2005
• Baked Beans, Long Course: 8.4 Pounds Baked Beans/ 84 Lumber / 2 minutes 47 seconds/ Aug. 7, 2004 (She probably tooted the whole way home!)
• Cheesecake: 11 pounds Downtown Atlantic Cheesecake / 9 minutes/ Sept. 26, 2004
• Chicken Nuggets: 80 Chicken Nuggets / 5 Minutes (Chicken Nuggets are awesome)
• Chili Cheese Fries: 8 lbs, 2 oz Wiener schnitzel Chili Cheese Fries at the Queen Mary / 10 minutes/February 11, 2006
• Crab Cakes: 46 Phillips Crab Cakes/Baltimore Waterfront Festival / 10 Minutes/ April 29, 2006 (I think her and I are meant to be together, seriously, she eats everything that I love to eat, just in way bigger portions.)
• Deep-Fried Okra: 9.75 lbs Deep Fried Okra/GoldenPalace.net at the Oklahoma State Fair / 10 Minutes/Sept. 16, 2006
• Eggs: 65 Hard Boiled Eggs / 6 minutes, 40 seconds (Her breath had to reek!)

I am now going to puke and poop myself simultaneously.