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Man eats 53 3/4 hot dogs in 12 minutes

Wednesday, July 5th, 2006

Hot dog eating champion, Takeru Kobayashi
All photos from news.yahoo.com

That’s the newspaper headline describing a yearly activity on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. Every Fourth of July, a hot dog eating competition brings hopefuls from all over the country and beyond to participate.

For the past 6 years a young man from from Japan has been the winner. I remember the first time I saw him, he was a skinny young man. But it seems throughout the years, he’s been body building and become more developed.

Funny. He still looks smaller next to his competitors but each year he manages to out eat them. Each year, the spectator crowd grows. This year, thousands of people showed up to watch the competitors.

It seems that the winner has a certain technique of shoving the hot dogs and buns into his mouth. Very interesting to watch…

If it were up to me, I’d prefer to take my time eating and enjoying my hot dog. You can read ( and see more photos) about the event here.

Would you consider entering a wacky competition like this? Have your participated in any such competitions?

Paz

Posted in The Big City | 3 Comments »

The Love Affair Not Meant To Be

Tuesday, June 6th, 2006

Running away from me

I’ve found a new love but he’s playing hard to get and keeps running away from me.

After seeing the Big Bird last week, I didn’t think I’d see it again. Yet the opportunity arose once more, this week. I’d finished exercising and headed home, when I saw an unexpected sight — the Big Bird at the entrance to the park! Imagine my surprise!

I’ve since learned from a friend that Big Bird (Until I come up with a better name, I’ve decided to call him Big Bird.) is a male turkey.

Amazed, I watched him for a while. I found it incredible that this beautiful brown feathered turkey (my photos don’t do it justice) is living in the park. Maybe it’s not an incredible occurence to others, but as I wrote earlier, the park is not the place one expects to see a turkey.

He busily pecked at the ground for food with the other pigeons and birds, as the squirrels did their own thing, too. When he noticed me, he moved away.

A few people passed by, but no one seemed to notice Big Bird. They were all in their own world. I wanted to call it to their attention — Hey, look, a turkey! What’s he doing in the park!? However, none of the joggers looked like they wanted to be bothered. So, I said nothing and returned my attention to the turkey.

I pulled out my camera and walked towards him to try and get a closeup. My photos are bad because of the turkey’s movement and far distance from me. *sigh* The faster and closer I tried to get to him, the faster and further away he moved. Boy, was he fast. Big Bird kept moving till he disappeared into the park bushes.

I could only stand there and watch. Big Bird, come back! Stop running away from me! Where are you going?

I’m told that turkeys are timid and not very intelligent. So, unlike some other birds, they won’t recognize that I mean no harm. Oh well, I guess our love affair wasn’t meant to be. In the meantime, I’ll take some birdseed for him, the next time I go to the park.

Paz

Still running away from me

Posted in Paz, The Big City | 5 Comments »

The Bird

Thursday, June 1st, 2006

The Bird suspicious of me Click on photo for larger image

I mentioned my unusual sighting of books in the park the other day. That wasn’t the only interesting thing to see in the park. Another day, as I returned from exercising, I stopped short when I saw a really large bird picking at food on the ground. With it’s size, larger than the usual pigeon or sparrow-like bird in the park, it clearly looked like it did not belong there. Call me a wuss but I was scared to walk past it. I didn’t know what its reaction towards me would be. It stopped eating to looked at me. I suppose, when it determined I wouldn’t approach it, it continued to peck at the ground. The bird was very skittish and kept raising it’s head to watch what I was doing. It was nervous and so was I. However, I wasn’t too nervous to pull out my camera and take some photos. I would have liked to get some close ups but I was too scared. As a result, I clicked away from a safe distance. I took a few more moments to watch the bird and then I moved on. Of course, the bird was nowhere to be found the next day when I passed by. I wonder what happened to it. Can anyone tell me what kind of bird this is? Sort of looks like a turkey? What do you think? Paz

The Bird eating Click on photo for larger image The Bird walking away from me Click on the photo for larger image These are the normal type birds in the park — pigeons! Click on the photo for larger image

Posted in Photography, Paz, The Big City | 1 Comment »

Books on a Park Bench

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Click on photo for larger image

Living in the city, sometimes you find the most unexpected things in unexpected places. Today was one of those times. Every morning, I go to the park to exercise. At that time of day, the majority of the world is still asleep. It’s nice and peaceful. I see squirrels busy foraging for food. I see pigeons and other types of birds doing the same. I see early rising owners with their dogs, and joggers who pass me by. As I reached the spot where I was about to turn around and head back, I spotted something on a bench that enticed me to stop and walk over. To my surprise, I found about 20 old romance books, mainly Harlequins, neatly lined up. They seemed to wait patiently for someone to discover them and take them to good home. I perused the covers of these old books, published between the 1980 and 2002, with great interest. Some of the titles included: This Precious Moment What if We Fall in Love The House of Seven Fountains Hunter’s Snare Forever Summer Lightening Moon Showers Face value The Third Mrs. Mitchel Spitting Image The One Who Almost Got Away Without a Trace Moon Flowers Home for Christmas Tall, Dark, and Irresistible My Very Own Millionaire I was so tempted to pick them up, although returning with an armful of books would have been uncomfortable. And while I would normally jump at the chance to take a book, especially a free one, I hesitated. The last things I need are more books. Currently, several To-Be-Read piles are positioned all over the floor in my room. Each hold up the ceiling. Quite honestly, I knew I wouldn’t have time to read these books. Neither would I have space for them. A quick scan of the books showed me that there were no Betty Neels books. If there were, I would have snatched them without hesitation. I looked at the books longingly but decided to leave them behind. I moved away a few feet and then returned for one last look. Remembering I had my camera with me, I decided to take photos instead. What am I doing with a camera while I’m exercising? Lately, I’ve been taking photos of different scenes and subjects of my surrounding. I’ve become an amateur photographer and am never without my camera. Taking photos was a much easier way to take the books back with me. Tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll find all the books gone. What other unusual discovery will I make in the park, next time, I wonder? I’m reminded of the time I saw a humongous sized turkey-like looking bird. It clearly did not belong in the park – but that’s another story for another time… Paz

Click on photo for larger image

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10 Top Romantic Escapes

Sunday, May 28th, 2006

Santorini Photo by David Quintelier, TrekEarth.com

In Vacation Souvenir, Jenna and Marcos retreat to a romantic Mediterranean island, where they meet and end up falling in love.

An MSN Travel Article lists Top 10 Romantic Escapes as:

1- Buenos Aires

2- Bora Bora

3- Dubrovnik

4- Halong Bay

5- Nevis

6- Paris

7- Quebec City

8- Santa Barbara

9- Santorini

10- Venice

Travel + Leisure has also compiled a list of 50 Most Romantic Spots on Earth. It mentions special spots, hotels, islands, cruises, restaurants, and spas.

Check out both links — they really are interesting! Then come back and share with us the places you consider romantic or you’d like to go on vacation? It could be where you live, another state, region, or a different country. It could be a special restaurant, a spot in the park or even your backyard.

Paz

Posted in Romantic Spots Around the World, The Big City, Vacation Souvenir | 4 Comments »