Year: 2021

Joey Chestnut just keeps rapidly slamming back those hot dogs

Aside Markozen.com Food, Sports

Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. He is currently ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He is a Vallejo, California, native and resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut’s height is 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m); his weight is 230 pounds (100 kg).

On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating six-time defending champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi by consuming a world record 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, after losing to Kobayashi in 2005 and 2006. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a five hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in ten minutes. On July 4, 2009, Chestnut beat Kobayashi again, by consuming a world record 68 HDB and winning his third consecutive title. On July 4, 2010, Chestnut took home his 4th consecutive Mustard Belt eating 54 HDB. The 2010 contest was a runaway victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating. On July 4, 2011, he won his fifth-consecutive championship with 62 HDB. 2012 marked his sixth consecutive win, when Chestnut tied his own world record from 2009 by devouring 68 HDB. In 2013, Chestnut captured his seventh straight title, eating a total of 69 HDB, breaking his previous world record. In 2014, Chestnut captured his eighth straight title eating a total of 61 HDB.

Chestnut lost the 2015 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest to Matt Stonie. On July 4, 2016, Chestnut regained the championship belt from Stonie by eating 70 hot dogs; 3.5 hot dogs short of his record-setting qualifying round. A year later on July 4, 2017, he raised the bar again by raising his record to 72 hot dogs; and again the following year to a world record of 74. In 2019, he secured a twelfth title with 71 HDB, but failed to beat his previous record. In 2020, he consumed 75 HDB, a world record for the contest. In 2021, he consumed 76 HDB, breaking his own world record for the contest.

Chestnut, a San Jose State University student, entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, in which he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating 6.3 pounds (2.9 kg) of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. That same year, during Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, he ate 32 HDB, placing third behind Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas.

On October 22, 2005, Chestnut set a new world record for downing 32.5 grilled cheese sandwiches in ten minutes at the Arizona State Fair, as part of the GoldenPalace.net World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship circuit.

Chestnut defeated Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship and placed second to her in a Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship qualifier, eating 56 Krystal Burgers in eight minutes to her 57. He later beat her by eating 91 hamburgers in the finals, finishing second to the 97 hamburgers consumed by Kobayashi.

Chestnut trains by fasting and by stretching his stomach with milk, water and protein supplements. Since the start of his competitive eating career, his competition weight has varied from 225–240 pounds (102–109 kg). After winning his sixth consecutive hot dog eating contest in 2012 by eating 68 hot dogs, he stated, “I will not stop until I reach 70. This sport isn’t about eating. It’s about drive and dedication, and at the end of the day, hot dog eating challenges both my body and my mind.” He says he trains for hot dog eating competitions by cooking hot dogs at his house and then eating them in a simulated competition style. He starts with 40 hot dogs and then works his way up until he is in game shape. He compared it to running or lifting weights for other athletes.

This is not exactly a classic sports moment.

Royal Marines test out jet suit

Aside Markozen.com Technology

Jet suit developer Gravity Industries has joined forces with the Royal Marines to test its latest product for maritime boarding operations. The company said it spent three days with 42 Commando Royal Marines off the south coast of the UK. The suit was tested in exercises between two moving vessels as an alternative to boarding via helicopter fast-roping.

Little Islands

Aside Markozen.com Geography

air Aerial-view-of-Aogashima-a-volcanic-Japanese-island

Aoga-shima island off the coast of Japan

air ireland inishturkbeg

Inishturkbeg Island off Ireland

air male maldives

Male, capital island city of the Maldives

air battleship island japan

Battleship Island, Japan. There was a coal mine under the island, the company built apartment buildings for the workers and their families. It was abandoned in the 1980’s.

air palau

Palau, South Pacific

air lejima japan

Lejima Island, Japan

air sark island

Sark Island, English Channel

air tasmania Babel_Island_Aerial

Babel Island, off Tasmania

air thousand island lake china

Thousand Island Lake, China

air thunder bay

Small island off of Thunder Bay, Ontario

air whitsunday island australia

Whitsunday Island, Australia

Blue Origin New Shepard Space Capsule will come down on Land

Aside Markozen.com Space

New Shepard is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL), crew-rated suborbital launch vehicle that is being developed by Blue Origin as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism. Blue Origin is owned and led by Amazon founder and businessman Jeff Bezos.

The name New Shepard makes reference to the first American astronaut in space, Alan Shepard, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts, who ascended to space on a suborbital trajectory similar to that planned for New Shepard.

Prototype engine and vehicle flights began in 2006, while full-scale engine development started in the early 2010s and was complete by 2015. Uncrewed flight testing of the complete New Shepard vehicle (propulsion module and space capsule) began in 2015.

The New Shepard Crew Capsule is a pressurized crew capsule that can carry six people, and supports a “full-envelope” launch escape system that can separate the capsule from the booster rocket anywhere during the ascent. Interior volume of the capsule is 15 cubic meters (530 cu ft). The Crew Capsule Escape Solid Rocket Motor (CCE-SRM) is sourced from Aerojet Rocketdyne. After separation two or three parachutes deploy. Just before landing, retro rockets fire.

US Navy conducts first of three blasts in carrier Gerald R. Ford shock trials

Aside Markozen.com Military

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy conducted the first of three in-water blasts near first-in-class aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, kicking off the full-ship shock trials process on a nuclear-powered flattop for the first time in 34 years.

The Navy’s shock trial event, the first of its kind on any class of ship since 2016, aims to prove the new carrier can withstand a hit in combat. The ship will go through another scheduled blast in July, Lt. Cmdr. Desiree Frame. a Ford spokeswoman, told Defense News.

“In a shock trial, a ship undergoes three 40,000-pound explosive charge detonations which occur successively closer to the ship,” she said. Exact dates for each event are dependent on sea state, weather, marine mammal activity and other factors.