Brian Seiken has announced that he has produced his last free television show and will price all future episodes at $2.99. He say that the amount of adult content in the shows will increase along with the price:

What you will be getting is much more graphic language and more video . I will hold nothing back and virtually tell it like it is regardless of whose feelings i hurt . It will be rauchy , dirty, and downright funny and i promise you will love it! Toro will be more frequent on his west coast scene and dont be surprised if you see some real hot looking women join me in my disgusting looking studio .

A commercial for Gluttonous Queen can be viewed at http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/ in the small screen. All the competitors wore cowboy hats in Hawaii.

An English language news video clip from 2006 about Indian hot pepper eating champion, Anandita Dutta Tamuli, who is currently trying to gain entrance into the Guinness Book of Records can be viewed at http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videos.aspx?id=5897

JapanProbe.com reports that the four patty MegaMac burger will return for 3 five day periods in Japanese McDonald’s over the next five weeks.

Registration for the deep fried asparagus eating contest at the Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA, now appearing on the IFOCE schedule for April 28, is now open.

“Gentleman” Joe Menchetti attended the finals of the bar bite eating contest in Hartford, CT called “Munch Madness” and emailed me the following report:

The winning team had 2 members on it. They called themselves “The Big Boys” They completed the bar bites in 3:33

I did an exhibition where I ate the 12 burgers solo in 2:22

The exhibition came about because I tried to qualify w/my wife in Southington. Long story short, she won’t be in anymore eating contests. At the qualifier, I ate my 1st 3 in 30 sec & the 2nd 3 in 23 sec. So, it was worked out that i’d do an exhibition at the finals. Which was moved to the Hartford location.

A bar bite resemble a White Castle or Krystal…just much better. I believe it is a half lb burger (Pre cooked weight) cut into fourths, put on a lightly toasted bun with a pickle, cheese & a very tasty dijon mustard sauce.

The Los Angeles Times has a column about Jed Donahue. If Jed makes the Nathan’s finals, he does not expect to repeat his one hot dog performance:

Donahue’s sampling, though limited, showed his fans that he’s going to change his strategy for the competition this July 4 at Coney Island, in which several thousand dollars in prizes will be offered. Last year, when the winning mark was 53 hot dogs, Donahue ate a total of … one.

In other Los Angeles news, sbsun.com has an article about the opening of the Dodgers all you can eat section.

Chris “The American” Schlesinger has galleries of a lot of AICE contests from 2005 and 2006 on his bebo.com site at http://www.bebo.com/PhotoAlbums.jsp?MemberId=1302010420

(Pictures taken by Mac Girl)

Downtown Trini’s in Sparta, Michigan has the most visually appealing restaurant Wall of Fame I have seen (It’s actually more of a pizza slice of fame than a wall) The record as of February 2006 was held by Tommy “Too Tall” Thompson at 37 tacos. (If somebody broke approximately 45 tacos, would they write on the ceiling?) Eating at least 13 tacos is required to appear on the Wall of Fame. The restaurant does not offer a free meal if a minimum number of tacos are eaten, but an all you can eat taco special is offered on Thursday night.

Megamunch reports that the UEPa’s tour of Philadelphia area cheesesteak eateries is scheduled for April 21. The itinerary has not been finalized yet.

The first game at Dodger Stadium in which right field seats include all you can eat food and non-alcoholic drinks will take place tonight when the Dodgers host the Angels in a split squad exhibition game. The Dodgers’ website has a web page about the stadium section. The usual price for tickets in the all you can eat section will be $35 in advance, $40 game day, but some weekday games in the section (including tonight’s exhibition) will sell for $25 in advance and $30 on game day.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet Blog is holding an eating contest in that section on April 14. link corrected April 13

phillyedge.com reports that the Scoreboard Porch at Harry the K’s has “All You Can Eat Wings” available during the first hour the ballpark gates are open before every Wednesday Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

There will be 4 Easter Egg eating contests for adults at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore over the next two weekends on March 31st, April 1, April 7 and April 8. The Maryland Zoo website provides the details on those events:

The annual Mary Sue Egg Eating Contest. See how many Mary Sue Eggs you can eat in two minutes. First place winners receive a $250 Mary Sue Candy Basket. 10 contestants per contest. First come first serve. Sign up at the Main Stage in Flocker’s Field (near Polar Bear Watch and the Carousel).

MetroActive.com has an article about a circus peanut (a type of candy, not a nut) eating contest. While the winner is probably not a threat to Joey Chestnut as the best local eater, what the evening lacked in dominant eating performances, it made up for in bizarreness:

The entire spectacle was intertwined with a few films of Pink and Partridge’s exploits back in the Mile High City, and completing this theater of the absurd was the house band, Beachkrieg, San Jose’s only surf band. They don German World War I uniforms, smoke cigars and insult the French all night while the frontman shreds on a Farfisa organ. Scrunched down in my chair in the audience, I let it all sink in: the Circus Peanuts, the vomit, the lounge outfits, the martinis, the Farfisa and the Pepto-Bismol. With my shoulders shrugged and my hands in the air, palms facing upward, I uttered a statement disguised as a question: “And people think there’s more to life than this?”

The Englishman in Noo Yoik has a blog entry about competitive eating mainly about the 2005 US Open in Las Vegas:

The quarter-finals consisted of seven minutes of crunching “chopped mixed salads lightly tossed in a sun-dried tomato and basil vinaigrette” (pronounced “bayzle”, I now know). The surprise of the round was vet Rich Lefevre (that’s vet for veteran by the way, I don’t think a vetinary could do this) succumbing to rookie Tim Janus, who is being groomed as the Beckham of the meatball. Picture a handsome young man, dressed fashionably for his age, I presume, with a reversed baseball cap (hence Janus, I assume, but no one mentioned this) and face paint - honest. Cookie in his Stars-and-stripes bandana beat Badlands. Sonya whupped her increasingly red-faced opponent. As did Koby, using spoons like chopsticks to shovel in the salad. An interesting comment by a commentator on Sonya’s ability here was on “her large mouth – that’s in the evolutionary sense”, whatever that meant, quickly adding the rider “ – not to debate the Creationists”. Sports channels can’t afford to be controversial and lose viewers even if the viewers believe that God created competitive eaters as a separate species.

A June 16 Nathan’s qualifier in Norfolk, VA that was not in the original list has been added to the qualifier schedule on IFOCE.com and nathansfamous.com

(Thanks Liz K) UrbanHonking.com has a blog entry about the writer’s attempts to accomplish 4 eating challenges in the Portland area. There are videos of all the attempts.

The documentary about Sonya Thomas at Wing Bowl 13 produced by Jenny Drumgoole will be screened at the New York Underground Film Festival as part of the “Fierce Creatures” program on Thursday and Monday.

The Washingtonian has a brief article about a pizza eating contest to be held at the Palace of Wonders tonight:

Anyone can sign up at 9pm; the eating competition commences at 10:30. Winner gets a free bar tab, and free pizza—that is, if you even want any more, ever again.

tvspot reports that Natsuko “Gal” Sone’s defense of her Gluttonous Queen title will be televised on TV Tokyo April 1 and provides a summary of the program(automatically translated by Google:)

Winning with the woman match which is held 1 years ago the is gal 曽 root.　Now we have become the star talent which is large active with variety program and the like.　In order that such a gal 曽 root firm position is built as a gluttonous queen, this time they are the appearance ~ new challengers 7 people and the schedule which unfolds the battle.

tvq has a list of participants in which Tomoko Miyake appears but Miyuki Iwata is absent.

The program’s home page is http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/oogui2007_4/ The page is solely a graphic so it cannot be translated by Google.

AmazingStace reports that last night’s episode of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel featured the cuisine of the Gulf Coast. An oyster eating contest at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, AL appeared in one of the segments. The winner ate 430 oysters in an hour. I will try to catch the episode if it reruns.

(From slashfood) The Big Bob’s Texas Belt Buster from Bob’s BBQ & Grill in Pattaya, Thailand has made Maxim’s list of the world’s manliest meals. The article claims that the almost 80 pound burger costing $400 is the world’s largest, which the Clinton Station Diner and Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub would definitely dispute.

The compiler of the list is taking requests for additional manly meals at scarface@maximmag.com

The New Haven independent has an article about the vegan cupcake eating contest in New Haven, CT to promote the release of the cookbook by Little Vegan Monsters. The writer did not stay long enough to did not stay long enough to report who won the finals. Picnic style rules were not required:

And the ground rules were serious. You could eat your cupcake straight, you could dip it in water or soy milk, you could sip water before or after each cupcake. Or you could pour soy milk or water over your cupcake before consumption, which everyone agreed was completely disgusting.

Chron.com reports that Joe Mitchell, 32, from Spring Branch won Saturday night’s big Hot Dog Eating Contest at Sam Houston Race Park by eating 9 1/2 Hebrew National hot dogs in 10 minutes, winning a prize of $95.

BusinessWire.com has a summary of the Coors Light commercial featuring Takeru Kobayashi:

Coors Light presents the World’s Fastest Eater - Takeru Kobayashi. On a hot summer evening, Kobayashi makes his way through his neighborhood to his local bar. On his way to the bar he inhales a number of hot dogs and a scoop of ice cream so fast that on-lookers are amazed. And at the end of a long day the world’s fastest eater orders the world’s most refreshing beer, frost-brewed Coors Light to quench his thirst.

The ad is not available on coorslight.com yet. It will probably debut sometime this weekend, possibly during the Final Four.

Roland Liwag of CBS Sportsline Spin has posted his report from the Nathan’s qualifier held at Sunrise, FL where he managed 4.5 HDB. Some notes from that writeup:

Nerves + hot dogs + OCS + craptastic weather = Last place.

Forget what your mom told you. Chewing your food in competitive eating contests is similar to running the 100-meter dash while wearing a ball and chain.

Even though Chip Simpson broke the Florida record by eating 39¼ hot dogs, it pales in comparison to Kobyashi’s mark of 53¾ by 14½ hot dogs!

My experience Saturday more than confirmed competitive eating as a legitimate fringe sport. Congratulations, Chip, and represent Florida well at Coney Island.

The new poll asks what you think will be the largest amount of hot dogs & buns eaten in any Nathan’s qualifier in 2007. That amount can obviously not be less than the 39.25 HDB eaten by Chip Simpson last Saturday.