Jason Fagone has set up a web site at http://jasonfagone.com/ offering information about his upcoming book, Horsemen of the Esophagus. Fagone will have two book signings in Philadelphia in April and another in New York City in May. He intends to place information on his website that did not make the final revision of the book.

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There are several upcoming movies about competitive eating in addition to the two books that will be released next month. Two documentaries were filmed at Wing Bowl 13 and a fictional movie about the Wing Bowl is in production. The new poll question ask which of these books/movies are you most eagerly anticipating.

Staying on the topic of competitive eating books, Brian Seiken announces that Ryan Nerz will be holding two book signings in New York City. There will also be a release party for “Eat This Book” at a currently undetermined location and time.

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The New York Times has an article about Saturday’s Edible Book Festival in which Ryan Nerz’s upcoming book gets a brief mention.

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Despite the fall in popularity of Japanese competitive eating, it still apparently commands a prime time audience on broadcast television. In her myspace blog, Jen describes a currently running Japanese television series starring female competitive eaters. An eating contest is held in a different town each week and the food changes with each episode. This week’s contest involved seaweed in Okinawa. The show is like American Idol in that the worst performing competitor gets booted off the show. It would be interesting to see how the winning total in next week’s sausage contest compares to Sonya’s 35 bratwurst in 10 minutes.

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Thanks Jon Bertoletti. Pat Bertoletti appears in a commercial on the USA television network website. The ad is part of the network’s “Show us your character” campaign.

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Liz of Urban Honking received a copy of “Horsemen of the Esophagus” several weeks before its official release date after meeting with author Jason Fagone. She has posted a review of the book on her blog. The main figures in the book are Coondog O’Karma and Bill “El Wingador” Simmons. IFOCE eaters were discouraged from being interviewed by their organization. IFOCE also commissioned the publication of Ryan Nerz’s book “Eat This Book” so that is why two competitive eating books are being released next month.

Correction 3/28 4:21 PM: Liz met with the editor of the book and not the author.

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The March issue (print only not available online) of Spin Magazine has a near full page article (on page 40) about Eric “Badlands” Booker’s rap CDs. The article is not in the reviews section, so there is not an in depth analysis of the tracks, but the author does claim that Booker is a worthy student of the school of East Coast Rap. Booker says that the topic of competitive eating is not a gimmick; he is rapping about his everyday life when he busts rhymes about eating contests. Charles Hardy’s anti-AICE guest appearance is mentioned as one of the tracks. The April issue of Spin will be out soon so your time to check that article out is limited.

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From wackbag.com – registration required to view post.

A hard boiled egg eating contest held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City was supposed to have been broadcast live on the Opie & Anthony show on Saint Patrick’s Day. Like the egg nog drinking contest held on air in December, the contest would have featured Pat “from Moonachie” Philbin and Badlands Booker, but would have also been open to the general public. That event could not be held because due to problems with state and/or local government. A lack of a permit was one reason given why the contest could not take place.

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Krazy Kevin Lipsitz will be Brian Seiken’s guest for the seventh episode of his television show. The episode is currently in post-production.

Brian has also made a commitment to improve his physique and health. Lets all support him in his efforts to lose weight. He intends to continue in competitive eating.

Seiken has also submitted two links:

• A show on radio station WFMU from early 2002 about competitive eating with interviews by Richard Shea, Cookie Jarvis and Andrew Goldstein can be obtained at http://www.wfmu.org/listen.php?show=2698
  (Real player required) The competitive eating segment begins at 1:04. The show occurred between the Glutton Bowl and the airing of the Gutbuster documentary (it was hoped at the time that the Glutton Bowl would be an annual event.)
• A blog entry by a Harvard Law student briefly mentions the MTV True Life competitive eating documentary. The author finds the milieu of competitive eating fascinating and hopes to write some personality sketchs of eaters on his blog.

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Crazy Legs Conti: TopicMag , 2004:

I [Conti] lost in Boston to Ed “Cookie” Jarvis (360 pounds—“one pound for each degree in a Lazy Susan,” George Shea would note).

Steve Rushin: Sports Illustrated, March 6, 2006:

He [Kobayashi] dominates dinosaurs like Ed (Cookie) Jarvis, who weighs 419 pounds, or more than one pound for each degree of a Lazy Susan.

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In one of the ads in Visa’s new advertising campaign, a diner completes a large burger in a restaurant’s eating challenge (the burger appears to be about a third to a fourth of the size of Kate Stelnick’s burger) The theme of that commercial is “Life takes Determination” and it can be viewed in the advertising section of the Visa web site.

This is the second time I am aware of that a giant burger has been used in an advertising campaign. A Hardee’s commercial last year alluded to Kate Stelnick’s feat by mentioning Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub’s 4 pound Sourdough burger. The commercial claimed that no one had every been able to finish the burger. It did not state that no one could finish that sandwich regardless of his or her appetite because it is not currently on the menu.

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Two competitive eating books are now going to hit the shelves in April. The release date of Jason Fagone’s book has been advanced from early June to April 25, three weeks after Eat This Book by Ryan Nerz appears in bookstores. Fagone’s book has officially been retitled Horsemen of the Esophagus: Competitive Eating and the Big Fat American Dream, despite the fact that many top competitive eaters are neither fat and/or male. Two short review blurbs of Fagone’s book have been posted on amazon.com

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The Tour de Gorge reruns will continue into March. If you want to see Sonya Thomas in high definition, you can view her wins in the 2004 taco and meatball contests.

• Tour De Gorge: Title Rally
  INHD, Tue Mar 07 08:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: 2004 World Taco Eating Championship
  INHD, Wed Mar 08 08:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: 2004 World Meatball Eating Championship
  INHD, Wed Mar 15 08:00pm EST

The Tour de Gorge has a page on the INHD website at http://inhd.com/item.jsp?item=29&mp=cb2

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Gluttony is the topic of columnist Steve Rushin in the current issue of Sports Illustrated (subscription required to read column online). The second half of his column is devoted to competitive eating. Crazy Legs Conti, described as a lean former three sport letterman at Johns Hopkins, says he once ate himself out of a sarcophagus filled with popcorn and that to win a bet, the only calories he received for a week came from Guinness. Rushin makes two mistakes: he says the upcoming corned beef contest will be on Saint Patrick’s Day (it is actually on the 16th) and that Kobayashi weighs 132 pounds (he was almost 40 pounds heavier at the Krystal Square Off finals.)

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The page for MTV’s True Life: I am a Competitive Eater has a summary and video gallery (images 84-95) with screen captures of Takeru Koabayashi, Tim “Eater X” Janus and Ian “The Invader” Hickman (Carlene LeFevre also appears in the background in one of the pictures) Flash player required to view images.

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The Attack of the Show! website has a video clip of Badlands Booker eating a 100×100 burger from In N Out Burger in a one minute contest with a show employee.

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The first Tim Janus segment of MTV’s True Life: I am a Competitive Eater begins with footage from the TripRewards birthday cake eating contest at Grand Central Station. The next location is Eater X’s workplace where he works as a day trader. Childhood pictures of Tim are displayed. Janus then goes to Nathan’s to train with Crazy Legs Conti (wearing an outfit inspired by Angus Young of AC/DC) for Nathan’s French Fry contest. Brian Seiken, Charles Hardy, Allen Goldstein, Cookie Jarvis, Badlands Booker make cameo appearances. Cookie Jarvis wins the contest.

We are then transported to Ian Hickman’s apartment in Lexington, KY. Hickman does not consider himself a “metrosexual”, he views himself as a “straight man with good taste.” Then a montage of childhood pictures of Hickman eating is displayed. Hickman will appear in his first contest after some impressive performances in restaurant challenges. “The Invader” prepares for the contest by eating massive amounts of lettuce (3 to 5 pounds) to stretch his stomach.

The next segment is filmed in Takeru Kobayashi’s hometown of Nagoya, Japan. Kobayashi is eating massive amounts of food in a restaurant which has a conveyor belt to deliver food. He cleans at least 100 small plates and claims he is not near his maximum. He is notably bloated after his meal. His apartment appears to be about the same size as an American walk-in closet. Some footage of Japanese eating contests is displayed. Kobayashi then goes to the gym and shows off his stomach which he claims sits lower than the normal person so it has less impediments to expansion. He builds his muscle to increase his metabolism and calorie consumption. The Tsunami watches a tape of last year’s contest and tries to see how he can improve. He has a goal of 55 hot dogs, one more than the previous year.

Tim Janus then prepares for Nathan’s by eating 11 pounds of food and drinking 2 pounds of water. He eats a variety of foods but no hot dogs.

Hickman trains for the Spicefest chicken wing contest by going to Hooters and is served by a Britney Spears lookalike. He eats 135 wings. Driving back from the restaurant, Ian suffers a “reversal of fortune.”

Kobayashi goes to the supermarket with a white umbrella. He says that competitive eating is healthy if you pay attention to your health. The Japanese equivalents of hot dogs does not look like Nathan’s offerings.

Tim travels to the Nathan’s qualifier in Hartford, CT and stands next to Brian Seiken at the contest. A mark of 22.5 hot dogs gives Eater X victory and a trip to Nathan’s finals.

Kobayashi goes to a restaurant called Mountain because of its large portions. In Japan, chefs challenge great eaters to consume huge amounts of food. The chef of Mountain gives Kobayashi a huge plate of pasta and an iceberg of shaved ice flavored with chili peppers. The Tsunami receives two more giant plates of pasta. Kobayashi says that it is possible to die eating competively, but “to be professional, you don’t die.” The chef congratulates Kobayashi and says he consumed 22 pounds.

Ian Hickman travels to the Spicefest hot wing eating contest. He sits next to a large heavily tatooed man. He says the wings are hard to eat because they are so dry. Chowhound Chapman emcees the contest (no mention is made of IFOCE vs. AICE issues) and announces that Hickman came in third place.

Kobayashi goes to a pizzeria after arriving in New York. He describes his precontest eating plan. The eaters assemble in Central Park for the weigh in. Janus is impressed with Kobayashi’s muscularity. George Shea says that the goal of Nathan’s is glory and the mustard belt and not money. Pat Philbin, Sonya Thomas, Rich and Carlene LeFevre appear briefly. Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Post interviews Tim Janus who says that the only way he can win the contest is by Kobayashi vomiting or dying. Tim Janus does a hot dog sprint with a goal of 6 hot dogs in 75 seconds (He takes 110 seconds) He then tries to eat 13 pounds in 30 minutes to stretch his stomach. He is disappointed in the practice with both his speed and his perceived stomach capacity.

Hickman then attends the spoonbread contest where his major competition will be senior citizen Margaret Rappart. Hickman eats with hands while Rappart uses a spoon. Hickman wins, but Margaret (who is the only female competitive eater quoted) says she could have given Ian a stronger challenge if she were younger.

Janus wakes up at 7:15 the day of Nathan’s contest. His goal is 27 hot dogs. The competitors take the bus to Coney Island. The contest begins. Tim finishes with 22.5 hot dogs which puts him at 9th place. Kobayashi finishes with 49 hot dogs and fails to break his record which he blames on his jaw getting tired. He says it takes 12 hours for his stomach to digest whatever is inside it. Tim Janus signs autographs and poses for photographs after the contest despite being disappointed in his performance.

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If you miss tonight’s (at 10pm eastern) showing of MTV’s True Life episode about competitive eating, it will be rerun several times over the next week:

# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 23 09:00pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 24 02:30pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 25 07:30pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 26 01:30am
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 26 01:30pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 26 06:30pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 28 01:00pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Feb 28 11:00pm
# True Life – I’m a Competitive Eater, MTV Mar 01 09:00pm

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This blog entry provides an update on the efforts of the creators of the documentary Swallow Your Pride to obtain distribution for their film. The movie filmed at Wing Bowl 13 was screened last summer and received positive reviews but apparently no additional showings have taken place since that time. The film was not accepted by the Sundance Film Festival, but the documentarians sent Bill “El Winagdor” Simmons a copy that was forwarded to Mike Tollin, who is producing a fictional Wing Bowl movie starring (according to the blog) Adam Sandler . Tollin loved the movie and connected the film’s creators with the distributor of Napoleon Dynamite, Super Size Me and other independent films.

Swallow Your Pride has a domain name reserved at swallowyourpridemovie.com, but that URL is completely content-free.

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MTV now has a full description of its True Life episode about Tim Janus, Ian Hickman and Kobayashi on its website. There will be some footage of Rich LeFevre as well if the show commercial represents the actual episode accurately.

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The Tour de Gorge Thanksgiving Invitational (from 2004), Title Rally and French Fry Contest will be rerun on the INHD high definition network several times over the next two weeks:

• Tour De Gorge: Thanksgiving Invitation
INHD, Mon Feb 20 03:30pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: Title Rally
INHD, Wed Feb 22 06:30am EST
• Tour De Gorge: Title Rally
INHD, Wed Feb 22 11:00am EST
• Tour De Gorge: Title Rally
INHD, Wed Feb 22 07:30pm EST
• Tour De Gorge: Thanksgiving Invitation
INHD, Sat Feb 25 07:30am EST
• Tour De Gorge 5: Nathan’s French Fries Eating
INHD, Sun Feb 26 02:30pm EST
• Tour De Gorge 5: Nathan’s French Fries Eating
INHD, Sun Feb 26 07:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge 5: Nathan’s French Fries Eating
INHD, Tue Feb 28 04:00pm EST
• Tour De Gorge 5: Nathan’s French Fries Eating
INHD, Wed Mar 01 12:30am EST

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Badlands Booker has emailed to inform me that he will appear on February 21 at 7pm eastern / 4 pm pacific on the G4 cable network‘s “Attack of the Show!”. The episode will be rerun at 3am eastern/ midnight pacific the following morning.

Competitive eaters will appear on national cable television on two consecutive days; Tim “Eater X” Janus will appear on MTV’s True Life the following day with other competitive eaters.

Badlands Booker now has a myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/badlandsbooker

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Stephen Thompson, former editor of the Onion’s AV Club section, has considered writing a book about competitive eating. If he undertakes that project, it would be the third upcoming book about competitive eating with two books slated for release in April and June.

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Philly.com reports that a documentary of Sonya Thomas at last year’s Wing Bowl filmed by Jenny Drumgoole will be screened at the Philadelphia University of the Arts Wednesday morning.

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Amazon.com now displays the cover pictures for the two books on competitive eating which will be released in the second quarter of 2006. The covers look quite similar. Amazon also has an excerpt from the first chapter of Ryan Nerz’s book, “Eat This Book”, in which the author describes how he became an MC for IFOCE.

There is a discrepancy between the cover picture and listed title of Jason Fagone’s book. The cover picture has the title “Insatiable Appetites”, but Amazon lists the title as “Horsemen of the Esophagus” (Sonya and Carlene would probably argue that the book ought to be retitled “Horsepersons of the Esophagus”)

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