Navy Pilots Grounded After Double Helicopter Dip Into Lake Tahoe

Two Navy pilots from San Diego have been grounded after their helicopters dipped into Lake Tahoe last week. The Sept. 13 incident was caught on a dramatic video, which shows the two choppers hovering just above the water. At one point, one of the $33 million aircraft seems to lose control and flip over into the lake, but the pilot manages to bring it back up out of the water.

Both helicopters droped into the lake because they did not have enough power to stay in their hovering positions, Lt. Aaron Kakiel, spokesman for the Naval Air Forces command at North Island, where the pilots are based, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The helicopters were on their way back to the air station in San Diego after an air show in Sacramento. They were headed to Lemoore Naval Air Station south of Fresno for refueling when the incident occurred.

Afterward, the helicopters had to land at Lake Tahoe airport for repairs. The incident caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damage to the choppers.
Source:aolnews.com

Can The Candwich Make Dough for Its Inventor?

The Fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, reportedly inspired the name of one of the world's most popular foods in the late 1700s. In the early 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte helped fund the invention of canned foods as a long-term food preservative.

So isn't it strange that it took 200 years before a man in Salt Lake City thought about putting sandwiches in cans?

Mark Kirkland thinks so. But instead of complaining, he's capitalizing by creating something called the "Candwich," which, like it sounds, is a sandwich in a can.

"Basically, you put a sandwich into a container that can fit into an existing vending machine," said Kirkland, who has spent the last 10 years trying to make dough from the idea.

Finally, he is about to see his concept come to fruition, thanks to the development of shelf-stable bread that stays fresh for at least a year.

Kirkland first got the thought for food while having some food for thought.

"I was having a can of soda and eating a cookie when I realized that I could package the cookies into a can and sell them in the same vending machine as the soda," he said.

The Candwich is expected to hit the market next month in vending machines and convenience stores in San Diego and southern Texas.

It will come in a 24-ounce can that contains a complete sandwich on a bun. In some cases, such as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the fixings come separately to be assembled by the customer. In others, such as the pepperoni pocket, the filling is baked into the bread -- which he says was the thing that sold him.

"I was skeptical until I tried the bread," he said. "That's what got me."

Since the price point will be around $2 to $3 per sandwich, Kirkland figures to make a lot of bread -- especially since it caters to certain demographics.






"Nearly 15 percent of Americans are too busy to eat during lunch," Kirkland said. "Also, I figure this product will be in demand for disaster relief. I wish I had 100 million cans after the earthquake in Haiti.

At first, the Candwich will be sold in San Diego and the Gulf Coast region of the United States.

"It's getting a lot of interest there because it's hurricane territory and it's something that can keep in all kinds of weather," Kirkland said. "You can eat it right out of the can, but I know people who will take the BBQ chicken can, put it on their car dashboard and let the sun heat it up."

Although no one is going to confuse sandwiches, canned or otherwise, as healthful, Kirkland insists the nutritional profile is pretty sound -- provided you don't eat the actual can, of course.

"The peanut butter is high in protein and the chicken is lean breast meat and there are no trans fats."

So far, the response to the Candwich has varied from "I can't believe they made that" to "I can't believe they made it -- where can I get one?" Kirkland admits he will get a certain amount of sales just from curiosity.

"Most people will try it for the novelty," he said. "And if they like it, they'll come back. I look it at it like bottled water. When that first came out, I thought 'Why would I pay a buck for a glass of water when there's a drinking fountain over there?' But now I have a bottle of water every day."

Source:AOLnews.com

Eating Champ Joey Chestnut Feeds on Competition

Joey Chestnut is at the top of the competitive eating food chain, but it isn't as much because of a love for eating as it is a hunger to compete.

"It's not about the food for me as much as the competition," he told AOL News.

Chestnut holds six world records for competitive eating, including most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes (68) and most chicken wings consumed in one setting (241).

And now he has set his eyes -- and stomach -- on a new chomping challenge that could give him two world records in a single day.

AFP / Getty Images

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut chomped his way to his fourth consecutive hot dog title at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 4.

On July 22, Chestnut will see if he can set a Guinness World Record for most Mars Bars consumed in one minute, and then compete with other members of the International Federation of Competitive Eating to see who can devour the most Mars Bars in five minutes.

The event will take place at the Tin Fish, a San Diego seafood restaurant near the San Diego Comic-Con, in part to promote "Red Faction: Armageddon," a new video game set on the planet Mars -- get it?

Although Chestnut feeds on competition, he admits this particular event won't be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

"I usually stay away from chocolate," he said. "Sugar hits the body hard afterward. I tend to do best with proteins. However, [fourth-ranked competitive eater] Patrick Bertoletti loves chocolates, and he's better with sweets."

Is Chestnut really worried, or is it just a savvy bit of gamesmanship designed to psyche out the competition? He isn't saying. But while the thought of eating all that sugar leaves a sour taste in his mouth, he admits the two particular competitions are easily manageable.

"A five-minute contest is very unusual," he said. "It's shorter than other events, so there is a chance I won't feel bad afterward. Also, I will drink a lot of milk afterward; it slows down digestion."

The Mars Bars match is just one of many competitive eating events that have been cooked up in the past few years. Chestnut averages one every seven days or so.

"We're doing these weekly," he said. "I take a couple days off in between them and then prepare the day before a contest. I will eat whatever is being served in order to figure out the proper technique."

When Chestnut isn't flying around the world to chow down on won tons, deep-fried asparagus, steak and other goodies, he studies engineering at San Jose State University. He said this background helps him prepare methodically for each competition.

"I view each contest as a problem," he said. "I want to eat as much as I can while maintaining my health."
And there we have a brave new world.



Because competitive eating is a relatively new "sport," "athletes" like Chestnut, Bertoletti and Takeru Kobayashi are, perhaps, going boldly where few stomachs have gone before. As such, it's impossible to figure out what, if any, long-term effects the binge eating will have on their bodies when they are older.

"We are pushing the body to the edge," Chestnut said. "And that's why I do better when I am competing against someone like Kobayashi in the hot dog challenge or Bertoletti in the Mars Bar contest. Without them, I will push for the win but am less likely to go for the record."

That was the case at the Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest -- a match that Kobayashi sat out over a Major League Eating contract dispute before being arrested for rushing the stage.

Chestnut won his fourth consecutive "Mustard Belt" at the July 4 contest, but he was named top dog after eating 54 hot dogs, 14 fewer than he consumed last year when he was competing against Kobayashi.

"We definitely respect each other," Chestnut said of his longtime foe, who won the Nathan's contest six times in a row.

Still, Chestnut does feel that Kobayashi's antics at the Nathan's contest stole the spotlight from a great event.

"It did take away a little bit of the win, and the way he went about it was strange," said Chestnut, who compares his rivalry with Kobayashi to the legendary rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. "I'm told he was asking for weird things like the right to compete against the event sponsors. It seems like he didn't really want to come."

Chestnut said he initially suspected something was wrong as far back as during a won-ton-eating contest in Singapore a few weeks earlier.

"I never expect to lose a contest, but this was one event I expected him to win," Chestnut said. "It was a food I wasn't used to and didn't have a technique worked out. But he had this weird technique, which made me think he might have been hurt."

But because competitive eating is in its infancy compared to, say, baseball or golf, techniques are still being formed.

"There isn't a book you can read. There are no trainers and no fundamentals," Chestnut said, adding that professionals like him closely guard their trade secrets.

"I like to think of myself as like Shaun White, training away from everyone else," he said with a laugh.

But just as some people get hungry only when food is placed in front of them, Chestnut says he often makes last-minute decisions about how to swallow his competition whole.

"Take the Mars Bars contest," he said. "For the minute challenge, each of us will get a minute to eat the chocolate. I'm going last, so I will be able to see the technique the others are using and plan accordingly."

Chestnut acknowledges that the competition at the Mars Bars contest will be fierce, but fear is not an option for him.

"I don't like to think about fear; it's more like facing an obstacle," he said. "Anytime you push your body to its limit, there is going to be a negative reaction. Competitive eating isn't the most healthy thing, but it's not as bad as boxing."

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http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/eating-champ-joey-chestnut-feeds-on-competition-especially-from-takeru-kobayashi/19562051