Shoulda gone to Costco

Today, I participated in a truly absurd undertaking: a challenge called Fruit by the Football Field. Remember those rolled up, fruit-flavored, tape-like candy? The goal of the challenge was to eat a football field’s length worth of Fruit by the Foot. We were divided into two man teams with one member starting at each end of the field, eating our way to the center.

I typically eat a lot, but this challenge proved to be much more difficult than expected. The raw amount of sugar proved to be too much for me to handle. By the end, my mouth was coated in a slimy sugary film that sort of burned, not to mention the soreness of my jaw from the chewiness. My saliva changed colors as I consumed different flavors of the candy. I ultimately ate 24 yards worth in what can only be described as an indescribable experience. The amount of discomfort could not be matched by anything else I’ve ever done.

From a nutrition standpoint, 24 yards= 1920 calories and 216 grams of sugar.  It could have been a lot worse.

Yard by yard.

At the end of the day, I think that this challenge reinforces the concept that the consistency/texture of the food being consumed matters almost as much as the volume ultimately eaten. Also, General Mills should give us some sort of sponsorship because this was the stupidest 20 dollars I have ever spent.

I guess at least Sean and I came in second.

More photos here and here.

Not two months ago, superstar sprinter Usain Bolt flipped his car into a ditch. The accident resulted in Bolt getting surgery on some wounds he obtained exiting the wrecked car. Despite this setback, Bolt came back this past week (to the dismay of his coach) in a publicity 150m race held on a specially constructed track in the streets of Manchester.

Bolt shattered the world best with a time of 14.35, but even more impressive was how fast he covered the last 100m. After the first 50m, Bolt ran the next 100m in 8.72. That’s unbelievably staggering especially considering the level of fitness Bolt’s in after missing some training. This 100m split is 0.97 seconds off Bolt’s 9.69 world record set at the Beijing Olympic Games. In my experience, a block start shouldn’t add a full second to a flying time, especially for a sprinter of Bolt’s caliber.

We have yet to see the best of Bolt. A rather conservative estimate on my part puts the WR at 9.4X, but only time will tell. I doubt that he’d go for this, but I would really like to see Bolt own records at every distance from 100-400m (he’s already halfway there). It’s a good time for Puma’s marketing department, that’s for sure.

Check out the race for yourself at Universal Sports

If only American ads were so interesting.

Eventually, I started to get a tingling sensation throughout my arms and shoulders. Breathing suddenly became a laborious task. The longer I sat there listening to and watching the film, the greater discomfort I experienced. Unsure of what to do, I tried to distract myself with the crossword puzzle to no avail. The darkened classroom made the small print impossible to read. A sensation of heat replaced the initial tingling as my vision blurred and narrowed.

I hesitantly got out of my seat, and slowly worked my way to the front of the classroom; being careful not to fall down the steps on my way there.

“Professor, I can’t stay. I feel sick” I blurted out.

My words didn’t seem to do my appearance justice, as my professor leaned away from me, like I was about to vomit.

“It’s fine, you can leave” she answered.

Barely able to stand on my own, I exited the room, still unable to see clearly. My heart-rate matched that of my post-track practice self. 10 more seconds in that classroom and I would have passed out on the floor. Baffled as to how such a seemingly ordinarily documentary could result in such a physiological reaction from me, my eventually made my way back to class for.

Weird, I know.

End of pointless story.

The cinematic world was today celebrating the rediscovery of missing scenes from German director Fritz Lang’s legendary silent film Metropolis – thought lost for 80 years, until they were found in the archive of a museum in Argentina. Key scenes cut from the science fiction picture – either because they were considered to be too brutal or too long.

I first watched this film for a class. Although half-century-plus mark is pushing it for my film taste, Metropolis was actually an interesting film and really quite impressive considering the era it was made in. Metropolis is widely regarded as a landmark in film history, and it’s easy to see why if you watch it. If you’re into sci-fi and have at least 3 hours to kill, Metropolis is worth a look if you can find it. There are a few editions out, and now it will definitely be interesting to see the film in its original film once they release it.

read more | digg story

I’ve seen this before, just not on this scale. Other in class shenanigans:

• Laser pointers
• Fart machine
• Apple Remote, for activating Front Row on people’s computers in class

That’s the short list because most of the other things I could thing of (firecrackers, ferrets) would probably be bad news. Any other ideas?

Via Gizmodo.