16 Hours, 15,000 calories

On Saturday, these two brave athleats challenged one another to consume 15,000 calories in one day. Inspired by the daily caloric intake of athletes like Michael Phelps and Tony Mandarich and feeling like the Apollo 11 astronauts were getting way too much press, Jer and Vojik embarked on a journey of gastronomic proportions. Since my digital cameras are dead all photos are, appropriately, old school shots taken with my Holga. Above, Jer and Vojik before the feeding began.

The day began with a weigh-in. Results: both men equally matched at 160 pounds.



Fortunately, Nurse Jamie was on hand to take blood pressure and ensure the athleats didn't eat their way into an early grave. Below is Vojik eating Carl's Jr. hashbrown nuggets while getting his BP checked.

Then the eating began. Here is a typical Vojik shot: note vacant eyes and bloated cheeks.


Most of the day involved the rest of us hanging out on Vojik's lawn and heading down to the cliffs to watch the surf. I was coaching Vojik, which consisted mostly of encouragement and counting calories.

Below, Jer's eating contest coach, Nate, and Vojik's neighbor.


Gnugnu, conjuring something.


New Lisa, watching Gnugnu conjure something.

Eating contest judge, Chase and Vojik's other eating coach, Amity.


Second eating contest judge, Pratima.


The participants hanging out on the lawn. Note Vojik's distended belly and look of hopelessness.

The athleats each consumed around 7,000 calories; about 3.5 days worth of food. Around 8 PM, however, Jer involuntary disgorged a protein shake and lost. It was a remarkable day and one I will never take part in but glad I witnessed. These guys were seriously hurting and I commend them for never giving up.

Moral: we need to find better ways to entertain ourselves.

Family

Mom and Dad are here visiting, along with my mom's friend Carol. Unfortunately both of my digital cameras have died so there are not many pictures. But yesterday one camera woke up, stayed on for 5 minutes, during which time I took these two photos before it died again.

Above, is mom, dad, and Carol and stray dog.

Below, Dad, reclining.

More paddling

Here are two photos sent to me from Ashley Dubyak, which she took at paddling the other day. I don't have many paddling action shots, since it's hard to paddle and take pictures at the same time. I am the guy in the front of the boat.

Amely comes to American Samoa

Last week these guys came to American Samoa. They are called Amely, they wear skinny jeans, they play rock music, and for some reason they came to the island. Amely performed at the stadium along with Fiji, J Boog, and Lost Coast Sound.

The concert had a huge turnout. Here we are walking along the line of traffic.


The long line of concert-goers.


The crowd waiting to be rocked.


The concert wasn't bad. The bands were decent and there is very little live entertainment here so it was a nice change of pace.


It did start to rain at one point. Here are some people fleeing.

The rain eventually stopped but not before my digital camera broke down. That's two digital cameras the island has devoured.

For more on the concert, click, here.

View from my living room window