Competitive eating

Competitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport in which participants compete against each other to consume large quantities of food in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions can last up to thirty minutes, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner. Competitive eating is most popular in the United States, Canada, and Japan, where organized professional eating contests often offer prizes, including cash.

History

Traditionally, eating contests, often involving pies, were events at county fairs. The recent surge in the popularity of competitive eating is due in large part to the development of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual holiday tradition that has been held on July 4 virtually every year since the 1970s at Coney Island. In 2001, Takeru Kobayashi transformed the competition and the world of competitive eating by downing 50 hot dogs – smashing the previous record (25.5). The event generates enormous media attention and has been aired on ESPN for the past eight years, contributing to the growth of the competitive eating phenomenon. Takeru Kobayashi won it consistently from 2001 through 2006. He was dethroned in 2007 by Joey Chestnut. In 2008, Chestnut and Kobayashi tied at 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes (the time span had previously been 12 minutes), and Chestnut won in an eatoff in which he was the first of the two competitors to finish eating 5 hot dogs in overtime, earning Chestnut his second consecutive title. Chestnut holds the world record of 69 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Kobayashi holds six Guinness Records, for eating hot dogs, meatballs, Twinkies, hamburgers, and pizza. He competed in hot dog contests in 2011 and 2012 and claimed to have eaten 68 and 69. Kobayashi goes on to say that he completed this by drinking lots and lots of liquid for a few days before the event before not eating anything all day on the event.

Ladylike

Ladylike is the fourth and final studio album by German pop trio Monrose, released by Starwatch Music and the Warner Music Group on June 11, 2010 (see 2010 in music) in German-speaking Europe. Production for the album began in 2009 to 2010, featuring involvement by frequent contributors such as Pete Kirtley, Christian Ballard, Tim Hawes, and Obi Mhondera as well as new production teams Famties and Tuneverse as well as Elias Kapari and Alexander Geringas.

The album received mostly mixed reviews from critics, and debuted at number ten on the German Albums Chart, scoring themselves their fourth consecutive Top 10 album in the country.

Background

Following the release of the final single from their third album I Am (2008), "Why Not Us," in November 2008, the Monrose members decided to take a break from music business, during which the trio pursued different branches of the entertainment industry. In summer 2009, they eventually reunited to start work on their fourth studio album Ladylike, which was partially recorded in Germany and in New York. The three members agreed that recording overseas was very "inspiring." Bahar Kizil commented, that "recording an album in a city like New York, means putting yourself on a higher level." The songs that were recorded there include "Superstar DJ" and "Don't Take It Personal."

Eating

Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter, and detritivores eat detritus. Fungi digest organic matter outside of their bodies as opposed to animals that digest their food inside their bodies. For humans, eating is an activity of daily living. Some individuals may limit their amount of nutritional intake. This may be a result of a lifestyle choice, due to hunger or famine, as part of a diet or as religious fasting.

Eating practices among humans

Many homes have a large eating room or outside (in the tropics) kitchen area devoted to preparation of meals and food, and may have a dining room, dining hall, or another designated area for eating. Some trains have a dining car. Dishware, silverware, drinkware, and cookware come in a wide array of forms and sizes. Most societies also have restaurants, food courts, and/or food vendors, so that people may eat when away from home, when lacking time to prepare food, or as a social occasion (dining club). At their highest level of sophistication, these places become "theatrical spectacles of global cosmopolitanism and myth." At picnics, potlucks, and food festivals, eating is in fact the primary purpose of a social gathering. At many social events, food and beverages are made available to attendees.

Try!

Try! is the first live album by the John Mayer Trio. It was released by Columbia Records on November 22, 2005. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

Production

The trio features John Mayer (guitar/lead vocals), Pino Palladino (bass), and Steve Jordan (drums/backup vocals). Unlike previous efforts by John Mayer, Try! focuses on popular blues renditions rather than adult-contemporary pop songs. The CD includes two cover songs, "Wait Until Tomorrow" by Jimi Hendrix, and "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles; two of Mayer's previous album, Heavier Things' songs, "Daughters" and "Something's Missing"; and also showcased two songs from Mayer's then forthcoming album, Continuum, "Vultures" and "Gravity".

Reception

Critical response to the album was mixed, with most critics being impressed with Mayer's progression and Palladino and Jordan's musicianship, while still being underwhelmed. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone said, "over most of these sixty-three minutes [of the album], Mayer proves he can bowl you over, not just make your knees weak," ultimately giving the album three out of five stars. Katy Hastey of Billboard found that "while "Try!" is brimming with talent, it's not consistently compelling."People magazine heartily praised the album, concluding, "Here's hoping Mayer keeps this new groove going for his next solo disc."

Try (Nelly Furtado song)

"Try" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, taken from her second studio album, Folklore (2003). The song, written by Furtado herself, and Brian West, was released as the second single from the album in February 2004.

Lyrically, Furtado said the song "is about the reality of love. My energy used to just go everywhere, but now I'm more grounded because I've found true love. The idea here is that, yeah, sometimes life sucks. But life is only so long, and somebody can come along who makes you want to be a better person. You just have to roll with the punches. So "Try" is not a happy-go-lucky song. It has a strange arrangement because the chorus happens only twice, and the end is improvisational. It's like one of those epic power ballads." The Los Angeles Times said of "Try", "Her unfettered enthusiasm wins out as she sings of passion for life".

Commercial release

Although the single was a big success in countries such as Mexico and Portugal (where it peaked at number one), it did not chart in the United States. "Try" was the last single released from Folklore in the U.S.; the subsequent singles were released only in Canada, Europe and Latin America. Two versions of the song exist; the original with the chorus only occurring twice, and a radio edit version in which the improv is taken out at the end and an extra chorus is added. A Spanish version, "Dar", was released in 2007 in the album of Loose (Summer Edition) only available in Latin America.

Try (The Killing)

"Try" is the thirty-fourth episode of the American television drama series The Killing, which aired on July 14, 2013. The episode is written by Nic Sheff and Aaron Slavick; directed by Lodge Kerrigan. In the episode, Pastor Mike (Ben Cotton) kidnaps Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos). Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) and the police must listen to the Linden/Pastor conversation via her two-way radio, which she has activated unbeknownst to Pastor Mike. Ray Seward (Peter Sarsgaard) panics as his execution is two days away. Bullet (Bex Taylor-Klaus) roams the streets looking for Lyric (Julia Sarah Stone) and learns about Angie Gower (Laine MacNeil).

Plot

In Linden's car, Pastor Mike, holding a knife to her throat, takes her phone and gun then orders her to drive around. She secretly turns on her police radio and tries to talk him down.

At the police station, Bullet tells Holder that Lyric called and that Mike is taking Lyric to the woods where he killed the other girls. Holder relays the news to Skinner (Elias Koteas), who's reluctant to take action. When Holder vouches for his informant, Skinner pulls half the officers searching trains for Mike and redirects them to the woods around the pond. Holder hears Linden's voice over an open radio channel and realizes she's being held hostage. Skinner redirects all resources to find Linden's car. All officers in the room listen intently as Linden talks to Pastor Mike.

Woman

A woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. The term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "women's rights". "Woman" may also refer to a person's gender identity. Women with typical genetic development are usually capable of giving birth from puberty until menopause. In the context of gender identity, transgender people who are biologically determined to be male and identify as women cannot give birth. Some intersex people who identify as women cannot give birth due to either sterility or inheriting one or more Y chromosomes. In extremely rare cases, people who have Swyer syndrome can give birth with medical assistance. Throughout history women have assumed or been assigned various social roles.

Etymology

The spelling of woman in English has progressed over the past millennium from wīfmann to wīmmann to wumman, and finally, the modern spelling woman. In Old English, wīfmann meant "female human", whereas wēr meant "male human". Mann or monn had a gender-neutral meaning of "human", corresponding to Modern English "person" or "someone"; however, subsequent to the Norman Conquest, man began to be used more in reference to "male human", and by the late 13th century had begun to eclipse usage of the older term wēr. The medial labial consonants f and m in wīfmann coalesced into the modern form "woman", while the initial element, which meant "female", underwent semantic narrowing to the sense of a married woman ("wife"). It is a popular misconception that the term "woman" is etymologically connected with "womb", which is from a separate Old English word, wambe meaning "stomach" (of male or female; modern German retains the colloquial term "Wampe" from Middle High German for "potbelly"). Nevertheless, such a false derivation of "woman" has appeared in print.