There’s good news for those living in the Central Valley of California. The competitive eating circuit will be taking a swing through beautiful Stockton, CA later this month for the world “Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Contest.”

A “who’s who” of gurgitators is set to convene at Stockton’s famed Asparagus Festival to be held on the 22nd through the 24th of this month. The field will include the bulging perfection of Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, currently the number six-ranked eater in the world. Also on hand will be local competitors including Stockton’s Ron Davis, James “Big Ox” Martin of Fresno and Sacramento’s very own Isaiah Johnson.

Defending champion and number one-ranked American eater Sonya Thomas will not be appearing at the event, however, instead choosing to prepare for battle later in the spring and early summer. Last year, Thomas demolished the competition by downing 5.75 pounds of deep fried asparagus in only ten minutes while on her way to setting a world record in the discipline.

With the field now wide open this year, you can bet that Cookie and other top eaters entering the contest will certainly get a run for their money as everyone in the field will now be supremely motivated to take home the $1,000.00 cash prize, accompanying trophy and the bragging rights that go along with the prestigious title of World Asparagus Eating Champion.

The competition will commence at 11 a.m. on Saturday the 23rd (the Festival’s second day) on the Main Stage at the Weber Point Event Center. Those who wish to register for the event should visit www.ifoce.com.

If I hadn’t just been up to Northern California myself, I would certainly drive up to Stockton to report on the event for Pimpgnosis. Nonetheless, I’m sure that foodie fans of competitive eating will have plenty of online and print accounts to “digest.” If any one out there attends, have a few deep fried spears for me.

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Today I was reading through the New York Times a bit and I saw something that struck me as a little odd. Apple seems to have had a very good quarter. Their profits have increased by something like six times (thirty-four cents per share up from six), and their revenues increased from about three billion to 3.24 billion. It then said that the price went down. This sort of thing happens occasionally, like when some really big news comes in and expectations of future sales goes way up, driving the price higher only to be let down when the actual revenue numbers come out.

I checked it out. Actually what happened here was that analysts did expect big things from Apple for the quarter, and I’m sure the price was driven up accordingly, but the odd thing is that the earnings report still beat the analysts’ guesses. So what is going on here? It appears that people are profit taking on a stock that actually should be slightly higher than it currently stood.

Is this some sort of sell low strategy that I am unaware of?

Gross margins also beat projections, so no clue there as to this drop. I thought perhaps that there was some bad news about the coming quarter that might convince some that the price might be as high as it would get for a while. After checking, I thought this unlikely, as projections for third quarter profits were higher still than the second, and Apple announced that its new operating system (Tiger) would ship on April twenty-ninth, and that is probably not a bad thing for the company’s sales.

Certainly this little drop in stock price wasn’t all that big a deal, but it just seems to me that it is odd given current news. If you watch around you’ll see all sorts of goofy shit like this in the market all the time.

The Times quotes Jim Fisher, portfolio manager at Univest Wealth Management & Trust as saying, “I think once investors get a chance to digest (the earnings report and forecast), tomorrow will be a positive day for Apple,” so I think he agrees with me that investors have their collective heads up their asses.

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So Afghanistan is now formally requesting that it be granted the status of a colonial dependency:
Karzai Wants Long-Term U.S.-Afghan Security Deal

I guess that means we’ll have Iran contained on both sides?

Will return to regularly scheduled programming (viz., how to build our New Jerusalem/Democratic Party associational infrastructure) by the end of the month.

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Sacramento Bee food critic Mike Dunne has named his top five ribeye steaks in the River City (and environs). I aim to give each one of these a try any time I can get back to the Big Tomato. As I sample each of Dunne’s recommendations, this list will be updated with photos and opinion.

Here’s how Dunne rated the best of the best:

• Austin’s Steakhouse (Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA)

  All the steaks are graded prime, aged eight weeks, and marinated 24 to 36 hours in a bath of cottonseed oil, tomato juice and herbs. For the rib-eye, that translates into the juiciest and tenderest representative of the cut in the greater Sacramento area ($29).

• Bistro 100 (Embassy Suites Hotel, Sacramento)

  

  The grilled rib-eye is finished with a buttery and garlicky Argentine chimichurri and a smooth and zesty Caribbean avocado sofrito, both of which punctuate the satiny texture and rich, beefy flavor of the beef ($27).

• 4th Street Grille (Fourth and L, Sacramento)

  The 20-ounce cut not only is served with the bone still attached, it’s gussied up with caramelized shallots, portobello mushrooms and pancetta ($28.95).

• Silva’s Sheldon Inn (Elk Grove)

  During the summer the massive steak first is rubbed with a mix of sugar, garlic, peppers, paprika and other seasonings that bring notes of sweetness, spice and salt to the glossy, juicy beef; currently, the same cut of certified black angus is being served not with the rub but with a Madeira sauce with wild mushrooms ($25.95).

• Sweetwater Restaurant & Bar (East Sac, at the old Shakey’s)

  The steak is grilled over a fire of almond, apple and oak, yielding an example of the cut as smoky as it is sweet and moist. The blue-cheese butter melting on top doesn’t so much enhance the beef as bring a rich touch to the peppery watercress next to the thin, wide cut ($19).

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