Sunday, June 22, 2003

SAT Posttest For those of you who took the PSAT/SAT Summer Institute with me the past couple of weeks, I've typed up the answers to the posttest found in Appendix A of your textbook.  They can be found here at the bottom of the page.  If you need help with any other parts of the textbook, just send me an email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. The rest of you can continue down this page and read about giant steaks.  In some weird way, that might help prepare you for the SAT exam, too. 8:07:04 PM     |

Meet The Meat Faithful readers of this site will know that I'm not adverse to an all-you-can-eat meal.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I left a restaurant still feeling even remotely hungry.  Usually I leave feeling stuffed and ready to be mounted.  That said, I'm not sure if I'm up to the task of wolfing down a four and a half pound steak with all the trimmings.  I know everything is bigger in Texas, but four and a half pounds?!?  That's seventy-two ounces!  You put two quarter-pound hamburgers in front of me and I'd have a little difficulty pushing the last couple of bites down my throat, and that's only eight ounces (plus bread and whatnot -- but I said "trimmings," right?).  Yet some people order the 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas for $50 on the wager that they'll get their money back if they eat the whole steak, plus baked potato, salad, baby shrimp cocktail and a dinner roll.  Oh, the catch is that you have to do it in one hour, can't leave the table, can't throw up, and must live to tell the tale.  Talk about too much of a good thing. Here are some stats on the Big Texan: Nearly 4800 people have succeeded in eating the 72oz. steak (since 1960). Almost 30,000 people have attempted to consume the free 72oz. steak (since 1960). Approximately two women each year successfully eat the steak of the 4 or 5 who try. About 50% of the women who try are successful. Richard LaFeare chomped his way through 2 steaks on the "Donny & Marie Osmond Show" in 2000. Frank Pastore, who was a professional pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, ate the complete steak dinner in 9 and 1/2 minutes. The oldest person to eat the steak was a 69-year-old grandmother; the youngest, an 11-year old boy. Klondike Bill, a professional wrestler, consumed two complete dinners in the one hour time limit back in the 1960s. Nine and a half minutes to eat the whole thing?  It takes me longer than that just to find the steak sauce. So the next time you're sitting down to enjoy a nice juicy steak, imagine the whole bull laying there on the plate.  That's the Big Texan.  If you want to do more than imagine it, head up to Amarillo and stop by the restaurant for your crack at the cow.  Related links: The Big Texan Steak Ranch:  Official website Roadside America:  Their entry on The Big Texan Steak Ranch Pride (and $50) at Steak:  The story of one woman's attempt to conquer Mt. Steak (a must read) 8:41:02 AM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.