Last Week I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Oyster
shucking contest in Las Vegas.

Jasper White was commentating (along with an MC who was channeling Tom
Arnold) and I was struck by how thin he was. Not stick thin, but lean
and healthy.

About 10 years ago I remembered seeing him on a fabulous televised
cooking segment where he was making the stock for New England clam
chowda. Mmmmmmm, bacony. I thought he was quite "jolly" in
appearance then.

Now I am seeing him on an episode of Victory Garden and he is 'tween
jolly. Evidently the episode first aired April 2005 so I figure in
about 2 years he's lost at least 50 pounds.

I lived in New England when his generation, the first wave of
celebrity chefs, was prominent so I was waxing nostalgic.
He mentioned that the Oyster Shucking contest was started with Chris
Schelsinger (sp?) of East Coast Grill. And hey, Todd English opened a
place here in Vegas too.

Hey, this wasn't completely OT. If anybody is interested I can post a
link to some pics of both Jasper and the contest.

Jay