NEW YORK – Reigning champ Joey Chestnut has logged his third consecutive win in Coney Island’s annual hot dog eating contest with a world-record 68 franks.

He defeated his archrival, six-time titleholder Takeru Kobayashi (tah-KEHR’-roo koh-by-YAH’-shee), in Saturday’s bout. Chestnut led throughout the contest.

Last year’s event initially ended in a tie, with Chestnut and Kobayashi both gobbling down 59 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. Chestnut went on to win a dramatic five hot dog eat-off.

This year’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest was broadcast live on ESPN.

Chestnut is from San Jose, Calif. Kobayashi is from Japan.

It’s more like, “Are you ready for some football?”

We’re barely into the 60s – hardly what I’d call a nice summer day that’s ripe for a picnic and a swim at the beach.

What a difference from last 4th of July which was warm and sunny and brought out people in droves.

Today I bet they’re huddled under their blankets, teeth chattering and wondering where the summer is.

I’ve closed all the windows in the house, not because it’s raining – though it will be (again) – but because the chill is just too, well, chilly.

I suppose I could still fire up the barbecue and put a space heater out there to stay warm and pretend it’s actually July and not October.

Yeah, I’m ready for some football since it’s just a tad too chilly and rainy for baseball these days.

Get out your flag and wave it proudly from your front porch.

Go watch the 4th of July parade in your community.

Take in the ooh’s and ah’s of the fireworks show that’s sure to be spectacular.

And tell yourself, “I’m proud to be an American.”

I know, I know, it’s only July 3, but how about an early celebration of Independence Day with some nostalgic 4th of July videos.

Like Popeye:

And the Wonder Years:

Ah yes, those were the days.

In fact, I think he just celebrated a 50th birthday this year – which may be why I can relate to him, since he and I are the same age.

Lately Sting’s been on the good side and Sting’s been on the bad side, and I have to say I relished last night’s TNA performance when he left the dark side again.

You go, Stinger!

A New Jersey man is recovering from injuries he suffered when he was attacked by a black bear near his Sussex home.

51-year-old Henry Rouwendeal says he was outside packing his car for a trip when he was suddenly knocked down by the hunger animal.

The bear, which weighed between 300 and 400 pounds then took a sandwich that was in the trunk of the car.

Rouwendeal punched and kicked the bear which quickly fled, sandwich in hand.

Rouwendeal sustained a large cut on his left temple and several deep bruises on his body.

Officers found the sandwich wrapper and remains of the sandwich on the side of the home.

For now, the bear remains at large.

By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand’s national airline has adopted a cheeky way to encourage passengers to watch its in-flight safety video: The cabin crew’s uniforms are nothing but body paint.

The “Bare Essentials of Safety,” screening in the cabins of planes flying Air New Zealand’s main domestic routes, has gone viral online. It had 1.2 million YouTube views by Friday, four days after it was launched.

In the video, three cabin staff and a pilot, all in full body paint applied to look like their uniforms, talk viewers through the aircraft’s safety procedures.

A demonstration seat belt, life jacket and arm rests are strategically positioned during the 3 1/2-minute video to protect the cabin crew’s … discretion. Passengers are shown ogling, mostly in appreciation.

The body paint idea is also being used in a series of television advertisements in New Zealand for the airline, which include the promise: “At Air New Zealand, our fares have nothing to hide.”

One ad even features chief executive Rob Fyfe in body paint.

“We think in tough times there’s a premium for making people smile, and it gives the opportunity to stand out in a crowd,” Air New Zealand’s marketing general manager Steve Bayliss told The Associated Press.

Each crew member spent about three hours having the body paint applied.

The video needed “a little bit of a hint, but every frame has to be as modest as anything you see at the local swimming pool or the beach in summer,” Bayliss said.

After all, the people in the ads are not models or actors but work colleagues, he said.

I got up and read the paper.

Then I stood in line at Keegan’s Tobacco Shop for a carton of cigarettes.

Then I stood in line at Wal-Mart, foolishly believing the store wouldn’t be that busy today.

Now I’m home and it’s only 1:57 p.m. and I’m already exhausted. Way too exhausted to even think about the beach and BBQs – underneath the dark storm clouds, of course.

And I still need to work on restoring the blog.

You’ll see the regular features going back up, like the news, sports and weather links, the chat page and the like.

I could use your help on my blogroll though. If you have a site you’d like listed, let me know. Just drop me a note here on this entry and I’ll add it. I’m straining my brain trying to figure out all the links I had before the blog went kaput and I’m coming up mighty empty. So any help would be graciously appreciated.

I’ll stick around on WordPress for a little while longer before making the radical move to blogger.

But I’m reserving the right to make the move with my blog if things start getting hosed up again in here. I’ve got my Blogger page reserved and it’s just a matter of cleaning away the cobwebs.

Of course, you know what happens the minute you abandon a website – and the site’s name.

Some sleazy sexmongers take it over and instead of finding Life In The Slow Lane, you’re likely to get “See Naked Teens Flaunt Their Tight Little Bodies.”

We can’t have that now, can we? My reputation would be ruined.

So I’ll be here for a bit more. It all depends on how things go. Maybe for the rest of my life, maybe for the next week. We’ll see.

So welcome back to my home. Please grab a Pepsi and some M&Ms and stick around for a while for a visit.

The funny thing is, the Department of Environmental Conservation had to have known she had animals in her care. Her appearances with some of her birds of prey at different events have been well publicized, and we’ve even run articles about them. Shouldn’t that have clued the DEC that perhaps something wasn’t right? If she was making these presentations and didn’t have a license, why didn’t they swoop down on her earlier?

Just wondering.

Investigators charge Lisbon wildlife rehabilitator with reckless endangerment and unlawful animal possession

LISBON — A month-long investigation has led to charges against a former wildlife rehabilitator in St. Lawrence County for unlawful possession of wildlife and reckless endangerment, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation says.

Susan Sattler, 44, of Murphy Road in Lisbon, has been charged with 11 counts of unlawful possession of wildlife (a violation) after investigators confiscated eight birds of prey and three raccoons on separate occasions in June.

Sattler was a licensed wildlife rehabilitator until her license was revoked in 2008 after she allegedly allowed children to have contact with a raccoon – a rabies vector species – that she wasn’t authorized to rehabilitate, DEC says.

State Environmental Conservation Officers and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Special Agent confiscated four birds of prey from Sattler’s residence on June 1 and two raccoons on June 2. The animals tested negative for rabies.

When investigators learned that Sattler was allegedly keeping other wild animals, ECOs and State Police returned on June 29 with a search warrant and found four additional birds of prey — an immature Coopers Hawk, Barn Owl, red-tailed hawk, and immature great horned owl — and another raccoon. The animals were in the living area of the house, which DEC says is not only improper for animals which are to be rehabilitated and released, but also raises concerns about human exposure to disease.

Each violation carries a fine of up to $250 and/or 15 days in jail. A reckless endangerment charge – triggered by the alleged exposing of children to a species that potentially carries rabies – is a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to a $1,000 fine and one year in jail. Sattler will be called to Lisbon Town Court at a later date.

Sattler came to the North Country about three years ago after caring for eagles, ospreys, owls, falcons, hawks and kites at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland, Fla. The center handles the largest volume of raptors east of the Mississippi, averaging 650 injured or orphaned birds a year.

After passing a New York State test for wildlife rehabilitators and passing an inspection of her Phoenix Rising Farm, just across the Canton town line in Lisbon, she began taking in injured and orphaned animals.

In addition to her state credentials, she was also the only federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator in St. Lawrence County and surrounding counties.

Sattler also had been giving demonstrations with birds of prey at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake and at other venues.