Pods, Last weekend saw a state and regional chili competition held at the Beaulah Park racetrack in Grove City, Ohio. I saw nothing about the event in the local paper until three days after the fact, where a story on the event was the front page feature of the weekly Wednesday food section. I found the article on the newspaper's website, and if all goes well, you can get to it from here: http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/slwebcli.pl?DBLIST=cd99&DOCNUM=9452 I had a good time at the event, got to see some e-friends again, and thanks to Mr. Campbell the Elder, I have the first pepper plants in the ground here at the apartment. (Now, to go out to Bloomington and get the rest from Susan...) It was neat to taste all the different chili recipes, but I really wonder how easy it is to call one the "best" of all the entries. Each had its own style; one tasted like a rich beef broth, while another tasted like aromatic jerk seasonings - almost gave it a North African flavor. Which is better? Kind of asking whether the color blue or the color green is better. Nice to browse the vendors. This from the guy who already complained about having too many sauces. Oh, and one vendor had an automated sewing machine that could embroider a pepper image onto a shirt or hat. I had them sew an image onto the flap of my black shoulder bag, and I love it. Alex Silbajoris 72163.1353@compuserve.com spotted shirt club member