NOT CLAMMING UP
BOSTON (AP) - You could call the manager of an Irish pub in Boston a chowderhead and he'd probably smile - and might even say thank you. That's because Ned Devine's Irish Pub has won a New England clam chowder contest for the third time. What's more, he's been elected to the Chowderfest's hall of fame. The recipe that's won the pub fame is from chef Sean Ryan, who's been making the stuff that way for 20 years. Here's the interesting part. Ryan is from New York City - the same New York known for the rival dish, Manhattan clam chowder. Eight restaurants competed for the title of Boston's Best Chowder this past weekend, with organizers saying 2,000 gallons of the creamy stew were dished up to about 10,000 people.

MEN MASHED BY PACHYDERM - IN BUN-EATING EVENT
NEW YORK (AP) - It was a crushing defeat. But what else would you expect in an eating contest between man and elephants? Three men took on three elephants in a hot dog bun-eating competition -
but in the end, it was no competition. The pachyderms were able to down 505 buns in six minutes. The men ate 143 buns during the same period. And while the humans were rushing to get down that many buns, the elephants seemed to be taking their sweet time doing it. The tale of the tape would have proven this one a mismatch from the get-go. The humans weighed about 500 pounds combined, the Asian elephants about 9 tons.

SEA TURTLE NAMED AFTER OBAMA GETS FREEDOM
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - There have been a lot of things named after Barack Obama since he was elected president. Including a sea turtle. The turtle was named after the president because it was found ailing off a beach in Key West, Florida the day before Obama's inauguration. And keeping with the patriotic theme, the sea turtle was set free on the Fourth of July. Obama the loggerhead sea turtle was nursed back to health by taking in a diet of squid and mineral oil at a turtle hospital. Hospital officials say the turtle was set free Saturday as about 100 people watched. After being set on the sand, you might say the turtle hauled shell to get back in the ocean. Administrator Ryan Butts says the loggerhead swam away with "all the energy it had."

ORANGE LOBSTERS
YORK, Maine (AP) - So, what's the deal with all of the orange lobsters lately? In the past couple of weeks, there have been more than a few reports of lobsters that are orange - but not from being cooked. The latest showed up in York, Maine, where Jeremy Mirick is the co-owner of the lobster pound at the York Fitness Center - but he says the lobsters aren't for sale. Officials at the New England Aquarium say orange lobsters are a one in 30 million rarity. But these days, they aren't so rare. Officials have gotten reports of up to a dozen of them in the region during the last two weeks alone.

by Oscar Wells Gabriel II

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)