I am ecstatic to announce that The 4-Hour Chef has won Best First Cookbook at the 18th Annual “Best in the World” Gourmand World Cookbook Awards (!!!).
26,000+ food and wine books are produced every year, and 8,000+ books from more than 100 countries participate in the Gourmand Awards.
I was at a loss for words on the platform above. I was more surprised than this (see :08 forward).
Thank you to everyone who helped make this book a reality. It was all worth it.
Thank you to my incredible family.
Thank you to my wonderfully supportive girlfriend.
Thank you to every one of you, my dear readers. You’re the reason I keep writing.
All entries were viewed by me and my esteemed panel of judges, elves, and magic robots. As explained in the original post, the winner provided the best combination of creativity, book explanation, and total view count.
The Winner
The winner of the $2,500 USD and 60-min call with me (should he choose) is Vince Wong. Congrats, Vince! Be on the look-out for an email from my team. Well done, sir.
Directed / Produced by: Vince Wong
Script by: Vince Wong / Jared Croslow
Cast: Vince Wong / Bruna Silva
Camera Operations: Hall & Max
Camera Assistants: Mink / Ploy
Sound Design: Hall & Max / Audio Jungle
Editing / Special FX: Vince Wong / Jared Croslow
Location: Red Sky Bar, Centara Grand Hotel, Bangkok Thailand (Thank you for last minute official location approval, and for the complimentary cocktails!)
There were so many great videos, it was hard to keep count. The below is just a small sample. I once again concluded that — yes — I have the best readers out there. What a blast… Read More
To become a Grand Master of Memory–fewer than 100 in the world can claim that title–you need to satisfy each of the following in competitions approved by the World Memory Sport Council:
• Memorize the order of 10 decks of cards in 60 minutes.
• Memorize 1,000 random digits in 60 minutes.
• Memorize the order of one deck of cards in less than two minutes.
Ed Cooke first hit this trifecta when he was 23. He later came to international attention when he coached journalist Joshua Foer from ground zero to U.S. Memory Champion in one year, a feat chronicled by Foer in the best-seller Moonwalking with Einstein. To win that championship, Foer had to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes, successfully commit to memory the first and last names of 156 strangers within 15 minutes, and (last but not least) memorize a shuffled deck of cards in less than two minutes.
Ed has memorized a shuffled deck of cards in competition in 43 seconds. Of all memory feats, none is a more compressed act of mental athleticism.
I asked him if he’d open the kimono and explain his method, and he very graciously agreed.
It takes around four hours to get comfortable with Ed’s best-of-breed system. With a little practice, you’ll be a third of your way to becoming a Grand Master.
(Im)practically speaking, it’s just freaking amazingly cool. Few people in the world can pull it off, and that’s reason enough to take a weekend or slow evening to try. Instead of watching another bad movie, you can become one of the memory illuminati.
Last but not least, there’s a $10,000 competition at the end if you want to really give this a shot… Read More
Despite the dozens of case studies I’ve put on this blog, and the hundreds elsewhere, one knee-jerk objection always crops up: “That might work for a single 30-something guy, but what about families? I have a mortgage, kids, and…”
