Hot Dog Days Of Summer

I always wondered where the expession "dog days of summer" originated. The name comes from the so-called "Dog Star", the brightest star in the heavens besides the sun. Right now we're in the middle of National Hot Dog Month and it's also National Ice Cream Month. Throw in CFL football and it's a great month to be alive.

How popular are hot dogs in Calgary? Over the 10 days at the Stampede, 125,148 regular hot dogs were sold at Stampede Park (who counts these things?) Also, 335,920 jumbo dogs and 96,272 corn dogs were gobbled up.

More hot dog trivia?

- The longest hot dog ever measured was 60.3 metres at the Alaska Prince Hotel in Japan.

- The world record for hot dog eating still stands at 59 1/2 dogs in 12 minutes by Joey Chestnut, who claimed the record last month.

The first words ever spoken by Mickey Mouse were "hot dog" in the animated movied Karnival Kid, although at the time, Mickey was known as Steamboat Willie.

Hmmm ... this is making me hungry ... gotta throw on a dog.