Veggie hotdog eating contest makes audience members laugh, puke

Contestants in the veggie hotdog eating contest partake in the endless supply of veggie dogs. Photo by Holly Aker

Veggie hotdogs are not known for their appetizing taste. While they can be very delicious, a good veggie dog is a rare commodity. With that said, only two words can describe the veggie hotdog eating contest held on Sunday afternoon at Fun Fun Fun Fest: disgusting and awesome.

Twelve people participated in the eating contest held on the yellow stage, and the contestants were made up of every kind of person: little girls, old guys, hipsters, punks, vegetarians, omnivores and a guy in a Lifesavers costume. Despite what they looked like on the outside, they were all hungry and ready to eat a bunch of veggie dogs.

The contest, hosted by Mike Litt, started off slowly. Everyone casually picked up one hotdog at a time and slowly chewed and swallowed each bite in a fashion that would make any mom proud. Many audience members, realizing that no one was going to eat enough veggie dogs to puke, left the stage before the contest was even half over. Unfortunately for them, they missed the best part of the whole contest.

After one contestant got bored or sick of eating veggie dogs or maybe both, he started throwing his leftover hotdogs into the audience, which inspired the rest of the contestants to do the same. Eventually it became an all-out war with veggie dogs flying everywhere and hitting multiple people in face.

When everything finally calmed down, scores were tallied, and the winners were announced with first place going to a young man under the name The Asian Persuasion.

Peelander-Z leaves home planet in time for Fun Fun Fun Fest

Peelander-Z wears some of the most eccentric costumes in their live shows. Photo by Holly Aker

Peelander-Z is not from around here. Although the Japanese action comic punk band is based in New York City and all the members are originally from Japan, they’re actually from area Z on the planet Peelander. Or so they say.

Despite their out-of-this-world origins, the band took the time this weekend to visit Austin and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Playing the Blue Stage on Sunday afternoon, Peelander-Z put on quite the over-the-top show.

The first thing anyone notices about Peelander-Z is their costumes. Although the band will argue with anyone that they’re not costumes be merely their skin, each member of the band wears a brightly colored costume that matches their names: Peelander Red, Peelander Green, Peelander Yellow and Peelander Pink.

The costumes are a collage of all different kinds of clothing including fishnets, colored leopard print leggings, studded jackets, leather jackets, crazy glasses, and brightly colored wigs. While their costumes are the first most noticeable aspect of the band, their performances are just as memorable.

Their FFFF show was packed with crazy antics and almost too much excitement. Towards the end of the show, the band took apart the entire drum set up, unloaded it into the middle of the crowd and then started up their set again. The guitarist also had a fondness for mounting the rather tall amplifier stack and jumping off the stack in the middle of the set. With so much energy and fun, it was almost sad to see their set come to an end.

Hey, November. You look awesome.

October was a good month. We had some great fun at all the festivals including Austin City Limits, the Texas Book Festival, and Austin Film Festival. Some great movies were released like “The Social Network” and “Paranormal Activity 2” (even though I refuse to see it because I like having the ability to sleep at night). And of course, there was Halloween that needs no further explanation.  But now that it’s starting to get colder (and I mean really freakin’ cold. It’s like 50 degrees right now people!), it’s time to look onward to November.

 

http://en.metalship.org/bands/Bring%20Me%20The%20Horizon

Without it pausing to recuperate from the craziness of October, November is jumping head first into the entertainment world. This month has some awesome movies lined, a bunch of festivals on their way, and November doesn’t skip on the music. Here’s a list of some of the awesome things I’m looking forward to this November.

 

Thursday, November 3 – The AP Fall Tour. The AP Fall Tour is bringing Bring Me The Horizon, August Burns Red, Emarosa, The Polar Bear Club, and This Is Hell to Emo’s for a night of pure awesomeness. It’s been a while since British badasses Bring Me The Horizon have been in town, so this show is going to be packed. Get ready for a night of grade-A music, but maybe wear some padding. It’s gonna get rough.

 

Weird Al. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/brown/archives/2008/07/post_6.shtml

Friday-Sunday, November 5-7 – Fun Fun Fun Fest. Three days. Four stages. A bunch of music. FFF is in its fifth year now and it’s as good as it’s always been. Some of the highlights this year include Weird Al, The Casualties, Bad Religion, RJD2, a veggie hotdog eating contest, and the Descendents. Although Devo couldn’t make it, I’m sure it’s still going to be pretty awesome.

 

Tuesday, November 9 – Enter Shikari & Haste the Day. Along with Sleeping with Sirens, Ms. White, LightsGoBlue, Enter Shikari and Haste the Day are joining forces to bring you a show that won’t soon be forgotten. Haste the Day is an old pro at putting on shows that leave you begging for more, and combined with Enter Shikari’s clinically insane performances, you’ll be lucky to walk out of Emo’s without a minor flesh wound. Too bad I’ll be in San Antonio that night…..

 

A Skylit Drive. From http://cdill.glogster.com/A-Skylit-Drive/

Also on Tuesday, November 9 – Average Guys with Exceptional Hair Tour.  A Skylit Drive, Motionless in White, For All Those Sleeping, Woe Is Me, and Scarlett O’Hara are taking over the White Rabbit in San Antonio. I really don’t even need to explain how awesome this show is going to be because if I’m skipping out on seeing Enter Shikari, it’s going to be for a REALLY good reason. And it is.

 

Friday, November 19 – Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Every kid remembers the first time they picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. It was the best book you’d ever read, and you were so excited to find out what happens to Harry, Ron, and Hermoine as they go through the seven years at Hogwarts. Well, for those of you who didn’t read about it, now you get to find out. At least half of the ending. As a tribute to Harry Potter and all his bravery, the Alamo Drafthouse is holding a Yule Ball right before the midnight screening of HP7.1. It may be the coolest thing that bookworms ever get to do.

 

Blessthefall. From http://www.alternativnews.com/2009/10/blessthefall-video-atticus-tour-3.html

Tuesday November 23 – Congregation of the Damned Tour. Consisting of Atreyu, Blessthefall, Chiodos, Architects, and Endless Hallway, the Congregation of the Damned Tour may just kill me. Whoever was the genius who put these hardcore gods together for one night of pure mosh-pit-thrashing-crowd-surfing-stage-diving-hopefully-I-don’t-get-punched-in-the-face-awesomeness deserves a really big fruit basket.

 

Thursday, November 25 – Thanksgiving. Take this day to give thanks for all the awesome times you’ve had this month. Then gorge yourself. It’s the American thing to do.

Well that doesn’t even nearly cover everything awesome that November is bringing to the table, but it’s a start. Prepare yourself for a lot of fun, very little sleep and even less money by the end of it all. Good luck.

“Main Street” leaves viewers hanging

http://www.colinfirth24-7.com/mainstreet/main_street_2010.html

The first full-length movie I saw at Austin Film Festival was “Main Street.” The film was playing at the Paramount on opening night directly after the much anticipated film “Exporting Raymond,” so I assumed it would be a pretty good film. While I wasn’t completely wrong, the film let me down a bit.

“Main Street” is about a little town in North Carolina that flourished in previous years, but has been struggling for the past few years. Young people leave as soon as they get a chance, and the older people who do stay are going through financial hardships. Now with residents desperate for a solution to their problems, a stranger shows up with a plan to resurrect the town. Played by Colin Firth, the stranger proposes a solution that at first makes the townspeople very uncomfortable, but after realizing they have no other option, the town welcomes the change.

The cast for “Main Street” is spotted with pretty big names including Orlando Bloom, Firth, Amber Tamblyn, Ellen Burstyn, and Patricia Clarkson, and each actor gives a great performance. Unfortunately, these actor’s talent could not save the bland storyline.

Leaving the theater, I felt a sense of incompleteness. The movie’s end seemed very rushed, as if the writer felt the movie had gone on long enough, and it needed to end right then. None of the problems were fixed in the end, yet there was a definite happily-ever-after vibe, which didn’t make any sense. With a little more time and care given to the ending, the movie could have left me and the rest of the audience with a better sense of completeness.

Austin Film Festival takes Austin

http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2010/01/sundance-2010-preview-blue-valentine/

As if there haven’t been enough festivals this month, the 17th annual Austin Film Festival starts later this week The festivals runs from Thursday Oct. 21 to Thursday Oct. 28 and showcases over 100 films at venues all over the city.

One of the biggest movies showing at the festival this year is “127 Hours.” Starring James Franco, “127 Hours” is about a man’s struggle to make it back to civilization after a boulder falls and crushes his arm while hiking in an isolated canyon in Utah. The film is directed by Danny Boyle who won the 2008 AFF Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award and an Academy Award for his film “Slumdog Millionaire.” The one and only screening of this film is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 26a the Paramount, and if you want to see this one, you better get in line early!

Another popular movies at AFF this year is “Blue Valentine” starring the smoking hot Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. “Blue Valentine” tells the story of a married couple who’s marriage has gone stale. In effort to rekindle their marriage, the couple goes to a theme hotel where years ago, they experienced a happier time in their love. The movie tells the story by switcheing between scenes of the younger, more in love couple and the present-day, older couple. Director Derek Ciamfrance is scheduled to be in attendance at the only showing on Friday Oct. 22 at 9:30 p.m. at the Paramount, and with 281 people who’ve already added it to their AFF calendar, you better show up early for this one too.

“Black Swan” is also one of the film’s getting a lot of hype at this year’s festival. The movie centers around a two ballerinas named Nina (Natalie Portman) and Lily (Mila Kunis). Both girls are trying to win the role of the swan queen in their production of “Swan Lake,” and as the girls compete with each other, they begin to create a twisted friendship, kind of like the saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Ballet Austin Artistic Director Stephen Mills will introduce the movie at the only showing at 7 p.m. on Wednesday Oct. 27 at the Paramount.

Book Festival promotes literacy in a fun way

http://www.texasbookfestival.org/Press_Room.php

This weekend marks the 15th annual Texas Book Festival. The festival will be held at the State Capitol Building, and it will run all day Saturday and Sunday.

The Book Festival was started in 1995 by First Lady Laura Bush with the goal in mind to promote reading for everyone and to celebrate Texas writers. The festival started out very small, but over the years it has grown into one of the “premier literary events in the country,” according to the festival’s website. This year the festival will have over 200 writers and about 40,000 readers in attendance.

Some of the best writers to catch include Jeff Lindsay who wrote “Dexter” which has now been turned into  hit show on Showtime, Dave Shaw who is the genius behind Awkward Family Photos, Meg Cabot who wrote “The Princess Diaries” (don’t even try to deny your inner 8th grader doesn’t want to see her), and many more. The Book Festival also offers a kids tent with on-going activities for the little ones. The festival even has  musical performances throughout the day from some great local bands.

ACL: Day 3

 

The Morning Benders. Photo by Holly Aker

 

The last day of Austin City Limits was a challenge. After a whole weekend of no sleep, hot days, and a ton of walking, I was ready to sit at home, take a bath, and do nothing. But I manned up and went to ACL.

The first band I saw was The Morning Benders, an indie rock band from Berkeley, California. Although I had never heard of the band before, I really enjoyed them. The weather was perfect, the sky was beautiful, and the chill music had me and everyone else in the audience swaying back and forth.

Cage the Elephant. Photo by Holly Aker

Then my friend and co-editor decided to leave the festival in search of feather hair extensions. We had seen girls with feather hair extensions all weekend long, and I had heard a lot about them, so we were dying to get them for ourselves. After visiting every boutique inside the festival, we came to the conclusion that the extensions were not sold in the fest, so we took our quest outside the gates. We walked up and down Barton Springs for about 30 or 45 minutes until we finally found the booth. About an hour and $7 later, we had our beautiful feather extensions, and we were ready for more music.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros was the next band we saw, but as we were so tired from the whole weekend, we decided to take it easy for this show and enjoy it sitting down. It turns out, Edward Sharpe is the perfect kind of chill music to rest up to. Next, we walked over to see Cage the Elephant at the Austin Ventures stage. With most people seeing the bigger acts like The Nationals or getting in line early for The Eagles, the audience was smaller. However, Cage the Elephants put on one of the most exciting shows of the weekend. With their fun, super energetic lead singer, who had a thing for crowd surfing, and the band’s quality rock and roll, which I had been missing all weekend, it was a great way to end not only the day, but also my first time at ACL.

ACL: Day 2

 

BK & Mr. E at the Music Lounge. Photo by Holly Aker.

 

For my second day at Austin City Limits, my friend and I spent a good part of the day at The Music Lounge. We had no must-see bands until later in the afternoon, so we figured we’d chill at the lounge and see what free swag we could score.

When we got to The Music Lounge, they were handing out  drinks again along with food from Frank, an Austin hot dog restaurant. After enjoying our lunch, my friend and I got a free makeover from Bare Minerals and then snatched a great spot on the lawn to watch BK & Mr. E, an electropop duo from Austin who don marching band uniforms for shows. Rayon Beach, a psychedelic pop group from Austin, followed the group.

 

Monsters of Folk played the Austin Ventures stage. Photo by Holly Aker.

 

We headed back to the festival to catch the tail end of Spoon and then Broken Bells. After dinner we caught the chill tunes from Monsters of Folk, the indie folk brain child from M. Ward and members of Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket. Next on the agenda was Deadmau5, one of the shows I was looking forward to the most. Deadmau5, an electro-house DJ, had one of the most exciting shows of the weekend. With his on-the-spot mixes and amazing light show, Deadmau5 had the whole audience thumping along to the beats.

We finished up the night with electro-rapper M.I.A. I had pretty high expectations from M.I.A. going into the show since everyone I’ve talked to has only had good things to say about her shows. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. While her show was really fun, it was nothing too exciting. She also ended her set about seven minutes early, which outraged tons of people.

One day ’til ACL: Kickoff Party

 

Edison Char played Stephen Easely's ACL kickoff party. Photo by Holly Aker.

 

For an event like Austin City Limits, you can’t just start the weekend off cold. You need to get pumped for the awesome three days you’re about to experience. You need to celebrate the even this city puts on. You need to go to a kickoff party, and that is exactly what I did tonight.

Every year Stephen Easely hosts an ACL kickoff party in his very swanky 5th street loft in Austin City Lofts. Attendance is by invite only, but being the oh so generous person Easely is, everyone he knows gets an invite. This year the party started at 7 p.m. with snacks, drinks, and tons of socializing.

After everyone had just enough time to fill their bellies and chat with each other the music started. Three acts and friends of Easely’s played acoustic sets at the party tonight. Singer/songwriter Monte Warden was up first and he hushed the room with his country twang and southern charm. Then came Katie Cohen, a very cute singer/songwriter with a knack for writing songs that make you stop whatever you’re doing and listen. The last to play was Edison Chair, a fresh-faced pop rock trio from Drippings Springs. Edison Chair’s set was so powerful yet touching that everyone in the room was stunned such music could come out of such young men.

In between sets and after the music, many party-goers migrated to the loft’s balcony to admire one of the best views of the city and enjoy the crisp October night. It was a great start to a great weekend.

Two Days ’til ACL: Deadmau5

http://jessebrede.com/wordpress/2008/09/25/deadmau5-usb-head-the-future-of-dj-and-event-promotion/

From 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., there is only one band you should be watching on Saturday at Austin City Limits. It’s not Matt and Kim. It’s not Monsters of Folk. It’s Deadmau5 on the ZYNC Card stage.

Before anyone had ever heard of Deadmau5, Joel Zimmerman was living in Canada and working as a computer nerd and web developer. Writing music started out as a hobby for Zimmerman, but after 2007’s release of “Faxing Berlin,” it became a whole lot more. In 2008 he released his first full length album, “Random Album Title,” to eagerly awaiting fans and great critical acclaim.

Since then, Zimmerman has been a busy guy. Two of his songs were nominated for the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2008. His remix of the song, “The Longest Road,” was nominated for a Grammy in 2009 in the “Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical” category. And in February 2010 Zimmerman performed at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia during the medal ceremony for men’s luge doubles and biathlons.

Zimmerman was dubbed Deadmau5 after he found a dead mouse in his computer and the name just stuck, after some minor spelling changes of course. Deadmau5’s music is categorized as progressive-house and electro-house music, although he scoffs at being labeled a DJ. One of Deadmau5’s biggest defining features is the giant mouse head he wears during every performance. He has all different colored heads and all different styles including some heads with lights.

Be sure to save some energy for  Deadmau5’s set on Saturday night because it’s going to  be full of high-intensity dance beats and a lot of sweaty kids.