Dad and I are chugging through East Texas to get to Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango's third stop tonight in Dallas. We've had some technical difficulties with our original location and have moved tonight's festivities to Christies Sports Bar.

A couple people have asked where this Fandango idea came from. Most of it came from Tim Hayden from Blueclover. Here's me and dad talking about the origins of Fandango:

Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango: Behind The Music from Jason Falls on Vimeo.

Be sure to check back in later for updates from our Dallas event at Christies. We're excited to meet and greet with all our Dallas peeps. Then it will be on to Austin and South by Southwest.

We made it to Little Rock for stop number two on the Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango. Big Whiskey's is hoppin' and ready for some fun tonight. Here's a video journal check-in:

Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango - Arriving in Little Rock from Jason Falls on Vimeo.

For more about Firefly Vodka, you can visit their killer website, follow them on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook. Big Whiskey's website is as cool as their location. They can be found on Twitter as well.

We had just a good time in Nashville Tuesday night, we thought we'd recap it for you with some highlights in the video below. Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango moves on to Little Rock Wednesday! See you in Arkansas!

Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango - Nashville Recap from Jason Falls on Vimeo.

The musicians you saw in the video are Clay Canfield and Megan Ellis. Go check them out. They were really fun to hang with and put on good shows.

And another big thank you to Wheel for helping us out at the last minute. Onward ho! Here we come Little Rock.

Some last minute technical difficulties moved our first stop to Wheel in Nashville, but Big Red made it. We'll be rocking the #fandango from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. tonight and can't wait to see everyone in Nashvegas! Here's my first report from the road, which features a surprise appearance by Firefly Vodka. (Purely coincidental. I swear.): Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango Day 1 - Arrival at the Wheel from Jason Falls on Vimeo. Special thanks to Wheel and Robert Lee for the last minute accommodations. And a BIG thank you to Beth from Broad Band - an all female country group playing next door who let me move her truck to fit Big Red in out front. And to the construction crew two doors down that let us have the other half parking place we needed. See y'all on Music Row tonight! For more on Firefly Vodka, visit their cool-ass website and follow them on Twitter.

Hey Funnel Cake nutters. It's Chillie's son, Jason. Dad gave you a little peek behind the curtain last week, but I wanted to let you know that you're in for a regular roller coaster ride here on BigRedFunnelCakes.com this week. We're going to be using Dad's blog to share videos, blog posts and more on our big road trip. Buckle up. This is gonna be fun. [caption id="attachment_398" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Big Red - Coming To See You!"] [/caption] About a year ago, I showed Dad Twitter. When he started chatting with all the freaks and geeks in Internetland, he said, "I'd love to go to one of these conferences and meet all these folks." So here we go. Big Red, Dad and I are road trippin' it to Austin, Texas, to bring Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango to South by Southwest, one of the largest Interactive, film and music conferences in the world. But we're stopping along the way to make sure as many people as possible get some of that Funnel Cake Fandango magic. Each night this week, starting tomorrow, Dad will pull Big Red up to an exclusive location and serve funnel cakes to anyone willing to buy. Firefly Vodka thought the trip was a cool idea and is sponsoring our shenanigans, too. Drink specials will be had, my friends. (Not to mention, Dad's been working on a special Firefly Vodka funnel cake glaze. So much for my diet, right?) We're stopping at three exclusive locations en route and we want you to join us for a Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango FEEDUP: Tuesday, March 9 Nashville, Tennessee - Corner Pub, 2000 Broadway Wednesday, March 10 Little Rock, Arkansas - Big Whiskeys - 225 E. Markham Street Thursday, March 11 Dallas, Texas - Black Finn's - 4440 Beltline Road - Addison The trip culminates with our opening night in Austin, Friday, March 12, for the official Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango at Molotov on West Sixth. Check out the RSVP page on Eventbrite. Social Media Explorer (my company) and Blue Clover Studios join forces with Firefly Vodka to put on a regular hootenanny. Come see some killer augmented reality, taste test (or just taste ... or test) Firefly Vodka, get one of Dad's famous funnel cakes (special ones have the Firefly glaze) and hang with some cool cats. Austin is nuts and parties abound on Friday night. But it doesn't take much to swing by for a funnel cake! We'll be there from 8:30 until 1 ... or so. Nashville ... Little Rock ... Dallas ... Austin ... We can't wait to hang with ya. Come see Dad, me, get a funnel cake and try some Firefly. Oh ... and drink responsibly. See you soon.

Today was my first event for the American Cancer Society.  The Smyth County Easter Egg Hunt, held at Hungry Mother State Park, west of Marion, served as a fund raiser for the Smyth County Relay For Life, which will be held later this summer.  Big Red will be there also. Since I wasn't sure where I was going, nor how long it would take pulling Big Red, I drove down on Friday and stayed  in Wytheville.  That left only 45 minutes or so for Saturday morning.  But what a drive it was.  30-40 MPH winds are tough when you're pulling a trailer.   And, yes Jason, I had a bourbon or two before I went to bed. I'm not sure how many people they had today, but the crowds seemed huge to me and even though it was a short event, only about three hours, funnel cakes were hot and I had 20-30 people in line the entire time.  Congrats to Jane from ACs and Anita for putting on a fabulous show. I used a short menu for this event offering only funnel cakes, lemonade and frie s.  There were several other vendors covering other food items.  As it worked out, it was good for me as I might have been in trouble with a full menu. Peggy has a case of bronchitis and let me know at 5:30 this morning she wouldn't be there.  So, I had to work it myself.  With just the three items, I handled it pretty well.  But it would have been awful with everything else.  It was cold enough early--about 35 degrees--that I didn't get swamped with lemonade and was able to keep up with the funnel cakes and making batter in between pouring and serving.  The fries, as always, slowed things down some but I used one fryer for them and one for funnel cakes.  Service might have been better, but it wasn't bad. I'm taking this week off.  Easter week and Christmas week are the only two weeks I'm not somewhere.  And, of course, the week I hope to take for a cruise after football season.  But, the rest of the month is full.  Baseball starts with a 6 game home stand next week, there is a Kickers game, and then race week at RIR. Hopefully, Peggy and I can both get healthy with the down time.

This weekend was a fund raiser for Habitat for Humanity at the Altavista Walmart.  While I have no idea what the cost is to build one of those houses, I think I may have earned them a door knocker or two. It was a pretty good weekend despite pitiful weather.  Rained all day Friday and Saturday.  Was beautiful today, but windy.  It was so windy in fact that I got covered in powdered sugar and looked like the Dough Boy.   I've got powdered sugar in several unmentionable spots plus in my nose, behind my ears.  My shoes are even white.  Can't keep the animals from licking all over me.  No, not Jean or Amanda.  The dogs and cats. On Friday, it was a little slow during the day but about 4:00pm, it started raining hard.  I mean a good ole fashion downpour.  Would you believe I did $100 in 15 minutes?  Crazy people standing in line getting soaked. Early Saturday, a gentleman, somewhere between 85 and 147, stopped by and wanted to know if I'd give him a mini-funnel cake for a can of beans.  He was serious, too.  I cooked it, gave it to him, and told him to keep the beans. How's that for a new business venture?  Bartering for Funnel Cakes.  Sweet! I'm trying to become a little more techno-receptive and have started Twittering and am on Facebook.  While I'm still not sure what to do, I'm having some fun with it and have even had some chats with old friends.  If you'd like to get involved, let me know and I'll give you what little knowledge I've gained. This week features my first event for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program.  I'll be in Smyth County--wherever that is--doing an Easter Egg Hunt.  It's a fund raiser for the Smyth County Relay that I'll be doing later this summer.  I'll be getting all of the details tomorrow morning. I'll also be rearranging my schedule to accomodate the Nationals schedule.  I hope to do 70 of the 74 home dates.  And, the Kickers seem to still be interested in Big Red for my open Saturdays when they have home games in Richmond even though I can't do their whole schedule because of the baseball commitments.  Plus I'm getting everything in place for the upcoming races at RIR.  Busy times, thank goodness.

I was sitting at the farm last Monday after returning from the Craftsmen Classic at the Raceway.  Once again, my phone rang.   And, once again, it was Todd from Americrown. "It appears the Circus that will be here this week failed to get their Health Department Permits and the Health Department won't let them do any concessions.  Can you do it?" Carney folk become circus roust-a-bouts.  "Sure,"  I responded. "The first performance is Wednesday morning at 10:30,"  he replied. So, I got on the phone, called Kaitlyn and Peggy.  Left early Tuesday morning, did a huge shopping trip supplying up for the 11 performances and drove Big Red back to Richmond.  I got there about 4:00 pm in time to set up for Wednesday.  At 4:30, the Governor of Georgia called the Gover nor of Virginia, who called the Henrico County Health Department, and.....surprise.....the permits were issued.  Big Red and I got sent home. At least while I was in Richmond, I had my meeting with the Richmond Kickers and the prospects of doing soccer and other events at Richmond Stadium. Fortunately, my friends down at the local Quik-E-Foods store had a big to do scheduled for the weekend and thought that funnel cakes, lemonade and ribeyes was just what the doctor ordered.  So, I drove all of four miles and set up. Actually, it was a pretty good weekend for me playing street vendor. Sunday, I drove to Louisville--finally--to see Jason, Nancy and the kids.  Plus to celebrate Grant's 4th birthday even if a cou ple of days late. While I was there, Jason did a little work on my blog site and got me started with Twitter.  We even did about a two hour live broadcast from his kitchen where a ton of people watched us drink Makers Mark and answer all kinds of questions including what is the difference between an elephant ear and a funnel cake, is Kaitlyn married,  and when is Big Red coming to Kentucky?  I realize every time I visit Jason how technologically dumb I am.  But, I ended up with a bunch of people who are now following Big Red's exploits and might find their way to these lofty pages. To bad I didn't have a picture of the Makers! On my way back to the farm, I had a fabulous meeting with the Potomac Nationals.  Now, it is time to make a decision.  But, I have the feeling baseball will figure very prominently in Big Red's future. This weekend, I'm doing a fund raiser for Habitat For Humanity at the Walmart in Altavista.   A report to follow. NOTE:  After posting, I made my decision and baseball is in the near future for Big Red.  Season starts mid-April.

I was sitting at my desk Thursday afternoon about 2:00 pm feeling sorry for myself.  I had two weekends and no bookings.  I was just about ready to pick up the phone and call Jason to see if he, Nancy and the kids were doing anything for the weekend.  A long overdo trip to spoil the grandchildren seemed just the ticket.  Plus, Grant's 4th birthday is only a week away. Before I could make the call, my phone rang. It was Todd and Danny from Americrown at the Raceway.  "Anyway you can get to Richmond for the Craftsmen Classic this weekend?.  We have a concession stand in the Exhibition Hall that you can use,"  they said. The Craftsmen Classic is a huge arts and crafts show that has been at the Raceway for years and an event I've longed to get in. "Sure,"  I responded.  "Somehow, I'll be there." I madly got on the phone, called Peggy and Kaitlyn, arranged a schedule with Jean, and did some quick shopping.  I was on the road at 5:00 pm on my way back to Richmond. Since I was in the Exhibition Hall, the same building where Americrown has their cafeteria, I could only offer a limited menu so as not to compete directly against them.  They do burgers, fries, dogs and bar-b-que.  So my menu had only Funnel Cakes, Crepes, Ribeye Sandwiches, Corn Dogs and Lemonade.  But, I was in the Classic.  And, it was really nice to work out of a concession stand for a change.  Of course, Big Red was outside and I had to do the cooking there, but the girls had it a little better even though they had to do the running in the weather. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy.  Rained, snowed, sleeted and God knows what else the whole weekend.  But it was still a good show.  Especially with funnel cakes. We did better than three of the last four shows at the Raceway.  No too bad for a bonus weekend. Peggy did exceptionally well with Crepes and we actually sold more than at all of the shows combined since we added them to the menu.  She's gotten quite good with them. I tried to take a few pictures but they turned out terrible.  So Kaitlyn stole the camera again on Sunday to take a few for posterity.  Of course, she's in most of them. It was great to see Lemonade John and his crew again.  You may remember him from back in the Fredericksburg Auto Auction days and several of the shows with Noah and TJs.  He had a good show with his nuts (Georgetown Nut Company). Right now, my plans for the week are iffy.  I have meetings with the Richmond Kickers and the Potomac Nationals.  Is Professional Soccer and Professional Baseball in the future for Big Red?  Plus, ACS is on the ball and so far has booked something like a dozen events.  With the races at Richmond and everything else going on, things are looking quite busy for the next couple of months.  If all goes well, after the Nationals meeting Wednesday afternoon, I'm heading for Louisville to spoil the grandkids and celebrate Grant's birthday.

Big Red and crew had a great weekend at the Richmond Home Show at Richmond Raceway.  While it didn't quite equal our record at the Equine Festival last year, it was our best show so far this year and ranks second in shows at RIR. Kaitlyn, Peggy, Jean and I worked Friday and Sunday, and Peggy's daughter, Allison helped us out on Saturday.  Kaitlyn got there about 4pm after her other job finished.  We all stayed busy.  The amazing person was Allison, who as you know from previous posts, suffers from leukemia and has regularly been on kemo.  She was unbelievable and must have walked twenty miles serving as our runner toting food from Big Red to our booth inside.  Jean and Peggy mostly manned th e booth serving folks and slinging lemonade and tea.  I just about died in the heat on Big Red.  It was in the 80's for the weekend, something I'm not used to yet this year. We put Kaitlyn in charge of the camera so she's responsible for the pics (of which she's in all of them. ) Peggy, the most un-photogenic person in the world, as usual was un-photogenic. I only had one major problem this weekend.  I was approac hed by Officer Eckert of the Henrico County Police and was threatened with arrest if I didn't cease making lewd and lascivious comments to his daughter.  I explained to him that I'd told Kaitlyn when I hired her that if it was possible to be politically incorrect, I would be.  He didn't see the humor in that. In truth, he and I were discussing t he possibility of adding another venue in Richmond that appears to be in need of my services.  I've been checking up on that but no news yet. To follow up on a couple of posts ago, Jean's van was totaled and is now in the Caravan graveyard in the sky.  She's sporting a nice new one.  I think she parked somewhere in West Virginia and walked to the raceway this weekend to keep it away from those pesky Richmond drivers.  Also, she dressed like some kind of a hippy on Saturday.  I'm not sure what that was about, but I needed sunglasses every time she got near me. On a serious note, if you have a minute, please check out the below listed video.  It is our cousin who has cancer and is valiantly battling the disease.  It's pretty cool. More to follow.