This fad has been around for a while, but the Cinnamon Spoon Test is still happening out there in YouTube-land... and Brooklyn. Basically, you try to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon, preferably while one of your friends films you. You then upload it to YouTube, where there are about a million other videos like it, each ending... badly. Because no one can beat the cinnamon spoon challenge! Not even these bros—because all of the underchin facial hair in the world can't save you from the dry burn of cinnamon. And yet here we are, in 2012, with new "Cinnamon Spoon Challenge" content uploaded every day! more ›

It's been just about a month since we met the latest Dunkin' Donuts frankenfood: Meat Munchkins. At the time, a brave young man named Seth tried them out, only to bite into a nearly frozen morsel coated in an unidentifiable gooey substance. But as far as ideas go, on a scale of 0 to Homer Simpson Fantasy Food, a pancake ball with sausage inside rates pretty high up there. To that end, the same determined young man recently set out to find a better version of the chain's creation; he challenged Joe Dobias of the East Village restaurant JoeDoe to build a better Meat Munchkin. The result can be seen below, in all of its wild flower honey goodness... more ›

At the end of last week, we were so impressed to read that someone actually had the intestinal stamina to beat the Hill Country "Feed Your Face Challenge." We shouldn't have been. Turns out, eating two pounds of meat, two sides, a cupcake, and a 32-ounce soft drink in under an hour is child's play. At least, it is for a "competitive eater." We're told that on Saturday, an unidentified female pro eater visited the popular BBQ joint and beat the challenge in eight minutes—then added another extra pound of meat and some more sides! Hill Country's workers say they don't remember her name, but the restaurant insists they initially set the challenge with the condition that if anyone wanted to set the bar higher they could... and she did. Now it's really extreme. more ›

There was a lot of tall talk around the Gothamist offices yesterday about taking on the Hill Country BBQ challenge (eating two pounds of meat, two sides, a cupcake, and a 32-ounce drink within an hour gets your $65 meal comped). But while some were just talking, others were already gorging. Grub Street's Daniel Maurer strapped it on yesterday: "Around that 37-minute mark, you hit the wall. You begin feeling a little bit high, and not in a good way: time slows to a crawl; things become very grotesque; your friend is talking to you but you’re not really listening (mostly because hearing him ask the waitress to recommend a cupcake is making you nauseated); and suddenly it’s like you’re in the bar from Fear and Loathing." But Maurer persevered and finished with five minutes to spare, and now his photo's up on the Hill Country "Wall of Cue." You gonna take that, Tien? more ›

In a promotional gimmick to rival the "Ole 96er" steak eating challenge in the classic 1988 film The Great Outdoors, local BBQ restaurant Hill Country is throwing down the goutlet with their "Feed Your Face Challenge." Think you're tough enough to consume a massive amount of meat, soft drink, and one cupcake in under 60 minutes with no bathroom break? If you pull this off, you'll not only eat $65 worth of food for free, but you'll also receive a Hill Country hat and T-shirt, plus an immortal photo of your bloated face on the "Wall of Cue!" Losers, however, "pay for their meal and carry their shame home." Hill Country says [pdf] your "opponent" consists of the following items: more ›

The Figment festival is set to take over Governors Island for its 3rd consecutive year this coming June. Last year David Koren, the festival's organizer, had discussed with us the City of Dreams 9-hole minigolf course designed by a team of artists (photos of full course can be found here), and now the good word is that it will return! And the fest announced that this year they plan to double the fun by expanding the course to 18 holes. It will once again be free, and accessible to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays while the island is open from the end of May to early October. First things first, though, it still needs to be designed, and you can be a part of that. Head here for full details on the challenge to build the course, and maybe watch Overboard for some inspiration. In fact, maybe they ought to just recreate Dean Proffitt's Wonders of the World miniature golf course! more ›

At Harlem eatery Ottomanelli Brothers, customers are encouraged to enter the "Hulk Steak Burger Challenge": A diner who consumes the 24-ounce steak burger (three "normal" hamburgers stacked with cheese and bread on a bun topped with fried onions), plus fries, plus a 20-ounce soda within 20 minutes, gets the next lunch special free. According to co-owner Nick Ottomanelli, only two men have won; a mysterious dark horse from Britain and a big cop who "ate it with his bulletproof vest on, and had a piece of cheesecake afterward." Yesterday former New York Knick Cal Ramsey (pictured) gave it a shot and after ten minutes announced, "I'm already out of gas." According to City Room, neither he nor his two friends came close to winning because nobody could "finish their huge goblets of soda, which really makes this challenge a gut buster." Sure, blame the soda, not Ramsey's sub-par performance; there's always some excuse for a Knicks loss, isn't there? more ›

WNYC explores street photography through the eyes of six New Yorkers (including our own Jake Dobkin); they call the medium "a uniquely New York art form" that dates back to the days of Weegee the Famous. Weegee's site holds a quote from Naked City that sums it all up pretty well: "He will take his camera and ride off in search of new evidence that his city, even in her most drunken and disorderly and pathetic moments, is beautiful." more ›