A/E Highlights

...followed immediately by a defribillating contest

We admit we were unaware that there was a competitive eating circuit. Now that we're aware of it and have seen the Nine Pound Big Daddy Barrick Burger that will be the focus of this weekend's contest, we can say definitively that it's very very wrong and we like it. That's why we'll be there 1 p.m. Saturday at the Plaza. Admission is free. Info: 386-2110.

Ah hell, not another Harry S. Truman impersonator

Truman, of course, is best known for signing the papers which established the Nevada Test Site, having no middle name and holding up a newspaper proclaiming he had been beaten by Dewey without recognizing the homoerotic undertones of that statement. Dr. Noel Pugach, Professor of U. S. Foreign Relations at the University of New Mexico, portrays President Harry S. Truman from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Atomic Testing Museum at 755 East Flamingo Road.

Admission is free but seating is limited. Info: 794-5151.

This sounds suspiciously like music

But where are the over-produced walls of sound, the whining, petulant lyrics and the lip-synching? You mean they still make music without all that? Cool. Jerra, as well as the Irish Brothers and the Scotch Greens play Saturday at 10 p.m. at the Double Down Saloon at 4640 Paradise Road. Admission is free. Info: 791-5775.

Is spinning China on sticks some sort of allegory?

The National Acrobats of Taiwan perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Artemus Ham Concert Hall on the UNLV campus. Tickets are $35 to $70. Info: 895-2787.

He ain't heavy, he's my Soul Brother

If you missed last Saturday's Martin Luther King, Jr. parade, you missed the Soul Brothers motorcycle club, Yvonne Atkinson Gates in her church hat, the Mojave High School band getting its freak on, the lowriders of the One-Luv car club, a Ray Charles impersonator and the Las Vegas chapter of the Falun Gong (surprisingly, not being persecuted). Don't be a fool and miss out on the remaining MLK events. On Sat., Jan. 22 at 6 p.m., the city will stage three candlelight vigils in honor of Dr. King--one at the Stupak Community Center (300 W. Boston Ave.), another at Molasky Community School (7801 W. Gilmore Ave.) and the last in front of the statue at the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and Carey Ave. Refreshments will be served at the latter. Info: 229-5080.