Shake Rattle 'N' Roll Monster Truck Challenge 2006

It has been one of my lifelong dreams to go to a monster truck rally. It all started with a commercial (as most things do, right?), a commercial I often saw on late night television. The Singles Connection 60 second ad was one of the worst pieces of advertising I have ever seen. It included a lot of stock footage of restraunts and Hawaii but also an overweight grumpy-looking couple walking on a polluted beach during a hurricane. “Call Now!” it would say, “Make a connection to last a lifetime!” This delightful commercial would then show a quick sequence of events. First you would see a shot of Las Vegas from on top of the Stratosphere (one of the tackiest places in Vegas). Then a shot of hula girls dancing (a shot they might have stolen from the DVD “Tahitian Treasures”) followed by a championship bull rider (Go NFR!), an image of a monster truck demolishing several cars, and a final picture of a wedding couple kissing in front of a temple.

By this point I was usually hysterical. “Monster Trucks!!” I would yell. “Of course! That’s it! I haven’t been to enough truck rallys!! Now I know!!! That’s the secret to a serious relationship! Monster Trucks!!!” I would then wipe the tears from my eyes and sit there muttering “monster trucks” to myself for the next couple of hours.

Naturally, I told everyone I knew about this pinnacle of advertising. And I told everyone who was single that obviously monster trucks have some mysterious connection to temple marriages. For some reason, no one believed me, which naturally meant I needed to be louder and declare that I would marry the man who took me to a monster truck show.

I got over that. However when a monster truck show came to Salt Lake I decided that I would take my nephew as he specifically told me he likes monster trucks. He mentioned this to me as I was asking my nieces if they would like to go to a U of U volleyball game. The girls were telling me who would like what (Aimee = volleyball, Katie = soccer or baseball, Jamie = gymnastics) when Matthew (aged 5) leaned over the seat and yelled “ I LIKE MONSTER TRUCKS.” So, Matthew got to go.

As I sat in the E Center choking on fumes and hoping the hearing loss wouldn’t be permanent, I realized that monster trucks are a lot like sumo wrestlers. They’re big, there’s a lot of build up, and then it’s over. Thankfully the show had a lot more stuff in it, local trucks competing for speed, minicars, guys on motorcycles doing tricks. And the monster trucks themselves were really loud and really flashy. But, I, like my nephew, was ready to go after two hours. We checked monster trucks off our list of things to do before we die and then went home to watch television. There were some good commercials on.

Harold and Maude

I knew that this was a favorite of Maddy's and others have recommended

it so I finally sort of broke down and saw the thing. The assumption I make about a movie with a title of two names, one male and the other female is that it is some kind of romance love-story chick-flick. Though this movie had its love story it was not the sort of sappy melodrama I expected. The romantic aspect of it was more creepy than anything because the age difference between Harold and Maude was somewhere between 60 and 65 years. I agree with the priest in the film in being appalled at the notion of "mingling flesh with the wrinkled skin, sagging breasts, and flabby buttox." The eighty-year-old Maude makes an interresting game of corrupting the young Harold by introducing him to all kinds of human vice in the name of trying out new things and experiencing life. Was this thing made in the 60s? Not sure. Normally, I'm all about corrupting the young out of a sense of fun but Maude takes it to a point I might talk about but never actually do.

Otherwise the movie is pretty funny, particularly Harold's interactions with his mother and the girls she tries to set him up with. Out of 10 I give it a round 7.8312 stars. Enjoy.

"Firefly" on DVD -- by naudy

As some of you might have noticed, I am a little obsessed with the movie SERENITY. It was definately one of the best things I got for Christmas this year. Well, "Firefly" is the Fox show that SERENITY was based on. The series was cancelled after 14 episodes and all of the 16 shows that were made were released last year on DVD. Those DVD's have been on the Amazon Top Ten list for almost a year now, a considerable achievement for a show that was never watched and subsequently cancelled.

Thanks to the magic of Netflix, I watched the first three episodes of "Firefly" last night. Last night I also managed to wake myself up from nightmares four separate times. When they advertising guys say "Western In Space!" they don't mean Gene Autry/Singing Cowboy western in space, they mean Clint Eastwood/Bloodbath western in space. I'v seen the movie, I know what Reevers are, and I was still scared to death.

Which isn't to say the show's not good. It's just scary. My co-worker suggested I perhaps only watch one show a day, in order for my system to have a chance to process everything. I don't deal with scary stuff very well or very quickly so I think that's good advice - for me. Everyone else will probably be just fine and laugh a good laugh at my squeamish tendencies.

So, enjoy "Firefly", which is MUCH more "Western" than the movie and chock full of scary adventure. Let me know how it goes as I won't finish watching all 16 for another couple of weeks.