Monster Jam

Well, we did it. We went to a Monster Jam show. I’ve been hesitant to do it because I knew that the Allstate Arena is a tiny place (it’s a hockey/basketball stadium) and the trucks can’t get moving as fast as when they perform in football stadiums. But I looked at the 2011 schedule and there isn’t another show near Chicago all year. I was hoping they’d do a show in Minnesota this year, but I guess with the problems in the Metrodome, they’re skipping that state this year. Besides, the tickets for Friday night’s show were only $10 each, so it seemed like a good deal, just to see one show at least. Maybe next year we’ll go back to Houston if they go back to Reliant Stadium.

So a show is 2 hours broken down like this. First they parade all the trucks out around the track. Then they do little jumps – 2 each. We didn’t catch it on tape, but Digger was the first one to do this and flipped his truck. I didn’t film it because I figured there would be more wrecks later during freestyle, but unfortunately not. That was the only wreck of the night.

After the quick jumps, some of the trucks parked in the middle and they do some Quad racing, I guess just to fill the time. We didn’t film that either because that’s not what we came for.

Then there are the monster truck races, 2 trucks at a time in a little tournament until 1 truck is the winner. In between rounds, more quad racing. By the way, those quads, even though tiny, are almost as loud as the monster trucks.

Then there is an intermission. After the break, we watched two transformer cars do battle. Mildly entertaining. Their “canons” sure were loud. The bad guy lost one of his arms as he was transforming, too. They moved really, really slow. Definitely not like the movie transformers. I think I would have preferred Truckasaurus, but I guess they need to demonstrate other oddities, too.

Finally, it was time for freestyle: the main event. This is when 1 truck at a time tries for the biggest and most specactular jumps. There were judges, but not sure what they were grading on – their scores seemed pretty random.

There were 8 trucks total there. A few were Alex’s favorite. Batman, Digger, Max D. We were told this was the first time in 5 years that Max D was back in Chicago. Monster Jam puts on 5 shows in Chicago over the weekend, but they also put on shows in 4 other states the same weekend. So there must be a lot of trucks (and duplicates) and drivers. When Alex saw the driver of Max D, he told us that wasn’t the real Max D driver – and he was absolutely right. We didn’t get the star drivers that you see on the tv show. He’s just that observant.

All in all, it was a fun night and Alex had fun. He was pretty tired, but still had a lot of fun and didn’t want to stop playing with his own trucks at home for an hour after we got back. He had to have a checkered flag, too, which he really loves waving and doing races with. Seeing these trucks live is really impressive. We didn’t get close, but just seeing them on tv really doesn’t do them justice.

Here’s a bit of a compilation of our night:

All the Monster trucks at the show

Alex and his flag

Digger was still on the field as we were leaving, so we grabbed a shot

Pumpkin 2010

This took me way too long to carve. And I cut a few corners on it, too. But it turned out pretty good anyway. Plus Alex told me he loves it, so that’s all that matters.

UPDATE: It’s out on our steps this evening. I’ve heard a few kids stating how cool this pumpkin is. So, totally worth it.

Random Videos

A couple of Saturdays ago, Sara was working a wedding, so Alex and I went to the zoo. We did the tram ride around the park and it was his favorite part. That and the bears. He even did well in the petting zoo with the goats.

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We’re in a Rock Band!

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This past Saturday my office set up a booth at the Ignite Chicago Christian music festival. We gave out a lot of t-shirts and water bottles and frisbees to hopefully potential new listeners and facebook fans of Walk the Way and Kids Corner. Alex was very helpful.

Because of the rain from Friday night, they didn’t let the crowd  onto the field until 5pm, so it was a little awkward with the stage being in centerfield and the crowd in the stands so far away. Oh well.

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Alex playing waiter.

Sorry this one is dark. We couldn’t find the Flip cam right away after the Ignite event. But it’s the audio that’s funny anyway.

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Alex’s hair was getting out of control, so Sara decided to trim it around the edges a bit. He should still go in and get a full cut, but this will delay that for a little bit.

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And finally, I realized I never posted any videos from the Jon Troast concert in our living room. So here ya go:

Jon Troast in my living room

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. I have to post this now, even though the event is a couple weeks away. Singer/songwriter Jon Troast will be performing in our living room for a 1 hour concert on May 26.

I first met Jon when Dave brought him into our studios as part of his Under the Radar program to perform for the staff. I talked to him before the show and learned he is the younger brother to Matt, who lived on the same floor as me at Calvin. Small world. This is a recording from that day:

He’s been doing living room concerts for a couple years now and I put my name on his list a few months ago. He emailed me back and we found a night that worked and booked it. I’m thrilled!

He’s a great guy, his music is awesome (catchy and meaningful – just watch that second video), and he’s very talented. Alex is going to be thrilled. He played air-drums for the entire 90 minute Andrew Osenga concert we brought him to. Now we’re bringing someone into his house. I can’t wait.

Here’s a sample of what to expect. I’ll definitely ask him where exactly on Long Island he was.

AC continued … and MuteMath

So I’m at home right now, waiting for the cooling guy to show up. I’m really hoping it’s an easy fix. We haven’t touched the system in 3 years, so nothing should be wrong, in theory.

Meanwhile, I’m working from home in the bedroom with an AC window unit. I’ve just been made aware that my favorite band MuteMath has announced when their new album comes out and the fall tour dates. If you’re a fan of music, you have to see these guys live.

New album drops August 18.

Chicago Show:
October 18, 6pm – House of Blues
Tickets $21

I’m lining up a babysitter as we speak (and not you Sheryl – you should come to the show with us)

Tuesday

Yesterday was kinda rough.

We attended a funeral in the morning for the father of one of our friends.  Then after work we brought Alex to his 2-year-old checkup where he got 3 shots.  And he has a little case of pink-eye.  So he was pretty grumpy all evening.

The good news is the doctor was impressed with his development – motor skills, language skills, and all that.   Every question she asked we could say yep he does that, so that was good.

Good thing there are fun things like this to make you keep smiling.