Monday, February 16, 2009

What have I been up to the last month, you ask?

I have been reacquainting myself with this great country we call the U.S. of A.

First, there was a trip to see the PBR at MSG.

Three things of note:

1) They really do say a prayer before the bull riding begins.

2) The tour is sponsored by the US Border Patrol. I think this says a lot about the demographic.

3) Best ten bucks I've spent in a while.

Between pyrotechnics and riders being tossed about, I was thrilled from the start.



We (and all the other hipster kids) wore our finest Western wear for the occasion.



Yee HAW!



NEXT up? Friday Night Fights: Boxing and Muay Thai fighting in a church basement.

Again, pretty rad.

They had ring girls and everything.









The Muay Thai fighters do some sort of prayer ritual before the bout...













and finally, on Saturday! SATURDAY! SaturDAAAAAAY! it was off to the Izod Center in New Jersey for MONSTER JAM!!!

Yes ma'am, monster trucks in all their exhaust fume-y, eardrum bursting glory.

The day started with the wheelie competition, wherein the trucks drive over the junk car lines whilst popping wheelies. They are then given a score from each of three judges, who, as far as I can tell, are actually just random dudes sitting in the audience holding up paper signs...





This was the driver of Superman, the winning truck. Please note the Superman costume. I was kind of embarrassed for him, but he seemed like a good guy. Very well-spoken.





The second event was racing: two monster trucks going over the junk lines at the same time, trying to get across faster.



After a brief break, we got a special treat - my absolute favorite thing in the whole world: freestyle motocross!

My camera wasn't doing a great job capturing all the action, but, trust me, these are dudes on motorcycles doing rad tricks off ramps.



The donut competition was next, and I think my favorite. So simple, but so entertaining to see giant trucks spinning in circles.


Monster Jam! The Donut Competition from Sam L. on Vimeo.

And last and maybe least was freestyle - wherein the trucks each got 60 seconds to do anything they wanted. The downside was that all the junk cars had been smooshed to smithereens at that point, so there wasn't much good smashing to be seen.


Monster Jam! Freestyle from Sam L. on Vimeo.

By the time everything was finished, we thought we might pass out from all the exhaust fumes. Never have I been so excited to breath in "fresh" New Jersey air.

Next up, I'm thinking Wrestlemania.

God bless America.