Catching up

Yikes. I haven't blogged about anything in a week.

Last weekend I went to the Puyallup Fair with my former roommate. Essentially, I wanted to experience three things: The Weird Al Yankovic 3D movie about the human brain, an a capella group called The Coats, and a fantastic ride called Extreme Scream. I did do all three things!


As a longtime fan of Weird Al, I was excited when I heard about his exhibit at the fair. It was at the Puyallup Fair that I saw his concert two years ago - a concert, I might add, that was one of the best I have ever experienced! Before the movie, you are handed a pair of glasses (and a wet wipte for steralization) as you walk into a room with many facts about the brain. The only problem with this is that they cram everyone into the room for the next show so you really can't read many of the facts unless you ask someone to move over. As more and more people are crammed into the room it becomes less and less possible to read anything.

Right about the time I started getting antsy, the lights dimmed and overhead a parody of 50's educational movies started. It was a great tongue-in-cheek parody typical of Weird Al. The movie itself was corny, but really funny. It reminded me a lot of Weird Al's show. The format is set up as a Q&A with Al answering video questions. At one point, a boring Dr is turned into a clever owl and, of course, many opportunities for shameless 3D effects are employed. At the end, Al launches into an original song about the brain. It is fast-passed and frantic at times, making it hard to catch all of what he is singing. It would have been great if they'd added subtitles with a bouncing brain so we could get all the words.

I found myself humming part of the song after the show, but the memory of the tune didn't really last as long. I'm not trying to slam the exhibit in any way. I'll go see anything featuring Weird Al. As far as I'm concerned, the guy is a genius and I was glad I got to see the 3D film!


The Extreme Scream is a fair tradition for me. You've probably seen versions of this ride all over. It's a tall tower with a base of seats that gets rapidly shot up the tower. I've ridden other versions of this ride. What sets the Puyallup Fair's version apart is that you get both experiences. First, you're shot up the tower and you bounce a little. Then you are slowly lifted up to the top and it drops you. This is the first time I've been on a ride like this that gives you both elements. People think I'm crazy for going on it, but you just can't beat the rush this ride gives!


I also went to all three concerts performed by a group called The Coats. I can't say enough about these guys! They are SO talented! After the first show I bought four of their CDs and got them autographed. While talking to the guys I was encouraged to come back for their other shows. The 2nd Tenor Jamie promised that each show would feature a different set of songs. How could I pass that up? If you ever hear about anything having to do with The Coats, check whatever it is out. You won't be disappointed.

My only other fair experiences revolved around the hypnotist Travis Fox. More accurately, the experience revolved around one of the people he hypnotized. At the first show was a volunteer named Junior. For that show, Fox had him perform as Aretha Franklin to the track Respect. The guy was awesome! At the end of that show, Fox asked Junior's family if he could hypnotize Junior to come back for the next show. Still in a hypnotized state, Junior was told that he would wake up thinking he had missed the show. He would have no recollection of having been in it, but at 6:55, he would feel an urge to return and try to catch the 7:00 show. He was told to walk up on the stage and sit in a chair when Fox called for volunteers.

Sure enough, my friends and I got excited when we saw Junior enter the concert area. At first he raised his hand but wasn't called on. Then he suddenly stood up and walked up to the stage. It took awhile for Fox to recognize Junior, but when he did, he had him peform as Michael Jackson to a Billy Jean track. Once again the guy was awesome! He even jumped off the stage and danced with a young girl from the audience. Once again, Fox asked if Junior could return for the 9pm show and repeated his suggestions from before.

My friends and I had planned to leave but with the promise of more Junior, we decided to stick around. Junior's family ended up stting in front of me and I struck up a conversation with them. They told me that Junior had been shown pictures and video of his other performances, but repeatidly told them he'd missed the show! They also told me that he is a dance instructor which explains his awesome moves from the first two shows.

This time, when Junior entered the stage area, he received a standing ovation! He looked at all of us like we were nuts...and we probably were. When the show started he once again walked on stage and ended up being featured at the end as one of four divas from the song Lady Marmalade from the movie Moulin Rouge.

Other than that, the previous week was uneventful. It just felt so long, but I think that's because I'm actually working 8 hours every week. Okay, okay, some of you are thinking "Uh...yeah...welcome to the real world!" Well this is the first year I've actually gotten guarenteed hours like this. They actually added two hours a week to my route due to it running long in the evenings. So now I'm done at 5pm. Now figure that my morning clock in is 5:45 and you can see why my day feels so long! My route just feels SO long! I do a lot of driving during the day and with the added trouble brought on by the autistic girl, I feel drained at the end of each day.

Last night, I signed for a trip, but since I get 39 hours a week now, I had to put next to my name +40 to let them know that they'd be paying me overtime. Essentially this means that should no one else want to do it, I could actually get the trip and get paid time and a half for it. This rarely happens, yet last night they called me as I was finishing my route and told me I got the trip. Suddenly I felt very rushed! I raced home to grab something for dinner (which didn't amount to much) and then raced down to the bus lot to start up a bus.

The whole thing ended up being VERY confusing! Whoever requested these trips for the week really screwed up. There were already three other buses at the site trying to pick up other groups and no one seemed to know who was going where. By the time I arrived, some of the coaches were understandably a little surly. The team I ended up driving was really awesome, though. Those poor guys were all crammed into my bus like sardines. In an effort to save money, they were dropped to one bus. I had guys practically hanging off the edge of seats in the aisle.

Today the madness continued. I was awarded a Saturday trip which is VERY rare! All Saturday trips pay time and a half. Last night I checked to make sure what my clock in was before leaving. Today, I got a call at 2:20 asking me why I wasn't there to pick up the football team. I told him that I have the return trip and then panicked. Did I screw up??

I rushed across the street to work and thankfully discovered that I wasn't one of the two drivers who was supposed to pick up the team. I am on the return trip later tonight. I still had to run down to my bus and call the drivers on the radio to make sure they had picked up the team. It turns out that the guy who called me wasn't even a coach. He had recieved a text that the buses hadn't shown up. By the time he called me, the team had been picked up and was on the way to the stadium. He had only called me because he had my number as a driver, but he didn't know ...well...much of anything.

On Monday I'm going to ask them if they'll pay me for the running around I did today. I think it's only fair! I was essentially doing someone else's job. I was the one running around in a panic for 30 minutes trying to make things right and I hadn't even done anything wrong! It's a good thing (for my boss) that I live so close to work...and that I had been home at all. I was actually starting to get ready for a trip to the library (which still hasn't happened).

I did continue watching a video I rented from the library called Heckler. It's a film my Jamie Kennedy about people who yell out at comics. Midway through the documentary, the focus shifted to movie critics. As I watched it became apparent to me that Jamie Kennedy takes critique too seriously. His opinion is that movie critics are not entitled to their opinions. He ends up taking what they say personally and, to a degree, I can see where he is coming from. Some of the things they say are personal and don't belong in a movie review. But he also takes it personally when one of them says he isn't funny. He claims they don't have a right to say that, but the way I see it, they have every right to say that about his performance because that's what they are being paid to do. If they don't find him funny in the movie, then it's something they should put in their review. At least that's how I feel about it.

In the film, Jamie Kennedy confronts several critics and asks them why they hate him. Most of them said they didn't hate him, they hated his performance. To me, that's a valid opinion, but Jamie takes it personally.

I thought Kennedy was great in the Scream movies. But later he started making movies about his characters from the Jamie Kennedy Project that just weren't funny! Son of the Mask was terrible, but not because of Jamie Kennedy. It was just a poorly written movie that took the rules previously established in the Jim Carey movie and threw them out the window.

At the end, during the credits, they interview Jamie's father who says "He's never been able to take criticism. He can dish it out, but he can't take it." That pretty much summed up the documentary for me. If you're going to be a comic or an actor or a filmmaker or even a writer, you need to be prepared for criticism. If you think about it, a comic dishes his own critiques, though. I've seen Jamie Kennedy's stand up and like most comics he makes fun of people. His observations could be called critiques, can't they? They are his opinions of people and he is sharing them to get a laugh. Why then is it so hard for him to take criticism back?

Another thing that bothered me about the documentary was the fact that many of the people interviewed were attacking critics as though they have no right to voice their opinions. Many times, those interviewed for the documentary said things like "They don't make movies so what right do they have to attack what we make?" Frankly, I think they have every right. Even if someone doesn't know how to make a movie (or doesn't have the financial backing to make one) doesn't mean they don't have the right to know what they think is good or what is bad. I've never made a movie, but I know when I am watching something that is poorly written or acted. As long as a person is able to intelligently explain what it was they didn't like about a movie I think they have every right to do so. Isn't that what America is all about?

Look at me pretending to be a movie critic! LOL. I suppose I should expect a visit from Jamie Kennedy, now. Jamie, if you're reading this, I don't hate you. Just haven't been crazy about many of your movies. Sorry, dude!