Don't Back Down

I've seen a few Arena Football games in my time. Truth be known, I've probably seen more Arena Football games than I have seen NFL games (in person, anyway). The first that I recall was the Los Angeles Cobras, who played (someone). I don't even remember the game much, except for the Pauus. You see, the Cobras had a player named Yepi Pauu on their team, and he was Samoan if I remember correctly (sources online say he may have been Tongan). At intermission, his family would come out and lead the cobra dance - unfortunately for the team, the Family Pauu was about the best part of their performance. They folded after one season, 1988. If you search Google for Yepi Pauu, you'll be prompted to change it to Yeti Pauu. Go figure.

It so happens that I also caught at least one game of the Charlotte Rage. While the Rage lasted a whopping five seasons - from 1992 to 1996 - it was during 1996 that I saw the game. So at this point that I'm thinking I'm the death knell for Arena Football teams. And yes, there were others in there. These are just for dramatic effect, because I saw both teams during their final (or only) season. The Rage didn't have the Pauus, so I can't say what brought about their downfall, other than me. But I decided to attend my first indoor football game since that fateful night when I brought down the Rage in 1996. It was to catch the Carolina Speed on Saturday night. The Speed played their first season in 2007, which means we'll have to see if 2008 is their last, now that I've seen a game.

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When we were kids, we all collected things. Baseball cards and comic books and action figures. But it wasn't collecting. It was just stuff. Okay, maybe we didn't all collect things. Maybe it was just us boys. Frankly, I think that girls collected things too, it was just different. Being that I wasn't one of them, I don't know what it was. I'd be likely to say dolls and ponies and shoes or something. If you knew the right kind of girls - or perhaps the wrong kinds of girls - then they would have collected boys.

But the point is, at the time, we had those things because we enjoyed them (especially those girls I was talking about). At some point along the line, it all changed. Rather than just having things that we liked to have around so we could use them, take them out and play with them - and at this point I'm going to stop talking about those girls - we became collectors. At least some of us did. Here, I'll also probably need to stop including myself in the analogy, because I don't really consider myself a collector of things. This point is where those treasures became objects that we thought might be worth something to people other than ourselves, and that is when our lives became just a little more jaded.

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It's time again for the hot dogs to start flying. Just over a year ago Charlotte hosted a regional qualifier that was pretty well attended by some of the larger names in the Major League Eating circuit. Juliet Lee and Hall "Hoover" Hunt battled it out to the very end, with Hall Hunt edging Juliet by just three-quarters of a HDB (hot dog and bun), setting a North Carolina record and personal best with 28.75 in twelve minutes.

This year, the official time has been dropped to ten minutes, after investigations have determined that the original contests took only ten minutes, rather than the traditional twelve. Why no one looked into it previously is a bit of a mystery, but that's the case, and so ten minutes it is. Chances are good that no one will be matching up with Joey Chestnut, but hey, it's good, clean fun, so who really cares, anyway? The stage was moved from the back side of Concord Mills around to the side, and it seems to have helped - a few more people showed up, even though there was no readio sponsor, and the event didn't seem to get much mention in local media.

Even Tom Sorensen, local sports reporter who wolfed down a monstrous helping of four HDBs last year, decided to cover senior center croquet this year. No telling why. I think he was afraid.

Read "2008 Nathan's Hot Dog Regional Qualifier" »

That's right, I said Themed Amusement Park, because that's how they describe themselves. Most similar venues fall into one of two categories - amusement parks, which are often just large collections of games, rides and things to do, and theme parks, typically owned be large media companies, such as Disney or Universal, and can therefore be more practically integrated with the properties that are a part of those companies. Sure, they can have big rides, too, but instead of just roller coasters and thrill rides, they are often themed to coincide with a movie release or even a famous character from the stable of years gone by.

Carowinds is actually something of a crossover (hence the name), in that until recently it was owned by Paramount, which mean that there was a good deal of theming going on. Not on the scale of Disney parks, mind you, but a decent amount, nonetheless. That all changed in early 2006, when it was announced that none other than Cedar Fair Entertainment had acquired Carowinds (and all of the Paramount Parks), meaning that changes were definitely afoot. Still, nothing really changed for the 2006 operating season, and even through 2007, only the Cedar Fair logo was added. But in 2008, changes definitely started showing.

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Sometimes you just have to find something to do on a Saturday night. And sometimes there isn't much to do, even in the big city. Or in Charlotte. So we had to look a little deeper. We didn't really want to go out to eat, or go to a movie, or whatever. Then we figured we'd look to the country. Or at least as country as it gets around these parts. We'd go out to Big Lick. Yes, there really is a place called Big Lick. Check it out for yourself at that link.

Anyway, every month or so during the middle months of the year, they hold ATV Drag Races at the Big Lick Festival Park. Yes, there is also a place called Big Lick Festival Park. It's actually a big field out behind Hinson's Auction. If you're going from Charlotte, take Albemarle Road and keep on going. Once you hit Highway 205 (which is way out there), turn right. It's at a little town called Red Cross. Just a couple minutes on your right, you'll see a large brick building. A small gravel road takes you behind the building and into the park. It's not labeled very well, so keep your eyes open.

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Along with the Lost Season 4 finale, we saw a commercial that was unlike any that had been shown since the days of The Hanso Foundation. It was a recruiting video for Octagon Global Recruiting, seeking volunteers "on behalf of the Dharma Initiative". Listening carefully to the commercial, you'll find that these are definitely volunteer - unpaid - positions.

I caught it the first time through, but had to listen again before I really realized what was happening. of course, the Dharma logo is an octagon, and the ABC tagline at the bottom is something of a giveaway. Then there is the fact that the national recruitment drive will commence in San Diego from July 24-27, 2008 - dates that conicide with Comic-Con. Obvoiusly, something is up here. But what?

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Always ready to try something new (especially if it's free), we headed over to McDonald's for their big Southern-Style Chicken Sandwich Giveaway. Afterwards, I wish that we hadn't. It was that bad. Let me start by saying that we live in the South, which means that we can get Chick-Fil-A, something that not everyone everywhere can do. If you can, I'd suggest that you do that instead. I will absolutely give the nod to the fries at Mickey D's - who wouldn't, over the Waffle Fries at CFA? They really need some help. But the sandwich and milkshakes at CFA will always take the win. Back to the sandwich itself.

You purchase a medium or large drink, you get a free sandwich. Cool. That's not too bad - for $1.40, you get a drink and a sandwich. That's not bad. Normally we'd get a double cheeseburger and a drink ($2.00), so that seems like a good deal. Until we get the sandwich. This thing is tiny. A classic Chick-Fil-A sandwich is a good-sized slab of chicken on a nice steamed bun. This "Southern Style" sandwich at McDonald's looks to be about half the size. That could be a problem. We have growing boys.

Read "McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Sandwich Promotion" »

Of course, now that I mentioned that we hadn't been to see a show for a while, we see a couple of them in a relatively short period of time. After Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz left us feeling less wicked and more blah, we decided we needed something a little more peppy. A few years back - in fact, just after I moved to Charlotte - I had gone uptown to see the traveling version of Schoolhouse Rock Live!. It just so happens that Denise had asked me about it, since she noticed that it was being put on by the Children's Theatre, so we decided to go see it.

There is a bit of a disconnect here. Though the Children's Theatre did the show, and though it was hosted at the Imaginon uptown (a nice venue), we actually went for the 21-and-up event (their first), because it was the only weekend event that still had tickets available. So we saw the adult version put on by the Children's Theatre. Really it just mean one reference to a quaalude and some beer and wine served at the show. Other than that it wasn't too bad, and I have to assume that everything else was pretty much the same. The show itself wasn't as good as I remember the Off-Broadway cast, but it was still quite enjoyable.

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Today, April 29, 2008, marks the 30th anniversary of Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day. Started way back in 1979, this event offers - you got it - free ice cream. What could be better? Well, perhaps a free steak dinner or just giving you free money, but free ice cream isn't bad. According to various sources, there are more than one million free cones given away each year, and many of the company's Scoop Shops have charitable organizations present, which benefit from the extra crowds who gather to enjoy the free ice cream.

The staff at the shops also offer tickets for sale that will get you to the front of the line - these ticketes start for auction at low prices, such as $1, and then frenzied bidding (which is actually not terribly frenzied) ensues, depending on how long the line is. We saw one go for $5. Since the line isn't usually very long, I'm surprised that they make much money in this manner at all. Whatever is raised goes to the charity that's at the shop.

What is probably most disturbing is that a large percentage of the line is made up of repeat customers - people who simply go to the front of the line, get their free cone, then go back to the back of the line to eat their cone while waiting to get back to the front. I mean I get the whole concept of wanting free ice cream and all. But first, that makes people who are actually wanting to enjoy a free cone wait longer and second, it means that the company who is doing something to give back seem like they are stupid for doing so. Talk about taking advantage...

The other night we decided to take in a show. Not just any show, mind you, but a musical. That alone should be a bit of a warning to you. It's not every day that we go see something different, and it's an even stranger occurrence that we check out a musical. The last show we saw was Mamma Mia! when it came to town last year (not reviewed, since we had seen it already), but before that it was likely Tryst nearly two years ago. That's not to say that we don't see shows - they just don't bring ones to Charlotte that we'd like to see all that often.

So we decided that we'd see the touring production of Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. Billed as What Happened Before Dorothy Arrived, that is only partly true - in fact, Dorothy arrives near the end of the show. So if you're expecting a history lesson on Oz, you only get a sampling of that. In reality, you do get a bit of background, and it's well-woven into the tapestry of the earlier tale (which actually takes place after this one), but it's not like it took place years and years before this one. Just be prepared. Other than that, it's not too bad, but make sure you see it at a good venue.

Read "Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz" »

Last week I mentioned that we had tried out the Redbox DVD Vending Machine, so I figured it was only fair that I review the Netflix DVD rental service as well. While Redbox generally serves the impulse renter, Netflix is more for the serious consumer of videos. The reason being is that Redbox has no commitment. You walk up, choose a movie, swipe your card, and you're done (except for having to return your movie, and even that is optional if you want to pay a hefty price tag for it).

Netflix, meanwhile, requires you to sign up. Now you can try out the service for two weeks - and during that time you can churn through about as many DVDs as you can handle - but you still have to sign up for it, meaning you have a commitment. That isn't an entirely bad thing, however, as Netflix delivers the videos right to your door (well, the mail carrier delivers them, Netflix just sends them), and you can then drop them in the mail when you are done, shipped right back to Netflix. Postage is included in every plan. It's actually a sweet system.

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