Thursday, March 6, 2008

On Beavis and Butt-cho



Four and a half hours in the car dropping off and picking up this weekend brings me to the ugly revelation that Beavis and Butthead is not just a fleeting memory of too much MTV from college, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Why so much time in the car?

My poor, deprived children are generally not allowed to slumber with friends at their homes for parties. So, imagine the joy and squeals of delight when Kennedy and Ellie received an invite to Middle Miss's birthday party - it was a slumber party and it was family. They were in!

And imagine my anguish when I saw the softball schedule and Ellie had her only Friday practice that night, the eve of Opening Day (yes, Alpharetta takes softball very seriously). Just for reference, Dahlonega (the site of said party) is a mere 45 minutes each way. So, what is a parent to do?

Sporty dad says she must go to practice, softy mom says Kennedy should not miss a minute of the once (maybe twice)-in-a-lifetime approved slumber party. Mix it together and you get 2 trips for drop off plus one for pick-up the next morning - we are die-hards! And we love Middle Miss!!

Getting back to Beavis, my children quite enjoy the i-pod in the car. The girls are relieved when it plays because they don't have to listen to "Boring Mormon Talk" (sunstone podcasts), NPR, Clark Howard, Dave Ramsey or Dr. Laura (yes my listening habits are quite odd - especially when they are all listed together).

The boys love to sing-along to "Little GTO" (which they learned from the B movie RV). But having heard it 7 times already and feeling a bit nostalgic since all this driving was beginning to feel like a road trip, I turned on Johnny Cash.

My girls don't know it, but they have it easy on the ears. Growing up, my siblings and I seriously considering petitioning the FCC to ban from the airwaves a country music group called Trio - starring Dolly Parton who sang (or pined, depending on your view of country music) in extreme soprano. It was that or crackling AM sports where you could kind of hear 1/2 of a play and then static, then my dad would deliberately tweak the dial bit by bit hoping for another glimpse into the game.

The only tolerable sound we had in the car was Johnny Cash. And everytime I hear him, I am taken back to the days of early morning drives through Utah to get to Great Lake Powell - but that's another post.

Anyway, Stevie loves "Ring of Fire". He was singing along and all was well, until I started hearing giggles, then full on cackling from the back seat.

"hee hee hee, he said 'fire' haa haa haa"


Was I hearing voices? Having a sad college flashback? This can't be my son, a boy with half of my genetic makeup. Another chorus and it was confirmed.

This was not a college prank, the once-popular MTV cartoon with crass obnoxious humor has been reincarnated via the boys in my backseat. I did decide to rename the show given its current actors. Let me know if you have been pining for a sequel since we are now the reluctant producers of Beavis and Buttcho.

4 comments:

Jan said...

When I opened your blog I started scrambling for my phone. Ring of Fire is my ringtone. :-) Gotta love it!

Bravo on pulling that weekend off! What effect did you use on your pics?

stephshappenings@blogspot.com said...

I can just hear the boys now. How funny! The kids and I are getting used to Johnny Cash as well...I have heard lots of stories about the Lake Powell trips from Andy!

claire said...

Is Dr. Laura still on the Atlanta airwaves? I didn't know she was still on ANY airwaves, actually. I'll have to check on the internet.

Gretchen Selcho said...

Mel you put us all to shame with your writing. Please go easy so we don't look too pitiful in our blogging efforts. We can't wait to come next week! Tell Beavis and Butthead that Sam is coming to help stir the pot. He'll fit right in!