Rascal Flatts, Saw 3, and Tennessee Football Victories

Usually the fun I have in my life is spread out over time, but this weekend, it was packed in tightly, and I enjoyed it a whole bunch. On Friday, I watched "Saw III" the same day it came out, and it was very good for the most part. After discussing the movies of that trilogy with a friend who is also a fan, we decided that the major flaw in the movies is that the first one was so good, so original, that the sequel(s) would pale in comparison. The sequels here weren't nearly as horrible as Godfather III or Rocky V, but I think the entire "Saw" trilogy could have been compressed into one two and a half hour movie and maybe been one of the greatests horror films of all time. That said, the third film wasn't quite as tedious and as the second one, and it did a good job of tying up some loose ends that didn't make sense after "Saw II"...and, of course, the "games" were novel and horrifying (not much originality in the horror genre for quite some time now), especially the one called "The Rack" (*wince, shudder*), which was very cool. This kind of film isn't for everyone, but it made me cringe and stimulated my mind, so it was worth the price of admission...and on that note, I can't wait for "Hostel II" to come out.

Saturday night I drove to Memphis and got to see the FedEx Forum for the first time...very nice facility, first class all the way (esp. for Memphis), plenty of seating. Merchandise and concessions were vastly overpriced, but that's the case anywhere. I went to see Rascal Flatts perform, and the opening acts were Gary Allan ("Best I Ever Had") and Taylor Swift ("Tim McGraw"). I liked Taylor Swift's songs from what I had heard before the concert, but she is an excellent performer live, and beautiful to boot. She reminds me of Christina Aguilera in the sense that I couldn't believe such a powerful voice came from a woman of such slight stature. Beyond that, she seems to be very much a real person...my favorite thing she said was, "I'm about the nicest person you'll ever meet, but if you mistreat me, hurt me, or make me angry, I'm liable to write a song about you." Just priceless.

Gary Allan is a fine performer, I've just never been much of a fan of his music though. "Best I Ever Had" was his most inspired performance of the night (b/c he said it reminded him of his late wife), but I would rather have been watching the UT game. Rascal Flatts put on a very good show, a great experience to be sure, but not so off-the-charts that I would overpay to see them again live. The thing that stood out to me the most about the band is that these guys are funny. Maybe some of it is canned or scripted, but some of the jokes they told and things they did were laugh out loud hilarious, and I always appreciate a good laugh. Also, all three members of Rascal Flatts are very talented musicians who play more than one instrument, and the piano and acoustic sets they played were especially good. They sang all of their recent hits, including my favorites "These Days", "My Wish" and "What Hurts the Most". During "My Wish", the lead singer pulled this adorable little girl who looked about 6 years old up on stage with him, and she sang part of the chorus very well, just as cute as she could be, and she got a well-deserved standing ovation. I usually like to go with friends to things like this, but the scheduling didn't work out so I went by myself. Buying one ticket, I was able to get a ticket in the first level of seating, rather than the second or third/nosebleed level I'd have gotten if I bought 2 tickets, so it worked out fine.

On the way to the concert, I listened to the first half of the UT/South Carolina game on the radio, and I watched some of it on TV at the forum during performance intermissions. It was every bit the battle I thought it would be, and frankly, UT caught some good breaks and was lucky to escape with a win, but the better team did win this ballgame. Even so, the defense was opportunistic, Erik Ainge and the wide receivers were fantastic, and the special teams came up with big plays too. USC QB Syvelle Newton is very talented and scary to play against...there were at least three 3rd and 10 or more plays that he converted by scrambling, and he made some very accurate throws under pressure. If Florida overlooks the Gamecocks when they play, the Gators will lose. To top it off, the Titans beat the Texans 28-22 in a battle of rebuilding teams. The Titans D came up with 5 turnovers, and despite some growing pains, QB Vince Young gets better every week, passing for a TD and running for another in this one. The Titans aren't going on a playoff run, but at least they are improving and it's easier to watch them now than it was in Week 1.

This was fun, all in all a good weekend...I gotta try and create as many of these as I can, and I will ;).