Monster Trucks on Ice

MON 11/17

For some reason, Americans love to append the words “on ice” to certain cultural
phenomena. Flintstones? Put them on ice. Riunite? On ice, so nice. Monster trucks?
Wait a minute Monster trucks on ice? Perhaps that’s the logical next step
for this form of extreme entertainment, sort of like taking away the poles from
slalom skiers, or the bikinis from mud-wrestlers. Imagine the scent of oil on
ice, frozen chips a-flying, trucks a-skidding, cars a-being crushed. Putting
the motorized behemoths on a near-frictionless surface to romp, stomp and race
makes for a true wing-ding-dandy evening with the kids.The Rolling Thunder Monster
Truck Challenge on Ice offers fans famous trucks (Big Foot, Kongo Kong), the
car-devouring Transaurus, mini-monster truck racing and Fast Trax “pro modified”
lawn mower racing, something parents and children can practice themselves after
the Sunday grass cutting. But just because it’s on ice, don’t expect a fancy-pants
announcer to praise the difficulty of a triple lutz followed by a triple axel.
Unless that ends in something getting crushed. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, November
14 and 15. Ford Arena, 5115 I-10 South in Beaumont. For information and tickets,
call 409-833-7747 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.
$13.50 to $25. — Eric Norvell

Mad Bad Plaid

Golf apparel and runway glamour have never exactly gone hand in hand. After
all, this is a sport whose top prize in a major tourney is a kelly-green blazer.
The Bad Pants Open, a charity event benefiting the Texas Children’s Hospital’s
Newborn Center, takes the tradition of retina-searing attire one step further.
Prize categories for the tournament include Worst Individual Attire, Worst Team
Attire and Most Original Attire. Duffer’s trophies will go to the teams in first,
second, third and last place. The entry fee includes a Becks Prime lunch and
a Truluck’s Steak and Stone Crab dinner, so you might want to make sure those
bad pants have an elastic waistband. 9 a.m. Monday, November 17. Black Horse
Golf Club, 12205 Fry Road. For information, call 832-824-2117 or visit www.badpantsopen.com.
$300 entry; free for spectators. — Lisa Simon