Show me the Monkeys!

You have seen horses, you have seen cattle, but have you seen the monkeys? This weekend at Wells Fargo Arena a unique team of talented monkeys and canines will be taking on the dirt at the World’s Toughest Rodeo. The rodeo will be full of family friendly events like bull riding, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, and more but the act I’m most excited about will be the specialty act – rodeo monkeys!

Team Ghost Riders, led by Tim “Wild Thang” Lepard, will be performing during the rodeo both Friday and Saturday. Tim is a long time rodeo enthusiast with over 28 years of experience under his belt and he has actually trained his team of monkeys to ride dogs as if they were cowboys riding horses. Not only is it hilarious when monkeys do things with human-like qualities in general, but to see them riding dogs like they are horses is something I never thought I would ever see. The way they grip the ropes with so much concentration and focus on rounding up their goat friends is quite entertaining. These Monkeys are good!

Don’t believe how funny it really is? Check out this video yourself to see just a clip of what these animals are capable of.

Show Me The Monkeys! (Click here to watch)

After watching that video the first time I couldn’t believe my own eyes, and I couldn’t stop laughing either. You never know what a monkey is truly capable of doing.

Come to the rodeo this weekend to see this amazing act. Trust me – you’ll want to see it in person. It is quite the show.

Tickets start at just $20 and kids tickets are always half price! Tickets are still available at all Dahl’s Foods Locations, www.dahlstickets.com, 1-866-55-DAHLS, and the Wells Fargo Arena Box Office. If you visit any Taco John’s locations you can pick up a voucher for a free kids ticket with an adult ticket.

Plus you really can’t resist these cute faces now can you?

How to be a Monster Jam Judge

With Monster Jam coming up this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., we thought we’d give you a little insight about what it takes to judge the freestyle competition.

During a 90 second freestyle run, the mechanical competitors of Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam face off, smashing their way around (and often through) the obstacles on the track, including buses, cars, dirt jumps, planes, camping caravans, large recreational vehicles and more. Pushed to their physical limits, their mission is to entertain the fans and tame the course. As the freestyle competition unfolds, the drivers work vigorously to out-perform the other monster trucks by impressing the freestyle judges to win the competition. Judges score Monster Jam freestyle on a scale of 1 to 10. Below are some of the criteria used to determine the score.

Points are given on:

• Number and variety of tricks
• Hitting the most obstacles on the track including cars, buses, caravans and dirt jumps
• Higher jumps get higher scores
• Donuts (or Cyclone Donuts)
• Hitting the obstacles in reverse
• Spectacular stunt – something unexpected or seemingly impossible
• Saves – skillfully driving to avoid a roll-over or crash, often “saving” the trick by driving on the two side wheels until the truck rights itself
• Wheelies
• Sky Wheelies
• Combinations – performing multiple tricks using obstacles in one pass

Deductions are given on:

• Rollovers
• Reverse receives a deduction unless the truck is hitting an obstacle
• Failing to use the entire time allotted
• Using more than the time allotted
• No stops! Use the full time  allotted

Now you should probably make your way here to any of the 3 shows this weekend and test out your new found knowledge.  Get tix at www.dahlstickets.com, opening night tickets are just $14. Hurry – prices increase $2 day of show.

See the trucks up close and personal at 3 Advance Auto Parts on Thursday, Jan. 5 from 2 – 6 p.m., and get driver autographs!

Grave Digger:
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts
4801 SE 14^th St
Des Moines

Bounty Hunter:
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts (Store #5811)
1817 University Ave
Des Moines

Scarlet Bandit
Thursday, January 5^th 2012 from 2-6 PM
Advanced Auto Parts (Store #5104)
2519 Easton Blvd
Des Moines