Yes, You've Seen The Movie, But Have You tried The Kevin Bacon Burger At Mack's...?

 It was my brother who educated us, since we haven't been eating out as of late. It took him passing through town and he happened to pick Mack's Drive Inn to get lunch, the one restaurant that served the Kevin Bacon Burger. He told us of his experience, so I decided I had to experience it myself.

And I did.

There are a limited number of places to eat in our little town. My brother was traveling north and he asked for suggestions on where they could eat as the drove by. We recommended a few. We did not recommend where they eventually stopped--not because we don't like their food, but more due to time. They said they wanted to eat quickly and Mack's Drive Inn is great, but not as quick as others--good food is worth the wait.

I asked about their meal. He said the burger was great. Last weekend my wife and I decided to give it a try. It was good, not too heavy, great balance. And I didn't feel like I needed to take a nap right after eating.

They wrote "Kevin" on the container...nothing more was needed, really. It told those who prepared our meals and those who ate those meals everything important for us to know.

News hit earlier this month that Kevin Bacon, the actual actor/singer/dancer/non-burger will be returning to Utah to attend the prom at the high school where Footloose was filmed. I hope all involved will have a wonderful time honoring the film that made, among others, Lehi Roller Mills famous.

If you're traveling north to Idaho, or west to Idaho, or east to Utah or south to Utah, stop by Mack's Drive Inn on Tremonton's historic Main Street and order yourself a Kevin Bacon Burger. But you'd better hurry...

Don't know how long it's going to be around.

Just Watched "Footloose"...The Original

A few years ago a group of people met in a theater rehearsal hall. The director asked us what made Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol such a classic, a story that's endured since the mid-1800s. It made me think about why I like that story so much. For me, it's because it's timeless. It speaks to generations of people. Children can understand Tiny Tim and the wonders of Christmas. Young parents can relate to making things special for Christmas--even on a budget. And older readers understand better than most the word "regret" when it comes to decisions made earlier in life.

What does this have to do with the original version of Footloose?

Good question.

Tonight after I got home from work the movie was on. It's been years since I've seen it. I may have not watched the whole thing since I did back in theaters in the early 1980s. Boy--it was corny. Which surprised me. I remember a different movie. I remember a show about teen angst, "us against the world" attitudes, good music, and good dancing.

Well, it did have those things, but it was not the fantastic film I remembered. It hasn't really aged well. I suppose that's why they made a new one (which, I haven't seen...). When I saw it today, I saw it through different eyes, a parent's eyes. A community where people are shunned because they think differently is no longer far-fetched. We're seeing it today. Just try and give a speech on a college campus if your views are not the same as everyone else. People burning books and making acts illegal just because they're unpopular. Sure, it was campy in the movie, but it's human nature.

I was in high school when Footloose hit the theaters. The fact that they filmed it an hour down the road gave all of us Utah teens a kinship to the film. Not that I did what they characters did in the movie (never played "chicken" on tractors, never went to the next town over to drink/smoke/dance/get in fights--in that order--in my life...). Though I don't live where it was filmed, I do travel to the valley from time to time. It's amazing how life has changed. 

But, there's something in the film with which all teens can identify--society telling them what to do when that's the last thing they want, and perhaps something they need.

Watching the film this time, put me back there. Is this a classic? Will people gather in a theater rehearsal hall in 170 years from now and talk about what makes Footloose endure? And I wonder if parents, when they saw it back in the day, thought it was a good film, or did they think it was kind of corny.

Good question.

Goodbye Teresa...

*

I got home from my writing group last night and I got on my laptop to post my daily picture and write a blog post. After that was done, I checked Facebook as I'm wont to do from time to time. And that's when I saw this picture. I had to read the text accompanying it several times to make sure I what I thought I read I had actually read.

The post was a memorial to a friend. Teresa passed away.

Around the late 1980s my friends and I used to hang out a lot. Since none of us were married, we'd see shows, go out to eat, but what I remember the most was just shooting the bull. Those times of us sitting around and talking were the best.

One of those times I remember distinctly. We were hanging out with a friend we grew up with, but who moved while in high school. She had with her a friend she knew after moving, and I remember her friend being one of the funniest people I ever met. She was flat-out hilarious.

In the decades since that night I had forgotten her name, but I never forgot her infectious laugh or that this funny gal was an extra in the original Footloose movie. If you're familiar with Footloose, then you'll remember the girl. Her date was the nose picker. Yes, that's her.

A few years back I did a show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. If you're know this show (and if you live in Utah, you pretty much do...), you know that the show requires a lot of men. I was cast and so was a teenager, Zach--at least, I think he was still a teenager. If not, he had just turned twenty. Doing a show you get to know your cast members very well. Zach was just a great kid, always positive--someone who was trying to figure things out as you do when you transition from child to adult.

That show ended and last year I was asked to be in another show. Zach was in this one as well, but instead of being in the same show, Zach and I were counterparts, so we didn't see each other very ofter once the show began. We did "friend" each other on Facebook and that's when I found out Zach's mom was the same gal who had us all splitting our sides with laughter all those years ago.

Even though I didn't know Teresa as well as those who have offered condolences and words of comfort to Zach and his family, I want to add my voice to theirs. I know somewhere Teresa is making a lot of people laugh.

* Photo taken from the Facebook page of Kelsey Hadzima