Barbie, The Muppets, and BYU

(Day 49 of the 365 day photo challenge 02-20-2012)

When the BYU barbie came out back in 1998, I didn't know it was so controversial, and that some people didn't like the skinny, skimpy doll posing as a BYU cheerleader.   At the time I was in High School, living in Porterville California, dreaming of attending the school, and surprised that the local Target had her in stock.  She was vying for a spot on the shelf with other notable schools.  Of course when I moved to Utah Valley about a decade ago, I had no clue how BYU was perceived, and the dynamics between all the schools here.  It was quite a shock.  

There are three top notch schools within 50 miles of each other: BYU Provo, Utah Valley University (which was Utah Valley State College when I moved here), and the University of Utah.  BYU and U of U have an extraordinarily loyal fan base here, and you're either a fan of one or the other; the football games between both school are a serious affair.  UVU/UVSC doesn't have a football team.  They have sports teams, but they pride themselves for focusing on academics, which is awesome.  I started attending UV, which I fell in love with, when I first moved here and was turned off whenever I visited BYU campus and had people tell me the school was nothing more then a continuation of High School.  And so I was quick to speak up and defend UV, and quickly lost all interest in attending BYU.  

Of course, thanks to my love of music, and knowing BYU had a more solid program back in 2004, I transferred, and I am proud to call it my alma mater.  It was harder adjusting to BYU then the other three schools I attended (Porterville College, College of the Sequoias, and UVSC), because there is an overachieving atmosphere of high stress at the Y, but I learned so much, and I'm glad I had those opportunities. 

The other item in the picture sitting next to Barbie is Animal from The Muppets.  My Dad had one just like it when I was a kid, and he would put the record of the first movie on the record player (I remember a life before CD players), and he would make Animal mouth the words.  I wanted my own, and so for my birthday last year he found one on ebay, and hid it in my closet a few months before my b-day, which I found within a month.  I was shocked when I found him.  Actually, I wondered if there was a chance my Dad's Muppet ended up in my closet by mistake, but it looked too clean to be his.  Running around the house I asked if anyone knew what was going on, and they were all clueless.  So in a panic I called my Dad, and he pretended at first that he didn't know what I was talking about, until he finally told me it was an early present. 

The first Muppet Movie will always be the best, with the Muppet Christmas Choral as an easy second.  I saw the new movie back when it came out last year, and as time has passed, I've grown less fond of it.  The new movie doesn't have the charm of the original, though I do appreciate the new film bringing the Muppet's back to the front of popular culture.          

Hope you're having a nice day!

Sarah