Setting up a very basic influence object isn't as hard as it seems from the link mhcannon posted... I'm sure it's a good way to do it, but I've seen (and tried) it done a lot simpler from a tut in the Learning Maya Foundations book... I can read up on it and try to explain it if you'd like...?
Liter is French for 'Gimme some ****ing cola before I break vous ****ing lips!"