I loved the movie The Fast and The Furious. I remember right after that movie came out I started seeing a log of small cars around here done up to look like some of the street race cars in the movie, right down to the neon paint jobs and the rear spoilers. In time I eventually learned that some people called these cars “tricked out” or “pimped”. My brother had a friend who had one of these cars (maybe a Honda but I’d have to ask my brother to be sure) and I was always pretty sure the spoiler was put on incorrectly because his stuck straight up in the air and made his car look very much like a small fat shopping cart. I don’t see these cars around here much any more, and I’m glad because those cars also meant young kids driving like crazy. Have you ever seen cars like this in your area? Do you see them as much now as a few years back?

Is this the most annoying commercial to come out in a while? If you don’t know which commercial I’m referring to, it’s one put out by Tide promoting the Tide To Go product that played first during the Superbowl. The ad features a younger man who has a stain on his shirt being interviewed for a job by an older man. Each time the young job candidate speaks the stain on his shirt speaks louder, distracting the older interviewer. To me all I hear is loud, rude, obnoxious nonsense. I don’t know what the stain is supposed to be saying, or what language it’s supposed to be in but I find it totally annoying. So who likes this commercial and who doesn’t?

One of the cuter commercials that used to be shown, particularly during a race, were the Jeff Burton State Farm commercials. The commercials weren’t so much direct pitches for car insurance as they were a cute pr infomercial approach. In one commercial Jeff Burton tells his rep how many accidents he’s had. In another he is shown telling the children to buckle up even though they’re in a hurry, followed by an elderly woman going by. In the past weeks since the Nextel season began I’ve been checking out the commercials. I haven’t seen either of these since the season started. I wonder if perhaps they’re not sponsoring this year.

Seriously. Now I enjoyed ZZ Top’s music back in the day, and still do. But as I look at them on my big tv performing live at the California Speedway for the Nascar race they look like they need to call it a day. The drummer is the only one that doesn’t look absolutely ancient. Back in the day their beards made them look funky and unique. Now their beards jut look gray and aged. They opened with Gimme All Your Lovin. The singer’s voice is, well, old and weak. They’re not hitting their own notes and sound out of tune vocally. The guitar work isn’t awful but it sounds much slower than it used to. Now they’ve moved on to I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide and it’s just bad.

I’ve thought for a long while that some companies are great at advertising and reaching their target market. But some companies you never see ads for where you think you might. Take certain medical products, maybe something like an oxygen concentrator. Why don’t we see commercials for products like this on tv? It’d boost sales and might educate people that didn’t know about the product and inform them there is such a product if they have the need. Are you ever surprised you don’t see more commercials pertaining to a specific issue, need or situation?

I spoke with my Dad today. He and my brother are going to the race in California tomorrow, if it stops raining. Qualifying for all races was rained out and he said there’s chance of rain tomorrow as well. There’d been no word on when the race would run if it was rained out tomorrow. I hope it stays nice enough to have it, not just for me to watch it but for my Dad and my brother to go to. Because qualifying was rained out they’re starting according to owner points.

When there’s a movie we really like in the theater, or a movie we really want to see that we missed in the theater we often buy it on dvd. I’d rather purchase it on dvd for $10-$15 than buy it pay per view and only be able to watch that day for $4. One of the places I always go if I’m looking for the best buy on dvds is buy.com. They carry both brand new titles and older selections. I get coupons for them and they have good sales, so it only makes sense to check. Where do you buy your movies?

My youngest watches all of the popular toddler shows. Sometimes he watches a vhs tape or dvd so much he actually starts wearing it out. As of this afternoon I have a stack of six dvds that don’t work correctly. Now that some of his movies are being retired I set out on a mission to locate new ones. Guess what I did? I entered some great contests for kids movies. You think I’m kidding? Here they are.

Island Review/a> is having a giveaway for Bob the Builder On Site Roads and Bridges dvd.<

Blonde Mom Blog is having a giveaway featuring Handy Manny and Little Einsteins dvds.

Prizey is having a giveaway for three Maggie and the Ferocious Beast dvds.

Momsational is having a giveaway for a copy of Disney’s Aristocats Special Edition dvd.

I was surprises how many I found that’d be perfect for him. Most end soon so hurry if you’re going to enter.

I also found out that 5 Minutes for Mom is having a giveaway for the first Pretend with Miss Kim dvd but the site wouldn’t let my comment appear so I don’t know if we’re entered or not.

One of my favorite places to shop online in Buy.com. I bet you’re wondering why I’m telling you this on an entertainment themed blog. I’ll tell you why. They have great prices on everything they sell, and they sell just about everything. If you want to check out how their pricing stacks up against the other guys, just use their price comparison search engine. They’ve even been known to offer free shipping from time to time. I’ve bought lots of things from them including a rug that’s in my dining room, some cables, a memory card and some books. Want another reason why Buy.com rocks? They rock because they also carry the latest music cds. I got the new Foo Fighters cd from them before Christmas last year for free. Yes I said free and I meant it. Want to know how? Here’s how. The cd was quite reasonably priced at pennies under $10.00. Buy.com offers buyers the chance to use Google checkout, and when I bought my cd I’d never used the Google checkout before so I got $10 off my order, making the cd free. How terrific is that! Last but far from least in the list of reasons why Buy.com rocks are the videos. Buy.com offers video reviews and interviews. The interview with Nikki Sixx for The Heroin Diaries is phenomenal, it’s a must see! If you’ve never shopped Buy.com before you need to check them out. And in case you’re worried you won’t recognize them, look for Howie Mandel out in front. He cracks me up.

I have been waiting for this past week, including today, since November. Today was the first official race of the season. The Daytona 500. For any racing fan who’s never been to the track you must go at least once. We went in 1999 when I was pregnant with my youngest. It’s absolutely amazing. Onward. We all wondered how the Toyotas would do. They did fine. Better than fine. Junior looked good early on but it wasn’t enough. We heard less from the other Hendrick Chevys than is usual and was grateful. The best race is one where I don’t have to hear about Jeff and Jimmy.  Just when my son was ready to celebrate a victory for Tony Stewart in his new Toyota, as I bet my middle youngest brother was as well, a pair of blue Penske Dodges got by and finished one two giving Ryan his first win in more than two years and Penske it’s first ever Daytona win. They should have had their first back in 1999 when we were there when Jeff did my Rusty dirty at the end but that’s a whole different story. I was disappointed I didn’t see more of Jamie, although he looked quite cute in the prerace show where they had video of him going up in a jet. I was happy to see Kurt come up from the back in the blue deuce and push his teammate to win. Another two laps and I think Kurt would’ve gone by and won it himself, which would have made me ecstatic. Next stop California Speedway, a Penske track. I’m so happy that racing season is finally here!