Faster, Faster, Don't Stop Now

So. Things.

1. I need to get a photo editing type software on my laptop soon, because I need to make icons! I do! I do like whoa! (I love procrastinating and ignoring the real world through crappy icon making.)

2. Was pondering something related to Supernatural and came to this conclusion about the second most scary of the Big Damn Spoilers that came out a while back. (Not the one that caused everyone to be pissed as hell and threatening to quit the show.) ( Spoiler speculation )

3. May be getting sick. Took Benadryl for the runny nose last night. Nose is also raw today. And I'm drinking water like crazy. Fun part was waking up with a headache. Did the smart thing and took some meds for that...which made me nauseous. Yep. That's my reality.

4. After describing my senior prom dress to someone the other day, I was told "OMG, you dressed up like Molly Ringwald!" In hindsight, I kind of did. Even though I hadn't seen "Pretty in Pink" then. Pink satin and pink lace? Yep. Although in my defense, the dress was more the color of Marilyn Monroe/Madonna's "Diamond's Are A Girl's Best Friend"/"Material Girl" dress.

5. It's kind of frightening that I can now identify most of the birds that come to my bird feeder. The mourning dove, cardinals and robins aren't a surprise, but the dark eyed junco and brown thrasher? Those are very new ones to me.

6. I have to get together one more bit of information for a job application. I'm hoping that this one will lead somewhere. The good thing is, I get the vague impression that hopefully it will at least lead to an initial interview, which is good, because it's the one place I wanted to be interviewed at.

7. NASCAR: Truck race and Nationwide race were...wow. Total Kyle Busch domination. So with that said, everyone does realize that Kyle will not stand a chance today, correct? In fact, I'm predicting a win by Kevin Harvick. Just because. *g*

Silly Fangirl Post

So, my silly superstition that I bring luck to drivers if I join their fan club? So I join a fan club a year? (Last year it was Jamie Mac. Year before it was Kevin Harvick (and the fan club event where I made Harvick laugh - including picture).

This year it was two. Or supposed to be two. Biffle and Vickers. See, I couldn't split my love between the two. Sadly, they split it for me because Biffle doesn't *have* a fan club. (Part and parcel of being a Roush driver, apparently.)

So, I'm supporting Vickers this year. And hey, look where the boy's at!!! The fun side of this is the fan club event which is different from many. It's at the Red Bull Energy Station at the Nationwide race at Lowe's. And Brian's coming. (He wasn't when I signed up. This means odds are, he'll either win the Nationwide race or finish last. Taking bets now.)

Work Today

I'm not getting any work done today, and the reason can be summed up as ( this ). Yep. Dog came to work with me. This is what happens when the air conditioning breaks at home.

***

Horse Racing

Big Brown probably winning the Triple Crown is kind of a let down this year. For one, he's owned by a conglomerate. For another, it's just a crappy horse year. And there's the fact that the emphasis on fast over sturdy when breeding (and lineage over going outside the "accepted" gene pool). Smarty Jones was a great horse in the horse world because he wasn't the status quo.

So to pick myself up slightly (cause I'm still bummed over Eight Belles), a reminder of the two horses that encompass everything I fell in love with in regards to the Triple Crown.

( Sunday Silence )

( Charismatic )

Oddly enough, I just realized that my favorite horses were from 1989 and 1999. Which bodes well for next year.

***

All Star Race

My family (me, mom, dad, sister) went to the All Star Race on Saturday night. This was my parents' first race. And they have little interest in racing. *g*

So, the annoying first - chain smoking obnoxious drunks that constantly hit you in the head and kick you in the ass for the. entire. race. And a family with ADD that doesn't pay attention when you tell them "the merchandise trailers are thataway" and proceed to walk through the gates, into the track. (Which means we got to our seats at 4:00. And I didn't get to use the FanView I was loaned. Or get to go by the Team Red Bull trailer. Overall, I got screwed.)

The great was pretty much everything else.

The Showdown

1. I screamed muchly when people were introduced. My family was amused.

2. AJ winning was AWESOME. Twould have been awesomer if Brian or David Ragan had been second, but I'll take what I can get.

3. They didn't show on TV that AJ was exceedingly apologetic to Ellyut. He got loose and the car walked up the track, which, hey, the cars don't wreck as easily as they used to. But it meant he got into Ellyut, which ended Ellyut's day, and AJ felt so very bad about it. He spent a great amount of time apologizing, even more time than he spent celebrating.

4. When AJ got done with his SPEED interview, he turned around and Brian was right there to congratulate him. They did lots of manly hugging.

The Burnout Competition

1. It smelled bad. *g*

2. Jimmie's tires exploding was loud. We all jumped.

3. Kevin's tires didn't explode as loudly.

The All Star Race

1. I made my mother pay particular attention to Junior's introduction. She was very amused by the crowd reaction.

2. I also made her pay attention to Kyle Busch's introduction. She said the crowd was mean. I pointed out that Kyle pretty much asks for it. (Although I did find the crowd mean for booing Kyle's pit crew at the Pit Crew Challenge. They're not Kyle.)

3. I spotted Kasey's pit crew before he was announced as the fan vote winner, which I was able to tell the preteen girl in front of me sporting a Kasey Kahne hat, carrying a fan sign. Hey, if it couldn't have been Ellyut and wasn't Brian or David Ragan, at least the kid got her guy in.

4. DJ and that UPS truck was even more awesome in person.

5. "God Bless America" sounded worse in person, but thankfully "The Star Spangled Banner" sounded great.

6. Drums on TV - good. Drums in person - way too echoy.

7. The crowd often had no clue what was going on. So our first indication that Kyle was in trouble was when his car stayed on pit road after the mandatory 10 minute period. The cheer you heard on TV when they started pushing it back down pit road was because that's when we found out he was out. It was AWESOME.

8. My dad laughed his ass off when Junior took the lead. Mainly because the crowd went nuts.

9. My dad turned to me after the last pit stop and said "Junior's in trouble for taking that long, he won't win". If my dad, who only has a slight clue about racing, can tell that a four tire stop is bad, how come the driver and crew couldn't figure it out? I know the car was wicked loose, but damn!

10. My family got tired of me screaming "GO BIFFLE" for the last two segments. They had to deal.

11. The most incredible moment of the night came post-race, while they were dragging out the victory stage. DJ was put up on the big screen as he was getting out of his car. If you thought he was teary during the anthem, that was nothing compared to the crying he was doing after the race. I admit to getting teary-eyed myself.

ATTENTION NASCAR FANS

Stewart getting waxed on Monday - “Operation Wax Smoke”: After almost a year, Tony Stewart will finally be getting his back waxed on Monday night [March 17th] at an undisclosed top secret location. Kevin Harvick will fill-in for Stewart through out much of the show [8:00pm/et Sirius Satelitte NASCAR Radio Channel 128]. At some point during the show Kyle Petty will receive a check for $100k for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Some of the folks scheduled to appear or call-in: Kevin and Delana Harvick, Ford Martin, Kyle Petty and Darrell Waltrip, plus you never know who may call in to check on Stewart's condition. Also Jimmie Johnson told Ford Martin, TSL's National Motorsports Correspondent, that if Ford pulled a piece of wax off Stewart's back, Jimmie would donate an extra 10k to Stewart's foundation.(3-14-2008)

That's right...TONY IS GETTING WAXED!!!!!

And that bit at the end makes me love Jimmie a little. I'll give him two weeks of not yelling at him as long as he doesn't wreck Junior. Or Vickers. Or Biffle.

Picspam #2 - The Chaser Edition

The Chase Is On: The Top 12 In Pictures

( The Entire Lot Of Them )

Meet The Chasers

( El Numero Uno (For Now): Jimmie Johnson )

( El Numero Dos (Until Next Week): Jeff Gordon )

( El Numero Tres: Tony Stewart )

( El Numero Quatro: Clint Bowyer )

( El Numero Cinco: Kyle Busch )

( El Numero Seis: Martin Truex Jr. )

( El Numero Siete: Matt Kenseth )

( El Numero Ocho: Carl Edwards )

( El Numero Nueve: Denny Hamlin )

( El Numero Diez: Kevin Harvick )

( El Numero Once: Jeff Burton )

( El Numero Doce: Kurt Busch )

My day has sucked, how about yours? (Walked in the door and immediately they had me running.)

So some things to share, because damn it, I'm going to journal at least once today!

NASCAR

1. Only three drivers have finished every single race this year. Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler are those three. Dear Ray - please note that even though your cars suck, having a driver who can finish the races is way awesome. It means he's good at missing crap. Unlike Kandy.

2. Kyle Busch showed his ass again (and thereby confirmed that I REALLY need to be his PR rep). So basically, he called Junior out of shape (bottom of page). The things about this that won't win him friends or influence people? First, when he made sure to point out that Junior was out of shape. Dude, it doesn't earn you brownie points to point fingers at someone else unless they've done it first. (Just ask me to explain why Kandy Kahne's comments about Stremme were out of line.) You can make fat jokes about Stewart or Newman because they made them first. But also, what is the cardinal rule of NASCAR? Don't make fun of Junior because you'll put your fans in danger.

3. Montoya is really upset that his bestest friend EVAR, David Stremme, may be out of a ride for next season. Woes! You think I kid? Montoya's not just unhappy that Stremme is without a ride at Ganassi, he's unhappy that Stremme may be without a ride period. Heck, using the picture there? And the knowledge that Stremme has a special bed at his house all for Juan? Yep. THEIR LOVE IS SO PURE.

***

American Idol Concert Tour

Things learned from getting free tickets to the latest AI concert tour.

1. Jordin is pretty and can sing. But child has absolutely HORRID stage presence. And she dances like a really uncoordinated white girl.

2. LaKeisha has a beautiful voice. Sadly, LaKeisha still hasn't gotten much of a stage presence and she doesn't bring anything original to a song. (I'll still take LaKeisha being unoriginal over any of the guys, though.)

3. Hayley of the long legs only managed to flash them four times. Apparently wardrobe insisted on a few longer outfits. (But she massacred Martina McBride. AND she's still too Disney Princess to sing anything that isn't a Disney Princess song.)

4. Gina was one of the few that was overall better than she'd been on the show. Partially because she was more relaxed and her voice was more suited to a big coliseum.

5. Chris Sligh is even scarier with the dancing than Jordin. And was fairly boring. Although he did sound the best on "Hey Jude".

6. Sanjaya's first song made me think they'd taught the boy to sing. Alas, they had not. Thankfully they cut his bits short. Yay!

7. Phil, while still having one of the best male voices and singing songs that suited his voice, was awkward and uncomfortable in his singing. Weirdly enough, he "hosted" the concert and did better than anyone else at the hosting job. You could actually HEAR him when he talked to the crowd.

8. Chris R. had one moment of genius (when he sang "Heard It Through The Grapevine" with LaKeisha and Melinda - the boy has a nice voice when he goes lower), but he kept insisting on singing Maroon 5 and Rascal Flatts. The beat boxing competition with Blake was cute, though.

9. Blake was a shocker because he was boring as hell. Why was Blake boring? Because almost all of the songs he did, he'd done on American Idol. Also, he seemed to get distracted by having fun with the audience and forgot to actually place his mouth near the mic, which meant we couldn't hear him. Also, the one song he did well on that was original was "Hey Jude", which, unfortunately for him, was a song that worked well for all the guys, except for Sanjaya. Chris S and Phil sounded the best on that song, with Chris R then Blake right behind them.

10. But all of this brings us to...MELINDA MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER. I kid you not - when Melinda was in a group song, it was ten million times better. Why? Because most of the singers have never sung in a group before this show, or they haven't sung with voices that are different from their own sound. Most were successfully taught to harmonize, but there's a difference between harmonizing and blending. Melinda could bring her voice to the right level to blend with the lead voice, and it influenced the others by example.

Plus we got Melinda and LaKeisha singing "Baby Love", which was awesome. Melinda sang "Proud Mary", but someone was sadistic and made Sanjaya join her on that song. Melinda sang "Everlasting Love" (think Natalie Cole) with Jordin and it was great. Melinda also sang a solo and played off the backup singers perfectly. Twas awesome, folks. Awesome just to see Melinda proving how superior she is to everyone.

***

Now I have to go treat a bunch of grown men and women like five year olds since they obviously can't be responsible on their own.

Action at the Glen

What things did I love about that race?

1. Fans that are drunk enough to jump the fence to try and get Kenseth's autograph during a red flag, but not drunk enough to try and get Tony Stewart's autograph. ("I told him I was kind of busy right now.")

2. The inevitable Harvick/Montoya fight. I loved when Montoya said "Harvick pushed me first", because note that both of them kept their helmets on. *g* (Hey, I love a good fight, especially one like that. It's cute!)

2.a. Montoya's firesuit, which was ill-fitting and about a foot too low in the ass. That's the problem with sending out your suits to the dry cleaners. Sometimes they come back messed up.

2.b. The fact that every time Harvick gets out of a car, his firesuit belt is undone. Why is that?

3. All the cars taking trips through the kitty litter.

3.a. The fact that the front splitter acts like a litter scoop.

4. Even Gordon and Stewart got bit by turn one.

5. People driving hell bent for leather around those turns and mowing the grass.

6. Hard passing that was successful without tearing one another up.

Links

1. The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer: OMG. Dear Michael Caine, I love you. Also? Maniacal laughter makes any trailer better.

2. Faith Hill goes off on a fan: Message to fans everywhere - don't grab her husband's balls. She'll bless you out.

***

The Coke Saga

Update on my quitting the Coke habit (Coca-Cola to those who haven't a clue when I started the drugs).

Big yay for me! So far I've stuck to my guns. I've even broken the habit of walking in the door at work and grabbing a Coke. (That old adage of it taking 10 days to break a habit is true. If you can make it ten days, you're golden.) I've had a Coke every day, but it's been one and the earliest I ever have it is lunch time.

***

When NASCAR Slashes Itself

For all those who slept through the end of yesterday's race (ducks the flying objects hurled by bubblesbrnaid), isn't it lovely when the announcers start talking about Harvick and Stewart kissing?

Also, traumatizing one's neighbor, right before she moves out, with the knowledge of how dirty NASCAR is can be fun.

***

Oh Dear Lord

Because they're not pitiful enough and ignorant enough, they had to take it a step further.

Paris and Nicole don blackface in an attempt to get ratings. Also because they're just that horribly stupid (and Paris is just that racist).

This is on The Simple Life (why is that on the air still?) and goes hand in hand with them somehow getting Sally Kirkland to dress up like Lionel Richie.

Dear girls - it was funny in a horrifying way when Suzanne Sugarbaker dressed in black face as Diana Ross on Designing Women. But because everyone around her was horrified at her ignorance. Your ignorance isn't funny.