Saturday, July 25, 2009

Another Blast From The Past

Two years ago, I copped some free tickets to NASCAR's second most prestigious race, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, right here in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the greatest spectacle in racing. Mrs. Sunsett's friend won them and offered to give them to us. She graciously and thankfully accepted them, then told me I was going with her. She also informed me that I was going to have a good time.

And believe it or not, I actually did.

A couple of months back, I happened along a fundraising raffle, organized and put on by a nun. Looking at the prizes that were available to the winners of the drawings, I saw some nice things worth a shot or two. There was a big screen TV that made me immediately think about my friend Mustang.

On my trip to Florida last November, he did everything he could to get me to buy one for him. Naturally I thought if I could just win it, it would give me no greater pleasure than to give to him. But sadly, it was not to be.

Other prizes included Colts tickets, a Colts jacket, and even a toaster oven. What the heck, I thought. What's the worst thing on the table, I asked myself? Almost anything free is nice, right?

Our toaster oven is getting old and Mrs. Sunsett would just love a new toaster oven. So when I was informed that I was a winner, I felt sure that no one else would want it and was ready to pick it up as soon as the Sister and I could arrange a moment to pick it up.

The gifts were doled out on a first come, first served basis and unfortunately our schedules didn't mix well for a couple of days.
We finally arranged a meeting and much to my surprise, the toaster oven was gone.

What was I able to choose from?

Dinner for two at an overrated and overpriced local restaurant, a free night at a local hotel, or two tickets to the Brickyard race. Naturally, the thoughts were turned to analysis, conjecture, and prediction. The objective was to determine (that out of the remaining gifts), which one would the most practical and the one that she would want most?

Practicality stated plainly that staying in a hotel, in the town you live in, is a waste of time and money (especially when you have dogs). Eating out at a restaurant that is not as good as the name sounds had no appeal to it either.

Needless to say, we are going to the race again for the second time, courtesy of some benevolent benefactors who want to further the damage to my hearing. Not that artillery fire and rock concerts didn't do the job, mind you. We now must allow NASCAR to finish the job.

So this week's music post is centered on my expected experience that will begin at 2:00 PM-EDT tomorrow, and carried live on ESPN in HD. And what better way to kick this off than with Tim Wilson's NASCAR Song:



Next up we have a little parody song, sung to the tune of a Toby Keith song. I am not a big country fan, but if you are you may recognize the melody:



I don't know who does this one, but someone may like it and it goes with the theme of the post:



Finally a little keyboard techno racing tune known as the FOX Starting Grid Theme Song. It's a little catchy, but nothing to write home about. It's just something fill the last spot in this week's musical presentation:



Enjoy (and if you watch the race, I'll be waving to you).


4 comments:

Z said...

Wave back, LA! Have a blast!

I enjoyed the top videos, but Country/Western is a genre I've come to appreciate since I married my German. (Yup, they love it..go figure..we've driven through Germany a few times listening to Shania Twain!)

Have fun!

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your racetrack weekend, my friend. You work hard, and you deserve to spend some quality time with your bride in a relaxing environment. Of course, most people may not regard dodging run-away tires, gas-tank explosions, and flying debris from automobiles that moments ago were driving aimlessly around an oval track a relaxing environment, but this is what makes freedom so great.

Semper Fi

LA Sunset said...

When I was in Deutschland, they loved the song Coca-Cola Cowboy by Mel Tillis. We heard it a lot on the German radio stations, during C&W hour.

(Of course, the kind of music Mustang calls communist or psychedelic fairyland was usually on after the C&W.)

LA Sunset said...

//Of course, most people may not regard dodging run-away tires, gas-tank explosions, and flying debris from automobiles that moments ago were driving aimlessly around an oval track a relaxing environment, but this is what makes freedom so great.//

Cold Coors in the can on ice is the relaxing agent, the race is just there to keep me awake.