What Is Black, Round and Full of Hot Air?

Let's talk tires.

Snore…Snore…Snore…

No, really.

I spent yesterday and today with Bridgestone in Las Vegas checking out a couple of new tires they are releasing this spring.

I was with about 20 journalists. There were a bunch of tire dealers on the same event, but Bridgestone took great care to keep us separated as much as possible.

I've never seen so many people so excited about tires. Some of them were positively giddy. Think of being in a limo stuffed full of 11-year-old girls on their way to a Justin Bieber concert.

I sat across the dinner table last night from the editor of a tire trade magazine whose husband is getting his Masters Degree in rubber. Rubber! I'm not making this up.

These people are nuts about tires!

Bridgestone took us to the Las Vegas Speedway to do some performance driving on their new tires back to back against some competitors' rubber. Bridgestone kicked their butts.

During the session, I spent a little time chatting up Mario Andretti. You may think we were talking about racing or, perhaps, tires. That is why we were there, after all. You would be wrong on both counts. Wine was on my mind, specifically his wine.

He has a Napa Valley winery that produces some very good wines. I've had the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  He's a pleasant, cordial guy who didn't seem too terribly annoyed by our silly questions.

But back to the tires…

The new tires in question are the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus and the Firestone Destination LE². Basically the Turanza is engineered for luxury-sport cars and the Destination is for SUVs, crossovers and pickup trucks.

Both have enhanced performance in water and snow, have lower rolling resistance than the previous generation of those tires and now have longer warranties.

We also drove the Potenza RE970AS. In all, we drove three closed courses evaluating the tires.

The highlight of the day was going over to the Exotics Racing course where we got to drive five hot laps in a gazillion-dollar sports car.

I clocked my five laps in a Lamborghini Superleggera. I've never been behind the wheel of a Lamborghini before. For my first time to be on a race course; what a rush!

So that's how I spent my Wednesday. Not bad work if you can get it.

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Race Tracks, Car Companies, and Media Events: Just a Recollection or Two

I'm sitting enjoying a Bitch Creek Extra Special Brown by the Grand Teton Brewing Company of Jackson Hole Wyoming as I write this. I like it! It's the $2.50 Sunday special at one of my favorite Greenville joints, Smoke on the Water. It's where I waste a couple of hours on Sundays when I'm in town.

It's a place where I can blog in relative peace despite the fact that I know several of the folks who work here and also have some pals who put in an occasional cameo. We never formally organize these meetings; they just sort of happen.

I was looking through my photos from my track day at Virginia International Raceway with the new Camaro ZL1. I saw this photo of my helmet on the hood of one of the cars, and it got me thinking about tracks, car companies and media gifts. Yes, some of the car companies still give gifts to journalists attending their launch events.

It used to be a fairly even playing field with every company handing out some bobble or trinket. Not so much today. A few of the carmakers have used the excuse of the recession to curtail -- at least temporarily -- the practice. Some have cut back; yet others have stepped up the heat.

I am often asked if such gifts sway my reviews of the cars. My response -- as difficult as it might be to believe -- is, no. I'm not going to whitewash a problematic car because the maker gave me a ball cap or tote bag. Rather than the gift, I am more likely to have a warm-and-fuzzy feeling because the company's PR team did its job, putting on an engaging event.

Believe me when I tell you that some of the manufacturer events I attend make the journalists feel like party crashers. The PR folks don't want to be there and certainly don't care if we are there. It's difficult to fly home from one of these events with a positive impression.

Anyway, what launched me on this tangent is the racing helmet in the above photo. I received it at a Mercedes event a number of years ago. I know it was a number of years ago because -- for some reason unknown to me -- I haven't been able to buy my way on to a Mercedes trip in at least five or six years. This is not a situation unique to me or to Mercedes.

Attempting to figure out which journalists get invited to which events is a common topic of conversation among media types. No one -- including the car companies themselves -- seems to have a clue.

When I was at VIR with Chevy for the ZL1 event, I was asked if I had ever driven VIR before. I was able to say, yes, with every confidence because in addition to Mercedes putting my name and its logo on the helmet presented to me, they also stenciled VIR on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have remembered.

The ZL1 event was only the second time I've used the helmet. I get to drive a race track a couple of times a year, but dragging the helmet along is more trouble than its worth, as it was on the ZL1 trip.

This is the second helmet I've received from a car company. The first came from Saab in 1988, I think. It was the second manufacturer event I was ever invited to. They flew us to Birmingham and then drove us to Talladega. They had souped up the base four-cylinder engine and decided that the Talladega track was the ideal spot to show it off.

This was absolutely my first experience on a race track. For me, it was an adventure of monumental proportions. Once past the "aw shucks" quotient, it was simply exhilarating. I was surprised Saab allowed us to drive by ourselves, but this is fairly common on such events. To be on a race track, alone in the car, is a real rush.

But, if we wanted, we could ride shotgun with Erik Carlsson. At this point Erik was easily in his 60s. He was a champion rally driver for Saab. I remember flying around the top of Talladega at about 110 mph with Carlson in the pilot's seat. At one point, he says, "Now it's time to rest." He took his hands off the steering wheel and placed them in his lap.

I was like, "WTF!!!"

That entire event will be forever etched in my memory. I drove Talladega at least two more times that I can specifically recall. Once was in a Subaru Forester and the other in a Dodge Grand Caravan. But, those are stories for another day.

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I Can't Allow Blogging to Interfere With My Wine Sipping

I had every intention of writing a full-blown entry today, but time just got away from me.

I was out of containers of frozen red sauce for spaghetti and had to make that this morning. Making it used to take me about 20 minutes; but now that I use all fresh stuff, it takes 60 to 90 minutes. So my analness (I don't think that's a word, but it sure applies.) is partly to blame.

I also have a bunch of work that I am falling further and further behind in. I even had to break down this week and schedule myself to make sure I get everything done. This is way to much like a job!

Before I went to the gym today, I had to do research on the 7 best cars for urban warfare. Now that I have them chosen, I can fly through the writing tomorrow and Monday.

Today was the day I also had to buy everything I need to get my lawn mower running. The weeds are charging the front porch. I've got to change the oil, the air filter and the spark plug. I bought all of those, but I still need to buy a tool to set the gap on the plug. The auto parts store near me was packed both times I drove by; so it will have to wait until Monday.

It's late afternoon and I had to decide whether to do write something creative or just come up with a space filler, allowing me to sit on my front porch, read and sip a little vino. As you can see, coming up with a space filler won the day.

Now I'll grab a quick shower and relax with a good book. I always have a novel and a nonfiction book going at the same time. I'll be reading the nonfiction one this afternoon. It's a biography on Calvin Coolidge. I'll let you know what I think when I finish it. It could be a while, though.

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The Hunger Games: Tom Sawyer It Ain't

I sprinted through the first book in The Hunger Games series while in Florida over the weekend.

The copy I worked from was a dog-eared paperback with unidentifiable splotches from food and drink spills on several pages. It had passed from my friend Amy's older daughter to Amy, who finished it an hour or so into our first poolside happy hour in their backyard.

Completing it, she asked if I wanted to read it. She gave me a brief review, and I accepted. Amy and I have been swapping books for close to 20 years. A separation of nearly 700 miles and the birth of electronic readers have conspired to almost bring that activity to a halt, but we still trade back and forth occasionally.

I had to get the book read before returning to South Carolina because Amy's younger daughter also wants to read it. Glad it was an easy read.

I suspect that if I hadn't been offered the opportunity to use someone else's copy, I wouldn't have read it. Even with all the hubbub over the movie, I wasn't dying to dive into it. Somehow I survived without reading The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings -- the Harry Potter of half a century ago. Come to think of it, I managed to get by without reading Harry Potter, and am still standing to report I only read the first book of the Twilight series.

I can hear your gasp from here.

I must say I enjoyed The Hunger Games. A fast-paced read, it kept me entertained. I heard that it was on a middle school's curriculum with some surprise. Tom Sawyer it isn't. But that's how the copy I read was introduced into the family to begin with.

I suppose it isn't much more violent than Lord of the Flies -- required reading when I was in school. But still....

I just heard on the news that there are people complaining about the movie's PG-13 rating, saying it's unfit for kids. Somehow I think if schools are giving it in book form to 11- and 12-year olds, that ship has already sailed.

Having read the book, I am now looking forward to the movie; however, I have some waiting to do. This is a rental, as far as I'm concerned.

Once it gets to Redbox, expect it in one of my $1 Movie Reviews.

Oh, and if someone comes up with a dog-eared copy of the next in the series, I'll happily read it, too.

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Sun, Sand, Surf and Saucy Models: Just Another Day on Delray Beach!

Normally I wouldn't be excited about getting an early start while on vacation.  Being up and on the road by 8:15 a.m. isn't early by most standards, including mine. But it's not something I want to do on vacation.

Today, however, I was up, dressed and ready to go before 8:00! The occasion? A photo shoot for Boston Proper's fall catalog. Yes, there were hot models involved.

I am working on getting a copy-writing assignment with them. It's not what you know -- although, in this case knowing something about copy writing is a plus -- it's who you know; and I know somebody.

I've been haranguing my friend who works for them for a shot at a copy writing gig for a very long time. I think I may actually get an audition this time around.

In any event, it was a happy coincidence that they were doing a photo shoot in Delray Beach while I was visiting.

It was a source of inspiration that I hadn't expected.

It sort of reminded me of shooting stand-ups with our host for "Discover America." Of course, they had the advantage of not worrying with sound issues. But lighting was a factor as the sun peeked in and out of the clouds. Hair-and-makeup also takes time. So, there was a lot of standing around.

Standing around worked fine with me because it gave us time to chat up the models. Ah…the models….

Anyone who has been to my house and seen the collection of photos on my fridge knows that I am not a stranger to models. I've had my fair share of encounters. This was particularly true when we were producing Nopi Street Performance Compact magazine for American Media. I had a modeling agency that supplied models for our booth at car shows. Some were more exotic than others, but there wasn't a clunker in the bunch.

But these things are still fun. Moreover, the models didn't really have an idea who I was or how I fit into the picture. That I had no portfolio in Boston Proper and carried no weight wasn't information they had. It was to my benefit.

So the girls were friendly, chatty and, did I mention, hot!

The bottom line is that I had a very good reason to pop out of bed early this morning.  Hell, I can sleep anytime.

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St. Paddy's Day and Beyond!

I am into Day No.3 of the 2012 St. Paddy's Day Celebration and Drinking Contest. I am beginning to show the wear and tear.

I arrived in South Florida late Saturday morning. Just in time to join in the pre-party lubrication. Amy and I also managed to go to Fah, my favorite Thai restaurant, for some stir fry before adjourning to the party. It was a barn burner!

Historically I am the lightening rod for whatever crazy someone decides to bring with them. It's usually my job to identify and annoy the nut jobs that show up at these events. We don't consider a party a success unless I've been called an "asshole" by a least one female guest.

Somehow, though, this year's crazy and I never had an encounter. We interacted a bit, but she rained her crazy on other people. I am disappointed.

At lunch yesterday -- the "morning after" -- the kids were brimming with stories about this woman, and I wasn't involved in any of them.

I must be losing my touch.

Last night's post-St Paddy's Day party was a rollicking success. I love being me!

Now I must somehow figure out how to hold on for the post-post St. Paddy's Day celebration.

We have a friend who is a big deal at Boston Proper. They are doing a photo shoot in Delray today and tomorrow. We were supposed to go watch some of it today, but it just didn't happen. Maybe tomorrow…

If there is a tomorrow….

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The Atlanta Auto Show: It's All a Blur

Media day for the Atlanta Auto Show was Wednesday. Actually, it's more like media morning because the show officially opened at noon that day. But the morning was packed with press conferences with a handful of manufacturers.

If you follow this blog at all, you probably are well aware that I'm not keen on media day(s) at auto shows. It's a lot of walking around listening to carmaker PR and marketing types talk about cars that either I've already heard about or will hear about ad nauseum in the coming months.

Catching up with folks in the business and doing a little networking is a plus. Sometimes a car manufacturer will put me up in a hotel for a car show, as Nissan did in Chicago. And usually a carmaker will take me out to wine and dine me, as Volvo did in Chicago and Toyota in Atlanta. I'm all for that!

But the actual auto show event usually isn't as much fun as it sounds.

This year was a little rougher than years past.

Historically, I've driven the 150 miles to Atlanta's convention center from Greenville at O'Dark-thirty, the day of the event, arriving in time for breakfast at 8 a.m.

This year I broke from tradition. I discovered that I have Marriott points left from my days of traveling with "Discover America." Toyota hosted a pre-show dinner on Tuesday night at Atlanta's High Museum of Art, so I gave up some points to stay at a Mariott property in Buckhead. So far, so good, right?

After dinner, I joined some PR types from four or five car companies, a couple of guys associated with the auto industry and who-knows-who else at the lounge in the W Hotel in Atlanta.

We partied like a heavy-metal rock band. We did everything but set the place on fire.

Things began tamely enough in a little alcove seating area off the main lounge. As our group swelled, they moved us into what would have been the Champagne Room if this had been a strip joint.

This is where the evening took a sharp left turn, rapidly deteriorating.

Drinks just kept piling up. At one point I had a Maker's and water in my hand, and two fresh ones on the table in front of me. Every time one of the server's -- we had two trying to keep up with us -- would gamely enter the room somebody would order another round.

Don't get overly concerned, though; more drinks were spilled that night than consumed. It was like being in the front row at a Gallagher concert.

Even though everyone in the room had attended one dinner or another earlier that night, someone got the bright idea to order food. Just something else to hit the floor.

I won't go into all the gory details because, as you well know: What happens in Atlanta, stays in Atlanta; but, even by my measure, it was an epic train wreck. I have no idea who picked up the tab, but I was glad my name wasn't on any of the paperwork. I suspect the W is still hosing out the place.

The auto show breakfast began at 8 a.m. at the convention center, which was about 10-Atlanta-rush-hour-clogged miles from my hotel. My eyes popped open at 8:15. It was Mr. Toad's wild ride getting to the show.

I was not at my best at the press conferences, but did manage to stay on my feet and respond whenever someone engaged me in conversation.

Yeah, this auto show was a little tougher than usual, but a heck of a lot more fun.

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