We went to the 2008 St. Louis Auto Show. We were hoping to see a big event, but we got there too early for that. We got to see all the latest models, but for some reason they didn't show the Batmobile and other concept cars. We made our rounds to all the displays, tried our luck at winning Andrea a Jeep, and even saw our Acadia (same color and everything).
There was a display for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Andrea saw they were giving away stuffed Cardinals teddy bears. I suddenly found myself talking to the newspaper guy and tried to back out of a newspaper that I can read for free online. My last ditch effort was to flash my Reds sweater underneath my coat to ward him off. "Sorry, the Cardinals aren't even my team," I said. He quickly came back with a "Hey, wait, we got one of those bears." He whips out a Reds teddy bear. "We've been trying to get rid of this one." Ha ha, yeah I see. So I got suckered in to getting the paper delivered on Sundays, made an improbable friend, got Blake a stuffed Reds teddy, and they even threw in a Cardinals backpack for Josh.
Well, if that wasn't the top story for the night... Just as we were giving up looking for the hot new concept cars (never saw any), we passed this fun Toyota display. Now, keep in mind, the Auto Show is nothing like going car shopping at the dealership. Instead of being hounded by car salesmen who know more about the cars than you do, the Auto Show is full of marketing people and runway models showing off the cars with memorized lines and Donald Trump-Apprentice-like gimmicks. This is more Show than Auto.
The Toyota display let guests stand in for a commercial video shoot. I have never been on TV, and I'm usually behind the camera - because that's what dads do. But the idea of making a video in front of a green screen just sounded like fun. So, I volunteered and was like the first of many to do it. They let me choose which car to stump for. I chose the Yaris, not knowing much of what it was. I read my cue-card and after 1 rehearsal I went live. I went for the college-age audience while flashing my cell phone as a prop and extolling the virtues of the "16 Valve to-the-Vizzle-Tizzle" VVT engine. I had a lot of fun doing it, and my boys got some free entertainment out of the deal. They even burned me a CD to take home.
Check my video:
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