Driving Music (What is the name of the song on car commercial?) Vol. 60

SUPER BOWL XLVIII may be well over (and congrats to the Seahawks by the way) but for my "DRIVING MUSIC" segment, it's just getting started. There have been so many many Big Game Ads and nothing's more interesting were the car commercials played during the big game. I've handpicked the Big Game car ads based on my sense of hearing and now...the list of some of the songs you've heard in some of the big game car ads.

5) You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate - from the Chevrolet Silverado HD "Romance" Big Game Ad

4) Bob Dylan's Things Have Changed - from Chrysler's America's Import ad with Bob Dylan.

3) Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo by Giorgio Moroder - from VW USA's "Wings" Big Game ad.

2) Count on Me by Bruno Mars - from Hyundai Genesis "Dad's Sixth Sense" Big Game ad.

1) Evil Woman by Electric Light Orchestra - from Hyundai Elantra "Nice" Big Game ad.

So, that's it for this segment but I'll leave you with the question: WHICH SB48 BIG GAME AD YOU THINK IS THE BEST? If you're the 12th Man, let me know...

Let's Do The News! (February 18, 2014)

Things we learned today...

- Jimmy Fallon starts his first late night of being the new host of The Tonight Show on NBC.

- Earlier, a nearly 900-foot wide asteroid travelled at approximately 27,000mph slip past Earth as observed by the Slooh Community Observatory. Called mNEA 2000 EM26, this asteroid came no closer than 8.8 lunar distances from the Earth, posing no threat. Stargazers observed that.

- The UN commission of inquiry is likely to condemn North Korea over human rights issues.

- Mary Grace Canfield, the actress from Green Acres, died at the age of 89.

- Porsche suspends deliveries of brand new 911 GT3 in the midst of spontaneous combustion fears that occurred in five 991 GT3 units on its timeframe.

- Reports indicate that Formula One mogul, Bernie Ecclestone, in the midst of numerous scandals, is no longer trying to buy the cash-stripped Nurburgring.

- The Land Rover Discovery is now 25 years old and to celebrate its occasion, they've released the special XXV model.

- The Range Rover Evoque gets a flagship Autobiography model for the 2015 model year and its powerful version, the Autobiography Dynamic, is powered by a turbocharged engine developing 285PS of power output as well as refined chassis for handling feel like no other.

- Due to poor sales, Honda Europe will stop European sales for the Insight and CR-Z hybrids.

- The 2015 McLaren 650S is finally revealed ahead of its 2014 Geneva Motor Show debut. A P1 face in a 12C's body, the new 650S comes with uprooted version of the same 3.8L V8 turbo engine from the MP4-12C so that now, it develops a namesake 650PS of power output. 0-60mph takes three seconds and a top speed of over 207mph. It's made to outrival against Ferrari's 458 Speciale and the new Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.

2015 McLaren 650S

- Advanced work for the Skyway Stage 3 has started and the MMDA routed out the alternate routes over the course of the roadworks.

- The Electric Vehicle Summit is now scheduled at February 27 to 28, 2014 at the Multipurpose Hall of Meralco in Pasig City. It was postponed last year in the wake of Superstorm Yolanda that hit the Visayas region of the Philippines.

- Jolina Magdanal-Escueta and Mark Escueta welcomed the birth of their baby boy. PEP reports.

TTFN!!!

Top Gear S21E03

Top Gear S21E03

The Ukrainian small car road trip is the highlight of the third episode of Top Gear Series 21 but first, the Danish supercar called the Zenvo ST1 was featured. This twincharged thousand-horsepower viking was tested by Jeremy Clarkson right until to the part where the Zenvo was literally set on fire. After that, The Stig set a lap time of 1:29.9 on a very wet lap.

Anyway, on to that Ukrainian small car road trip, Jeremy Clarkson goes for the VW up!, while Richard Hammond drives the brand new Ford Fiesta, and James May...finally realizing the dream by driving the brand new Dacia Sandero. Great news for him but bad news for them as they're driving their way to the nuclear-stricken Chernobyl.

Singer James Blunt was the STAR IN A REASONABLY PRICED CAR and he posted a lap time of 1:49.4 on a wet condition.

Sochi 2014 Highlights - Day 11

February 17, 2014 - DAY 11

As the Sochi 2014 nears to its epic climax, the competitors are still heating up to go for the gold just for the pride of their nations. In the Women's 12.5km Mass Start, Belarus' Darya Domracheva is the winner while in the Two-Man Heat 4, Russians Alexey Voevoda and Alexander Zubkov were declared the victors. That's another gold medal for the Russians.

The USA Figure Skating duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the Ice Dance Free Dance after nabbing the overall score of 195.52 points from the judges.

At the Men's Aerials Final 3 of Freestyle Skiing category, Anton Kushnir from Belarus is the winner with the score of 134.50 points.

The Germans were the winning team at the final round of the Men's Team Ski Jumping after scoring an overall 1041.1 from the judges.

The Men's Snowboard Cross Seeding was cancelled.

Details: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/daily-schedule-day-11

GT6: Cars that are Gran Turismo exclusive - DOME ZERO

Today, let's take a look at what is was supposed to be Japan's first supercar known as the Dome Zero. A vision from the Kyoto-based racing team, the Dome Zero was introduced at the 48th Geneva Motor Show and they have high hopes to produce this car. However, government standards rejected Dome from producing it and this concept car remains a memory as of now. It's powered by a 2.8L 6-cylinder engine generating 142HP of power and because it weighs less than a ton, the power-to-weight ratio is 6.48kg/HP.

The Dome Zero will run through the Goodwood Hill Climb but what time will this car post on a wet lap?









It posted a 1:06.083 lap time on a wet track!

Once a vision failed against all odds, it managed to brave through the rain with instrumental precision most sportscars had. But still, don't expect the Dome Zero to show up on any other game rather than the Gran Turismo series because why? Ahem...

1978 DOME ZERO - A GRAN TURISMO-EXCLUSIVE CAR.

Let's Do The News! (February 17, 2014)

The big scoop today:

- Authorities revealed the details of the Xinjiang attack occurred last week as those attacks were carried out by terrorists. Some reports said that this attack was done by an Uygur who started spreading religious extremism 3 years ago, who headed 13 suspected terrorists since September last year.

- A bus explosion in Egypt killed 3 South Korean tourists, their Egyptian bus driver, and left 15 others badly wounded. Locals said that the South Koreans were on their way to Israel after visiting Mount Sinai.

- TPP talks between Japan and the US are stepping up efforts to settle their differences and agreed to tell their negotiating teams to work faster to bridge the gap between farm tariffs and other trade-related issues.

- The space thriller film GRAVITY scored six awards from the 2014 BAFTA while 12 Years A Slave won the best film award.

- A documentary film called Manny is set for its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas from March 7 to 15, 2014 and this documentary flick is directed by Ryan Moore and Academy Award winner Leon Gast. This film was narrated by Liam Neeson while it also features interviews from notable celebs including Mark Wahlberg, Jimmy Kimmel, and much more.

- Returning to the Vhong Navarro case, Atty. Alma Mallonga is highly confident that the two alleged people behind the beating, Deniece Cornejo and Cedric Lee, won't get away from this case aside from the Taguig Metropolitan Trial Court rejecting the TPO Deniece implemented against Vhong.

TTFN!!!

The Good Luck Charlie finale

For after four seasons hanging out with the Duncans and watching all of Teddy Duncan's video diaries from start to finish, not to mention special episodes featuring Shake It Up, the Muppets, and Jessie, it's all down to this as our favorite teen comedy series come to the climax. Titled "Good Bye Charlie", this really is the ending every Mendies worth watching and hey, let's forget about the whole thing happened in the last episode of the series, we're talking about the most interesting bit of the episode...



Spencer, played by Shane Harper, made his final appearance of the show where Teddy's friends are throwing a farewell party to her as she's heading to college. And guess what? While nearing to the ending, here's what every Mendies or every Shidgit shippers worth waiting for...



Yes! It's a farewell kiss for both Spencer and Teddy! Fans of Bridgit Mendler and Shane Harper, as well as those Shidgit shippers have been waiting for this moment to come and that's what we called the best send-off to Good Luck Charlie.

Anyway, here's what Teddy said on her final video diary at the ending:

"Well Charlie, I guess this is it. You know I started making those video diaries to help you survive our crazy family. And after four years of doing them, I've realized how lucky we are to be a part of this family. And just to know that as long as you've got us, you always will have -- come on guys, say it with me -- GOOD LUCK CHARLIE!"



And that's the end of Good Luck Charlie. After four seasons, we bid farewell to the Duncan family after several hilarious spills came in each and every corners of their lives and I guess our Mendie Time is over. Thank you, Bridgit Mendler. Guess we're going to miss you...

Sochi 2014 Highlights - Day 10

February 16, 2014 - DAY 10

European athletes are becoming the dominant force in Day 10 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. At the Men's Super-G Alpine Skiing, Norweigian athlete Kjetil Jansrud is the victor with the time of 1:18.14.

The Swedish Cross Country Team won the Men's Relay 4x10km with the time of 1:28:42.

In the Ladies' Snowboard Cross Finals, Czech's Eva Samkova is the winner.

And lastly, at the Ladies' 150mm speed skating, it's another 1-2-3 finish from the Dutch as Jorien Ter Mors is declared the victor while Ireen Wust placed 2nd place and Lotte Van Beek placed 3rd.

Details: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/daily-schedule-day-10

Let's Do The News! (February 16, 2014)

Things we learned today...

- Iglesia Ni Cristo's charity walk for the benefit of Yolanda victims broke the Guinness World Record for the longest charity walk, drawing at least 175,000 participants. Congratulations!

- Actress Ellen Page is confirmed that she is a lesbian during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign's THRIVE conference in Las Vegas.

- Volvo's participant to the Australian V8 Supercars race looks pretty interesting...

- According to a report from The Sunday Times, McLaren's brand new 650S supercar, set for next month's Geneva debut, could succeed from the MP4-12C and the V8 turbo engine that powers it, well, it produces 650PS of power output. That's more than what you get from the 458 Speciale or the Huracan LP610-4. I'm not quite sure but for a quick tidbit, F1 racer Jenson Button was contributed to the 650S.

- Volkswagen's Scirocco hatchback gets a light facelift for the 2015 model year.

- G Power tunes a late-model BMW M5 Touring to have a power output of 820PS and a top speed of over 362kph! Now that's what I called a power wagon! They called this the Hurricane RR Touring and what they did to the extinct V10 engine is rigged it with a Bi-Compressor system priced at 8,687 Euros.

- Are you ready? It's almost time to say goodbye to Bridgit Mendler and the rest of the cast as Good Luck Charlie ends with an hour-long series finale titled "Good Bye Charlie" where in the finale, Teddy Duncan heads to college and before that, she has to make one final video diary. Check local listings.

TTFN!!!

Forza 5: The Toyobaru Coupes

Well, I maybe a bit three months late for that but hey, better late than never to have myself an XBOX One and a game of Forza Motorsport 5 so how can I start this? Oh yeah!

YES! Top racers everywhere are wetting their pants down to excitement as Forza Motorsport 5, exclusively on XBOX One, is now in commission and here I am, investigating stuff like...REALLY LOUD STUFF! REALLY FAST STUFF! REALLY SLOW STUFF...ASIAN STUFF...AMERICAN STUFF...EUROPEAN STUFF...AND REALLY PAINFUL STUFF!!!



Let's begin with those Toyobaru coupes in question; the Toyota GT86 and the Subaru BRZ. Since their debut at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show and sales in Japan started in the spring of 2012, these two RWD sports coupes shared one thing they had in mind; to bring a smile on any boy racer's face.

Some myths pointed out that even though they looked the same, the mechanicals are meant to be the same, like Galileo's theory of falling bodies where objects, regardless of size and weight, will fall at the same pace. Sure, they both have the same FA20 boxer engine but the thing is...what's the difference between them? Oh come on, some people pointed out that the suspensions are different between the 86 and the BRZ and to find out, let's head out to my only lab I called the Top Gear Test Track. Let's find out...

First up, the GT86. This is the car Jeremy Clarkson described as one of the best handling cars in ages, probably thanks to those skinny tires that made it a bit less grippy but how does it fare?



So, what about the Subaru BRZ? I'd reckon it could do the same thing...



Both of my drives are complete and I had the result. In the 86, I posted myself a 1:35.580 lap time while in the BRZ, my lap time round the Top Gear Track was 1:33.368? Oh that can't be right...probably because of my iffy driving but if my iffy driving ways were out in the equation, both of these cars would be neck-and-neck but still, there is a main reason why because for the BRZ, they want the suspension to be more matured and more honed for cornering while the 86 wants to be more less grippy and more tail-happy.

Perhaps no wonder both of these cars do participated in different motorsports but nevertheless, I think it's safe to say that both the 86 and the BRZ are a good start to FM5.

Sochi 2014 Highlights - Day Nine

15th of February, 2014 - DAY 9

Continuing on the Sochi action where I left off; in the Women's Super-G Alpine Skiing, Anna Fenninger from Austria scored a gold medal after achieving a time of 1:25.52 while in the Ladies' Relay 4x5km, the Swedish took home the gold medal.

China scored another gold medal in the Sochi 2014 as Yang Zhou won the Ladies' 1500m finals while at the Men's 1000m Finals, Russia scored a 1-2 finish as Victor An won the match while Vladimir Grigorev placed 2nd place.

Also for Team Russia, Alexander Tretiakov won the Men's Heat of the Skeleton match with the time of 3:44.29.

Kamil Stoch, representing Poland, won the final round of the Men's Large Hill Individual with the score of 278.7 points from the judges and also from Poland, Zbigniew Brodka won the Men's 1500m speed skating.

Details: http://www.sochi2014.com/en/daily-schedule-day-9

What's in our Car Town garage today? (February 16, 2014)

What's in our Car Town garage today?

2010 Chevrolet Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car

Thanks to the notoriety deserved from the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro after its debut as a 2010 model, Chevrolet let this new age Camaro become the pace car for the 2010 Indy 500 and because it has been proven to be quite a popularity, they even made a special edition model based on that particular pace car!

2010 Chevrolet Camaro Indy 500 Pace Car

2008 Ferrari California

Premiered at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the new California is the first ever Ferrari that can be used as a daily driver and you can use it on the road no matter what schedule you're on. It has the first-ever 4.3L V8 direct injected engine that develops 460PS of power and 485Nm of torque while mated to a Formula 1-style double clutch gearbox that makes shifting seamless. It's an appealing grand tourer made for those who have an outgoing personality.

2008 Ferrari California

2012 Volvo World Challenge S60

While the second-generation Volvo S60 redefined the meaning of safety in the automotive lexicon, its sporty character really never let it down and as demonstrated by this race car used for the Pirelli World Challenge. These racing machines were driven by Randy Pobst and Alex Figge.

2012 Volvo World Challenge S60