Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

Gleeful Beginnings

12:30 PM - Updated to include the winner of the Glee DVD package.

I guess I'm not the only Gleek in my social media network.

Last week's giveaway went really well, even though I barely did any promotion. Thank you to everyone who entered!

A winner has been selected at random: Cynthia Boris. Her details have been forwarded to the folks at 20th Century Fox Home Video, who will be sending her the package. CONGRATULATIONS, Cynthia!

Those local entrants who I know offline: If you want to borrow MY package so you can catch up on last year's episodes, let me know! (To my sister: I will bring the set up with me when we visit you for Thanksgiving.)

Everyone else: Season 2 starts tomorrow! I can't wait to see what's in store for Mr. Shue's kids.

Gleeky Giveaway

September 20 - A name has been drawn from the entries and will be announced shortly. Comments to this post have now been closed.

I have a confession to make: I'm totally addicted to Fox's hit TV series, Glee.

So is my daughter.

We love the comedy, the music, the dancing, the evil machinations of Sue Sylvester, the head-scratching non sequiturs of the dim cheerleader, Brittany (example: "Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?")... Glee is one of those shows that always leaves us wanting more.

And this weekend, we got what we wanted. The folks at 20th Century Fox Home video sent us a copy of their "Gleek Edition" 7-disc first season DVD collection, which includes every episode PLUS a couple of hours of extras... and we were in Gleek heaven.

If you are like us, you already know all 22 episodes (and want to see them again and again). The really compelling stuff for us can be found on the Extras: Behind the scenes footage showing Lea (Rachel) Michele's audition, Cory (Finn) Monteith's goofy video that caught the casting director's eye, interviews with series creators Ryan Murphy, Brian Falchuk and Ian Brennan...

The later discs include a "jukebox" feature, where you can play just the musical numbers (which is perfect for my husband, who doesn't really get the show, but LOVES the way the talented cast performs the songs). You can even play this feature on "shuffle," so the music shows up at random. This might be fun for a Gleek-themed party, as would the karaoke feature on some of the disks (How would YOU compare with Rachel and Finn? As we're all kind of pathetic singers, we're probably not going to touch that one.)

My favorite extra is a dance lesson from the show's choreographers, who take you through the paces of Vocal Adrenaline's performance of the Amy Winehouse hit, "Rehab." I'm not touching that one, either -- but it IS amazing to see the dance broken down this way, and reminds you of how much work it takes to produce each one-hour episode of this series.

Glee: The Complete First Season will be in stores beginning tomorrow and I've seen it advertised for less than its suggested retail price of $59.95. But why buy if you can get it for free? 20th Century Fox Home Video is giving a copy to one lucky reader of SoCal Mom.

You know the routine: Leave a comment here (whether you are reading this on the blog or on my Facebook page), telling me your favorite Glee moment. If you've never seen the show, tell me why you want to catch up now. Make sure I have an email address or Twitter id so I can reach you.

I will draw a name at random one week from today.

Good luck!

DISCLOSURE: I was not paid to write this post. I did receive a copy of the DVD collection for review purposes. I have no business affiliation with 20th Century Fox Home Video. The link to Amazon's order page contains my own affiliate code so if you use it, I do stand to earn a small commission.

SoCal Mom Giveaway: Night at the Museum 2

Entries for the Night at the Museum giveaway are closed. Congratulations to Elise Crane Derby for submitting the winning entry. Thank you to everyone who submitted such terrific museum selections! My list of places I absolutely MUST VISIT has grown tremendously.

In honor of my birthday this week (YES, I am turning fifty-effing-THREE - and I'd rather not talk about it)...

...I am giving away a "Night at the Museum 2" gift basket, consisting of:

• Family 4 pack of IMAX tickets to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
• $25 McDonald’s Arch Card
• Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian IMAX movie posters
• Glow-in-the-dark Character Stickers, Balsa Wood Airplane Glider and Mini-flashlights for the kids!

DISCLOSURE: I have not yet seen this movie, but am receiving two tickets to view it at our local IMAX after it opens on May 22nd. I am happy to promote it, because Megan and I both LOVED the original and this was already on our short list of films we just HAD to see this summer.

The original movie took place at New York's famed Museum of Natural History (which our family had the pleasure of visiting three years ago, when we went to Manhattan to celebrate my (cough cough!) 50th birthday.

The sequel - which again stars Ben Stiller and features many of the same characters who were so delightful in the original (Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, etc), is set in the Smithsonian Institute, and includes new historical characters played by major film stars (like Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart).

To enter: I want to know about YOUR favorite museum for an outing with your kids (or grandkids, or just for you!) Leave a comment on this post naming your museum, where it is and why it's your favorite - or link to a post of your own - and you'll be entered in a random drawing for the basket.

NOTE: The new version of Typepad Comments does not give me a way to email commenters to notify them that they may have won the prize! PLEASE follow up your comment with a direct email to me at socalmom a socalmom dot net. (And please do so if you are one of the 14 people who has already left a comment. THANK YOU.)

The film opens on Friday, May 22nd - so I'll only be taking entries until then and will announce the winner over the weekend.

Taking Care of Business: Contests, Reviews & Evacuations

I know I said I would announce a winner today in the "Baby, You Can Drive My Car" drawing for tickets to the LA Car Show...

...but I got somewhat sidetracked by Saturday's "Sayre Fire," which I wrote about here. I'd planned to do a lot of work over the weekend, but it didn't happen because it turned out we WERE in the evacuation zone.

I have to say how amazed and grateful I am to know so many kind people through this blog and Twitter. Several of the LA Mom Bloggers invited us to come stay with them -- which was really nice and more than I would do (not that I wouldn't want them -- but unless a disaster occurs right after I've done some miracle cleaning, my house is usually not fit for guests). You guys all rock.

Anyway, I'm a day behind on my postings, so I won't be drawing the winner until tomorrow (which means you still have time to enter).

Do come back tomorrow... because once I announce the winner of the tickets, I'll begin ANOTHER contest (details to be revealed then).

In the meantime, I've got another review up of a beautiful new printer...

And if you live anywhere near Pasadena, join me on Thursday morning at Whole Foods Market, where I'll be participating in a Supermarket Sweep in honor of the launch of Nintendo's new Personal Chef game (yes, I'll be posting a review of that soon, too).

Contest: Baby, You Can Drive My Car

This month, I'm kicking off a new series of posts here at SoCal Mom and at my review site, SoCal Stuff.

The occasion: The imminent end of the lease on my beloved Volvo C60. I have until the end of June to make a decision to either purchase the Volvo -- or move into another vehicle.

Overall, I've been happy with the Swedish car -- but I'm not certain I want to keep it for another five years (at least)... Not when there are so many new autos on the market, with new features to choose from (like hybrid engines, natural gas powered engines, and more).

A lot of innovations have been brought to the automobile world since I took out my 3-year lease. Toyota and Honda are no longer the only makes offering hybrid engines -- you can find them from just about every one of the major auto makers (notably General Motors, which manufactures hybrid models for eight of its vehicles).

However, the last time I looked, the Prius was still the leader in hybrid gas mileage. But I recently read an article that stated that the Scion xB (with internal combustion engine) was a better choice for the environment, due to a combination of mileage and the kind of materials used to build it Honda makes a version of the Civic that runs on natural gas. And the tiny Smart car gets such good mileage that it doesn't need to be a hybrid (although I hear they've got one coming out, too).

I also want to take another long, hard look at the offerings from American car companies - although I realize that there's a lot of intermingling between auto makers these days. That Toyota you're looking at could have been built right here in the U.S. And that Volvo I've been driving for the last two and one half years was made by a company owned by Ford.

Making a decision is going to be hard. That's why I'm beginning my research at the Los Angeles Auto Show, which opens November 21 at the LA Convention Center.

Our family enjoys going to the show every year: It's a lot of fun to see all the displays and get up close to some of the vehicles that one can only dream of driving some day. But in a year when we actually have to purchase a new car, it's the most convenient way to see EVERYTHING on the market, all in one place.

Sounds like fun, huh? Wanna come? I'm giving away a family FOUR-PACK of tickets and an official LA Auto Show Messenger bag. You can enter my random drawing by leaving a comment on this post, telling me what you'd most like to see at the show. (For inspiration, visit their official website, here.)

The winner will be announced on this blog next Monday, November 17th.