Prizes You Can Win Instantly

• Rock Band Downloadable Tracks – 5,000 per day
• Rock Band 2 Special Edition Bundle – 24 per day

Weekly Sweeps Prizes

• Trip to Harrah’s in Vegas, Atlanta or New Orleans – 1 per week
• Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro System with 3 month Xbox Live Gold Membership – 10 per week
• Flip video MinoHD Camcorder – 15 per week
• Rock Band Bandmate – 3 per week
• $25 Rockbandstore.com Gift Card – 50 per week

How To Play

We all know that playing these sweepstakes is simple, but I thought I would outline the steps that could lead you to a brand new Xbox system or even a round trip package to Harrah’s!  Basically, you will be purchasing a Pepsi item and under the cap will be a 12-digit code you can enter here.  You can get the codes from specially-marked 20-oz and 1-liter bottles of Pepsi, as well as, 32 and 44-oz fountain cups.

That would be the easiest way for anyone with computer/internet access to enter.  But that isn’t the only way to go.  You can also “Play-on-the-go”.  That’s right, everyone has a cell phone and most of them have web access.  All you have to do is text message your code to PEPSI (73774), register your mobile device and you are all set.  You can learn more about that here.

Remember that you can win INSTANTLY or enter your codes in the WEEKLY SWEEPS to win as well.  Here are the official rules so that you don’t make any mistakes or are misled.

While visiting the Armani Exchange website today, I came across some sweet deals in the denim department.  The denim jeans they sell are sweet and I really like the painted boot cut jeans, new zenith boot cut and the hand sanded straight leg jeans.

One other thing that I noticed was a “Text AX contest” – to win a pair of denim every day for the moth of July by texting the keyword “DENIM2″ to ARMANI (276264). All you have to do is text text A|Xto the number posted above and you are entered! It is very simple and EVERYONE is texting these days, why not take it a step further and win something from texting? For more information about the contest, visit this link.

Not to mention the contest, cool denim jeans and awesome prices, but if you purchase  a full price pair of jeans, in store OR online by 7/19/2009 you get $20 of your next purchase of $100 or more.  All you have to do is make your next purchase before 8/15/09.

You can also follow the Armani Exchange on twitter by clicking here. With Armani Exchange, Mr. Armani interprets his sensual and unique style to create a casual, yet sophisticated collection for the young, urban and sexy. It designs, manufactures, distributes and retails fashion and lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, eye wear, watches, jewelry, and music.

There was a shovel, bucket, sifter, fish template and a sand castle making unit.  Cool, all of the toys needed to keep the guy happy for a little while at least.  Then I noticed the “label” of the toys mentioned you could make your own dinasaur footprints with a specific template in the kit.  By the way, the kit was called a Dino Beach Bag, so I started to look for that part of the kit.  The little guy loves to learn about dinosaurs and things like that, so it would be totally cool if he could add his own footprints to the sand.

Well, there wasn’t anything, I mean ANYTHING, dinosaur related in the “bag” (which was actually a basket with handles on it).  Isn’t that very strange?  I mean, I know it makes no difference other than it’s false advertising, or sort of deceptive, but I started to think of the reasons it might be that way on the product.

I came up with a couple reasons, and even though I don’t think they are valid, they might be possible.

1. Maybe the manufacturer made a mistake
2. Maybe the manufacturer uses the same exact labeling on every product that is similar thinking nobody will even notice
3. Maybe that’s just the way it is.  The product was made in Mexico.  But maybe they think people shopping at Walmart will just BUY without actually looking.

Since I am a firm believer in keeping it real in the United States, it bothered me enough to take a photo and post about it online.  What reasons can you come up with?  And by the way, this wasn’t the only kit like it at the store.  All the remaining items like it on the shelf were labeled the same way.

About one month ago, I did a post about the attractions in Branson.  I mentioned that I have NOT been in Branson, but I was able to list a couple of the attractions that I would have liked to see, if I were there.

I live in the Midwest and there are professional golf courses all over the place.  Talking about Championship Golf in Branson isn’t going to be that hard.  The Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing looks like a delightful place to stay if I were to travel in that area. The hotel has accomedations for both personal and business stays. Some features include:

• Access 24-hours daily to our fitness center featuring a wide assortment of Precor® equipment, including a variety of cardio theatre equipment, free weights and machines.
• Relax in our indoor pool complete with heated whirlpool before striking out on your next Branson adventure.
• Wireless high-speed Internet in guest rooms and meeting rooms

The Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is also a place to stay for business or pleasure.  With great fitness equipment, entertainment and recreation, just a few miles away, you will be sure to find something to do while staying in Branson.  With the Payne Stewart golf course near by, you can bet that is the place you want to check out.  The Clubhouse is also full of Payne Stewart memorabilia.

One of the things I would love to do is just to check out the night life in Branson.  We are talking one of the more entertaining areas in the country, so why not check out the entertainment and shopping districts, right?

All in all, Branson really seems like a nice place to visit, with so much to do, you can bet it will be a vacation with remembering.

After hearing the story from 10 different people and television stations, I log onto Facebook to check out the daily hub-bub between my friends.  One was wondering if Jesus would get the same kind of reaction from the masses, as Michael Jackson is getting so far.  The discussion was intelligent for the most part and it really was mentally stimulating.  Most agreed that Jesus would get the same “following” if he died in this time.

Others were trying to backup the fact that Michael Jackson is an icon and known worldwide.  That doesn’t mean that Jesus isn’t known, but he is NOT worldwide.  There were comments that it was pitiful to honor such a sick person, a “pedophile”, drug addict and all of these things are correct.  But in today’s society, celebs and stars take on another roll and are honored with much more passion.

I think it has to do with the fact that celebs are “seen” by everyone and children and young adults have NEVER connected with Jesus the same ways they have connected with a movie star or celebrity these days.

I have had glasses for about 15-16 years now and really haven’t thought of them as an annoying part of my life.  I do have contacts which can be a pain.  When LASIK first came around there was all kinds of “bad” news regarding the process, but as the process got older, I am running into more and more people that have successfully had the process done.

The savings that comes from getting LASIK done can be 100’s of dollars every single year.  Now that the economy is not going the way everyone would have liked, Americans are trying to save as much money as possible.

Did you know that over a lifetime, a 25 year old wearing extended wear contacts will spend upwards of $20,000? Choosing modern LASIK, also known as iLASIK, invests in your vision and can save you money in the long term.

There is also a newer process called iLASIK.  That process combines Wavefront mapping technology with two lasers for a safe procedure.  I don’t know if I will ever get the process done, but there are some insurance companies that will cover it.  The plan that I have at work, will not, but I could use a medical savings account to save up for the procedure, just not sure if I will do that.

If you would like to calculate the cost of having contacts for a lifetime, you can get more information at www.ilasik.com.

You are then supposed to match 2 of the same images and the timer will stop when you are completed.  Once you have finally matched all of them up, your time is posted on your profile in the sidebar for your friends to see.  If you go fast enough you will be named a “genius” and if you are too slow, well, let’s just say you don’t want to be called slow

Check out the facebook application here and don’t forget to review it and become a fan!  Pass it along to your friends and see if they can beat your time.

Here are the 3 ways that you can enter this easy as hell contest:

There are three ways to enter:

(1) Place a comment on our contest page (www.itsabluworld.com/contests), sharing within your comment which experience you want to win and why.

(2) Use Twitter to tweet out why Blu Frog is better in 140 characters or less. You must include #bluworld and http://bit.ly/UiiJy in your tweet to be registered for the contest.

(3) Write a blog post about our contest and which experience or prize you would choose if you won. You must leave a comment on on the www.itsabluworld.com/contests page along with the URL of your post if the trackback doesn’t appear.

I love twitter contests!  There are usually so easy to enter and you can win some kick ass prizes, too.  For the BluFrog twitter contest, the prizes include:

• Ultimate Gaming Package
• Trip to New York City for the New Year celebration
• Trip to Lalapollooza in Chicago
• Richard Petty racing schoo package
• And more!

I would choose the Ultimate Gaming Package if I won the contest.  I like to game and since the equipment is usually so expensive, I would take any of it for FREE!  LOL.   Don’t waste anymore time and get over to the contest page to enter!

I currently have DISH Network and HATE the customer service/technician dance that comes with switching providers, so I would like to stay with what I have.  My fiance and I usually watch the same things, but miss some of the channels we “lost” when we downgraded to a more affordable package.  Why can’t I just add a couple of channels?  That is all I need and all that I want to pay EXTRA for.

I hate the way the TV providers have basically backed everyone into a corner, unless of course you don’t mind paying $150 or more for TV, telephone and internet all in one.  I think that there should either be a cap on what I pay for all 3 “services” or there should be a package that I can pay for where I only pay for what I want to watch.  C’mon greedy freaks, let’s all join hands and do something good for once!

Lower my cable bill, give me telephone for only $10 per month (no fanciness needed) and let me have some sort of internet for less.

What do you think?  Do you pay for telephone and not use it?  Are you a DISH customer that has a cell phone but still needs a landline to hook into the TV receiver?

Summer months really make people want to get out and about the country on vacations.  Places in the United States like Las Vegas, NV and Branson, MO are really entertainment capitals of the USA.  Places like Branson usually receive awards for fine dining, great hotels and even better stage shows than anywhere else in the world.

Branson has one of the best hotels and convention centers in the country, Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotelhave everything that you need when you are staying in the great city of Branson.  The hotel is on Lake Taneycomo and resides in the newest shopping and entertainment district.  The convention center is directly across from the hotel making things extremely easy for the professionals traveling to the city for meetings and other entertainment.

I live in the Midwest and I would always travel to places closer to home than not, so places on the coasts just never really appealed to me.  What I always heard about Branson is the shows are so full of entertainment and that really would draw me into a place like that.  While staying in Branson, there are plenty of things to do nearby, like golf (3 miles), shop (within 3 miles) and go see the Theater District (within 5 miles).

I have never been to Branson myself, but I would really like it because I know I enjoy the types of things the city has to offer.  Mostly wholesome family type entertainment and the attractions are just amazing.  One thing that I would love to see is the Titanic Museum.  I think there is so much history in that part of the country, everything would be worth the experience.

And don’t think that just because the hotel is in a tourist capital, you cannot get a deal.  The Hilton has specials running all year long including 25% off from May 1st to September 30th, 2009.  You can also get a 3rd night free when you buy 2 nights from June 1st to September 7th, 2009.

So like I said, there are plenty of reasons to go to Branson this summer, good places to stay, eat, visit and enjoy.  Leave a comment below if you have travelled there and how was your vacation?