PLAYSTATION 3 TRAILER

Kudos to Play Station for this setup. You've come off a high from singing along to the B-52's and now you get to fantasize you're playing along with your very own band. Their Guitar Hero 5 stage looks like it's pulled right out of the game.

For you loners, they have two turntables set up where you can play DJ Hero. The controller is the same 4 button colorful experience you're used to on the guitars, just laying flat for those of us who are a little more uncoordinated.

BEST BUY TRAILER

I'm not a DJ, but put me in front of a big collection of random buttons to push and knobs to twirl and I turn into a crazy gesticulating madwoman. I absolutely love the "Pro DJ Experience" in the oh so deliciously air conditioned Best Buy trailer. It's honestly not even comparable to the DJ Hero game. These are two totally different beasts (and considering there's over a $1000 price difference between them, I consider that a good thing.)

I know you think I'm biased by anything I can do to cool off when it's nearly 100 degrees outside. You're right. But for a lifelong technophile like me there are a lot of of other gadgets I can lay my hands on in the Best Buy trailer. None of them were this seductive. Plus, it's okay for DJ's to look like slightly pudgy well intentioned hipster nerds. I can put on my fedora and horn rim glasses and dream about rocking a club to my own house music - until the line behind me gets unruly for their chance to play.

BUDWEISER COOL ZONE KARAOKE

The Cool Zones are really just shaded tents with fans, chairs, and a little bit of mist. I find it cooler hiding in the underpass en route to the infield. To my personal taste, the karaoke from the Budweiser tent is about on par with the spontaneous singalongs in the underpass - except in the cool zone you might win a t-shirt while in the underpass a drunk will ask you to take your shirt off. Drink enough and it's up to you to tell the difference.

HONORABLE MENTION

I understand tailgating when you're parked far away, but there are a heck of a lot of amazing setups in the Churchill Downs parking lot. I don't get it. There's no readmission for the day and you have to pay through the nose to park in the official lot, but hey, if you're walking from your $10 parking, stop in the official lot for a beer and a song with the tailgaters before you go inside.

Photo credit Chris-Rachael Oseland.