Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 31

XPRESS: NIE Hot Reads for a Cool Summer continues. Page 3D SECTION FL ORIDIAl TO CONTACT US ABOUT FLORIDIAN: By phone: (727) 893-8221 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 8221 By fax: (727) 892-2327 By e-mail: floridiansptimes.com MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2003 THE TIMES fe) st TUT pfnt I Ui? r-i Ni i -I If -if El if lf.i 'Villi Deejane Armstrong turns on the light above the rearview mirror in Peter the Pearl, her 1959 220 She also owns a 1967 250 named Ralphie. WORD FOR WORD Mercedes for minors The children's pages on the Mercedes-Benz Web site offer virtual minigorf, a rain forest adventure story and facts about the acceleration of the SL 500 Roadster (top speed 250 kilometers per hour; zero to 100 kph in 6.3 seconds). What more could a kid want? Lots of companies build brand loyalty by posting kids pages on their Web sites.

But Cedy's World, www.cedysworld.com, stands out for of its odd blend of cartoon fun and grownup marketing jargon. Did you know that coconut fibers are used in Mercedes seat cushions and head restraints? Here are more examples of what Cedy, a cartoon girl in decidedly downscale jeans and a T-shirt, will teach Junior about the world of fine automobiles. (If Junior likes what he sees, he'll have to hoard his allowance: The cars mentioned on the site cost up to $86,000.) MIKE WILSON, Newsfeaturet editor 500 CABRIOLET You have probably thought about how great it is to ride in a Cabriolet when the weather is nice. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class Cabriolet is a cross-country vehicle you can enjoy a journey in whatever the time of year is. CLK320 When the weather's warm and the sun's shining, you probably like to spend the whole day outside.

With the Cabriolet version of the CLK-Class, you can go for a very enjoyable drive and make the most of the good weather at the same time. You can even invite your friends or family along because there's plenty of space in the C-Class Cabriolet enough for four people to travel in comfort A 160 CDI Have you noticed that the A-Class has been updated? Updating means taking an existing product and making it even better. We changed the design of the radiator grille and the bumpers when we updated the A-Class. But we didn't stop there. We redesigned the cockpit and made many other changes inside the car as well.

200 (COMPRESSOR Have you noticed the new headlamps of the various C-Class models? The twin oval headlamps blend into one another and give the front of the C-Class a sporty and elegant look. COUPE CLK 500 With its sporty styling and frameless side windows which give the effect of a continuous band, the GLK-Class Coupe is a difficult car to miss. In one respect the sporty appearance is deceptive because the GLK-Class Coupe is actually very comfortable inside. This is particularly true of the seats, and the generous legroom, which give the GLK-Class Coupe plenty of appeal for longer-distance touring. LOVE AC ROSS TT-TIT ATTT FQ JL 1 1 li I VI 1 I I ai The significant other in Deejane Armstrong's life is Peter the Pearl: a 1959 Mercedes-Benz whose rear-view mirror reflects loss and joy.

his first name had been Peter only months before had taken his life. Suffering from cancer, he overdosed on morphine. Armstrong wrote a check for $7,100 and drove away. She did so joyfully. Yet her joy was tempered by the darker memories of loved ones dead and gone, strangers and family both, and their cars.

Riding shotgun Deejane Armstrong, born in 1944, does not look like one of those car-crazy cuties from the 1950s, though that is when she came of age She wears rings on most of her elegantly slender fingers and bracelets on her elegantly slender wrists. She wears fashionable heels and fashionable outfits, and flips her fashionable blond hair with the insouciance of a young Blanche DuBois. Of course, first impressions frequently are wrong. Armstrong has been known to have grease under those long, pampered fingernails: She can change her own oil, thank you. A flat tire doesn't alarm her.

She can listen to an engine and tell you whaf wrong. She can pop a hood and tell you whaf under it Born in Illinois, she grew up in a family that appreciated good wheels. Her grandfather always had a few hot Chevys parked under the walnut trees in the back yard; her brother, Michael, was a gas pump jockey extraordinaire. "He could take an engine apart and put it back together, and it was better." Michael was three years older. He knew everything about cars and about fun.

Seat belts? Well, even if cars came with them, who needed one? Not him or her. When Deejane was a passenger in Michael's car, sometimes she refused to sit It was more fun lying on the Boor and giggling at her brother and the world. He taught her to drive in his old souped-up Austin-Healey when she was 14. Oh, she ground the gears at first, but she caught on. To this day, she refuses to drive a vehicle with automatic transmission.

Please see MILES 2D OF THE TIMES STORY BY JEFF KLINKENBERG PHOTOS BY LARA CERRI him, is Armstrong's prized Mercedes-Benz. Peter the Pearl rolled off the assembly line the year Buddy Holly died in a plane crash and Ozzie and Harriet were still bright lights on mostly black-and-white TVs. Peter the Pearl was born in 1959. Armstrong first made the acquaintance of her Model 220 in 1981, when she was driving down a Denver street with money burning a hole in her pocketbook. It was money inherited from her grandmother, whose last will and testament commanded her to buy whatever might give her pleasure.

She turned a corner, and there it was, a black Mercedes parked in front of a bungalow with a "For Sale" sign propped forlornly in the rear window. Little did she know how forlorn. She knocked on the door, made an offer and learned more than she had bargained for. The owner of the vehicle INDIAN ROCKS BEACH Deejane Armstrong knows something about love, and it has nothing to do with selling bridal gowns for a living, though she is excellent at that "So how did you two meet?" she asks the bride-to-be who visits CC's Boutique in St Petersburg. "When did you realize you were in love?" There is matrimonial love, and there is Peter the PearL Right now she is in love with Peter the PearL Peter the Pearl has never let her down.

He is not as young as he once was mortality weighs heavily on his chassis but he is still a handsome specimen. He has good genes and a young attitude, and he refuses to stop motivating. Peter the Pearl, who has more than 500,000 miles on Shrek's wedding reception one wild ride By KEISHA I. PATRICK TlmM 8 tiff Wrttar Don't forget Jimmy There's more fun at Universal Studios with the recently opened Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast Page 3D Other new rides and attractions R.L Stine'i Haunted Lighthouse 4-D: Vacationing children Ashley and Mike meet a strange kid on a rocky beach. The encounter leads them to a lighthouse and a ghostly adventure.

Opened in May at Busch Gardens in Tampa. Dolly Parton't Dixie Stampede: Dinner and show featuring horses and entertainers, opened Thursday in Orlando. Mission: Spaca: A simulated mission to Mars set to open at Epcot on Aug. 15. Information from Tlma file wn uMd In thtt report Shortly after the happy couple greeted their reception guests, the party ended and trouble began.

I entered Lord Farquaad's castle to see Shrek and Fiona off on their honeymoon. Instead, along with 299 other guests, learned that Farquaad's ghost still lived. During the seven-minute film before the ride, I watched some of my favorite fairy tale characters, including the Three Little Pigs and the Gingerbread Man, suffer imprisonment as Farquaad's ghost announced plans to take Princess Fiona away from Shrek. I was distressed. How could anyone capture such an innocent soul as the Gingerbread Man? (Of course, in the movie Shrek, he was pretty sassy, spitting milk in Farquaad's face.) I grabbed my green 3-D ogrevision glasses and sat in my theater seat to watch the story unfold.

Please see SHREK 2D i This month, I was a guest at a most awesome wedding reception. Two friends I know fell in love after he rescued her from a castle guarded by a fierce dragon. And if that's not enough chivalry, he disrupted her marriage to an evil lord so that she could marry him. Some say it's "the greatest fairy tale never told." To newtyweds Shrek and Fiona, who happen to be ogres, if 9 just life. DreamWorks Pictures told their story in 2001 in the blockbuster movie Shrek.

With the opening of Shrek 4-D at Universal Studio9 Orlando, we're all invited to become a part of the saga with Shrek, Fiona and pal Donkey. After riding Shrek 4-D, I knew that I had to share tliis experience. 7 'fV Untvtraal Studio Orlando Guests at the new Shrek 4-D attraction at Universal Studios take part in the wedding reception of the ogre and his bride, Princess Fiona..