Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Mostly these will be pictures of wildlife and nature because that’s what I’m most drawn to. But check out a few pics of my campsite during my recent camping trip to the beautiful Florida panhandle Henderson Beach State Park! My favorite 3 pics are the one-legged bird looking down at his one leg, the kids chasing the seagulls, and the wide shot of the airplanes at sunset. What a beautiful place…
-Out of the Wilderness
Aside from the Florida keys, which has state parks nearly impossible to camp in without reserving months in advance (and they’re also a long way from everything), my favorite state park in Florida is, without a doubt, St. Andrews State Park close to Panama City Beach. For starters, it’s easily accessible from almost anywhere in the southeast (as compared to the keys). But convenience aside, the park is an adventurous playground perfect for all ages! And if you’re wondering, yes they have wifi (free for low speed, or pay extra for fast).
While the park itself is easy to get to, there is a little bit of a hiccup in your plans if you want to book more than a night or two in the near future. Just like other beach parks, sites are in demand. I happened to snag 6 days (I attribute that to school starting back and families are finished with summer vacations) at St. Andrews and had a ball… mostly. The biggest drawback, and it’s no fault of their own, is the heat! August in Florida is a formidable foe. People fainting, dog paws burning, clothes dripping in sweat, all part of my experience on the recent trip so because of that, I’d recommend the following: sun block, hydrate like your life depends on it, be mindful of the hot pavement when walking your pops (early morning or late afternoon for the longer walks), and if you can rent a golf cart or bring an e-bike or scooter, do it. There isn’t much shade on any of the sites, except for a few older sites tucked away in the woods. The new sites (rebuilt after Hurricane Michael) are basically shadeless so keep that in mind. I got a spot where the shade was cast toward the awning side of my camper in the afternoon so I liked that a lot. It was site #10 if you look at the park on a map. On the other side of the road, you get awning-side shade in the morning and the afternoon you’ll be dealing with the sun going down and baking you, even under your awnings.
With that out of the way, the attractions of the park is incredible. Even on the busiest beach day, there were just a few dozen people on the gigantic ocean side of the beach. I say “ocean side” because there’s a lagoon side which features a great little tidal pool, perfect for young kids, new swimmers, snorkelers, etc. Many times this area had people lounging on tubes, snorkeling by the jetty, a few skim boarding kids. In fact, you might find that this part of the beach is more crowded than the ocean side. The ocean side is where you can boogie board (if there are any waves whatsoever), swim, snorkel, collect shells, fish (off the jetty or pier), etc.
During my stay, I wanted to focus on open water swimming (for triathlon training purposes), running, and cycling. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a super safe place to ride my bike outside of the park, so I ended up doing running and swimming only. But also… the snorkeling! You can’t go to St. Andrews and NOT snorkel, so be sure to bring a mask. Whether you’re by the jetties or paddling around the pier, you’re bound to see incredible underwater creatures. I have a few pictures I’ll post below but I didn’t get a photo of the manta rays, which were really neat to see. Can you see the turtle in the last picture? I barely saw it in time to get the photo, had no idea they could swim so fast! Take a look and then at the end is a little video of my snorkeling experience. Just be sure to bring a dive flag, as I learned from a FWC officer. 👮
If you’ve been to this park, chime in with what you like (or didn’t like) and which other parks you love in Florida!
-Out of the Wilderness
Nike is all up in our face with their recent “Bad Person” commercial. Instead of being soft, the brand embraces their inner villain with the repeating question, “Am I a bad person?” Backed by a symphony, the ad takes us through clip after clip of athletes competing and being aggressive about it. Take a look then scroll down for more info…
The Narrator. The familiar voice is actor Willem Dafoe. He’s had some villain roles in his acting career (Spiderman) so using his talents was a very strategic move on Nike’s part.
The Question. As for the answer to the question, let’s take a look. The narrator admits to being single-minded, deceptive, obsessive, selfish, not empathetic, disrespectful, unsatisfied, obsessed with power, irrational, without remorse, no compassion, delusional, maniacal, elitist, and a thief.
Yes. Yes, you are a bad person. No one will be friends with you. I’d argue that even those traits in an athlete are to be avoided at all costs. Nike is obviously exaggerating the mindset of an athlete because I can’t think of a single real-life athlete who’s had major success with these traits. Actually, just looking at the list I’d say it describes a politician to a tee.
The Summary. If this ad is meant to inspire athletes to push their limits, to rise up to be #1, it may do that. Certainly it’ll get the heart rate going and adrenaline pumping. But follow the script as a guideline for training and competing, this commercial from Nike is a pretty big fail. There’s a reason “there’s no I in team” is a catchphrase. Because teammates matter. Sportsmanship matters. Having kindness matters. Being the best is a worthy goal, but not at the cost of being a terrible person, a sore loser, and a teammate no one wants to be teammates with. At the other end of the spectrum is this ad from Dick’s Sporting Goods, which I rank higher than the Nike commercial by a long shot.
-Out of the Wilderness
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have been taking some heat by not having any official press conferences or interviews since declaring their run for the top office in America. It’s been messy, sure, since Harris commandeered the Presidential nomination for the Democrat party, this after Joe Biden declared he was in it to win it. His party said, not so fast my friend, and installed Harris who somehow skirted around the whole “people voting” thing. A surprise pick with Walz as Vice President and the pair are off to meet the press and tackled the hard questions…. right? Wrong! They DID sit down for an interview but it was with each other. 🥴
One of the comments that stuck out to me is when Walz compared the current state of America as everyone “coming out of their house after a blizzard.” He DOES realize Biden and Harris have been in office for 3.5 years, right? Gosh, I didn’t think there was a football coach I could dislike more than Nick Saban, but here we are.
They go on and on about their feelings and their joy, but I’ll save you 10 minutes by saying this is the most bipolar pair of politicians since Biden/Harris. For example, I’ve heard Tim Walz repeat the line, “Mind your own business!” many times in reference to his work in Minnesota, yet in this conversation he and Kamala talk about everyone treating everyone else like neighbors. Kamala Harris with a dig about Tim being white– “I’m sure you and him (Doug, the white husband) like the same music” which implies the unsaid statement, because they’re both old, white men. What if Tim had said, “Oh, of course you like Aretha Franklin because you’re black!” 🤔
They talk about being the underdog, being a little behind on the scoreboard, and yet all I hear from Democrats is that Harris is leading in the polls. You can’t be an underdog and at the same time claim most Americans support you. The one bright spot was the mention of Prince but all I could think was, “Get my Prince’s name out your effing mouth!”
The honeymoon stage for these two will end soon and when it does, I’ll be dancing in the purple rain of joy.
-Out of the Wilderness
Rock band Skillet recently released a new video for their song “Unpopular.” Performing in an empty stadium kind of makes sense, emphasizing the idea of not being popular. No one’s there to watch them shred, rock, tear it all down. The video was filmed The Celebration, a stadium for walking horses in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Say what you will about the complexity of the lyrics, but the band is surely presenting a perspective many outsiders can relate to; The counterculture, outcast aspect of the song will resonate with a lot of listeners. Since Skillet has been historically known as a band under the Christian music umbrella, a friend of mine to whom I sent the video brought up another iconic song from the late 1990s– DC Talk’s “Jesus Freak.” That’s another song about being on the outside of what culture says is popular but not only existing there, embracing it and holding it up as a banner. That idea also reminds me of Needtobreathe’s “Outsiders.” It’s the sentiment of thriving where you are without getting caught up in society’s game of chase.
Of course, this idea of blooming where you’re planted (as the saying goes) and loving yourself in spite of what society says about it is a main– if the not the central– theme of the movie The Greatest Showman. The song “This Is Me” is the fight song of outcasts everywhere. Sorry if this song reminds you of the new drug commercial Wegovy. 🤪
After I heard “Unpopular” I wondered which personality type was behind the lyrics so I went to that friend of mine (the one who brought up DC Talk). I wanted his opinion because he’s the newest hip insider on all things Enneagram. You know, the personality test? Nick Shell is the author of the book The Guy’s Guide to the Enneagram (click link to order on Amazon) and in our conversation we talked a lot about music, personalities, and Taylor Swift, of course. But Swifty-status aside, he said the lyrics of “Unpopular” most likely identify with the Enneagram 6. I’m in the middle of reading Nick’s book and I would’ve guessed the song was more fitting for a 4 or 8. But as we chatted, it became more clear that it might be that the song was written for as broad of an audience as possible, Nick saying also that “being counter-culture shows up in many numbers: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.”
The song lyrics embrace its unpopularity and even question why being popular is something to strive for? What is the cost of reaching that status, anyway?
Take a moment to listen to the song and watch the video. At the very least, maybe it’ll spark images of horses (remember it was filmed in a horse stadium 🙂 ) which are the coolest animals.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 