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
Walmart is apparently ready for summer and the department side of the store is stocked for your summer needs, too. From clothing and jewelry to dinnerware and furniture, this commercial shows off a few things Walmart has to offer. There’s also a pleasant soundtrack that adds to the festive spirit of the summer ad. Take a look then scroll down for more…
The Song. A great song choice for a summertime commercial, here’s the full track of “Where You Are” by Orang Utan. People are saying this song is a bop, it knocks, and other stuff I’ve never said out loud about any song ever.
The song was released in February 2024 by Orang Utan– an artist who apparently wears ape masks and has a mysterious, unknown identity. More about his or her background can be found here and you can find the primate(s) on Instagram @orangutan_music. Orang Utan music is also used in this Southwest Airlines commercial from 2023…
After spending a week together with family for an annual reunion, it was time to head back to reality and during the hour-long drive, I made the mistake of listening to this entire song.
It’s not typical for me to stay on a radio station playing 80s music and this song came out when I was 8 years old. There’s no way I related to it in any way back then. I was more interested in Legos and Saturday morning cartoons.
Not only did I listen to the entire introduction of the song by Nina Blackwood (she was hosting for the weekend on SiriusXM and I was hooked listening to her raspy voice), I enjoyed her retelling the about the fervor all of the country when this song was first released. She actually didn’t reveal which song she was talking about until the very end so I thought I’d give it a listen. That was my biggest mistake.
It’s a song that little 8-year-old me would’ve forgotten about 2 seconds after it finished but 45-year-old adult Ben was melting into my seat. Instead of finding another channel, I was drawn back to just a previous relationship, thinking about some of the good moments and basically just being full of regret and hopelessness. I had a “lady in red” but I let her slip through my fingers. It’s her I think about when I’m having my own pity party. When I think my best dating days are behind me, it’s because no one I’ve dated since has affected me as much as she did.
I’m trying hard to believe I’ve still got great things ahead, maybe a beautiful match that will share life with me. It could happen. But sometimes I wish I could go back and do “a lot of things different” as Kenny Chesney would say. So many ups and downs rushing through my mind and all thanks to a 4-minute ballad. What a song. There’s no wondering why it rose to very high on Billboard charts all over the world in the late 1980s.
Do you have any songs that immediately draw out strong feelings, whether they’re good or bad? Tell me about it in the comments below…
Having a lot of fun on a beautiful holiday vacation…
To be totally transparent, it’s been hard to set time aside to write because it’s been a nice, fun family reunion where we play pickle ball, go out on the boat, and play board games. Not to mention trying to catch an entertaining Lifetime murder mystery movie. I have more to write, mostly about a recent triathlon, so I’ll be doing that soon!
This is a fun commercial from Papa John’s. I think Burger King could take a few notes about creating a catchy jingle but using someone with a pleasant voice to perform it.
I had another chance to do an open water swim practice, the furthest I’ve done since starting to train for sprint triathlons over a year ago. The ocean swim was down on the Gulf coast of Florida across a bay from one shore to another. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle going across a whole bay, with a light chop and boats and wildlife, but it went really fine! Didn’t see one shark which kind of makes sense because the water was so murky I could barely see my hands underwater. In official races, I’ve only done lakes and rivers so the ocean is a difference experience for sure. This practice was my last swim before a race tomorrow, a triathlon celebrating Independence Day. I’ll post more from that race afterwards but for now here are a few pics from the ocean swim…
Out of the Wilderness 