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
It’s the kind of thing you only see in the movies. Imagine checking what the weather is going to be later in the day and this is what you see:
I wasn’t sure if I should put on a heavy coat or take shelter! What was weird is that the cow in the tornado had frozen milk coming out of its utters. Wild times, I tell ya. It was one of those days global warming climate change activists will point to for years to come.
“See! Your gas-guzzling SUVs are destroying weather!”
-Out of the Wilderness
I have a triathlon coming up and the start line is a long narrow dock. It’s the only one I’ve done so far where you jump in from a raised platform (unlike the lake entries where athletes run from the shore down into the water). My brother-in-law is doing this race, as well, and it’ll be the first race both of us have twice which is cool for a lot of reasons. But this dock entry thing… how would you approach the start: Diving in or jump in feet first and then start the swim?
He and I did a test recently in a pool to find out which method is most beneficial, each having pros and each having cons. The biggest pro for diving is a smooth transition to the swim stroke. That’s a big pro, too. Like, HUGE. But with this method there’s potential for a big con: hitting the water and having your goggles knocked out of place. That’s as big of a con as I can think of! Or it could be too shallow. The drawback of jumping in feet first is a total loss of any momentum (from a jump vs. a dive). Once in the water, the swimmer must move their body into a horizontal swimming position and then begin the swim. The big pro of this feet-first entry is that it’s safe.
In our time trials, as rudimentary as they were, a dive entry was measurably faster and in discussing it, we thought it used less energy than the feet-first entry (because of having to maneuver one’s body from vertical to horizontal in the water). Sometimes in our dive tests our goggles became dislodged or water splashed in. To try avoiding that, I began to duck just before breaking the surface, using the top, rear part of my head to hit the water first and this seemed to take most, if not all, instant water pressure away from the strap of my goggles. We also tried diving in the most normal way. Mine ended up around my mouth. Not ideal!
But for this upcoming race, diving is prohibited so I’ll be jumping in. No one wants to be disqualified before even having a chance to compete!
-Out of the Wilderness
In the first 2024 Presidential debate, a lot of focus was surrounding two basic questions: 1. Will Joe Biden be able to keep up due to his apparent cognitive decline and 2. Will Trump steamroll through the debate, a mistake he made in 2020? To answer those plainly, Biden was still standing at the end of the debate so I think Democrats are counting that as a win. The muted mic aspect of the debate kept Trump from being a bully.
But with that said, neither of the guys were particularly compelling. And did they really argue about who’s a better golfer? 🥴 With a few exceptions, all they did for 90 minutes was bash each other about their respective 4-year terms as Prez. Where was the hope? Where was the inspiration? I would’ve loved to hear about what their specific plans are for the next 4 years. I thought Trump had an amazing opportunity (and Biden, too) to connect with Americans when he was asked about helping people with addiction problems. Talk to those specific viewers who struggle with addiction about how you’re there to support them, help them, love them, and get them through this tough battle they’re facing. It would be OK to point out logistical strategies for helping with addictions (preventing drugs from getting into the U.S., etc), but that is information for the mind. It was a chance for either candidate to warm people’s hearts. “We’re there for you. We want you to overcome and be stronger once we defeat these addictions together.” But neither Trump nor Biden showed any compassion.
Another curiosity of mine was how the debate would have went if Trump wasn’t the Republican nominee. Just for kicks, I imagined if it were Vivek Ramaswamy up there on stage with Biden. Can you imagine the verbal bloodbath (pardon my use of that taboo word) that would’ve ensued? I think Biden would have literally pooped in his pants twice with the shellacking from Vivek. On the flip side, I really couldn’t think of any Democrat that could’ve done the same to Trump, imagining if Biden were swapped out with anyone I’d heard of (Newsome, Michelle Obama, Whitmer, etc.).
Early reactions to the debate are indicating that Republicans and Democrats saw the same things: A weakened man (apparently with a cold no one knew about until after the debate?) who is just a shell of who he used to be even 3 or 4 years ago. Donald Trump was more orange than usual (TV makeup, I guess?). Age limits might be a thing we need to seriously discuss.
-Out of the Wilderness
Everyone knows that to love country music is to love Dolly, lakes, dogs, Broadway, and early Taylor Swift albums. Of course, there’s also Tennessee. And no I don’t mean the national championship Vols baseball team or Hawk Tuah Girl. It’s Graceland in Memphis. The Nashville honky tonks. The mountains of Gatlinburg. It’s the latter getting the song spotlight from an artist starting her summer tour in just a week or so. Her name is Lauren Watkins and the song is aptly called, “Gatlinburg.” Check it out then scroll down for a 3 things I like, and 3 things I don’t like about the music video…
A few elements of this music video caught my attention. I don’t know what this says about me, but I actually like that she lights up a cigarette in lieu of a vape pen. At least people who smoke cigarettes know what they’re getting. Inhaling unknown chemicals through a vape just sounds like a recipe for horror down the road. Of course, smoking is pretty bad for you, too, but I appreciate the counterculture act of a cigarette in this video.
I’ve never been to Gatlinburg but you might catch me singing this chorus. The melody gets caught up in my head, maybe it’s the downward stair step notes that are so catchy. I do love a good melody.
The aspect ratio is nostalgic, too. Remember televisions before High Definition? This video offers up a nostalgic throwback and I’m old enough now to think about the pre-HD life as “the good ol’ days.” Remember dial-up internet? The phone book? Calling movie theaters to get showtimes? Throwing a ball against a wall for entertainment? Ahhh, the gool ol’ days.
Unfortunately, there are things to dislike about this video, too. The most obvious is the contradictory lyrics: “I took his Chevrolet” as we see her steal her ex’s Ford. 🤔 Would she have needed to move Heaven and Earth to find a Chevy for the video shoot?
Songs that do this irritate me like nothing else. I often refer back to Jason Aldean’s song “Dirt Road Anthem” which features the singer posing ON A PAVED ROAD!!!! I swear country artists (producers, directors, etc) aren’t dumb, but sometimes I wonder.
Smile, you’re on camera. But seriously, don’t smile SO much. Has anyone who just broke up with a lousy partner smiled as much as the women do in this video? No. There are feelings of happiness and joy, sure, but also anger and sadness, and if she’s Hell-bent on hurting him (stealing his car, his wallet, etc), she’s harboring some hurt herself. Too much smiling comes across fake. Kind of like this Publix commercial.
I generally like the lyrics of this song and the cadence, but there was one part that is more confusing than it is intended to be. Lauren sings, “Might just be a long weekend, or I may never, ever, ever come back again.” At this point in the song she’s in Gatlinburg. So does she mean she’s never coming back to Gatlinburg? And how does a long weekend contrast with never coming back? A simple fix would be to swap out “coming” with “going.” Then it would be more clear that she means she might never go back to the city or town where she currently lives because Gatlinburg is so great. As it is now, the lyrics suggest that she’s singing this line from her hometown before the trip to Gatlinburg, which conflicts with the visual of the video. It’s disjointed at best.
All that said, it’s a fun break-up song and who doesn’t love Tennessee? If you have a chance, go to Graceland. Pop in a Nashville honky tonk. Go for a long weekend in Gatlinburg. And also follow Lauren on Instagram @Lauren.Watkins.
-Out of the Wilderness
Took you long enough, drug companies! It’s about time we get another commercial hijacking a well-known song. I was beginning to think you didn’t care about us anymore. We all remember Ozempic’s recent overtaking of “Magic” by Pilot… and now I don’t even remember the lyrics to the original. All I sing is oh oh oh Ozempic. Well, the ante has been upped. There’s high potential that a song AND a movie get ruined by a pill-version of “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman. Ozempic and Wegovy are owned by the same company, by the way, so I guess their strategy is to destroy America one parody song at a time.
It’s pretty ironic that the message of “This Is Me” is to love who you are (performed by an overweight, bearded woman) and Wegovy is a drug for losing weight. I guess the next pharma company to acquire songs from this movie could be Nutrafol for hair growth. Never… never… never enough!
“I am brave, I am bruised…” and if you take Wegovy, might as well add: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, stomach (abdomen) pain, headache, fatigue, upset stomach, dizziness, feeling bloated, belching, gas, stomach flu, heartburn, and runny nose or sore throat.
Fun, fun. Now more than ever, I appreciate the original music in the SKYRIZI commercials.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 