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
She rose to fame on the reboot of my favorite 90s show and now she’s a very popular singer. The reboot? “Girls Meets World.” The original? “Boy Meets World.” The actress and singer? Sabrina Carpenter! She has a handful of hits even with a relatively new career in the music industry and her latest is probably headed to the top, too. In fact, her music video for “Please Please Please” already has over 30 million views in just 2 weeks. But who’s the beau starring beside her in the cinematic visuals?
The Dude. Starring as the guy with a magnet for trouble is actor Barry Keoghan. You may recognize him from his impressive acting resumé, the most recent being Saltburn. Check out his list of credits on IMDb here. If Instagram is your thing, you can follow him there @keoghan92.
Barry reminds me of my college roommate in one very clear way. He looks like he’s 57. But Barry is only 31 and my roommate at the time was 19. I’m in my 40s but why do I feel like I’m 15 most days? Aging is a weird thing, huh? Evidently my physical appearance isn’t fooling anyone into thinking I’m young– When I was playing a game of adult league soccer, I frustrated a guy on the other team. In his anger he said, “Aren’t you, like, 50!?!” I was 36.
Sabrina is making a name for herself as a singer and performer. What is she doing right as a child actor crossing over to music that Jojo Siwa is getting all wrong?
New York, New York. A double rainbow. Twins. Double mint gum. When unusual things happen two times it’s newsworthy, right? That’s why they say New York is so nice, they named it twice. Or the video going viral of that guy being so happy about the double rainbow. Well, I’ve got my own double delight to be excited about. Can you guess what it is?
If you guessed that I invented a way to work AND nap at the same time, you’re way off… but I like the way you think. Imagine you’ve been doing sprint triathlons for about a year. Each one has different challenges than the race before it. One might have a long swim and a flat bike ride. The next is a hilly bike and a run that takes you through a neighborhood. The following race is a pool swim, a long bike, and a flat run. But then your first year of racing comes to an end and the calendar of triathlons resets.
For me, a new year means that in just a couple of weeks I’ll participate in the first race I’ve done twice! I almost can’t believe the time has come. I thought it would happen in April, the anniversary of my first race ever, but because of unavoidable circumstances that triathlon was nixed for 2024. So this July, finally I’ll get to measure where I’ve improved compared to the same competition last year. I’m pretty excited and I’ve already put together my tentative goals for the race. It’s a short sprint (400yd swim, 10m bike, 5K run) so it’ll blow by (especially if you’re one of those elite athletes who finishes the run while most people are still dismounting their bikes 🤪).
I know I’ve come a long way since my first entry into the triathlon world. Just from training with my brother-in-law and becoming part of an awesome triathlon club (folks I also train with), I’ve learned so much about strength, efficiency, and skill. On top of that, my swim attire has changed as well as my bicycle, helmet, nutrition, shoes– OK it would just be easier to mention what hasn’t changed…
😶
…Yep, basically everything has changed. And I have, too. I can’t wait to have the data to show it. I’m so grateful for where I am now as a triathlete, and I bet next year at this same time I’ll be saying the same thing. It’s progress and I’m learning to be OK if it happens slowly… kinda like my slowly-improving swim skills 😉.
But definitely let me know if you figure out the work/nap thing.
Glen Powell is Hollywood’s new “it guy” and if you haven’t seen him in Anyone But You, it’s worth watching. Especially if you’re into romantic comedies (even the cheesy, predictable ones). He’s also in a movie I watched recently called, Hit Man. I went into it a little skeptical because the idea reminded me a lot of True Memoirs of an International Assassin starring Kevin James. A common person gets mistaken for someone they’re not and then they have to become that person to get out of 90 minutes-worth of dicey situations. I was hoping they weren’t too similar.
In the first act, I was pleasantly surprised that Hit Man was a lot different from Memoirs. But actually, if I’m being to totally honest– by the time Hit Man ended I wished it was more like Memoirs. I really didn’t know who to root for (and aren’t we supposed to connect with the protagonist?). Glen Powell’s character was torn between two things he had feelings for… his work and a woman. Fine. And I’ll say that Glen Powell delivers a fantastic performance, and so do the other actors. I guess my issue with the movie is how it ended. [spoiler upcoming]
The love birds (Glen and actress Adria Arjona) thinking killing someone will solve the central problem of the plot… because that person knew too much, a premise which is supposed to show how unfamiliar the pair is with killing people and how Glen’s character is, in fact, not a real assassin. So they kill the guy and then the movie jumps forward by a few years and everything is fine? No justice? They’re never caught?It’s one of the clearest examples of writers wrapping up a story without having any idea how to do it properly… leaving viewers with more questions than answers.
Which brings me to my next point. “Lost.” If there was ever anything on TV or in the movies that left viewers with more questions that were never even remotely answered it was “Lost.” The entire series is streaming on Hulu and my brother-in-law has introduced my nieces to it. They’re somewhere in the middle of season 1 and I wish I could tell them to save hours (and hours and hours) by shutting it off while it’s still good. Just like Hit Man, “Lost” ends terribly. In the show’s case, it gets lost in the details of all these weird things happening and when it was on network TV, I don’t think I was the only one who thought the writers were just winging it week to week, throwing in stuff they thought was cool but never offering an explanation. Plus, this is just a pet peeve of mine but all the flashbacks to the character’s lives before the crash. Who cares? Show us how they get off the island you buffoons!
The other day I watched ep 3 with the nieces and bro-in-law and I had already had enough. Knowing where the story goes and how it all pretty much builds to an extremely anti-climatic finale, I will never watch that show in its entirety again. It’s a shame because it started off so well. But then the creators let it all go off the rails.
I wouldn’t say Hit Man is quite as bad as “Lost,” but they both share the idea that an ending can spoil everything that came before it.
I don’t know what’s going on with Ford and Chevy making trucks for people who don’t drive (or shouldn’t be driving) trucks. I don’t mean to stir the pot or fan the flames between Ford and Chevrolet loyalists so I’ll say new commercials from both brands are equally idiotic. Chevy has an ad featuring a Silverado with hands-free driving. OK, fine. But then they have chutzpah to add a line about towing hands-free!? Are you kidding me? Anyone who wants to tow a boat, trailer, camper, without their hands on the steering wheel needs top be cancelled right this second. Watch that absurd had here.
Not to be outdone, of course, Ford now has a commercial for their electric Lightning F-150. Beyond short trips for in-town towing, I have no idea what use the EV truck is for long drives and especially long towing but Ford went a different direction than Chevy.
“I want a pick-up truck that goes 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds,” said no one ever. Who are these executives polling to come up with such ludicrous vehicle features? In other words: people who want to go 60 in under 4 seconds aren’t buying a truck (especially an EV truck) and people who want a truck don’t care that it hits 60 in the same amount of time it takes to let a nice burp out.
In fact, I’m more impressed with a burp that lasts longer than 4 seconds than a truck that gets to 60 in under 4.
OK, I can confirm: There WAS an alligator sighting in the lake the day before the race. But it was small, so I guess that should make me feel better? Dinner. Brush teeth. Sleep. Wake up at by 445am. Breakfast. Arrive on site at 545am. Race begins at 7am. As I neared the start line of the swim, I thought about the small gator but recalling the swim now, the alligator never crossed my mind as I was actually swimming in the water. Too many other things had my attention. Where are the buoys? Look up, still on track. Good. Whose foot did I just touch? What can I use as a bearing to keep me swimming straight? The sun. The tree line. The paddleboarding lifeguard. Look up for buoy, getting closer. Glad I was thinking clearly and not thinking of… the alligator… one of 50 ways to say I died. (unsolicited Train song reference there).
When I got to the first of two buoys I was a little concerned about my endurance, only being 1/3rd the way through. But by the time I hit the second buoy and turned towards the shore, life returned to my body and I knew I could finish without major panic. It’s just water. I’m fine. Breath. Paddle. Look up. Breathe. You’ve done this before. Shoreline. People coming into focus. Sand. Stand up. Go.
Emerging from the water, walking to get my balance and bearings. Then running up to the transition to start the bike. People had mentioned the first hill was a bear and they weren’t wrong. But the cycling portion went really good! Once I started seeing cyclists going the other direction on the 2-lane road I knew the halfway turn-around point was approaching, another boost of life. Keep going. Head down. Strong arms. Legs in constant motion. Stay focused.
Transition to run went smooth except that I had forgotten to properly prepare my running shoes. The insert in the left shoe was out of place which I didn’t notice till I put the shoe on. I tried to take it off fax and fix the mistake. Slipping the shoe on again and I was off to complete the 5K. The sound of feet hitting pavement. Sweat. Heat. But it’s the last leg of the race. Push.
This is a good time to insert a part of these races that gives me a real pep in my step (or metal to my pedal?). There’s something of a morale boost when I catch people and pass them. It’s also very heartening when I realize no one has passed me on the bike or run. Now, before you go congratulating me you should know one thing: No one could’ve passed me because I started in the back! And I don’t mean near the back. I was part of the final wave to hit the water so of course no one passed me, there was no one behind me to begin with!
I also met my goal of finishing top in my age group but at the time of this post, official results haven’t been posted so I haven’t found out where I ended up among all the athletes in the race. I do know that the other guy in my age group (two is the loneliest number) wasn’t far behind me and he was on a …get this… he was on a tandem bike! Pretty cool, and I’m guessing he would’ve beat me had he done the cycling like a normal (boring 😂) person. They were on a double seater Huffy and it was…. AMAZING.
So I potentially reached 2 of my 3 goals (top age group, top 10 overall, under 1:05:00 which I missed by about 5 minutes) which is awesome but the real take-away is that it was a fun, hard race, I connected more with the triathlon group I’m part of, and I was gifted another event without injury or any equipment issues.
Out of the Wilderness 