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
Former football player and country music singer Will Moseley made a splash with his American Idol audition earlier this week (episode recap here). He performed an original song called “Gone For Good.” The lyrics are out there on the web (and even Spotify got them wrong) but what I found is not totally accurate so I thought I’d post them word for word so we can all admire his songwriting abilities properly. Here’s his audition then scroll down for the lyrics, and if you want to listen to Will on Spotify, here’s his Spotify profile…
“Gone For Good” by Will Moseley
I keep telling myself it’ll be OK At the end of the long, hard days I don’t believe it No more than I can see it.
She runs off mad to her best friend’s house And I stay right here wonderin’ how it’ll all work out I can’t see it now.
It’ll be 10pm, you’ll be seein’ him And I’ll be at home wonderin’ where you’ve been I can’t help these thoughts, but I wish I could There’s no letting go, even though I know I should Are you gone for bad? Or are you gone for good?
And if I’m ever an option then don’t pick me I don’t wanna be caught in your fantasies I’m tired of waitin’ around wondering if I will.
It’ll be 10pm, you’ll be seein’ him I’ll be at home wonderin’ where you’ve been I can’t help these thoughts, but I wish I could There’s no letting go, even though I know I should Are you gone for bad? Are you gone for good?
I haven’t competed in the same race twice which is kind of hard to believe since I’ve been racing for 81 years! OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. It’s only been 11 months but it FEELS like 8 decades since I splashed around haphazardly in a lake in Tallahassee trying to finish my first sprint triathlon. After that, I did two more sprint triathlons and now I have proof that I did my second duathlon (recap of my first duathlon here)…
Yep, that’s my right foot. *so proud* All the training for the last month was in preparation for the 5K run, 12 mile bike, 1.6 mile run and I have good news… I didn’t embarrass myself! There are better pictures of me in the race but that was my favorite. It makes me feel anonymous like Sia. The race was really fun (and by that, I mean once it was over it was really fun because it was over). I love the nerves as the race is about to start. Everyone’s kind of chomping at the bit to go but waiting for the official to count us down. It’s exciting. Adrenaline rushes. Then the siren sounds and boom, we’re off and running.
Measurable goals for the race were to be one of the top 15 males and finish with a time under 1:09:00. I accomplished one of the two: With a time of 1:10:57, I was one of the top 15 guys so I’ll take that as a partial personal victory!
Now my sights are set on the Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon, the first race I will have done twice. I’m very interested to see how, or if, I’ve improved as a triathlete. I know, though, that soon I’ll have to dip back into a pool to practice my “It’s OK, I’m not drowning” stroke. But for this particular race that didn’t include swimming, I’m mostly happy with the results. I will keep trying to improve my run speed, and there’s still lots of potential for being a faster cyclist. It’s certainly not the bike holding me back anymore (my last bike was a 1970s Sears brand commuter and she’s still lovely, but she’s retired from triathlons 🤪). So as I start thinking about the next races, I will pay special attention to improving my leg strength and endurance. Scroll down for the stats from this second duathlon.
Until next time, if you see me running or riding my bike through your neighborhood, say hi or better yet, come along with me!
**UPDATE: Jennifer made the top 24! Check out her second original song “You Were A Child” here**
One of the standouts so far on the 2024 season of American Idol is folk singer Jennifer Jeffries. I guess I might be a little biased because I love her style of music and her voice is so rare and recognizable already even after one episode. Her audition song (recap of the possible-body-shaming episode here) was called “Change My Ways” and I thought I’d include the lyrics for any curious people out there. I love the way the story starts with the Bible on the desk and ends with the Bible in her hands. Creative writing and I hope there’s a lot more for us to admire from Ms. Jeffries!
“Change My Ways”
I’ve got a Bible on my desk With no highlights or creases Pages still crisp I had this idea Miss Independent That’s who I am Just watch me excel.
Well, I am falling fast Too fast to catch myself Miss Independent Didn’t age too well Well, I have been feeding the flesh I have been living in sin My mouth’s been running wild And I’ve been acting like a wild child So I say this prayer God, I know you’re there I ain’t been playing fair And I’ve been only praying when I need your help.
I’ll sing your praise For my all days I finally changed, Lord, make your ways my ways I’ll sing your praise For my all days I finally changed, Lord, make your ways my ways.
I’ve got a Bible in my hands with faded pages And highlighted paragraphs.
Sometimes too much is too much, right? It’s why phrases like “less is more” even exist. A lot of the contestants this season are overloading their performance with unnecessary vocal runs and riffs. Maybe it’s the nerves or maybe they’re trying really hard to impress the judges. Remember who else tried to do too much? Pamela Bell.
Don’t be Pamela Bell. But for every three oversinging contestants there’s a gem. Episode 3 gave us the gem of Jennifer Jeffries and if she makes it to the live rounds, I’ll be voting for her every chance I get. It’s her unassuming style but mostly (like 94.2%) it’s her voice. Definitely my favorite of so far and I really hope she stands out in Hollywood.
Actually there were quite a few gems in episode 3. I’m thinking of brother and sister Max and Laela Dasher, van lifer CJ Rislove, ex-football player Will Moseley. The next tier of singers below them are Aniston Pate, Nick Conners, and then there are the rest. A wild card who I can’t quite put in a category yet is Madaí ChaKell. She transforms into different styles on the fly and I can’t tell if she’s super talented or just jumping between caricatures… almost mimicking great singers.
If she can show us her own groove with her unique vocal talent, she’ll do really well. She certainly has flair.
And then there’s Scarlett Lee from London. The judges adored her and the show gave her a LOT of air time. I think we need to petition for a cap on each audition. This one seemed to drag on and on and remember the vocal runs from Pamela Bell? She ain’t got nothing on Scarlett. Yes, too much is too much. Besides her crush on Katy Perry, her fashion sense was the topic of discussion amongst the judges, Katy speaking about it the most. Katy even knew what perfume Scarlett was wearing (Alien by Thierry Mugler). Katy mostly affirmed her and her talent but at moments she revealed an undertone of subtle disapproval. The most obvious were these three lines:
“Sometimes people don’t take you seriously…” as she points Vanna White style to Scarlett’s wardrobe.
“…cut through all of the layers, doesn’t matter the makeup, doesn’t matter the outfit…” which means everyone noticed the makeup and the outfit.
“There are so many girls like you that are going to be cheering you on…”
What does “girls like you” mean, exactly? I think Katy was referring to the excessive makeup, the 20-lb eyelashes, the sorority girl dress, and her body. But it’s a singing competition so Scarlett Lee DOES have her voice to lean on. That will help her out a lot if she can tone down the excessive runs and just let us hear her raw voice. She also needs to drop the eyelashes, take off 10 layers of makeup, and well, who am I kidding, she’s not going to last. Contestants from other countries who already have a lot of singing reality show experience (she’s been on X Factor UK twice) don’t get much sympathy when it comes time to vote… if she even makes it to the voting rounds. I’ve already seen enough talent in 3 episodes that put Scarlett Lee out of the top 10 anyway.
Overall it was an entertaining episode and I think there were definitely a few singers who will make it to the live rounds and, dare I say, the top 5 of the whole dang season!
I don’t always do movie reviews, but when I do it’s usually because the movie was irritating. That’s the case again (surprise surprise!) with Tyler Perry’s Mea Culpa. When will people give up on Tyler’s movies? He’s kind of like the black Adam Sandler: A-Listers but most of their movies stink! Actually, Adam Sandler has a new one out called Spaceman and from what I read in reviews, we should only watch it if we feel like punishing ourselves (a coworker once pointed out that I pride myself on depriving myself, so maybe I’ll deprive myself of happiness and watch Spaceman, I deserve it). Both Adam and Tyler should mea culpa themselves, am I right?
OK OK, both men have their moments of genius and I kinda like most (or at least half) of Adam’s movies, but the Tyler Perry films just seem to be getting worse.
Mea Culpa. I went into not knowing anything, in fact I didn’t even know what mea culpa meant but as that scene from Billy Madison (an Adam Sandler movie, don’t ya know) goes, I am now dumber after watching it.
Am I wrong? What am I missing? Maybe Tyler Perry is becoming a legendary director and somehow I missed the plot of this movie. Do enlighten me if you can! It could be that the movie is just bad, and that’s where my opinion sits at the moment. In its defense, there were villains and it had a protagonist (Kelly Rowland, who I thought did a great job acting, as did the other actors). But beyond that all I can say is, “What the heck is going on with this movie?”– and not in an Inception kind of way where it really makes you think while it bends your mind. It’s more like when my dog poops and while she is pooping she’s dipping her head down to eat other poop. Like, really?
Tell me I’m wrong because I want to give Tyler Perry movies a chance, he’s certainly got large portfolio of successful films.
Out of the Wilderness 