American Idol Eliminates Two… But Who?

Things are getting tricky on American Idol. It’s always a little crazy when there are fewer and fewer contestants left and tonight we’ll hear the top 10 sing as they are mentored by Shania Twain. Allegedly, two will be eliminated and I have fun guessing who those folks will be. The second half of last week’s two-episode eliminations was not just a little boring. It was good ol’ fashioned snooze fest. Here’s a recap that’s more entertaining and a lot shorter.

I can’t even remember which songs Jack Blocker or McKenna Faith did and they’re my top 2! It was rough. You know it’s bad when the only reason the show had any entertainment value was how bad a performance was. That award was shared last week… Roman, who did a very underwhelming rendition of Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Kayko who had an eye-opening take on “Somebody That I Used To Know.” The kind of eye-opening where all you can do is stare in disbelief and wonder: Where did we go wrong?

Hopefully tonight they’ll correct the song choice mistakes (and maybe a mentor mistake? Although I don’t know how much Meghan Trainor had to do with the song choices or the final deliveries). So let’s get to tonight’s eliminations. If I had my druthers, I’d eliminate Kayko and Julia. One is just too much like a bad actor playing the part of a singer and the other is a good singer but so far, really boring. I’ll let you sort out who’s who. But I’ll try to be fair in my picks. Here are the top 10 and in *bold are who I think will be eliminated based on a little bit of research.

Kayko
McKenna Faith
KB
Julia Gagnon
Triston Harper
Emmy Russell
Jack Blocker
*Mia Matthews
*Will Mosely
Abi Carter

Who are your favorites and who would you guess is going home tonight?

-Out of the Wilderness

Nerves and Anticipation When My Triathlon is a Week Away…

The next triathlon I’ll be participating in is exactly a week away. Hard to believe how fast time flies when you’re having fun training for a race. It seems like just yesterday I wrote about how it was a month away.

Without having official data to prove it, I strongly believe I’ve improved my swimming (which is hugely important, the first leg of the three-discipline race). Will I be a dolphin speeding through the water? No. But I *think* I’ll look less like a cat in a bathtub. That was me in my first tri race. Gosh, that first triathlon seems SO long ago (last April). I finished 93rd out of 128 and vowed to never do another race again. So dramatic.

But since then I’ve improved in speed and efficiency. It also helps that I am using a newer bicycle and clothing better-suited for triathlons. So that April race when I finished 93rd, it was a 600 yard swim, 19 mile bike, and a 5K run.

Guess what next week’s distances are? Yep, pretty much the same! The only difference is 3 miles less on the bicycle course. I’m excited, a little nervous (I’ll be very nervous as it gets closer), but really just full of anticipation. This morning I joined a group bicycle ride and we did 33 miles. At the very same time, doing these longer (for me) rides is encouraging and humbling because 1. I’m happy to be part of group rides and 2. These cyclists are fast. Huge quads, huge calves, sometimes I take a look at my own chicken legs and think I must be an imposter!

Hoping next week I’ll feel less like a chicken and more like a roadrunner. Meep Meep.

In my last triathlon post I included a photo of my training calendar. Here’s the updated calendar with just 7 days left till race day.

-Out of the Wilderness

NerdWallet Future You – Commercials That Present Me Hates

Am I the only one who gets very annoyed by these NerdWallet commercials? Below is an example of the campaign NerdWallet has going with ‘future you’ being unhappy about decisions ‘present you’ is making…

I can’t yet put a finger on what it is that irritates me. Maybe it’s the tone of their voices? The melody? Something isn’t sitting right with me so every time these ads come on, I can’t hit the mute button fast enough. It’s another addition to the list of commercials I don’t like, including:

Instacart Football Game and Grocery Store

Peloton Platitudes

Kars4Kids Commercials

I wish the NerdWallet jingle sounded more pleasant, like this one from Daisy…

Or this one from Skyrizi…

Skyrizi “Nothing Is Everything”

Until these NerdWallet ads get new, and better, singers, I’ll be changing the channel or muting it as quickly as current me can. Future me is already so grateful.

-Out of the Wilderness

Four More Years Pause

Everyone has gaffes. It’s why blooper reels are usually really fun whether it’s from a movie you just watched or a TV show. I don’t think, however, that the level and frequency of the gaffes coming from a sitting president in Biden’s condition is anything to laugh about. In fact, I feel sorry for him. Many years ago he got so entangled in the web of lust, power, and greed, he probably has no idea how out of touch he is with real Americans. A question we should all ask ourselves is if we would feel good if Joe were the boss where we work. As Elvis sings, “It’s such an easy answer to such an easy question.”

Joe Biden’s latest blunder is NOT a sketch from Saturday Night Live. Or as Joe would say, I’m serious, not a joke.

His speech writers attempted to “organically” start the common chant for presidents looking for reelection. The problem, though? Joe read out loud what he shouldn’t be reading out loud.

I haven’t heard anyone mention what Joe went on to say: “Freedom over democracy.” Ummm, ok. It’s going to be a wild 7 months before the election… an election that features one guy who most people are surprised is still alive (old Joe), another who is in court (Trump), and another who went to Hawaii after wildfires killed over a hundred people and laughed while he said the ground is hot (oh wait, that was old Joe, too). We’re living in some weird times in the United States. I just hope I don’t end up like Joe Biden’s uncle Bosie. I have another sprint triathlon coming up in a week and I do NOT have time to get eaten by cannibals!

-Out of the Wilderness

Anne Wilson – Songs About Whiskey and Smoking and Jesus

Who knew a song about whiskey could actually be a song about Jesus? I was not expecting to be so impressed when I clicked to watch Anne Wilson’s new video for “Songs About Whiskey.” I thought it would just be another country song about drinking, a bar, line dancing, or drinking and line dancing in a bar, but boy was I wrong. Well, sort of wrong. It turns out, it’s *kinda* about drinking, dancing, and a bar… but with a pretty major twist. Take a look then scroll down for more…

Her voice is so full, nothing subtle about it, right? I can’t decide if it’s the vibrato that I like so much or just the confidence and seasoned sound of her voice. The video was directed by TK McKamy who’s responsible for other country music videos like Thomas Rhett “Marry Me,” Mitchell Tenpenny “Anything She Says,” and Maddie & Tae “Girl In A Country Song,” just to name a few.

The song was written by  Matthew West, Jeff Pardo, Anne Wilson, and Lauren Hungate. I love the clever lyrics so I thought it would be fun to uncover some of the country songs Anne might be singing about. She belts out, Songs about Jack Daniels, songs about Jim Beam, one night regrets, neon and nicotine.

What might those songs be? How about Little Big Town’s “Wine, Beer, and Whiskey”…

You can’t mention a song about Jack Daniels without including Brad Paisley’s “Alcohol”…

The lyric about one night regrets made me immediately think of Lee Ann Womack’s “I May Hate Myself In The Morning”…

There are a handful of songs about neon-related things but let’s go way back to the 90s with Alan Jackson’s “Chasing That Neon Rainbow”…

Anne’s lyrics mention nicotine which is a little harder to track down specifically mentioned in a country song. Or any song. Let’s go with one of my favorite country artists, Eric Church “Smoke A Little Smoke.” But don’t smoke or vape, that’s bad for you.

I have a feeling I’ll be singing or humming “Songs About Whiskey” for the rest of the week and somehow it might count as worship? I haven’t quite figured that out yet. If you want to become the next fan of Anne Wilson’s, follow her on Instagram @AnneWilsonMusic and Twitter @AnneWilsonMusic.

-Out of the Wilderness