The New iPhone Karate Commercial – The Music, the Actor, and More

Apple has a new karate kid commercial and notice how I didn’t capitalize karate kid because it’s not THE Karate Kid, but it’s definitely a karate kid, his dad, and an iPhone. This is one of my favorite iPhone ads because it’s funny with a fitting song, and the editing/timing is 👌. Everyone who has a smartphone knows battery life is important. So important Apple makes entire commercials about a long-lasting battery. You’ve probably seen the singing wall outlets already. And do you remember this bicycle-riding kid from 2022? Battery life is also a must-have if your son is going to hiya through stacks of wood. It may take all night for this determined kid. Check out the synchronized chops then scroll down for more info…

The Music. The kid’s soundtrack is a song called “How Many Times” by JJ & The Mood. Here’s the entire peculiar track…

I think that’s real. *checking if it’s real* Yeah, yeah that’s real. I’m almost sure this will be the strangest music video (and song) I experience all year. How Apple came across it is beyond me. I think even JJ & The Mood was surprised they found it! Here’s an Instagram post about the commercial (and take a sec to follow them @jjandthemood)…

The Kid Actor. Playing the karate kid is actor Ayush Rajmachikar. What a good sport! He’s also on Instagram (@ayush_rajmachikar), where he confessed this:

Great ad and I hope the band and all the actors find even more success in 2024!

-Out of the Wilderness

The Hyundai Viking Commercial – The Music and More!

Hyundai has an adventurous new commercial out featuring a Viking family… sort of. And no, this doesn’t take place in Minnesota. They’re driving a Santa Fe through some rough terrain. I guess I should say it’s not New Mexico either. Check the commercial out then scroll down for more info…

The Music. This song is by the well-known 70s/80s band Heart, and it’s called “Barracuda.”

Directors. Pulled from an article on MarketingDive.com, the commercial was directed by the same guys behind the GEICO caveman ads (see quote below). If you haven’t seen the updates to those, get ready to laugh and watch the GEICO caveman here.

The commercials set in pristine outdoor vistas were directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, known for their work on Geico’s Cavemen commercials.

-Out of the Wilderness

Triathlon Training and How I Almost Fell on the Dance Floor Because of It

On the one hand, I feel like I’m in the best shape of my post-college life. In college it just sort of happened… from playing intramural sports, bicycling to class, and working at the university’s gym. Now it takes more effort because I’m not bicycling to anywhere specific, I’m not working at a gym, and the last sport I played was pick-up volleyball at a local rec gym.

But then there’s the triathlon training.

Actually at this moment in time I’m training for a duathlon, which is a triathlon without the swimming. Remember how I pretty much stink at swimming? For the upcoming race near Orlando, Florida, it will consist of a 2 mile run, a 12 mile bike, and another 2 mile run. I set up a whole calendar for my training and I think I’ve only had to rearrange a couple of days due to weather and schedule conflicts. The people who say the training is the best part are totally right. Of course, doing the race is quite a feeling, too, but the training for this one has been especially fun. And by fun I will repeat a line a coworker said about me once, “You pride yourself on depriving yourself.” It’s true. Instead of comfort, I go ride my bike or run or do an outdoor workout. It’s tough but I like the suffering when it comes to workouts. Plus, I want to see what my body is capable of without my mind getting in the way.

But then there was that one time I was doing a square dance. During a move called “the gypsy” which has been updated to “right shoulder round,” my right knee buckled and I nearly fell to the ground. How embarrassing! My partner Jenny didn’t seem to judge me too harshly and I proceeded to make fun of myself, anyway.

So in summary, the training is going well. My body is paying the price but in the best way I can think of. Tired. Worn out. But hopefully ready for the day of the race. Here’s the last cycling course from yesterday’s workout.

-Out of the Wilderness

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” 2023 – Not As Hot As I Thought

I’ll admit that when I first heard this song, I thought it was pretty cool. A list of events that happened in my lifetime that I could recall and sometimes even remember where I was when they happened. I listened along, practically pointing at the radio saying, “Yep!” at the mention of some of the crazier things this song covers from 1989 to 2023.

But after hearing it a few times, I began to wonder more about it. Shouldn’t it be in chronological order? Wouldn’t that help follow along? Then I made the fortunate mistake of reading a Slate article that points out 33 things wrong with the song, and now I rather hear their list as a song than listen to the Fall Out Boy version again!

Other comments about the song, questioning why certain things weren’t included like: No mention of Bitcoin, Covid, Kobe Bryant, American Idol, and the biggest blunder of them all, where’s the mention of my children’s books!? What an embarrassing oversight by Fall Out Boy. How easy would it have been to say something like this:

Hanging chads in the fall, Big and Small, God Made Them All.

It flows right off the tongue, right? Or how about this one…

OJ Simpson, killer mood, should have read The Brave Bamboo.

I forgive Fall Out Boy… this time. But whoever composes the next iteration of this song in 2050 better remember to give me a shout out for my podcast that I’m sure I’ll have started by then.

-Out of the Wilderness

Connor Price – Kid Actor, Adult Rapper, or Trendsetter?

If you sat down to try and figure out if Connor Price is a kid actor, adult rapper, or trendsetter you might be in for a surprise. There’s always a secret option and in this case it’s d. all of the above. Yep, Connor was a kid actor who’s making a name for himself as an adult rapper (while still acting, too). I can’t authoritatively say if he’s a trendsetter by the dictionary definition of the word (I still wear clothes from high school so what do I know about trends?) but he DOES have a song called “Trendsetter” soooooo there’s that. Before we get to the new music video though, he’s taken the time to help us understand more of his story.

Eat Play Your Veggies. You might have seen a snippet of the video with him and a carrot flute, right? Those short TikTok style videos were my first introduction to Connor and the one below is both hilarious and impressive. Who knew a carrot could carry a tune?

Trendy. His most recent video is for a song called “Trendsetter.” I was planning on not liking it (because I’m not a huge fan of new rap music) but I reckon he proved me wrong with this one. I found myself really enjoying the performance and the lyrics, thinking he’d go one way with the rhymes and he pulls out a phrase or sentence I didn’t expect, and didn’t expect to like! I’m a fan. Here’s “Trendsetter.”

-Out of the Wilderness