You Mean You Forgot Cranberries, Too?

“You mean you forgot cranberries, too?” I’ve been repeating this question for a few days now. It comes from The Waitresses song called “Christmas Wrapping.” The song is a whole story about a missed connection x 3, but then the story comes to a very happy ending when she dashes out to the store to find those cranberries she forgot earlier in the day.

All About That Bass. I found comments about the killer Christmas bassline and I’ll admit, I hadn’t noticed it before. Busy fingers by an iconic bass player, Tracy Wormworth. Wow. I agree with other comments about the lyrics being fresh even 41 years later. Yeah, that’s right the song came out in 1981! I can’t really think of any other song I want to queue up the next time I sing karaoke. The last one I performed was Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and I must say it was a big hit! Meaning, I didn’t totally embarrass myself.

This song is right up there with so many great Christmas songs. However you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a great time with family, or friends, or solo if you’re like the singer of the song and need some time by yourself…

Just don’t forget the cranberries.

-Out of the Wilderness

The English Language is Funny Sometimes

I was in a conversation with family during an early Christmas celebration and the topic came up about a woman I dated many years ago. She and I presented a fun little routine doing the hand clap thing from the cup song by Anna Kendrick.

Our spin on it was just adding a kiss at the very end. A harmless peck on the lips and it got a quite a reaction. Fast forward to 2023 and some of my nieces randomly started doing the cup routine at the kitchen table. One of them mentioned this woman I dated. Another said that was the first time they’d seen people kiss. Then another said to me…

You kissed a woman??

The English language is funny because of the words we emphasize. Just that question “You kissed a woman?” can mean a few different things depending on which word has the most weight.

YOU kissed a woman? Meaning: You haven’t kissed anything is years.

You KISSED a woman? Meaning: Thought you only gave women high-fives.

You kissed A woman? Meaning: Just one woman doesn’t sound accurate.

You kissed a WOMAN? Meaning: Suspicion about who might or might not be a homo.

Interesting right? As it’s recorded in history, I kissed a woman. No caps. Just me, a woman, and a little public display of affection. I wonder if she’s missed me since I’ve been gone?

-Out of the Wilderness

The GEICO Caveman is Back – The Commercial and More!

No one:

Everyone: We want the caveman back.

GEICO: We got you.

The commercial I didn’t know I needed to wrap 2023 up comes from GEICO and it’s 2 minutes you must watch. Remember Caveman from back in the day? He’s come out of hiding and GEICO hints there’s more to come…

Credits. Jeff Daniel Phillips as Caveman. Annie Sertich as Tina. Andrew Anthony as VoiceOver. Original Score by We Are Walker. A note from Jeff’s website: Jeff originated the Geico Caveman character and was spokesman for eight years. During the popular, award-winning campaign he appeared in commercials, print, their website and in the ABC sitcom titled Cavemen.

I needed to refresh my memory so if you also want to watch a few, check out a handful of hilarious commercials from the mid-2000s.

-Out of the Wilderness

The next water bottle brand trend?

There was Yeti. Also Hydro Flask. Somehow Stanley caught on. I just heard from one of my nieces there was a Gatorade squirt bottle in there somewhere between Hydro Flask and Stanley. As a 44-year-old man, I will never claim to know what’s popular with the yutes…

Another niece of mine had another brand of water bottle on her Christmas list. And this was a powerpoint presentation so she clearly spent time on the gifts that she really wanted. On this list was a brand I’ve seen around but never thought twice about it. Have you heard of Owala? I checked out their bottles at Walmart and the liquid delivery system, if I can call it that, is pretty unique. It’s almost like a multistep process to reveal the little spout thing. I guess that’s the wrinkle they’ve introduced to stand out from the Yetis, Stanleys, and Hydro Flasks.

But what I really want to know is which brand is next. It’s already too late to buy Owala stock. So it could be Ozark Trail, Nalgene, Camelback.

-Out of the Wilderness

Yeti in the OREO Commercial

It’s nearly Christmas and the holiday commercials are still coming on strong! Some feature holiday themes very obviously (family togetherness, etc) like this Publix commercial and then some include different elements of winter. Recently I saw this OREO commercial on TV featuring Santa, a Yeti, and OREO cookies. Take a look…

I don’t think the commercial makes much sense which would be fine if it was cute or funny. The Yeti rushes over with OREO cookies for Santa, which is the final piece of Santa’s preparation for Christmas. The Yeti reminded me of another commercial featuring the furry monster. It’s from Amazon last year. Remember this one?

Which commercial do you like better? Either way, it’s cold outside and Christmas is right around the corner!

-Out of the Wilderness