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
My most recent run was more than what the sprint triathlon distance is (3.1 miles). I decided to go 3.5 miles like I had done about a week before. Let me tell ya, runners out there will say 3.5 is kind of a short run but by golly, I was exhausted after! I didn’t quite reach the goal I’d set for myself as far as total time goes, but I *was* faster than the previous week, so that’s good. It’s funny, though, how my body is more tight and tired the morning after. Maybe I overdid it, but I woke up the following day and had to do stretches in bed just to think about getting out of bed!
But deep down, it feels good to push myself like this! I believe, and I hope, it’s going to pay off when I take part in the October sprint triathlon. Of course, swimming is my kryptonite but if I can manage to finish that without much struggle, the bike and the run are going to be great. I can feel it.
Kleenex is showing off their inclusivity in a recent commercial featuring an icky situation. The dreaded snot bubble and no tissue close by! The next best thing is the sleeve, right? In the ad called “Save the Sleeve,” I’m not sure viewers will be commenting much about that when the parent’s gender overshadows anything else in the commercial. Take a look…
I first saw this commercial during college football games on Saturday. My guess is that it’s not going to go over very well with the sports crowd, especially if anyone out there had the same question I did after watching it. The question… who or what did I just see? This young child is in for an epic internal battle, and maybe some therapy, when he gets older and tries to figure out what’s going on with their dad… or mom? This pronoun, gender, sexual identity thing has gotten out of hand and unfortunately, Kleenex is another brand that’s fallen prey to it.
Ultimately, it’s sad when a person created for great things is enabled to go down an unscientific path of confusion and lies.
There are a handful of more obvious gender/sexuality commercials, like this one from OREO or this one from Ford. But when when a brand tries to sneak in anything about gender, it just comes across as devious and unpleasant.
Taylor Swift is in the news for who she *might* currently be dating. Rumors are swirling, but nothing confirmed yet, that she’s linked up with NFL tight end Travis Kelce. I don’t know him personally so my assessment might be way off but with the public persona he’s created for himself, he just doesn’t come across as someone I’d want any woman I know to date. I don’t know Taylor either but the pair just doesn’t jive with what I know of her. No offense (about to say something offensive) but I’m a little confused why Taylor Swift would date someone who comes across as one of the more dull tools in the shed. She must be out of songwriting material or something.
Taylor has often reminded me of a character from “Boy Meets World.” Yes, I’m going there. On the best show of the 90s, there was a girl named Corrina who dated Eric Matthews. She was a musician and after they broke up, she wrote dark, revengeful songs about “Shallow Boy” Eric. She gained a lot of fans and radio play but once Eric figured out her songwriting methods, he flipped the script and complimented her when he saw her next. His kindness softened her anger and her music reflected it. No more break-up songs.
Is Travis Kelce “ready for it”… to be part of a future Taylor Swift break-up song? This is the question he faces if the rumors are true. Or will their alleged relationship turn into an old-fashioned “Love Story.”
Rodney King once asked “Can we all get along?” It was a question meant to bring people together peacefully after a horrible incident in the early 90s where King was treated very unfairly by Los Angeles cops. The police were basically all acquitted and that’s when the riots started. But King wanted a peaceful end to the destruction. The sentiment of racial harmony (or lack thereof) is echoed in Tom MacDonald’s Tom MacDonald’s new video for “Race War.” He joined forces once again with Adam Calhoun. Take a look then scroll down for more thoughts…
Treat Every Man As My Brother. This phrase in the lyrics is what it’s all about. I remember growing up, actually I should say it this way… I DON’T remember growing up thinking about anyone’s race at all. It wasn’t until adulthood that Washington politicians started reminding me and my generation that race matters. Of course, they don’t say it plainly but they’re always around to keep people divided. It’s sick.
Pro-American. One thing that Tom does very consistently is hold up the banner of being an American. Part of Adam’s lyrics in this one go like this, “I ain’t pro-black, I ain’t pro-white, I’m pro-American.” We’re on the same team but the mainstream news doesn’t really want us in harmony. There are ratings to think about. There’s money to be made in division.
Whites and Blacks Are All The Same. For as much as I love most of the lyrics in these songs from Tom, this phrase is not one I totally agree with, although I think we probably see eye to eye on what he’s saying from a zoomed out perspective. But I love the diversity of races. There are qualities of the black race that you can’t find anywhere else. Same with white people, Hispanic people, Asian people. As DCTalk once put it, “There’s joy in diversity.” When I lived in Nashville, I was on the side of town with lots of diversity. Income, race, gender, age. I loved my side of town because I got to see different cultures as close as a few houses down or a few streets over. To say I, as a white man, was just like my neighbors who were Mexican would be a missed opportunity to celebrate the great parts of each of our cultures.
You Against Me. Something’s going on in America, and it’s not good. Our foundation is being shaken and if we don’t come together with calm minds and peace as the goal, the evil powers-that-be are going to tear it all to pieces. They want us to keep fighting against each other, to stay divided. We absolutely cannot let that happen. We’re at the point where we must ask ourselves, “If not now, when?” The time is now to let go of our rigid stone-cold stances on things. To open our eyes to ugly people who only want power. Reject them and come together as Americans. It’s time to get along.
For the sake of the contestants, and the guy, I hope it’s a success but I have major doubts. I already believe failure is looming, not because the idea is bad. Lots of people enjoy watching love stories unfold. But when the contestants are 60, 70 years old? The alleged success of The Bachelor franchise, in recent years at least, is because viewers like train wrecks. We want to see guys fight and cry. We want to see women fight and cry. It serves one purpose. To make us feel better about ourselves because the contestants are goofballs, and not in the good way.
Put a bunch of golden oldies in the same room and they’re highly likely to get along, brag about their grandkids, and genuinely show concern for each other’s health. It’s a recipe for disaster thoughtful, but boring television. With the time these people have left on this earth, we don’t have time for courtesies, people!
I just don’t see it working. My guess is that they’ll have one or two seasons, enough to parade around a Golden Bachelorette but then it’ll fizzle out because viewership crashes, money dries up, or it gets awkward with multiple hospital visits not dangerous stunts, just from routine age-related check-ups. They’ve opened the can, and what came out can’t be stuffed back in (meaning, things can’t go back to what seemed like a genuine attempt at true love with season 1, episode 1 of The Bachelor).
Out of the Wilderness 