Dreamland – The first Nicholas Sparks book I’ve ever read

I don’t know why but I feel a little embarrassed that I haven’t read a Nicholas Sparks book in the past. He’s got enough for me to choose from, that’s for sure. Twenty-three New York Times best sellers and eleven books turned into movies. And you’d think I would’ve read The Notebook because it’s historically been one of my top three favorite movies. What can I say, I’m a sucker for drama, romance, action, and humor. The Notebook has it all. 

Dreamland is the most recent book by Nicholas Sparks. Also, I should say that I haven’t finished it yet. I’m about halfway through. I won’t give any spoilers but I like that part of the book is going to include Nashville (I think?), a city I called home for 16 years. The early chapters take place in St. Petersburg, Florida, a city serving as the location of a few years of my childhood. I like that connection also.

Like I said, I’m about halfway through and I’m enjoying the story. A bit predictable, I mean, why stray from a tried and true formula, right? But I’m definitely interested enough and the weather these days is dreary enough (or sunny enough to sit outside) and I’m in enough of a reading mood to keep going. 

Have you read it yet? Without totally ruining it for me or anyone else reading this post, did you like the way the book ended? I’ll post updates as I near the end, surely there’ll be some sort of twist and I guess it’s proper to say… I won’t have seen it coming.

-Out of the Wilderness

Green Day song identifies as Grammy Award winner

Santa Monica, CA – Rock alternative band Green Day has another Grammy Award to brag about. Their decades-old song “She” recently declared it now identifies as “I Will Always Love You,” a track more commonly associated with Whitney Houston. The song has been called “She” since the early 1990s but as societal norms have changed in the past few years, Green Day admits being embarrassed about their close-minded song title. “The 90s were pretty wild,” says Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong. “But now ‘She’ can be whoever or whatever ‘She’ wants to be. As a band, we’re a lot more aware of pronouns and swapping out a pronoun for a couple other pronouns seemed like a no-brainer.”

This is not Green Day’s first Grammy Award, although awarding it retroactively technically does make it one of their first Grammys. It’s also a giant step forward for any artist who’s been snubbed by the Grammys but wants to be a Grammy winner (See: Katy Perry) (See: Snoop Dogg) (See: Queen).

Social activists and melophiles are calling BS on this new development. They are blasting Green Day for appropriating the work of a black woman, stating, in part, “Isn’t that just like the white man to take someone else’s hard work and call it their own?” Green Day learned of the fan fallout and now rumors have been confirmed that Billie Joe and the band dropped the name ‘Green Day,’ much like country music trio Lady Antebellum did in 2020. Completely overshadowing a Black artist who already went by the name Lady A, they took her stage name, in the name of racial progress.

Inspired by their heroism, Green Day will henceforth be known as Black Pumas, singers of Grammy Award winning song “I Will Always Love You.”

-OTW News

The New Nike Ja Morant Commercial – Music, Cute Shoes, and More

It’s seems fitting to say “good morning” as you check out my post today, even if you’re reading it some other time of the day. That’ll make sense shortly, but first let’s take a look at a new Nike commercial featuring Ja Morant, apparently a star for the Memphis Grizzlies (I wouldn’t know, I haven’t watched the NBA in ….how long?). Here’s the commercial then scroll down for more info!

The Music. The song is called “Good Morning, Mr. Echo” by Swing Slow. I’ve seen conflicting dates (1996 and 2018) but from my research, my best guess is that the song was released on an album in 1996.

The song is a cover version of the original from 1951, written and composed by Bill and Belinda Putnam.

The Shoes. Ja Morant also has a Nike shoe designed just for him, available for the rest of us, too, of course. I guess the days of a badass looking shoe (see: 1990s Air Jordans) are a thing of the past.

Very cute video, I’ll admit that! But a cute shoe, too? I’m sure that’s what every male basketball player wants to hear: “Sick three pointer, dude… and hey, adorable shoes.” Nike lost my business a while back and did nothing to gain it back when they recently released this bizarre “women in sports” campaign. Maybe if they just got back to selling quality products NOT made by kids in other countries, they’d be on the road to gaining customers back.

OK, rant over! How do you feel about the Nike commercial? Some are saying it’s a bit boring and doesn’t have the razzle dazzle of previous campaigns centered around star athletes. Chime in below and let me know what you think…

See you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

“Let’s finish the job!” – Joe Biden

Half the country thinks “Let’s finish the job” is a call for progress and unification. The other half would call it a threat. Isn’t it funny how one statement can be a promise or a threat depending on who you ask? Since Joe Biden became president, a few things have improved, generally speaking, yet evidence of that in our daily lives is hard to find. I could ramble on but about the Democrats, the Republicans, the swamp in Washington, D.C., but Russell Brand says it so much better, and clearer, than I can.

Both sides are corrupt. That’s probably not a surprise to anyone anymore. Maybe there are a handful of honest politicians out there and maybe there really is a Nigerian prince in need of financial help, you remember that one who emailed you a few years ago? But the truth is this, whether you send money to a fake prince in Nigeria or a narcissistic politician in the U.S., you ain’t ever seeing that money again. I’d say the return on investment is zero in both cases.

That sort of sheds light on how I feel about taxing the top corporations, too. While I agree taxes should be fair (flat tax, anyone?), the big push from Democrats has very little to do with the common American. Ask yourself this, if the government enacts some kind of new tax on Nike (a company I despise for these reasons), what good will that do me or you? Do you think if Washington gets a million dollars more from Nike this year it’s somehow going to improve our lives in any measurable way whatsoever? No. Not at all. Government will find some way to take that million and squander it or just send it to another country in the name of “defending democracy worldwide.”

Joe Biden wants to finish the job. I’m just very skeptical on what exactly is the job he’s talking about?

-Out of the Wilderness

Blink Twice if this VABYSMO Commercial Makes Your Skin Crawl

I’ve been seeing this commercial about Wet AMD and even typing Wet AMD makes me nauseous. It’s probably the same feeling some people get when they hear words like moist, mucus, phlegm, and pulp. If you’re one of those people, sorry about making you read those just now. My bad! Might as well watch the VABYSMO commercial and get it over with…

So we’re adding Wet AMD to those words that make our skin crawl, right? Yuck. Now let’s check out the fine print from the commercial. In tiny text, here are a few things about Vabysmo: It’s given by an injection in the eye. Starts with 4 monthly eye injections. Common side effects are cataract or blood in the white of the eye.

And the voiceover guy says that other possible side effects are eye infection or retinal detachment, increase in eye pressure, heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots.

Um, yeah I’m gonna pass but thanks!

Which commercials would you rather not see ever again? I know some people completely hate this Amazon commercial. Another one I don’t care for is this Paxlovid ad. Let me know in the comments below, see you tomorrow!

-Out of the Wilderness