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
Amazon hits a nerve with anyone who has in-law issues during the holidays. Their latest ad highlights the drama between the families of Romeo and Juliet. But with the help of Amazon, a family fiasco is finally finished…
The Music. There are a couple of songs featured in this commercial. The first one playing in the background is “Greensleeves,” which is the same melody in the Christmas song a lot of us know. Can you name the title of the Christmas version of this song?
The Next Song. The karaoke queens in this commercial are singing “Jiggle Jiggle” by Duke & Jones and Louis Theroux.
The Gold Mic. I can’t quite find the exact microphone used in the ad but Amazon has quite a few that are similar. Check out this one, which will take your karaoke party to royal Shakespearian levels.
Do you have any upcoming in-law anxieties you’d like to share? And what’s that Christmas song from the beginning of the post? Chime in below and thanks for dropping in!
My favorite thing about this movie was trying to come up with all the words that start with dis- ….like dismayed, disagree, dislike, displeased, and discard. As in, I’m going to discard this movie from my “recently watched” display so I’m not reminded of this dissatisfaction of dis movie!
Hello there, I’m Ben. Like you, I was looking forward to the follow-up story of a movie I loved, “Enchanted.” But what did Disney do? They ruined it! They made everyone we love in the story kind of unloveable. For instance, Pip the chipmunk. He was simply adorable when we last saw him starring alongside Giselle. But in this movie he gained a New York accent, yuck (no offense!). If that wasn’t disastrous enough, they turned him into a cat, and not even a cute one!
Then there’s Giselle. She was so happy, kind, and innocent in “Enchanted,” nothing to dislike. So why not turn her into a villain, right? She went from everyone’s favorite princess to the wicked witch in a matter of minutes. Plus, was I the only one a little disconcerted with the movie having a wicked witch AND an evil queen? Two villains don’t make sense in this type of Cinderella story.
The next lovable character was Robert (Giselle’s hubby). We know him as a strong, decisive, although a bit stubborn, confident man. But in this continuation of their story, he turns into bumbling, goofy, goofball. He can’t use a sword and is conveyed as a soft, beta male. This is disjointed with the Robert we saw in “Enchanted.”
So take away the chipmunk, the humor, and the charm of the original “Enchanted” and what do you have? Yep, “Disenchanted.” I fell asleep more than once trying to finish the movie. It’s not that I went into expecting to dislike it, as was the case when I tried watching “Hamilton.” WIth that live version of the stage play, I made it to intermission and if I never watch the rest, I’m perfectly OK with that. I’ll say this, the music (in “Hamilton”) is fantastic. But I spent more than half the time not knowing exactly what was going on because I caught only about every 5th word in the rap songs. And I’ll say this, too… the music (in “Enchanted”) doesn’t have one song I’ll remember. And that is VERY different than the first one. It even includes one of my favorite songs of all time from Jon McLaughlin.
Some reviews point out something I completely agree with… the magic just isn’t there. Trying to recapture the magic of a successful first film has got to be very difficult. It’s the reason nearly everyone will poo-poo sequels in almost every movie franchise. I think for Disney, though, they could’ve pretty much stuck with the formula that worked for them in “Enchanted.” And by that, I mean don’t change Pip into a unlikeable and unfunny cat. That seems like a no-brainer. And meow it’s time for my final thoughts…
I wish (with the magical wishing wand, perhaps?) that I could go back to before I watched “Disenchanted” and NOT watch it. The movie was that disappointing. If you’ve seen it, let me know if I’m overthinking it or missing something. Share your dispute in the comments below!
We’re three quarters through November so with about 6 weeks left of 2022, I *think* I’ve wrapped up my final dates of 2022. It was kind of crazy that I had a date after just a couple of months of being in Florida. In 2022 dates were few and far between but in the fall I had more success. One woman was very unexpected. We both made ourselves available so that led to a few fun hiking adventures and lots of talking. That one fizzled because I’m picky (too picky sometime), then another date was pretty fun at the fair in town. We only went on two rides and I’m 100% embarrassed to say the flying swing ride thing made me feel nauseous. After that we went on the ferris wheel which was much more my speed, although we only went around twice. Tens of dollars later we went our separate ways and haven’t met up since then.
We weren’t a long-term match. But I could go back and see those farm animals weekly! The goats, cows, and sheep were so cute.
Part of why I didn’t date very consistently is because I was traveling quite a bit. The first half of the year was mostly Florida then in the summer I went out to Texas which was amazing. But it’s hard to connect with anyone, much less an attractive woman, when I’m only in one place for a few days.
I still need to think about what my goals and aspirations will be for 2023, but I have a strong feeling it will include more camping adventures and hopefully some meaningful dates!
With all the holiday commercials on TV, I almost totally forgot that I have my own ads to throw into the mix! They might not make you cry tears of joy like this Publix Thanksgiving commercial or the Christmas commercial from Amazon, but if you have little ones that love to smile and love great stories about cute animals, either of these children’s books will be a huge hit this Christmas!
I absolutely love the artwork in both of these books. The illustrators I worked with created such adorable animals, from giraffes to hound dogs. Take a chance on either of these books by adding them to your Amazon cart with the following links. PS. They’re available through other bookstores as well, if Amazon isn’t your thing!
If you were putting together a team of super talented (in other words, barely above average) cornhole players, and you wanted to have a fun or clever team name, which would you choose as your favorite from the list below? I might be part of a just-for-fun tournament so my cornhole partner and I are coming up with team names for our quest to the championship!
CORNHOLE TEAM NAMES
Children of the Corn
Bag Boys, Bag Boys, What You Gonna Do?
Bag ‘Em and Tag ‘Em
Shuckin’ Awesome
It Has the Juice
The Corn Identity
Bags of Righteousness
Corn Chowder
Corn Bros
Two Guys and a Baggy
Me So Corny
Corn Stalkers
The Next AirCorn Illness
Outscorn The Competition
He Shoots, He Scorns
The Cornona Viruses
Foghorn Legcorn
Miyagi Know Corn Hole
The Chronicles of Cornia
When Bags Cry
If you have a favorite or want to chime in with your own ideas, comment below. Thanks for dropping in!
Out of the Wilderness 