A Regretful Connection to ABSOLUT Vodka’s Latest Commercial

There was recently an ad on TV featuring one of my favorite songs from an artist I have regrets about to this very day. First, here’s the ad…

The song is called “Hope” by a very talented artist named Jain. Check her out on Instagram here: @JainMusic.

She uses loops and tracks to make her songs and one of the biggest regrets I have in my life is not going to see her in Nashville in 2017. Gosh, I thought that would be a longer story. I guess I can tell a bit more about it… She was playing one night and I decided to work instead. A radio station aired the entire show so I listened as I was driving around delivering Amazon packages. There was a silver lining, though! Check out the rest of the story here.

I’m glad she has this song featured in the commercial, though. Her music videos are pretty awesome, too. Here are a few of my favorites simply for the editing alone.

This isn’t the first time her music as been featured in a commercial. Here’s “Makeba” in a Levi’s ad…

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Apple Watch Series 7 Commercial – The Music and the connection to Elvis Presley

Apple promotes the toughness of their series 7 watch with clips of it taking a beating. If they really wanted to show it get raked over the coals, tell people the watch is pro-life and see how it holds up! OK, but seriously, the watch survives hit after hit in this ad. Take a look then scroll down for more info…

The song is “The Power of My Love,” performed by Jack White. Here’s the full track from 2019.

There’s also a Jack White duet, performing with the king of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. This version appears on the soundtrack of the 2022 “Elvis” movie. Here’s the song…

And finally, here’s the original by Elvis Presley. The song was released in 1969 on the album “From Elvis in Memphis.” For what it’s worth, Jack White was born 6 years later, in 1975.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

I miss playing volleyball

In the 43 years I’ve been on this earth I’ve played, or at least tried, a lot of sports. When I was young it was baseball, basketball, and soccer. Then flag football and softball. Most recently it was softball and volleyball.

I had no idea I’d miss volleyball the most when I moved out of Tennessee. In Nashville in the summer, I’d play at least once a week. Sometimes 3 times a week!

Since moving to Florida I played a few times at a park with random people. But the crowd was inconsistent and when I showed up at the courts one time, I was basically told there wasn’t room for me to play.

The most volleyball I’ve played in the last few months was with family on a homemade court, and those are always fun times! Hopefully I’ll find something regular again.

If not, I may have to play a sport where other people aren’t needed….like golf. Yuck!

-Out of the Wilderness

Dell’s Computer Commercial – The Music and Adam Sandler’s Connection

Dell has kept their name in the hat for tech worthy of your attention. One of their recent ads includes music you may enjoy, too. Here’s the ad, then scroll down for more info!

The song is “The World Is Mine” by Same Henshaw. Here’s the full track.

The song is also used in the opening scene of Adam Sandler’s movie, “Hustle.” Check it out here…

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

“The Man From Toronto” – Were We Supposed to Laugh?

The first thing I noticed about this movie, just in the first 10 minutes, is the editing. I don’t know if they rushed the whole production process or didn’t have enough money in the budget, but with another pass or two before locking in the final film someone would have caught the errors. Or at least, they should’ve! So as trivial as it sounds, these handful of editing mistakes (or overlooks) affected me right away.

Humor. Was the movie funny? I guess I forgot to laugh. I am not exaggerating when I say I didn’t laugh more than 3 times. With Kevin Hart in an action/comedy, you’d expect some laughs, right? The disappointing part in regards to the comedy (or lack of) is that I sincerely believe they tried to include humor. Maybe that’s more of a reflection of the bad writing than the acting. In fact, it’s on display most when Kevin Hart’s character (who is trying to sell himself as the assassin in the movie) drops his knives under the table where those he’s interrogating sit. He bends down, gathers the knives, pops back up and as intimidating as he can try to be asks, “Guess who’s back?” That’s funny because everyone knows the answer is that he’s back. He only disappeared 5 seconds earlier to get the knives. But then a few beats after asking the question, he answers it. “Me. I’m back.” Eye roll.

If I’m being harsh, at least I’m not alone. The Rotten Tomatoes reviews are not so encouraging.

Final Thoughts. I suffered through this movie so you don’t have to. A few scenes notwithstanding, this was one of the least enjoyable Netflix movies. There wasn’t much comedy. If you treat it as an action movie, there wasn’t a whole lot of that either. Woody Harrelson’s assassin character was boring, too.

If you’ve seen it, chime in with your thoughts below. Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness