The beagle and the dishwasher

Just recently my little Piper did something that she’s been doing her whole entire beagle life. It doesn’t matter which state (evidently) or which dishwasher (evidently)… if there are dirty dishes to be licked, she’s the dog who’s up for the challenge!

I remember when she was really young, under a year old if I had to guess. She learned quickly how to do this pre-wash ritual.

Now she’s 12 going on 13 and at this point I think this is one of a few traits she’ll have for eternity. Obviously the most important one is being the queen of wherever she is. The second is this: eating anything and everything that’s even halfway similar to food (frogs, poop, tampons, she’s on it!). I’m not totally sure it’s just a beagle thing, but I think a lot of it is her just being a hound. They just like food, and can they really be blamed?

I’m thankful for her although sometimes she can be a bit of a diva 🙂

-Out of the Wilderness

Airbnb’s First Law of Travel Commercial – The Music, the Monologue, and More

Airbnb is at it again with their user-submitted photo montage commercials. This new one features a voiceover about travel that’s worth listening to. Check it out then scroll down for more info…

The Voiceover. Lending his voice, and wisdom from things learned, is Pico Lyer, an essayist and travel writer. The audio is taken from a TED talk. Here’s the full clip, and you can read a transcript here.

The Music. Backing the speech from Pico is a song called “Annie and Owen” by Dan Romer. It’s from the soundtrack of a Netflix series called Maniac. Here’s the full track…

Thanks for dropping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

The Lexus LX 600 Commercial – The Music, Actors, and More!

Hey there and thanks for checking out this post about the Lexus LX 600 commercial. I’ve written about quite a few commercials so feel free to check out the Popular TV Ads page to find out more info about ads you may have seen on TV or streaming recently. Today’s post is about the beautiful Lexus LX 600 but more specifically, the music and actors featured in the ad below. Take a look, then scroll down for more info!

The Actors. Lexus highlights three different career types in the commercial… an athlete, an executive, and a surgeon. The athlete is played by actor/model Xavier Jimenez. Check out his impressive resume of acting credits on his IMDB page and be sure tofollow him on Instagram.

Xavier Jimenez

The executive is actress Mikaela Kim. You also might find her under the name Mikaela Jiyeon. Check out her Instagram for more from her everyday life.

Mikaela Kim

The surgeon is actor Josh Reynolds. Check out more from Josh on his Instagram page.

Josh Reynolds

The Music. Unfortunately we won’t be able to find this music on any streaming music app or for purchase anywhere. It’s an original score from a company of talented folks — Squeak E. Clean Studios — put together by creative director Zac Colwell. Zac said this was a “big percussion jam using live instruments.”

I’ll chime in here to say that live drums beat (get it?) an electronic drum kit all day every day. Don’t you think? They just sound better. Check out all the creative things Squeak E. Clean is doing by going to their website here.

I’ll end this post with one of Lexus’s first percussive TV commercials from 30 years ago. Here’s an ad for the LS 400.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

The iPhone Privacy Auction Commercial – The Music, and More!

Apple promotes the privacy power of their phones in a clever, entertaining ad featuring an auctioneer seeking bids on a woman’s personal data. Check it out below then scroll down for more info about the commercial.

The Music. This commercial actually features one album and two songs. In the beginning of the ad the woman is holding up a vinyl record, “Deepak Verbera” by Botany (released in 2016). The artist’s name and album title is a good example of what I write about in this post: Band Names… What Were They Thinking? But I digress. Here’s one of the songs off that record.

The Apple commercial doesn’t feature music from Botany’s album but it DOES include two songs from other artists I hadn’t heard of. The first piece of music is just for a few seconds in the beginning of the ad. It’s from 2019, “Playground” by More Giraffes and Sweater Beats.

The second song filling up the rest of the ad came out 60 years before the previous song. From 1959, it’s “Fantasy” by Esquival.

The Auctioneer. The gentleman performing the auction works for Dubiou’s Auctions. This is a play on words I didn’t catch the first time I saw the ad. Dubiou’s is actually “dubious,” which means: of doubtful quality or propriety; questionable. Quite fitting for the subject of the ad, don’t you think?

Do you like this ad from Apple? Does it convey the message of phone security the way they intended? Chime in below!

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol Finale – How My Predictions Are Looking

When the top 14 were announced, I predicted a woman would be crowned as the winner of this season and now we’re down to three contestants, two of which are women. I still think America is crazy for the Ava Maybee elimination, but she got gone and so did a few other favorites. The top 3 are Huntergirl, Noah Thompson, and Leah Marlene. Here’s how my predictions have shaped up since the top 14…

My sister wants Noah. My brother-in-law predicted a Huntergirl win somewhere around the top 20 eliminations. But no one knows until tonight’s 3-hour finale who will win. The real question is this: from this season, who will be successful in the music industry? Because that’s all that really matters, right?

Time will tell… and the countdown is on for the season 22 winner.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness