I used to bake in the sun

I’m a Floridian through and through. I know some people can claim Florida as their home state, but I was born as far into Florida as one can get– Key West. I’ve always loved being associated with the Sunshine State (even when I lived in Tennessee for 16 years). I recently left the Volunteer State to start another adventure, which you can follow by checking my Camping Stories page. My home base is now back in Florida where the rest of my family lives. If you live in Florida, you are well aware how blazing hot it can get in the summer. You can also get a sunburn if you’re outside for like, half a second! Well, a few of my nieces– OK, that’s being conservative– ALL of my nieces are at an age where they really want a tan. I was like that too, a lifetime ago.

I don’t remember making the extra effort in high school, but in college having a tan was not something I was ever shying away from. In fact, my brother and I used lemon juice in our hair and Banana Boat dark tanning oil for everything else. Many, many afternoons where I’m sweating on a beach towel hoping for dark skin and a date for the weekend!

Confession —> Usually I only got the dark skin. What can I say, I was shy around my coed classmates!

Other memories of that #TanLife in Florida include a dermatologist who was probably on retainer with my family. If not, he should’ve been! One day I saw him walking on the beach in long sleeves and a big-brimmed safari-style hat. Internally, and so00oo00oo mature, I was glad I wasn’t him.

Why so covered up, my man?

Now, though, a couple of decades later, that long sleeve-wearing big-brimmed safer-style hat guy walking on the beach is ME. The crazy thing is that I wish I was blocking the sun a looooong time ago. Every member of my family has experienced the unfortunate result of too much sun– skin cancer. I’ve had it on my leg but between us all, it’s included faces, heads and pretty much everywhere we were trying to tan when we were young.

Now as an uncle who’s so00oo00oo mature, and as much as teenagers don’t want to hear it, I really hope they don’t let themselves bake in the sun for too long. Skin cancer is nothing to take lightly.

The days of me roasting in the hot sun are over. So if you see a guy running around a beach or a campground wearing long sleeves, hands in his pockets, and a gigantic safari hat, say hi and I’ll say hi back!

-Out of the Wilderness

Publix Fill Your Cup Commercial – It’s a Vibe

The first time I saw this commercial was during an episode of American Idol, which I was watching with one of my nieces. My top 5 Idol updates and reactions here We were behind so, like everyone else, we were skipping ahead during the commercial breaks. But wait, what’s this? It’s an ad that I was absolutely sure was Publix because somehow they just have a vibe, don’t they? We didn’t skip and sure enough, the logo came up and I said, “I knew this was a Publix commercial!” Take a look at the minute-long version below…

Regarding the “Fill Your Cup” campaign, Publix via their website says this, “We’re making room for all the meals and moments that fill our cups, plates, hearts, and minds.”

In other words, “Eat so you’re not hangry.”

Do you have a favorite Publix commercial? There are so many classics (many created by ad agency 22 Squared), but I reveal my favorite and where it lands in my all-time top 4 favorite commercials in this blog, My top 4 all-time favorite commercials.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol Update – A High 5 for the Top 5

WARNING: This post might spoil who got eliminated from the top 7 so read on, if you dare.

Last night’s episode was full of good performances. At this point–with 7 great singers– there isn’t a single contestant that would be an obvious elimination. Here are the songs that were performed by each singer:

Leah Marlene – “Electric Love” (BORNS) and “Sanctuary” (Nashville TV show)

Huntergirl – “You Broke Me First” (Tate McRae) and “Like My Mother Does” (Lauren Alaina)

Nicolina – “Alone” (Heart) and “Light in the Hallway” (Pentatonix)

Fritz Hager – “All My Friends” and “The Ocean” (both original songs)

Noah Thompson – “Painted Blue” (Sundy Best) and “Landslide” (Fleetwood Mac)

Jay – “I Have Nothing” (Whitney Houston) and “A Song For Mama” (Boyz II Men)

Christian Guardino – “Lonely” (Justin Bieber) and “Dear God” (Smokie Norful)

Christian and Jay were the bottom two, so they are waking up as non-contestants this morning, although both of them have incredible talent. Here’s how my updated rankings look since the top 14. I’m holding out hope that Noah will be in the top 3 and the highest ranking country singer, but I also still think a woman will become the American Idol winner.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

Buick Alexa Commercial Hits Better During Hockey Than Basketball?

Not too long ago during the NCAA basketball tournaments, Buick sort of went out on a limb (I guess?) with an ad promoting women’s sports. How they went about it was the potential risk and you can read my review of the ad campaign here. In a nutshell, though, the ads were ironic and a total air ball. Or how would you say that in hockey, a whiff biscuit? I don’t know, I can barely skate much less do something else WHILE I’m skating. Anyway, here’s one of the ads in the series, this one about women’s college hockey…

During a Nashville Predators NHL playoffs loss there was another Buick commercial that’s less of a disaster than those “See Her Greatness” ads. Here it is…

The commercial is basically a 30-second “Dad joke” because of how the father is doing the whole Alexa thing. The kids aren’t having it, and neither is the wife. But it’s all jovial and clearly drives (pun intended) home the idea that the Enclave can come with Alexa built in.

Does this ad make you want to buy a Buick or does it complete miss the goal/end zone/ hoop/net area?

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

Zillow Home Hopping in New Commercial – The Music and More!

Zillow has a series of ads featuring couples touring homes (or pools, like this commercial) and then we find out they’re actually touring the homes through the Zillow app. Folks already like Zillow, but it’s the music that makes these ads really memorable. Take a look at this one then scroll down for the info…

The track in the ad is from decades ago, 1970 to be exact. It’s called “Love You” by The Free Design.

It’s been used in a handful of other commercials, as well. Here’s one from DC Shoes, and I actually like this one a lot more. It gets my adrenaline going and makes me want to go outside and accomplish some kind of athletic feat!

How do you feel about the Zillow commercial? Does it compel you to get on their app and start home hopping?

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness