Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of subjects. One day it's dating, the next is TV commercial info. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
I caught a commercial the other day which was airing just in time for Mother’s Day. Have you heard of SendACake.com? I hadn’t either and when I saw the commercial I thought it must be the worst gift ever. Take a look at one of their ads featuring their twist on surprise gifts.
Every single person who opened a gift in the ad above had one thing in common (besides being gay or lesbian), they were all frightened by the jump scare of random objects exploding out of the box. I can’t think of any scenario in my life where that would be a fun gift to open. If you’re going to get me one of these things that cost $60 dollars or more, we are not friends. Plus, imagine getting your mother one of these, giving her a small heart attack, then you have to spend 25 minutes cleaning up all the confetti or cards or fake dollar bills or whatever else shoots out of the gimmicky gift box.
So to sum up: These are dumb. If you’re going to spend this kind of money on your mom or anyone you love, get them something they can actually use. I can think of quite a few things that are way less expensive and much more special than one of these jokes of a gift!
I was definitely very distracted when I spent a few days at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. I was in the area for a sprint triathlon (recap here) so I didn’t swim in the ocean as much as I would have, or explore the trails as I normally would’ve when I camp in a state park. But still… this was a beautiful experience! I didn’t know Topsail used to be an RV park, which means it has a pool, shuffle board, a big laundry room, and a few other features you don’t normally find at Florida state parks. I camped at site #81 and it was perfect – shady, close to the tram (oh yeah, there’s a tram that takes campers to a from the beach!), and not too difficult to back a trailer into. Great park, if you can get a site, do it! Here are my favorite pics from Topsail…
I also camped at St. Andrews during this tour around the panhandle. Check out a recap of that amazing park here.
Sprint triathlons are funny because you think they’re going to be short. Compared to Olympic, Ironman, or those crazy ultra races, they ARE short… but if you came up alongside me during the race and said so, I’d probably kick you in your shin! Yes, they’re shorter than other races but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. It still takes training, wisdom, restraint, and forethought for these races. I actually love going through the race in my mind to make sure I have all the equipment organized and to plan what I’ll do in the transitions. I do that about a thousand times in the days leading up to a race.
That might be what added to the anxiety I felt before my first sprint triathlon of 2024. It took place in Defuniak Springs, Florida which is about an hour northwest of Destin. I’m becoming more confident in my abilities for each of the three disciplines – swimming, biking, and running… but if you’ve followed my blogs recently and read along about my tri experiences, you know that as much as MC Hammer’s weakness is sweetness, my weakness is swimming.
The Swim. The lake for this swim was small so I knew that would help me stay calm, being able to see shorelines and people and trees and buildings. Open water swimming is so much different than a pool! The biggest decision for the swim was whether or not to wear a wetsuit, as we were told beforehand that the water temperature was over 80°. Each racer used their own discretion, some really good swimmers opting to go without a wetsuit but I ended up using mine. I didn’t want to jeopardize my entire race by panicking in the water which would have wrecked my morale. Once I was swimming, I knew I made the right decision for me because of the buoyancy alone. This swim was equal to the longest I’ve done in a race but my experience couldn’t have been more different than the other one. It was so much better, not having to stop to catch my breath at all and also not needing to swim on my back either. I’m not saying it was easy, but it was easier… thanks to two pieces of advice given to me from athletes I admire: 1. Think about my form and 2. Don’t kick. Kicking is something I thought was just always part of swimming the right way but once I stopped kicking, everything changed. It’s been such a boost of confidence to see my swimming improve, I can’t even explain how encouraging it is. I’m starting to believe I can do longer races, which is a scary thought, too. I also have a tendency to veer to the left but looking up every 5 to 10 strokes helped keep me mostly on target with the buoys.
The Bike. Thanks to Body Glide (used it for the first time), I was able to strip off my wetsuit a lot easier than I expected. Dripping wet, I chose to forego socks, putting my cycling shoes on and running with my bike out of the transition to start the cycling portion. I love this part of the race because of the energy I feel going from the relatively slow swim speed to the exact opposite on the bike. Water still splashing off as I race through the first couple of miles. This is where reality sets in and I realize there are still 14 miles to go. Settling in to a comfortable speed, not worrying about who is or isn’t passing me. In this race, I felt fatigue on mile 6 then again around mile 12. I try not to let my morale dip when a faster cyclist passes me and actually, it is something that makes me laugh. Almost every time I get overtaken, I think to myself, “Keep that person in my sights and slowly catch them.” More times than not, I look up again and they’re gone… so far ahead I can’t even remember what they look like! 😜 Strong legs on these athletes, let me tell ya.
This is the first race I tried a rolling dismount and except for a little confusion on where the dismount line was, it went well. I was able to keep most of my forward momentum even though I lost one of those little rubber cleat covers from the bottom of my left shoe, dang it! I was running on metal all the way back to my spot in the transition area.
The Run. Switching from bike to run is usually quicker than swim to bike because racers only need to change shoes, remove the helmet, and maybe snag an energy gel or something. The elite athletes will do this transition in 30 seconds or less, a feat I still can’t fathom. One guy in this race had his shoes off before he even dismounted his bike! Others, like myself, are efficient but still working through a practiced method of swapping cycling shoes for running shoes in the transition area. Going without socks, I wasn’t sure how the run would feel even after the no-sock cycling was barely noticeable. I got out of the transition with a decent pace and basically just held it the whole time. Flashing back to the start of the entire race… I try to start somewhere in the middle of the pack. That way I can focus on catching people ahead of me, a strategy that keeps my mind thinking positively. If I were to start in the front and get passed by 50 people, the discouragement would deflate a lot of the motivation I had before the race started. So starting in the middle gives me a chance to see people ahead of me and work towards catching them, even if people are passing me as I do that. This race also had a lot of people along the course cheering us on. If you’ve ever done a race at all, you know how awesome that is.
I didn’t catch up to every runner I saw ahead of me but I finished feeling mostly good about my effort. I think I could’ve pushed harder to shave off another minute but I’ll use that info for the next race. Here are a few pics taken by a fellow triathlete who was there to cheer us on, which was much appreciated (thanks Daniel!). Then scroll down for my goals and stats from the race…
I make goals for every race based on previous races, training data, and course info. Here is how this race wrapped up…
My next sprint triathlon is about a 5 weeks away so I’m already starting to think and plan ways to reach new goals and if you’ve read my triathlon posts before, you know what that means. I get to make a new training calendar! I still laugh that after my first sprint triathlon, I swore I’d never do another one. But these races are just… 2 legit 2 quit.
The legacy of Randy Travis will go on forever and ever (amen) because he’s been the embodiment of country music for many, many years. If it’s often about drinking, breaking up, or losing a dog, Randy has sung about or lived through all of those things publicly. I guess it makes sense that he’d be part of the new frontier in music as it clashes with artificial intelligence. Case in point: His new song that was created with AI.
A lot of people are conflicted, as I am, about this AI-generated song because on one hand, it’s great to hear his familiar and comforting voice again… but on the other hand… is this use of AI going to be the beginning of a messy relationship between music, music fans, and artists?
I guess I’ll answer that question with another question: When is the last time a part of technology was created but WASN’T abused? Never. Never is the answer. So AI might be cool in some ways, but it’s going to be completely exploited, misused, and corrupted. Thinking about this more, I was reminded of cassette tapes. In the early 1990s I used my parents stereo system to record songs off the radio. I’d sit on the floor for hours listening to music, waiting for my favorites to come on, making a mixtape to listen to on long family trips to Florida. Cassettes, stereo recorders, both made with good intentions but abused by a nerdy high school freshman. That’s just one example of technology meant for good that was used in an unintentional way that might be considered hurtful or wrong. Artificial intelligence will be no different.
With that said, it’s remarkable how well they recreated Randy’s voice for this new song. But something about it doesn’t sit right with me. He never sang the song. It’s not his real voice. It’s nice that he gave approval and was involved, but I think this YouTuber has nailed part of the issue right on the head:
We’re in the wild west of AI which means a lot of things are going to be destroyed and people will be hurt on our way to find gold… and soon the robots will say I don’t need you anymore… while the anti-AI crowd will be saying… I told you so…
There are only a couple of weeks left in this season of American Idol! It’s gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday the judges were kissing up to Juan Pablo’s daughter (who was a terrible singer, mind you) but now there are only 5 contestants left – Abi Carter, Triston Harper, Emmy Russell, Will Moseley, and Jack Blocker. Each has their identifiable voice and defined style and while I picked Jack to become the next American Idol, I think the real battle for the top spot is between Emmy Russell and Abi Carter.
And Then There Were Five. Once again, the judges were all flowers and blue skies in last night’s episode. Gone are the days when the judges were more like… well… judges.
The absurdity of the judges being so positive peaked last week when Lionel Richie told a contestant that if he kept fooling around (and singing so great), he might win this thing. That contestant was eliminated at the end of the episode. Either the judges are completely out of touch or they aren’t sharing their true feelings.
But I’ll share my true feelings… Emmy is going to win American Idol. Second place to Jack and third goes to Abi.
Who are your favorites and who do you think will become the newest American Idol winner? Share in the comments…
Out of the Wilderness 