Alligators at Florida Caverns State Park

Yet another first for my camping excursions, this time setting up at Florida Caverns State Park in the panhandle of the sunshine state. Obviously, the big draw is the caverns (which are beautiful and worth the price of admission), but in the few days I camped, I sort of had the hankering to take pics of wildlife less photographed. I guess I always have that hankering, come to think of it. Well, this park didn’t disappoint! In just one day I saw a lot of birds, a couple of owls, dogs, a cat, and 10 alligators!

Scary, for sure, but before you go on thinking I’m a brave soul, I’ll share a little secret. Eight of the ten were babies. The other two were bigger but not nearly full grown. Now that I’ve clearly brushed off the idea that I’m a tough guy for photographing these tiny (but still wild, yeah I’m tough) creatures, here are the pics. It’s fascinating how the babies can be so cute and yet look so frightening and YES, I WANT ONE!! When they get bigger, you can have ’em, mmmk?

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Ruby-throated hummingbird – up close and zoomed in

I’ve loved trying to photograph a hummingbird (or two? possibly a male and a female) visiting a feeder the last few weeks. As I waited for it to show up, I discovered a few things: he’s not too worried about people being nearby, shows up about every 10 minutes in the morning and evening, and either there are more than one or they have the ability to hide their beautiful, colorful neck when they want to. You can see in the pics below where the red color on its neck shows up very vividly, but then just seconds later you can’t see red at all. Males have the ruby-colored neck, females don’t.

For the first time, I also saw what’s pictured below… a hummingbird perched on the feeder, with wings by its side. Pretty cool!

Thanks for buzzing by…

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol – top 10 revealed and I’m rethinking my taste in music

I must not have good taste in music because the America is keeping the contestants I would send home and they’re sending home singers I’d definitely keep *ahem* Ava Maybee. After the recent round of eliminations, the group was reduced from 11 to 9, but the judges decided to keep one of the two axed contestants… Lady K. So we have our top 10!

Here’s how my list looks when I created a list for the top 14.

The judges, who I think must’ve been told long ago to always be nice even when they don’t wanna be, praised a few singers that I didn’t think did well at all. Yes, I’m talking about Huntergirl. She performed Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and it was pretty bad most of the way through. The last verse and the final few notes were OK, though. Mike Parker was just OK. Emyrson Flora has a really nice voice but I really wish she would’ve picked “True Colors” instead of that awfully boring and uninspiring song from Billie Eilish.

Can you tell I’m still bitter the judges got rid of the pregnant mom? I didn’t even remember her name but she was better than half the singers in the top 10!

I thought Jay, Leah Marlene, and (the eliminated) Tristen knocked it out of the park. My top performer of the day was Leah Marlene.

She’s just quirky enough with a great voice to go far in the competition. But who I like doesn’t seem to be jiving with the rest of America so she’ll probably be eliminated next week!

Batman Facepalm GIF by WE tv - Find & Share on GIPHY

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

American Idol update – top 11 did America get it wrong?

The singer I thought would win it all is out! I can’t believe Ava Maybee didn’t make it to the top 11. Others that were eliminated didn’t surprise me as much as her ousting from the show. I think it’s a little unfair that the first performer gets more voting time vs. the last performer, however I’m putting a lot of trust in the producers to be able to figure out how to fairly go about the eliminations.

After Sunday’s episode, I would have a different top three than who I picked when there were 14 contestants (1. Ava Maybee, 2. Lady K, 3. Noah Thompson). Here’s how my list currently looks.

After this episode (top 14 down to top 11), I think Nicolina is the best singer, hands down. She did so well with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and I LOVE that she included a portion of the verse not heard in many versions:

I’ve done my best, I know it wasn’t much. I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch. I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come here to London just to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand right here before the Lord of song with nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.

Another one to watch out for, and I might be wrong for not having her in the top 10, is Emyrson Flora. But two of my top three are still in it, so I’ll keep running with Noah and Lady K as my #3 and #2, respectively. Nicolina is #4 and I’d move Emyrson closer to the top five.

I’ll leave you with the amazing Jeff Buckley performance of “Hallelujah,” so good I still remember where I was when I heard and watched the video for the first time.

-Out of the Wilderness

Betty Buzz Commercial – The Music, The Bubbles, and More!

Sparkling beverages have a new player in the game. It’s Betty Buzz, launched by actress Blake Lively. In a recent commercial, Blake explains the company’s mission while we learn what her once principle is… take a look:

Clearly, you can never have too many bubbles. I just hope the ones in the drink are a bit smaller than the ones in the ad. 🙂

The Music. The background music is “Tiny Bubbles” by Don Ho.

This song was released by Don Ho in the late 60s and was covered by a few performers I’ve never heard of. Here’s one now.

If she needs an idea for the next Betty Buzz ad, perhaps Blake can call on the talents of Willie Nelson, and play off the bubbles in the water vs. the bubbles in the beer, since Betty Buzz is non-alcoholic.

Thanks for bubbling by…

-Out of the Wilderness