Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Hello there! My name is Ben. I appreciate you coming by today and if you’re new to the blog site, I post every day at 1pm central. You might think it’s hard to come up with things to write about in order to post daily, and you’re right. But even with quantity, I try hard to make each post with high quality. Today’s post highlights a few photos I’ve taken recently as I camp around the southeast. Each of these images is available for purchase in a handful of varieties (canvas prints, greeting cards, pillows, etc) so if you like any of them, click the associated link to find the image on Fine Art America.
Hello and thanks for coming by today. If you’re new to the blog, I write about many different things. I’m a dog owner, a new camp enthusiast, and I live in a Gulf Stream travel trailer. I write about those things and more, posting every day at 1pm central.
This week it dawned on me that I can’t remember the last time I’ve been in a gas station convenience store for any other reason than to use the restroom. It’s not because of this, although I guess that’s always a scary possibility. I don’t smoke and I rarely buy sodas or energy drinks, so I guess the convenience for me is NOT having to go in the store since I can pay for the gas at the pump. Speaking of gas stations, whatever happened to SoBe? Remember those drinks? When I was in college I worked at the school gym and I *think* we had SoBe for sale in our little refrigerator. Since then, I can’t recall seeing those drinks anywhere ever.
*checks Google for SoBe drinks*
Ok, then. If you’re dying to drink a SoBe, check out a “product locator” here. According to the PepsiCo site, “We’re working diligently to keep products readily available to our consumers. Even if a product shows available in our locator, the product may not be on-shelf. We recommend either ordering via grocery delivery or calling your local store to verify.”
In other words, good luck.
The obvious reason I haven’t been in a gas station convenience store is what I mentioned earlier, and probably the same reason you haven’t been indoors either: Pay at the pump. And hey, if you want to save money at the pump without driving all over town to find the cheapest gas, I highly recommend GetUpside. You can click that link or use my promo code BEN57264 to save even more on your first fill-up. I’ve used it a few times so far as I camp around Georgia and Florida.
How often do you actually go inside a convenience store? Do you buy anything or just get annoyed when you find out they don’t have SoBe anymore?
I *think* I’m stating the obvious here but there has never been an easier time in the history of America to announce to the world the 3 people listening, that you’re gay. But don’t be surprised that another product which has nothing to do with kissing boys or girls is advertised in a dramatic new commercial. This one somehow connects cookies to a guy telling his grandmother that he’s homosexual.
I suppose the days of OREOs just being a cookie you dunk in milk are gone. Now, to eat an OREO is to be enlightened to the struggle of the LGBLTDKWVMFP+ crowd. Honestly, I’m not sure Nabisco, the brand that makes OREO, knows that coming out is about as controversial as a napkin. In other words, no one cares anymore.
Employee #1: I’m gay.
Employee #2: What’s that, you say?
Employee #1: I said I’m gay.
Employee #2: Oh, cool. OK, so anyway, the project we’re working on…
When someone reveals their homosexuality, except for maybe a few trolls on Twitter, it’s the most celebrating thing anyone can do in 2022. The hate, rejection, or ostracizing portrayed in commercials, movies, and TV shows isn’t what I see in the real world.
Wait, so Hollywood is out of touch? No way!
This is not unlike when Demi Lovato released a song called “Commander In Chief,” in which she bashes Donald Trump. After debuting the music video, she said, “I literally don’t care if this ruins my career,” when the truth is that it’s cool to hate Donald Trump. She knows it won’t ruin her career and if she thought it would then, just like every entertainer, she wouldn’t release it. If she truly didn’t care, she’d sing a song called, “I Eat Boogers, Especially the Juicy Ones.” Let’s see how that affects her career.
Back to the double stuff, though. These cookies aren’t exactly the best snack to promote homosexuality, anyway. “Homo-” is a prefix meaning same and OREOs feature chocolate wafers and creme filling. If anything, that’s “hetero-“. Maybe if the wafers were chocolate and the filling was chocolate they’d have something, or if it were two gayfers wafers and no filling, they’d have a leg to stand on.
In the big picture, it’s almost as if the media WANTS this to still be an issue so through subtle ways like cookie commercials, they keep it in front of us and can somehow twist it to sell cookies. And this, even when most, if not all, people are thinking it’s fine to agree to disagree. Let’s play this ad out in real life… my guess is the grandmother would say something like this, “Grandson or granddaughter– whatever you want to be called now– I love you. Can we sit down and eat? We just traveled 20 hours and grandma’s hungry!”
I remember when I heard “Driver’s License” for the first time. I didn’t know who was singing it and didn’t recognize her name upon discovering the talent behind the song.
Since then, Olivia Rodrigo has been all over the radio and awards shows (congrats on the three Grammy Awards earlier this week, or “Granny’s” as Trevor Noah called it). As I was watching the Grammys, I couldn’t help but wonder if we have been and are being force-fed a steady and robust diet of singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. She has already had a taste of fame and success as an actress (Disney shows I’ve never watched because too old/ don’t care), but it’s almost as if the powers that be are telling us that we like her music, too. If we were to ask the executives, “Do we like this music?” They’d respond with…
It makes me uncomfortable almost to the point of latching on to my contrarian ways to purposely not listen to her music. I’m sure she’s talented and I know she can sing well but the idea that we must like her because that’s what they want never works for me. That’s the vibe I’m getting and I’m wondering if I’m the only one?
Her rapid ascent in the music world doesn’t feel organic at all.
What are your thoughts on this? Will she stay relevant as a singer or is her fame just a flash in the pan?
I was camping in Georgia when I snapped these photos. I loved finding the lizards and the sunset was pretty beautiful at this Georgia park called East Bank. Thanks for stopping by…
Out of the Wilderness 