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
…it better be for a good reason! For the past couple of mornings I decided to wake up to take photos. One morning was a sunrise. The next, I couldn’t see the sun at all because of the fog. Crazy how different the photos are, and what I was interested in each morning.
The morning of the beautiful sunrise is up first. I wasn’t the only person up at the crack of dawn, either. I met a guy named Jack who was doing the same thing. I don’t know if the pictures I took will compare to what he and I saw in real life but since I woke up so early, I’m sure as heck going to show you the photos! Check them out below.
And then there was fog. This particular morning was very foggy. I couldn’t see the sun at all, heck I couldn’t see much at all! A few birds, a few rain drops, but I enjoyed capturing these photos. Take a look, and thanks for dropping in today…
Everything fades. Sometimes that’s a sad thing, and sometimes it’s like Will Smith’s haircut in “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a nice fade!
A few weeks ago I was part of a wedding– well, I can hardly call it that– it was an extraordinary three-day event. As a member of the video crew, I got to witness so many amazing rituals and traditions in this Indian wedding. I wasn’t familiar with all the cultural significances of different ceremonial moments on the wedding day, nor was I familiar with the things that went on as part of the union in the two days leading up to the wedding day. That’s right, it was three fun-filled days… did I mention that yet?
I’ve been involved with so many traditional American weddings (30 minutes and out before kick-off of the noon college football games, right!?) and I know what to expect in those. All parts are just as special in those ceremonies but what I saw and learned about in the Indian wedding was simply fascinating. It appears, at least with the folks who were celebrating the bride and groom, that “family” is a very rich and deep word not used lightly. There is lifelong loyalty, encouragement, happiness, respect, and a sense of pride and respect for all the generations represented. One’s roots and cherished loved ones are often represented in American weddings, too, don’t get me wrong. But this one just seemed to be genuinely unique in its inclusion of ages, races, family members from far and wide, and it was cool to witness this while working the event. And now I might as well do a shout out to Foraged Films based in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you need a professional video team for your wedding, this husband and wife duo (and soon to be trio with a little one on the way) will make your wildest dreams come true! OK, that might be overselling, but you won’t find a better team to capture your wedding and not just capture the visuals, but capture the mood and tone and spirit of the special day… or three days :). Check them out on their website or on Instagram.
It’s already been over a week since the epic wedding weekend. The feelings of excitement on that first day, the rush of capturing hundreds of video clips… these moments give way to needing groceries, morning alarm clocks, clipping the dog’s nails, oil changes, and everything else to keep up day to day. The present rules over the past. I guess this post is my way of preserving the past so I can read this and remember the things I saw, heard, and were moved by on this wedding weekend.
One thing I hadn’t ever done before was get a henna tattoo. After wrapping our work for the day, I sat with an amazingly talented artist who decorated my hand.
Impressive, right? Well, you would want to be sitting down when you saw the bride’s henna tattoo work. It was unbelievably good. Seriously, unbelievable. Better than any tattoo I’ve ever seen. So after the henna was applied, I’d catch myself admiring it every day and just marvel at the detail. It was a good reminder of a great experience, from the wedding to the team I worked with, the people I met, the amazing food (PS. glad to have my sense of taste back after having Covid during Christmas!), and not to mention the adventure of camping at an RV resort nearby for those three days. And it was hard to notice at first, but just like the title of this post… everything fades. A few days after getting the henna, I noticed it starting to dull. To disappear.
Now here I sit, typing, and I lift my hand up to take a look and it’s pretty much gone. Everything fades. The good, the bad, the ugly. It’s kind of nice when the bad things fade away, right? But I have a feeling of nostalgia already as something good– the weekend and everything I mentioned before– is fading into history. Well, for me it is… not for the person editing ALL that footage! 🙂
I hope the special moments of that weekend will remain in my memory. I don’t need henna to remember the importance of family, the fleeting moments that might only happen once in a lifetime, camping in beautiful Florida weather (even if it was kind of cold some of those January nights).
So as the ink fades, I’ll look forward to the next amazing moments in my life! Adventure awaits…
There isn’t a dog that will look at you (or your food) more lovingly than a beagle. It’s those big eyes, even bigger ears, and a personality that says, “I love you, now get me a treat!” Way back 12 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee I said “I do” to adopting a cute little beagle I saw pictured in a wicker basket with her siblings. If the agency taking care of her at the time would’ve asked her if she would take me as her best friend, if she’d be loyal, she probably answers by saying, “YOU tell ME.” Yep, as cute as she was (and is) on the outside, on the inside she’s the sassiest of firecrackers.
On top of that, there isn’t a bone in her body that lacks confidence, that’s for sure!
Much like many beagles, Piper’s kryptonite is food or anything that might be close to being food. When we’re out on walks she sniffs everything (she’s a hound after all!) but she likes to take it a step further. Why sniff if it if you’re not going to eat it?
I ask, “Piper, are you really gonna eat that crumpled up piece of paper that blew out of someone’s trashcan?”
She replies, “YOU tell ME.”
In other words, yes. Yes, she’s really going to eat that crumpled up piece of paper that blew out of someone’s trashcan.
But gosh darn it if she isn’t the cutest beagle out there.Sometimes I get mad at her but it doesn’t last long. Kind of like her remorse for whatever she just did that I spanked her for. You know that cliche when parents spank they’re children, “It’s going to hurt me more than it hurts you.” That’s not true, but with Piper, it actually IS true. I swat her on the rear-end and she goes along as if [insert phrase that means “nothing happened, nothing at all”]. Then there I am wondering where I failed as a dog dad and if she’ll still let me be her owner servant anymore because I’m so inferior.
I’d ask her but I know what the answer would be.
YOU tell ME.
Then she shakes her ears, sticks her nose to the ground, and trots away, expecting dinner promptly at 4pm.
Hello there! If this is your first time to Out of the Wilderness, you can find much more of the random stuff I write about on the main page. Look at the upper right corner for all the different topics. One subject, of course, is TV commercials. Let’s take a look at this one from Ferrero Rocher.
The Music. The lovey-dovey soundtrack for this Valentine’s Day ad is “One in a Billion” by Shannon LaBrie.
Funny math. Something fishy is going on with this and a few other Ferrero Rocher YouTube uploads. The commercial above has 1.6 million views in just 4 days. Not too shabby, right? The thing is, though, there are only 5 likes and no comments. Whaaa?? The chances that over a million people watched it and not one person commented are very slim. On top of that, only 5 people liked it… out of 1.6 million views…?
Other weird math. Ferrero Rocher’s YouTube channel only has 2,000 subscribers. Again, that’s not bad, but you’d think a video that garners millions of views would compel a lot of people to subscribe. Let’s check back to previous videos. The one posted before the Valentine’s ad (the one we’ve been talking about) was posted 2.5 weeks prior. Here it is below, and guess how many views it has? Scroll down for the answer.
This video, posted nearly a month ago, has 317 views. To be clear, that’s 317, no thousands, no millions, just a few hundred. It also has 5 likes. Just for fun, let’s go back a little further. A few videos back is wildly different in its statistics. It has 8.7 million views, no comments, and 2 likes. Another suspicious aspect: this multi-million viewed video is just the 15-second version of the video that has 317 views (which is 30 seconds long).
Why such different view counts? Would Ferrero Rocher buy views, a practice YouTube prohibits? If so, why? I think there’s more to this story so if you can shed any light, comment below and let’s get to the bottom of it!
Going back to the original ad, do you like the music? Can you think of a different song you’d use to back the visuals of the ad? Is there anything fishy going on with the YouTube views of these few videos? Let’s chat…
Encanto. Disney’s movie featuring a girl with no gifts (magical talents) but who’s family all have gifts. I’d heard this movie was good and I really wanted to like it. I promise! I mean, when is the last time Disney let us down, you know? OK, I remember Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen II but still, Disney is usually putting out good stuff! So just like the rebellious kids in Dangerous Minds when Michelle Pfeiffer announced they were starting the class with A’s and all they had to do was work to keep the A, Encanto already had my approval, it just had to keep it.
Unfortunately, the first 10 or 15 minutes lost me almost completely… for two reasons.
The lyrics in the first couple of songs were very hard to follow. Honestly, I had no idea what the young girl was singing/talking about. So it wasn’t until after all the gibberish that I had any idea about what was going on.
The magical house. There was also the issue of the “magical powers” building a house for the family. Not only that, but those powers could allow the members of the family to do almost anything at any time. This bores me to no end.
Even with this disappointing introduction to the animated family, I watched all the way through. I wanted it to keep the A it started with, or at this point it’s more truthful to say I wanted the movie to get back to the A it started with. Throughout the film, there were moments of humor (not enough). The plot was OK (not explained well enough). The music was really good (in spite of the disastrous opening songs).
By the end, I sort of understood what it was all about and I’ll be generous by giving it a C grade. Well, I would’ve given it a C until the last few minutes when the family is rejoicing together again. Remember that magical house? Well, it was destroyed. The community joined together like it was an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Editon and built them a new house in a few weeks or less. Ty would have been so proud. It would’ve been a sweet moment to end on but then…
All of the sudden the floor tiles sprang to life like they did often in the magical house. Wait, what? I thought the magic was gone? Now, without explanation, it’s back? That completely ruins the entire “moral of the story” of the movie!
To sum up, I give this movie a 4/10 because of these few positive things: the animation was great and the animals were cute and mostly cuddly. That’s it.
Have you watched it yet? If so, share your thoughts and reviews below. Like I said, I really wanted to like it, but I just can’t help but want to watch it never again.
Out of the Wilderness 