Pensacola Beach – in Pictures

I was recently in Pensacola for one of my nieces soccer tournaments. I’ve already posted about it once here. But I just downloaded the photos from that week and, surprisingly, there aren’t any soccer photos… I’m a terrible uncle. I’ll be getting coal in my stocking this year but besides that, here are a handful of my favorite photos featuring not-the-soccer-playing niece, my brother-in-law, peli-cans, sand, and-more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kohl’s Holiday Ad “From Me To You” – Part 2

I recently wrote about Kohl’s new holiday ad featuring a unique voice singing the soundtrack of the commercial. Here is the post… and now for the ad:

As noted in my post, the singer is Ane Brun. Such a lovely voice with the qualities of Dolly Parton’s. Speaking of Dolly, is she America’s long-time sweetheart or what?

Back to the song, and as I’ve said before, I love doing research. But I’m almost embarrassed to say I missed a key fact with this song, “From Me to You.” As comments started rolling in for the blog post, it was pointed out that the song is originally performed by The Beatles. What!? How did I miss that? But smart folks out there were on top of it. So here is the Beatles original recording of the song, “From Me to You.”

Obviously there’s no sound quite like the Beatles. They released the song in the early 60s. A few covers in the following decades include Bobby McFerrin…

And check out Kids Incorporated performing it in classic 80s style…

How do you feel about the use of Ane’s version of the song for the Kohl’s commercial? Should they have tried any of these earlier versions?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Sometimes there are only two choices in sports, music, and entertainment. 

I was talking with someone recently about a couple of popular TV shows in the 1990s. It seems as though you are either a big fan of one and not the other, or you love the other one but not both. You might know which shows I’m talking about but I’ll give you a couple of hints. One is “I’m the holiday armadillo!” and a quote from the other show is, “She has man hands.”

Got it, yet? I’m talking about “Seinfeld” and “Friends”. Have you had conversations about these shows and whether you prefer one over the other? 

It’s not just TV, though. In sports, I’ve found that often times people are stronger fans of college football than NFL, or vice versa. And this is 100% true, you either love Alabama football or you can’t stand them. There is NO in between. Kind of like Tom Brady in the NFL. Either you love him or you’re jealous of him.

It’s nearly December so how about your preferences for Christmas music? Some love it, while some keenly point out that it’s the same songs every year. I have no shame in telling you that I love Christmas music. I’ve already had it playing in my car even though we’re not past Thanksgiving yet. 

These are just a few examples of things in our society that don’t seem to have a gray area. You either love one side or the other, and it’s next to impossible to be indifferent about the decision. 

What are some other examples of this type of division? Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness 

We’re Maxed Out – A Volleyball Story

I had a weird experience you might expect during recess in elementary school, but this was not in school. It was on a volleyball court in Florida.

For being in the Sunshine State, so far my experience with pick-up volleyball has paled in comparison with where I lived up until a few months ago— Nashville, Tennessee. There, there were only 2 sand courts in Centennial Park but the nights I went to play were crowded, sometimes almost too crowded, with people wanting to play. On top of that, they were nice people! 

My last experience at Tom Brown Park in Tallahassee, Florida was mostly the opposite. This park has 5 sand courts so you’d think a lot of people are interested in playing, right? Well, not only is that not the case, the few times I went there mostly were 2v2 games and that’s the way people preferred it! I half-expected to see Kerri Walsh-Jennings out there with how serious some of these players seemed to be. 

The drama. This particular visit featured most of the courts with 2v2, no surprise. But one had an odd number, seven people. I waited patiently for them to finish their game and when they came off the court I asked if they were playing pick-up. In other words, a courteous way of asking, “Can I play?” One woman spoke up, responding, “We’re kind of maxed out.” 

As they went back to the court for their next game, another guy showed up and jumped right in before the first serve. I don’t get embarrassed much but I sat there with my dogs, embarrassed. A few minutes later I left and haven’t been back since. I’m taking my talents elsewhere!

But I’m also hoping that in the spring there will be crowds of nice people who want to play and don’t exclude anyone else who wants to play. 

Have you had an experience like this? Did it make you feel angry, embarrassed, or both? 

-Out of the Wilderness

Domino’s Has a New “Support Local” Ad – But Why?

Domino’s has a series of ads out supporting local restaurants. Their slant is not just to order from the “mom and pop” shops, but also to skip the delivery apps like UberEats and Door Dash. By the by, Door Dash has a great commercial, check it out here. Take a look at the short Domino’s ad here, and the extended version is at the bottom of this post.

Something about this campaign rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think it’s because I deliver for UberEats from time to time. I just get the vibe there is something else Domino’s actually cares about and it’s not saving customers from the delivery apps. My guess is that somehow this simply helps their bottom line. After all, Domino’s uses the apps to deliver their pizza!

Not to mention, restaurants aren’t forced to use these delivery app brands. I would think getting an order from an UberEats customer is better than that customer not ordering from the restaurant at all, right? I mean, let’s be honest, someone who can order and have it delivered to their doorstep isn’t going to take a more noble route by getting out of bed, getting dressed, driving to a restaurant (dealing with traffic and gas prices), ordering, driving home, changing into comfy clothes, then eating… just to save a few bucks. So these restaurants either get the customer through the apps, or not at all.

Because of that, this Domino’s ad is pointless. Well, I shouldn’t say that… they did a good thing by purchasing the $100 gift cards from the local restaurants, but if they genuinely only cared about the local shops, they would have done the gift card thing without making a whole commercial about how virtuous they are.

Another thing not mentioned, if the apps were to go away, that eliminates income for a lot of people.

How do you feel about the ads? Are you encouraged to buy a Domino’s pizza because of the kindness they showed to other restaurants? I bet they’re betting on you making that choice 🙂

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness