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
The country I live in, at least according to the news, has some tension. Although I CAN say with 100% certainty I haven’t seen it in real life in all my interactions with people who are mostly kind, generous, accepting, and happy. In spite of what politicians and the media want us to think, I love America and will be celebrating whole-heartedly on July 4th.
In fact, this pride bubbled up as I waved old glory the other day. America… the beautiful!
Thanks for stopping by!
-Out of the Wilderness
My family and I got a kick out of watching the Vanderbilt baseball team in the World Series the other day. The games themselves were entertaining, with both Vandy and Mississippi State playing good ball (although they played good on separate days, making the scores rather lopsided).
One thing we especially took notice of is that one of the Vanderbilt pitchers looks a lot like a young Elvis Presley. The pitcher’s name is Nelson Berkwich. He wears #30 on his jersey. Take a look at a side by side comparison of Nelson and Elvis, and decide for yourself if they have any resemblance of each other.
MAY 2025 UPDATE: If you enjoyed this post, click below to make a $1 donation to help me keep posting daily!
Thank ya, thank ya very much for stopping by!
-Out of the Wilderness
We all have those commercials that just cut us right to the core. Sometimes it’s the product or how it’s presented (thinking about you Sara McLaughlin and those abandoned puppies commercials), but a lot of times it’s the integration of the perfect song into the ad that really hits home. With that in mind, here is my list of favorite music from TV commercials. Thanks for stopping by!
1. Lili Blessing and Daisy Cottage Cheese.
2. Ari Hest and Publix – I Remember This.
3. Bebe Rexha and Walgreens – Graduation 2020 Ad.
It was so hard to narrow this down to just three. I have a feeling another list might be necessary. But for now, chime in below with what you think about these, and which ads are at the top of your list.
-Out of the Wilderness
If you’ve ever been deep sea fishing, you know that sometimes you reel up a fish that has suffering from barotrauma. This is when they come up too fast and the change in pressure causes their stomach (or other fishy parts) to become bloated.
To avoid this, you can bring the fish up slowly. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do in the moment because when you’re battling a big grouper, really the last thing on your mind is going slow. Any slack in the line could give the fish an opportunity to get loose from the hook, not to mention the very fish you caught might be bait for a BIGGER fish if you bring it up slowly. Kind of like this big fish, or the one in the video below.
So you got the fish to the boat and sure enough, the pressure got to it. If you unhook it and throw it back in, the fish will just float at the top of the ocean because all the gases keep it from being able to swim back down. Don’t fret, there are solutions! Check out this video from the Florida Wildlife Commission on how to use a descending device to safely get the fish back down to the bottom of the ocean.
Using the instructions from another video from the FWC, I created a homemade descending device. There are 3 parts to this DIY project: a crate, a rope, and weights. Believe it or not, it took me a few days, up to a week, to find all these parts. The most difficult was the weights so I actually had to improvise as you’ll see in the pictures below. Instead of fastening weights to the crate, I wrapped chain around the bottom portion. Sure, this chain will rust eventually, but it’s very easy to replace once replacement is needed. The chain provides the weight needed (proportionally) to safely get the crate with the fish inside down to the proper depth. I picked up the crate at an estate sale, and the rope can be purchased at most hardware stores.
Have you tried a particular method to help fish return to the deep sea? What has worked and what hasn’t? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by…
-Out of the Wilderness
Over a recent weekend with family a few of us took part in pickle ball games. If you’ve never played, it’s kind of in between tennis and ping pong, with a few rules unique to itself.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m competitive in just about anything, so while pickle ball is really fun, ultimately for me it’s simply another thing in which to compete. This particular weekend featured more losses than wins, unfortunately.
I can’t stand losing! There will be rematches coming up soon so hopefully the outcomes will be a little bit more in favor of my ego 🙂
So do you want to know how competitive I am? Well, since that weekend of pickle ball matches in Florida (I live in Tennessee, remember), I have spent time training in my backyard specifically to win the next matches I play in Florida. I’m not talking about light pushups and lunges. I designed specific exercises to maximize my hits, my reach, my ability to hit backhands, forehands, slams, and even brought in a person who specializes in pickle-ball-centric trash talk.
Well, OK, that last part is not true, but I wish I would’ve thought about that when I had time to get some trash talk training! Right now my ‘go-to’ comments are: “Get some glasses!” and “Oh, go write about it in your diary, whimpy kid!” My trash talk can use some work.
Have you played pickle ball? Any advice on how to turn my game from “sometimes wins” to “never loses”? I’m all ears!
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 