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
Here is a small collection of photos I’ve taken this year that might be a little mind-boggling, but hopefully at the very least they’re worth a chuckle. Have a great week!
Whatever this person offers, it better be special and I WANT IT.
The following two pictures… exactly how does “take this cash that a thousand people have touched” and “here’s my cup so you can touch it and give it back to me” help NOT spread the coronavirus?
I found the perfect greeting card at a thrift store. How old must it be that it’s advertising an “America Online Keyword”? Let’s make a bet it’s at least 15 years old! Anyway, hope my cousin liked getting it in the mail.
After Nashville had quite a week of snow, it took awhile for it to melt. I found this mound of snow, the last of its kind, still hanging on about 5 days after all the snow was gone everywhere else.
This started as a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the CDC says this should be a thing. Well, the CDC or the Democrats, that is.
The year was 1993. I’m a young high school student in Miami, Florida, mostly just focused on where I’d sit on the bench for each school basketball game and which girl I would like but never talk to. One thing I loved then (and still love now) is music. This particular year something happened in music that I hadn’t noticed before, and I still remember being confused about it.
I guess it’s not uncommon from all the songs ever created for two songs to have the same title. I mean, just take the word “Hello” and there dozens of different songs. Same with “Bad,” a title used by Michael Jackson and U2.
But what’s so rare about 1993 is that two songs with very similar titles came out only months apart, in the same genre, and both were popular.
You’ve probably heard one of them, as it has made it’s way back into popular culture by way of a GEICO ad. I’m talking about “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by hip hop group Tag Team.
Tag Team’s song was released in July 1993, but did you know four months before that (March 1993), hip hop group 95 South released a song called, “Whoot There It Is”? To this day it is their highest charting song.
Boosted by GEICO’s use of the track, Tag Team’s “Whoomp” has over 19 million streams. Notably, it also scored much higher on the charts in 1993 than did the 95 South song, which only has around 145,000 Spotify streams.
A fact that is neither here nor there, as a teenager I liked 95 South’s “Whoot There It Is” more than Tag Team’s song. With that said, both songs could boast of their popularity, as proved by late night talk show host Arsenio Hall having the groups perform their songs on the same night in a Battle of the Bands. Apparently, viewers called in to vote for their favorite as part of a fundraiser of some sort. Here are those performances.
“Whoot” on The Arsenio Hall Show…
“Whoomp” on The Arsenio Hall Show…
One other odd little tidbit about this phenomenon, I came across an article in the NY Times about the two songs, which you can check out here. I won’t get into all the details but how the newspaper story addresses race relations is weird, it feels disjointed. Somehow they tie in politics and even refer to whites and blacks still living in an almost segregated country. In 1993, the adults might have had race tension (it was only 2 years earlier that the Rodney King police brutality case was front and center in the news), but as a young teen living in Miami, I don’t recall any issues with my peers about one race being better or worse than another.
So now it’s my turn to add a disjointed thought to this post: I think racism sounds like an an adult problem… as in, it seems to only be a problem with adults. Same in 1993 same in 2021.
But all that aside, how about the odd enigma of these two songs being released the same year and both becoming popular in the hip hop genre? Pretty wild. Which do you like better? Comment below and as always, thanks for stopping by!
There’s a verse in the Bible that has never been more relevant to me as a 42-year-old unmarried man than John 4:27. If any of you out there are also an adult who didn’t get married in your 20s or 30s, and you have young nieces or nephews, this verse probably applies to you, too.
…and they were amazed he was talking to a woman.
John 4:27
Every vacation when I’m with family and I so much as say, “How much is this?” to a woman working at any store anywhere, it’s as if they just saw a unicorn, heard a dog meow, or someone farted and it smells like cotton candy.
Yep, that’s my life as an uncle of young kids. Granted, sometimes I’m amazed when I talk to a woman but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that even taken extremely out of context (this verse is when Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman), there has never been a verse more accurate to how my nieces and nephews think of me and my dating life.
What’s so fun about working on this type of show is what one little twist of music can do to change how you feel about a character, story, or plot.
Frankie Pine, Big Sky music supervisor
The music in this episode, like previous episodes, was great, in that it fits the scenes so well. Here is a list of the music from episode 13 (original airdate 4/27/2021).
“Devil You Don’t Know” – Andrew Bird. This song plays while Cheyenne is uncovering some dramatic info on the internet about her brothers’ sorted past.
At the time of this post, the song is exclusive to “Big Sky” and hasn’t been posted online in any format.
“Pop Goes the Weasel” – This is umm, performed?, by Arthur/Ronald, Scarlet, and Phoebe as they are driving down the road.
Hall & Oates was referenced again by U.S. Marshal Mark Lindor. I really like the recurring reference to this band, it makes me like Mark even more! Quirky, and persistent. Here is the song he mentioned in episode 12…
Episode 13 wrapped up with “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle. This song was released in 1988. Allegedly there was a road with this name somewhere in Tennessee. Also, the video below has over 174 million views on YouTube.
Apple has a new ad out for the iPhone 12 purple edition that’s available April 30th, 2021. Take a look…
Wondering about the music? The song is called “The Candy Man” by Aubrey Woods. You might remember it from 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Aubrey was the candy shop owner in this scene:
A cover version of this song was performed by Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1972 and became his only #1 hit.
If you’re interested in more popular TV and streaming ads, check out my TV Commercials Page. Thanks for stopping by!
Out of the Wilderness 