Out of the Wilderness

I know it’s presumptuous to call this post “August” and it’s only August 16th… as if I can safely say nothing crazy will happen the rest of the month. With 2 weeks left and if we’ve learned anything about anything in 2020, we know anything can happen at any time. So even as you’re reading this, what’s listed below may have already changed completely by tomorrow.

OK, so I’ll call this “Life update- August 16th, 2020, 1pm, the musical, the series” (for all you Disney fans out there 😉 )

I saw a meme the other day that joked about asking a person in 2015 the philosophical question, “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” It’s a question everyone got wrong! Coronavirus, masks, murder hornets, lots of celebrity deaths, schools/sports/life postponed. The list goes on and on of ways life has changed in the last 5 months. The biggest changes in my life were and are church and sports. I haven’t played sand volleyball in Tennessee since the fall of 2019!

Adult league spring softball was also cancelled, but was rescheduled for summer and now that season has been completed. Of course, we all know what happened to professional sports and college sports, starting with college basketball’s March Madness. It all went away and is only just now slowly coming back. If I were a betting man, I’d say neither college football or the NFL are going to complete a season this year. I feel strongly enough about that that I even decided to NOT play fantasy football. I’ve played every year since around 2001 where I dominated the “Fella’s Fantasy Football League.” Dominated, I tell ya. Also, please don’t fact check me on that.

To be honest, I’d be shocked if college has any football at all, but at the time of this post (August 16th, 1:07pm, the musical, the series) there are a few conferences pushing forward with a plan to play this fall. How that will work with other conferences hoping to play their seasons in the spring of 2021 is anyone’s guess.

Church is another area that has been greatly affected by the pandemic. I haven’t been inside a church building since March, which is the case all across the country. Lately some churches have opened up, but there is still a caution about reentering the congregation and many people haven’t yet. I don’t know if that’s just from the media exaggerating the danger of going back to church but at the very least, it’s still smart to be guarded anywhere we go, including churches.

Have things in your life returned to a closer resemblance of how life was before March 2020? If so, tell me about it in the comments below. Hope you have a great week!

-Out of the Wilderness

This Top 10 list is inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” lyrics:

“And when I felt like I was an old cardigan, under someone’s bed…”

So I thought I’d put together a list of songs about things under things. Mostly, titles that include the word “under.” Check out the songs below and chime in with a comment if you have additions!

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“Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under” – Shania Twain (1995)

“Under Pressure” – Queen / David Bowie (1981)

“Underneath It All” – No Doubt (2001)

“Underdog” – Alicia Keys (2020)

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” – Frank Sinatra (1966)

“Down Under” – Men At Work (1981)

“Under the Boardwalk” – The Drifters (1964)

“Under the Bridge” – Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)

“Six Feet Under” – Billie Eilish (2016)

“Under the Sea” – Little Mermaid (1991)

Honorable Mention: “Pinch Me” – Barenaked Ladies (2000) with the lyrics, “I just made you say underwear.” 🙂

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Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

For my entire life it’s been hard for me to separate things I enjoy with the people that produce them. For a somewhat recent example, let’s use Blake Shelton. He sings a song called, “God Gave Me You.” At the time he released it, he was engaged/married to Miranda Lambert (who I almost dated, more on that here). Awesome. Great. Wonderful. Four years later they got divorced. So what was all that “I can’t do without you” stuff? Now I can’t listen to his version of that song because the lyrics just seem hollow.

Another example is David Letterman. Growing up I loved watching The Late Show with David Letterman. He was constantly making me laugh, had great interviews, and I enjoyed Paul Shaffer as Dave’s musical sidekick. But somewhere along the line, I’d guess it was the late 2000s during an election year and Dave’s jokes became so politically slanted, I couldn’t stomach it anymore. I watched less and less until I just wasn’t watching at all. 

Fast forward to Donald Trump as President of the U.S. and another favorite of mine is following in David Letterman’s footsteps. Jimmy Fallon. Oh, how I’ve loved watching The Tonight Show but just like The Late Show, I’m watching less and less. From a recent show, I counted and categorized all the jokes told during Jimmy’s opening monologue. Mind you, this was the very day Joe Biden announced Kamala Harris as his running mate. So you’d think some topical jokes about either of those two would be very relevant. 

The show opened with a joke about Biden being scared of the tough Kamala Harris. This was a “joke” but really a thinly veiled compliment to Kamala Harris. The rest of my notes are as follows: 

Biden/Harris jokes: 1 (the one I just mentioned)

Trump/Pence: 9

Other jokes: 4

This is just one episode but trust me when I say every episode follows this same formula: bash Trump. If there’s a cute video of a panda bear sneezing, circle it around to Trump and bash him. Pence loves his wife, bash him. It’s a real shame because Jimmy is so funny and very creative in his jokes and sketches. I guess the writers can shoulder some of the blame but it’s just too bad they can’t seem to dig deeper and come up with jokes that are politically neutral. I’d even settle for politically equal. Make fun of Trump, fine, that’s part of your job- taking current events and turn them into laughs. But can’t you do the equal amount of ribbing to the beloved Democrat side of the aisle? We all know Joe Biden is full of comedy gold with the mistakes and missteps he’s made just in the last few weeks. And Kamala’s nasally voice is low-hanging fruit for any comedian. 

So now I just can’t bear to watch The Tonight Show anymore. I’ll miss it because of sketches like Headswap, Hashtag the Panda Bear, Ragtime Gals, and stories Jimmy tells about his experiences with other celebrities. But until they can set their own personal political agenda aside, they have one less fan. 

-Out of the Wilderness

I had my camera nearby the other day when an inch worm appeared on my shirt. Of course, that’s where it showed up! So I carefully transplanted it to the yard and took a few photos. Then I found a bird in a tree, which is where we’ll start!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness