Shoulda Been A Hockey Player

Every time I watch a hockey match, I’m more impressed than the last time. Did you catch any of the Stanley Cup this year? Florida Panthers versus Edmonton Oilers and there were some magical moves I absolutely loved during the series. For instance, passing it to yourself between your skates. One player did a backhand pass from behind himself, between his skates, up to the front so he could hit a forehand shot on goal. Another time or two in the Stanley Cup, players passed it around the defender back to themselves for a shot on goal. Just last night a player deflected a shot with his skate blade and scored.

Hockey fascinates me because of how skilled and talented the players are. I sometimes forget that they aren’t just whisking the puck around up and down the ice. They’re also ice skating! When’s the last time you went ice skating and thought to yourself, “Oh yeah, this is easy.” Put a stick in your hand, full pads, people coming to get you, and then what? If you’re like me, you’d be frozen in place… pun intended.

These guys are incredible. I can’t think of another sport where the partaker is doing two really hard skills at the same time, at least not to the level of hockey (skating + all the puck handling). Crazy. Congratulations to the Florida Panthers (I guess hockey in sunny Florida is legit) for the second Cup in consecutive years. I used my new Samsung S25 Ultra to render an AI panther based on a pretty terrible sketch of a panther from yours truly. Here’s how Samsung interpreted it.

I thought that was a pretty good rendering of my poor drawing! Even though it looks more like a rabid deer. See my other AI-assisted images here. I never played organized football growing up. Now I’m wondering if I missed another chance– organized hockey. It would’ve been beneficial to learn how to skate. Oh yeah, hitting people would be fun, too.

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-Out of the Wilderness

Ed Sheeran does behind-the-scenes how it should be done for Sapphire music video…

How many times have you watched an official “behind the scenes” clip from the shooting of a music video (or a movie, to be honest) and it was just a huge waste of time? They just throw clips together without much thought and artists (or their record label?) think fans are going to die of happiness. If you’re about to give fans an insider look into what goes on for the making of a video, take notes on this great montage from Ed Sheeran for the making of his video “Sapphire.”

There are multiple reasons all BTS videos should be done this way but two I’ll point out are… 1) it actually offers a lot of information on the locations and the stories behind the clips, and 2) I feel like I get to know Ed by listening to his commentary. So it’s insightful, endearing, and informative. I don’t know much about Indian culture or the famous stars there, but now I know a little more. That’s what these videos need to be… every single time.

Everyone out there, do it this way! Please. Anything less comes across like an afterthought and your fans deserve so much more than that. Ed’s music video is a fantastic spotlight on India and the explanation of how the video came together adds even more to India’s charm and Ed’s relatability. Very cool.

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-Out of the Wilderness

Sorry, but Spaceballs 2 will never be in theaters

Call me a pessimist because of what I’m about to say in today’s post. The trailer for Spaceballs 2 came out recently. It’s funny. No scenes from the movie are included, just scrolling text– Star Wars style– and jokes. Lots of jokes. And then you get to the real punchline. See if you find it in the “announcement” trailer…

Did you catch it? Yep, the movie is due out IN 2 YEARS! Do they think we even know what’s going on this coming weekend? Now I know why they didn’t show any footage from the movie… because there isn’t any. Here’s where I get kind of in my pessimist zone: Who knows what the world, much less the movie industry and theaters specifically, will be like in 2 years. So many things change in just a few months so while I think the trailer is funny (and I’ll even admit I fell asleep watching Spaceballs in the 80s as a kid and I haven’t watched it since then)… this movie will never be in theaters. If it gets completed at all, it will debut on Amazon Prime.

Also, if you’re reading this in 2027 and I’m wrong, then I’m a real turd. But I’m right, aren’t I? Follow me for more futuristic predictions like why Tom Cruise is back again for Mission: Impossible – Definitely The Last Final Reckoning For Sure Part 4, how Donald Trump became king of America, is Sabrina Carpenter always thinking about sex, and finally, why your personal robot hates you.

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-Out of the Wilderness

Gambling on a New Phone

Remember when I wrote about my Galaxy Flip 4 basically riding off into the sunset? I’ve had it for nearly 3 years and it’s been showing its age lately. The whole thing started shutting off when I closed the phone and earlier this week, it wouldn’t even turn back on no matter how hard I pressed the power button.

As a replacement, I’ve been debating between the Flip 6 or the Motorola Razr (also a flip phone) but as you know, there’s always a secret third option! Ladies and gentlemen, I decided to gamble on a new phone– which is ironic because I will not be gambling on a new phone. How could I do any sports betting after I made this colossal mistake??

Verizon made me a too-good-to-be-true offer so for the last few days I’ve been learning about my new phone… the Samsung S25 Ultra!! Even though it’s not even been a week yet, I LOVE IT. There are 2 aspects that drew (pun intended) me in. One, the s-pen. Yes, the phone comes with a stylus built in. I love having a tool to draw on the screen with, which leads to the second awesome thing… it creates AI images from my terrible sketches. This thrills me more than I can even say.

When I was young, I loved to draw. My skills plateaued, though, somewhere between a stick figure and pretty bad portrait of a dog or a cat or whatever animals I was trying to draw. But with the Galaxy AI drawing assistant, my average drawings get a boost of awesomeness. For instance, let’s say I want to draw a zebra in honor of Ed the Zebra, the star from Nashville, Tennessee. Here’s how I drew him in the phone’s sketch pad…

And here’s how AI sprinkled some (a lot) artistry into it.

It’s part of the phone that I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of. Plus, the phone itself has very noticeable square edges, a physical feature I’ve liked ever since I saw the Sony Xperia phones (but never got a Sony because of carrier issues). So I’m a happy camper.

Does anyone else out there have the S25 Ultra? What are your pros and cons with any version of the S25? Chime in below and please subscribe so you get notified when I post…

-Out of the Wilderness

Honey, I Shrunk Will Smith… The “Pretty Girls” Music Video

Big Willy style shows up as Little Willy in a new music video from Will Smith. No, this isn’t a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, it’s a real video for a real song called “Pretty Girls.” Take a look at mini-Fresh Prince then scroll down for more…

Men like pretty women. It’s a characteristic that’s been true since the dawn of man. But I like that Will included the line, it’s not about “the pretty you see, but the pretty you be.” Grammar aside (because are there any rap songs that use perfect grammar? No.), beauty is more than what’s on the outside. An attractive woman can become pretty ugly if she’s got a terrible personality. Someone who’s not a looker at first might become so attractive based on her kindness, empathy, humor, etc. In fact, that’s why a movie like Shallow Hal connected with audiences.

Hal had to wrestle with stereotypes, societal norms, and personal convictions in that comedy because he saw a woman for her inner beauty while everyone else only saw her plus-sized body.

Will Smith is having fun with the song and in spite of what we know about his personal life, the song isn’t that bad. Is it a little weird for a man in his mid-50s? Maybe. But I’d be willing to bet men in their mid-90s say the same thing. So Will is really just verbalizing a basic universal truth…

Men like pretty women.

But don’t forget… if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife. 🤪

-Out of the Wilderness