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
Kid Rock’s new video for “Tennessee Mountain Top” features a raccoon named Jackson. This is one of the better country music videos I’ve seen that feature puppets. Take a look:
But Kid Rock is not the first to join up with puppets. Take a look at the following collaborations with puppets and/or music videos that feature puppets. First up is one that was considered a swing and a miss, from Trace Adkins.
More recently you have Brad Paisley portrayed as a mascot among quite a few mascots from college sports.
Kacey Musgraves is accompanied by a puppet playing the violin in “Biscuits.”
Elvis Presley acted in many movies, one which included a song called “Wooden Heart,” in which he appears alongside a puppet.
This next one isn’t exactly country music, but in the Miley Cyrus video for “Younger Now,” she has a scene a lot like the Elvis clip above.
The Cadillac Three used puppets to announce their new album. Click here for the video.
The Cadillac Three use puppets for announcement.
And you can’t have a list like this without including the Muppets. So here are a few notable performances featuring country stars along with the cast of the Muppets.
Hello and thanks for reading about this journey to find my next car! My Nissan Versa is swiftly nearing 200,000 miles so (I haven’t told her this yet) there will come a time when she’ll need to be retired, sent off to the Nissan nursing home where she can play shuffle board and eat supper at 5.
A few weeks ago I test drove a newer Versa at a local Nissan dealership, where I learned some pro tactics of a car salesman. I left without succumbing to the pressure to buy, and then a few days ago I did a test drive with a Ford Fiesta.
Am I the only one that thinks of this 80s game show when I hear the word Fiesta?
If only I could win a Fiesta, my car search would be over! Where are you when I need you most, Alex Trebek? But back in real life, I met the car salesman and told him what I was looking for. He was a nice guy with a style that went heavy on “be your friend” plus a dose of “I’m new here but…” We took a 2017 hatchback off the lot and I liked this car much more than the Versa from the last test drive. Part of the reason is that it was a manual transmission (which is also available in the Versa). I forgot how much fun those are to drive. Very responsive, great interior style and accessories, and I was sitting higher up than I would guess for a compact car.
So the hatchback stick-shift Fiesta is currently sitting at #1 on my list but I’d also still like to test drive a few other cars, including a Fiat, and maybe a Mini.
I’ll wrap this up with a piece of advice I’ve learned the hard way. If you’re out there car shopping like I am, do NOT give out your phone number unless you’re ready for 10 calls a day. I made the mistake of submitting my info to a few dealerships online and now my phone lights up throughout the day. I guess I could answer but now I’m just annoyed when I get a call from a number I don’t recognize.
Most of all, though, have fun looking! For the majority of us, it’s not often we’ll be in the market for a car, so let’s make the most of it this time around.
Having a fiesta in Nashville,
-Out of the Wilderness
It was one of those unexpected moments that turned out to be the highlight of my day. I was skipping rocks at Percy Priest Lake here in Nashville, waiting for my GoPro to record enough pictures to make a time-lapse of the sunset. Across the lake the marina slips were full of houseboats docked for the night.
I could hear distant voices of boat owners chatting back and forth. Music played as the soundtrack of their late afternoon. I assume they were cleaning their boats, as many boat owners like to do. Maybe they were scrubbing and washing the week away, or prepping for an upcoming voyage.
The lake was quiet enough that the sound from a boat stereo carried over the calm water to where I was sitting on lake pebbles, admiring the clouds and the active ducks. Another song began to play, one I’d never heard before. Somehow it captured, and represented, summer. I sat back and just let myself enjoy it, as I knew the moment wouldn’t last forever.
Brett Eldredge doesn’t seem to be taking the long way around to please his fans. He’s had 2 music videos released just in the last 8 months, and his newest has over 1.6 million views in just 3 days. The video for “The Long Way Around” was shot on September 20 and, as you might already know, features Sadie Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame. She plays the “love interest,” although car enthusiasts might be drooling more over the ’63 Chevy Impala the couple rides around in.
It’s a beaut, Clark. It’s a beaut!
Trivia Time – Impala The lyrics of the song refer to a ’99 Impala, which is fake news because, dun dunnn dunnnnnn, there is no ’99 Impala! Chevrolet stopped making the car in 1996 but production ramped up again in 2000, so we’ll assume he got a 2000 model a year early for that “hand-me-down ’99 Impala.” 🙂
Trivia Time – summer camp Another line from the song: “I’d like to see where your daddy met your mama.” Given that Sadie Robertson is the one he’s singing to, even if they’re just acting, I researched her parents, Willie and Korie Robertson. According to the Duck Dynasty show website, the couple met in 3rd grade at a summer camp. I understand you wanted to “see” where they met, Mr. Eldredge, but remember– knowing is half the battle.
Location, location, location.
So far my research is pointing to a little town east of Nashville called Gordonsville, Tennessee for the location of the music video shoot. Possibly near Highway 53. I will confirm this when I have more information.
The itty-bitsy spider.
Have you ever seen beautiful spider webs? No joke, I have a little bit of arachnophobia, but I love a good spider web when I can see one.
Who are you wearing? I noticed Sadie’s necklace in this video and tried to find more about it but came up almost empty. I now know Sadie has a line of jewelry you can find here. I don’t think the necklace in the video is from her collection, though.
The director
This video was directed by Jay Martin. He has quite a few music videos under his belt, as well as lots of experience as a crew member on blockbuster hit movies. Check out his IMDB page here. I didn’t know this till I started researching this video, but Mr. Martin directed one of my favorite music videos. Here’s the beautiful song and video from singer Christina Perri, “Jar of Hearts.”
I’ll start this off by saying I’ve been very lucky in that it was late in my teens, I may have even been 20 years old, before I truly felt the affect of someone close to me passing away. There are plenty of folks out there who have had the unfortunately experience of learning about death when they are very young. I definitely count it as a blessing from above, and to those of you had to learn about death as a youngster, it could be that God knew you were strong enough to handle it. I don’t think I was, so I applaud you in whatever effort you’ve made to cope, to overcome, and to live on with their memory.
One of my first experiences was when my mom’s aunt passed away. We called her Sister. Sometime around then Belle, our family dog went. As time marched on, both sides of my grandparents passed away and I still think about all of them pretty much every day, especially today on Me-Mom’s birthday. So proud to have her last name as my middle name, an easy way to be reminded of her and the great memories I have of one of my favorite four grandparents 🙂
Then there were the unexpected ones, right? Friends from high school. Friends from college. Folks that weren’t supposed to go so soon. For me, it was a guy I knew from FSU. My brother mentioned to me one day that this guy had died. I wasn’t close to him or anything, but he was part of the outer circle of friends for my brother and I. In fact, he’s in this video of us all biking in Tallahassee.
Friends are diagnosed with cancer. One was almost in an airplane crash. It was so much of a sure thing, the airline pilot came on the intercom and said to prepare for a crash. Crazy, right? Thankfully, they didn’t crash. Another college friend, who was younger than me, died of cancer. Then a few years ago someone I knew from church died tragically.
Then there are all the celebrities. I was visiting family in Tallahassee when I got a text from a friend: “Steve McNair found dead.” He was an NFL quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Of course, there’s Michael Jackson, Prince, and so many more.
Now, as I’m getting older, and still growing up 🙂 it seems that with every story I hear of a loved one passing, or just someone in the news, I think to myself, “Gosh, life is short! I thought we were all gonna live forever. What am I doing today? What is important? What am I waiting for?”
I ask those rhetorically for the most part, but often find myself reflecting on the years I’ve spent on this earth, and becoming more and more aware that time is ticking away. For me. For you. For everyone. We only have 100 years or less, so make the most of it, is what I say! Save money but don’t sacrifice relationships to build a bank account. Spend more. Have fun. Go dancing. Take that overseas trip if you want to. Ask the girl out. Ask the guy out. Cuddle with your dogs. Laugh. Get a tattoo. Do encourage people around you, but don’t buy that motorcycle. 😉
A few years ago there was a guy who was walking across the country, a young guy, maybe in his 20s. He was asked on the news why and I don’t remember his exact answer, but he said something like, “Why do we waste so many years preparing for the last few?” Hello!!!! He was referring to saving for retirement, waiting till you retire to travel, all that stuff. He’s a smart guy. I thought that was fantastic.
So as I hear stories about people I know and/or loved that have passed away, I know it’s OK to be sad about it. When beloved celebrities succumb to that final curtain call, we should celebrate their lives and how they positively changed the world. Do all of that for the ones you love, too.
Out of the Wilderness 