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
A birdman was recently in the news for some crime, and I started thinking to myself, “Zoiks! How many birdmen are there???” Well, there’s this one.
And there’s another one.
Then there’s the box office Birdman. 
And moving to the small screen, there’s this Birdman…pronounced Bid-men.
Why there’s a trend of Birdmen in sports, music, movies, and television I can’t begin to guess. But it can’t be coincidence.
-Out of the Wilderness
So tagging on to my previous post about going back to summer camp, I was most excited about these three things:
1. My nephew going to Kanakuk/ road trip with him and my brother
2. Seeing a few old friends
3. Serving any and all staff for the week
Immediately after walking into the camp on opening day, I hugged a guy that meant a lot to me when I was working at K-West. Actually, he and his wife met at K-West during one of the summers I was there. 
He goes by the name Sparky and she goes by Rachel. Awesome people. So glad I got to see them again. I also got to see the director of K-West, Ward Wiebe, an awesome man who I also reference in this post.
I knew in my heart of hearts it was going to be a great week, but I didn’t know I’d leave inspired by all the people there. It’s a whole different culture where they really do put God first, others second, and themselves third. I have become so accustomed to “the ways of the world” that I forgot we’re commanded to love other people like we love ourselves. This week at Kanakuk was a refreshing reminder of the second greatest commandment (the #1 commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength).
Good times in Missouri! There was also a bird nest in the teepee my brother and I were sleeping in. I’ll write more later about those baby birds, and more about what I mean when I say we slept in teepees, it wasn’t a typo.
-Out of the Wilderness
It was the summer of 2000. I was between my junior and senior year of college and I was off to Missouri to be a videographer at a popular Christian sports camp in Lampe, Missouri. It’s called Kanakuk. 
My sister had worked there in the mid-90s and my brother, too, in the late 90s/early 2000s. This was my first time experiencing Kanakuk Kamps, but not my last. I’d come back in 2001 and 2002, all three times working in video. After the last summer, I “settled down” in Tallahassee with a “real job” and began the life of a “young adult.” Life was all…
Then I moved to Nashville and life was all… 
I worked at CMT for 9 years, but then got laid off! 
So basically I’ve had the entire summer to do whatever I want with the comfort of a generous severance package. Long story short, and because my brother was taking his son to Missouri for a week at Kanakuk, I tagged along to volunteer with my bro at a summer camp I hadn’t been to in almost 15 years! I was excited to go back, and really excited about the road trip I was about to take with my brother and nephew. 
We made it to Missouri! The 7+ hour drive went by so fast. It was July 3rd so that’s why there were so many flags flying. Even these…
But anywho, politics aside, we were in Missouri and excited about it. Check back tomorrow for more!
-Out of the Wilderness
[click here for more about Keith Urban’s new video “We Were”, the post will open in a new window]
Omi undoubtedly has the hit of summer 2015, right? But who’s this woman below?
Scroll down to find out!
She’s cute, she can dance, and this is not the first music video she’s appeared in. But who is she? You’re about to find out!
Her name is Sheila Leason but she goes by Sheila Marie (Marie is her middle name).
She’s also in the Nicki Minaj video “Only” as pictured here:
She also played a part in the Elvis Crespo featuring Pitbull video “Sopa De Caracol.” If you want to see that, click here.
Since “Cheerleader” came out, she’s been in the Ray J featuring Lil Wayne video for “Brown Sugar.” Check it out here, she’s mostly in the last half of the video.
She’s been featured in Kay Jewelers stores, the link to those pics is here.
You should follow her on Twitter! Her handle is @Ms_SheilaMarie_
Her cousin is Associate Pastor Johnny Olivardia from Impact Church in Miami, Florida.
Some other fun facts about the song and the 2015 music video:
1. It was shot at Haulover Beach in Miami, Florida. Part of the beach is “clothing optional”…yes, that means there are naked people walking around so don’t look for Google images of the beach, or at least don’t say I didn’t warn you.
2. The dancers learned the choreography in just a few hours, according to this video.
3. The song was originally released in 2012 and was a hit in Jamaica and Hawaii. There’s a music video for that version (sans Sheila Marie), here:
4. “Cheerleader” started gaining traction in the U.S. when Simon Cowell (famous producer and former judge on American Idol) did a deadpan performance of the song, which you can see here.
5. The version we are hearing on the radio is the remix done by German DJ/producer Felix Jaehn, and if you haven’t seen the video yet, you might as well take a few minutes and check it out.
6. The car looks to be a classic 1975 Chevy Caprice, as seen below. I learned from Johnny Diaz who reports for the Sun Sentinel that these restored and tailored cars are called donks. Thanks for the info Mr. Diaz! Read his article here.
7. Behind the scenes of the video:
8. You might be asking, “But who are the other two dancers in the video? Come on!” Well, I’ve got the answer, check it out on this more recent post.
9. It’s being called the song of the summer by lots of critics. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon continues to say that, too, but also called this song a possible song of the summer. History will tell! Here’s a clip from the Tonight show of Jimmy doing a pretty hilarious rendition of the song as Donald Trump:
-Out of the Wilderness
When the issue of the confederate flag recently came back in the spotlight, I was on the side of those defending the freedom to fly it. It’s a part of U.S. history that shouldn’t be forgotten (but not because it’s anything to be proud of when it comes to race relations). There is so much more to “The South” than slavery and racism and all the stuff we hear in the news about what the flag may or may not represent.
On a trip from Tennessee to Missouri I saw these 2 trucks and snapped a few pictures. 
With plenty of time in the car I tried to put myself in the place of those asking for the flag’s removal, mostly black people as far as I know. And it worked. The scenario I imagined was my nieces living in a city where they were mistreated for decades. Over time, most people there were awakened to what equality is, treating others as they’d want to be treated, and realizing they were wrong about my nieces being less than them. So this city had a flag and even after the renewed respect in the city, some still flew the flag representing the outdated actions of the city’s inhabitants. My blood boiled and then I understood. To my nieces, this flag is a reminder of their mistreatment.
In America, it’s not about north or south (both sides had slaves). It’s not even about preserving history (although if we forget it, we’ll repeat it). It’s about people.
The conclusion to my hypothetical scenario and the real-life conflict we’re in today is this: People are more important than things. People are more important than flags. If it comes down to respecting your neighbor, try to understand where they’re coming from and make the choice that elevates the person above tradition.
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 