Old Phone, New Video, Lots of Nostalgia From Ed Sheeran

There’s this new music video from Ed Sheeran and I definitely wasn’t ready to feel this deeply just from a song about a phone. Plus, I had no idea they had cell phones in Ipswich (somewhere in England?) but I guess the people in Ipswich might wonder about people having phones somewhere in backwoods Alabama. Touché. And yes I just touchéd my own sentence. Take a look at the video, listen to the song, try to keep from being led astray by nostalgia…

Nostalgia: 1

Me: 0

I was immediately transported back to my earliest cell phone (it’s so old it didn’t even have a camera!). College shenanigans (recorded on an 8mm video camera to give you an idea how far back those videos go). Then to my early years living in Nashville. I watched old videos I’d uploaded to YouTube over 15 years ago. My beagle puppy Piper running and jumping, two things she can’t do anymore. The voice of an ex-girlfriend still as familiar as the day the video was recorded.

Looking back isn’t a bad thing to do, but like the lyrics of the song recommend, “I put it back inside there from whence it came, nothing good will come from regretting.” Leave the past right where it is because, just like in another song about the past…

“Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen.”

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-Out of the Wilderness

Nike Does Women Right In New A’ja Wilson Commercial

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

That’s one of my favorite quotes. It’s a teaching that applies to today’s post, too. Nike makes an attempt to compel viewers far and wide to yearn for the endless sea… that is, women’s basketball. So often we hear that we’re terrible if we don’t watch and/or support women’s basketball. Nothing is more attractive than being scolded, right? Nike flips it around and just shows some awesome culture around women’s basketball in this new ad featuring baller A’ja Wilson. Take a look then scroll down for more…

I found myself bopping along to the commercial for a few reasons: 1. It’s fun, 2. It’s not beating us over the head with a message, and 3. Who doesn’t love watching someone thrive in their God-given talent? In comparison, I remember a few commercials from Buick which basically slapped us all on the wrist for not watching women’s sports. But their ad was a huge fail because of how it was presented. See if you can find the irony in this campaign from Buick.

Happy mother’s day weekend to all the moms out there. Women, the world wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful without you in it.

-Out of the Wilderness

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Five-Photo Friday! The Dogs.

This is the third Friday I’ve been doing something called “Five-Photo Friday” which is basically exactly what you think it is. I pick 5 photos from all my photography and post them here. The first one was what I call “created images,” manipulated photos to give them more of an artsy abstract presentation. The next one (last week) was deer. Who doesn’t love all the deers? This week I went with something else most people love, unless you’re a psycho. Dogs!! Check them out and you can find my professional photos on my SmugMug page here.

This pup held the pose with perfection at Silver Springs State Park in central Florida… right before a swarm of monkeys rushed by. Yes, monkeys.

This is my awesome Piper peering out of the camper, most likely wondering when we’re going for a walk or when her highness will have dinner served. Isn’t she so cute?

The cold ocean was not a barrier for entry for this dog! Max the dog.

“Are they home yet???”

This is Asia, who’s lounging but also has a watchful eye on the surrounding wildlife. You know, in case a squirrel gets a little too comfortable hopping around nearby.

Gosh, narrowing down the favorites was harder than I thought. I guess I’ll be doing a “part 2” on a future Five-Photo Friday. For now, farewell! If you like what I posted today, consider a small donation to help me continue posting daily. Thanks for checking out my post today…

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-Out of the Wilderness

Pete Davidson in New Verizon Commercials and Dumb Phones Are Back?

Verizon is going for a younger demographic with their spokesperson Pete Davidson. People love to hate on him but I’m sure Verizon did their research before having him represent their brand in ads like the one below. Plus, he seems like a nice, confident guy. What’s so bad about that, even if he reminds you of the guys who used to smoke in the bathroom at school?

This is part of Verizon’s latest effort to not lose customers. I couldn’t think of any other way to say that Verizon wants your loyalty. Actually, isn’t that every brand!? Where am I going with this anyway? Well, I use Verizon but there was a period in my life when I switched to AT&T because they had the phone I wanted. It was a mistake because the area where I lived had pretty poor AT&T coverage in general. I eventually switched back to Verizon and soon–well, November if my phone can make it a few more months– I’ll be looking into a new phone while still on Verizon. But if you’re anything like me, you have a secret hidden desire to go back to the pre-smartphone days. You can admit it, it’s ok, this is a safe space. If you comment, just make it anonymous and your identity will be undiscovered by your buddies. You’re fine! But those dumb phones are looking better and better every day, aren’t they? I recently watched a video from Marques Brownlee…

There’s something very attractive about having a phone for only calls and texts, and maybe a few other necessities like a camera and navigation capabilities. What are your thoughts on the market making room for basic phones?

If you enjoyed today’s post, consider making a small donation to help me continue posting daily!

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-Out of the Wilderness

Is anyone NOT on Instagram?

I totally understand that I’m not young and even this ol’ 46-year-old is on Instagram. It’s not that I want to be, per se. In fact, my skewed opinion is that it’s an app mostly used by women. I’m wrong, of course. All the stats I found show that more males use it than females. That doesn’t make me want to use it any more than I already do. It just seems like a chore to keep up with it. Like Betty White said about Facebook, it seems like a waste of time.

She’s not wrong but also there are a lot of good things about Instagram. Mostly that people can use it to make money. Business. That’s the only redeeming quality of Instagram, I’ll fight you about that.

Every once in a while I’ll post something about my dog or about triathlons but then I think to myself, does anyone really care? Maybe Gen Z does but I’m Gen X and I just can’t make myself care. I’ve tried forcing it. I’ve tried a routine. Nope, I just don’t care. Maybe it’s part of my “behind the scenes” type personality– I don’t love being in the spotlight and what is social media if not an attempt at attention? Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just what most of social media is.

So of course I want you to follow me– @TheBenWilder. You’ll get to see pictures of my dogs, my books, wildlife in 3 or 4 pictures spaced out over the course of 10 weeks. Lucky you! If you actually want to help me in some way, not just stroke my ego, consider making a tiny donation to my blog site so I can keep posting daily. Then, and only then, I know you really care. 🤪

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-Out of the Wilderness