Does anyone play defense in the NBA?

“He was fouled!” A line from a commercial I remember so well. A kid makes up a story as he dribbles alone on a court, shoots at the last minute and misses by a mile. But to make up for his bad shot, the story takes a turn as the kid announces he was fouled!

Nobody wants a defensive foul and it seems to be the case in 2025 that no one wants defense at all. That’s one of a few reasons I don’t watch NBA basketball. The other reasons are that I don’t have cable or any sports streaming services and even if I did, I don’t like these offense-heavy games. Back in the day, I loved watching the Sacramento Kings, especially with their rivalry with the Lakers. They had an awesome team including Chris Webber and one of my favorites, Jason Williams. They were fun to watch on offense and defense and I think that’s where my irritation lies now. Where’s the defense? I found a statistic that shows that last year (2024) teams were averaging 115.5 points per game. That’s absurd!

I’m not saying it should go back to 70-point games but at this point both teams on the court are nearly doubling that in some games. Fans want high-flying offense, I get that. It’s the entertainment business after all. But I don’t have to watch, and I’m not.

Hockey is much more entertaining and they barely score at all. The NBA could take some notes.

-Out of the Wilderness

Say What!? Didn’t Know This About “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley

Continuing on with the theme I’ve stumbled on the past few days (writing about the band UB40, then another about this phrase in one of their songs), I sort of went down a short rabbit hole with one of the best love songs of all time. Of course, I’m talking about “Can’t Help Falling In Love” as performed by Elvis Presley (and probably your favorite artist, whoever that may be). To backtrack a little, I knew one song by Elvis was based on a melody from an Italian song called “O Sole Mio.” His take on it is called “It’s Now Or Never.” Check out the homage (if we can call it that?) below.

Well, as I laid in bed last night wanting to listening to UB40s just one more time, I fell down the rabbit hole. It turns out this song originally by Elvis is kind of not original at all. It’s taken from a French song, as listed on Wikipedia: “The melody is based on ‘Plaisir d’amour’, a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini.” My mind was trying to comprehend this new, profound information. Here are those two songs…

Crazy, huh? As I’ve explored more of my own tastes in music, mostly because I really, really want to keep posting every day (which I’ve done since January 1, 2020), I’ve realized melody is paramount for me. You can change the lyrics, change the tempo, but for the love of all that is Holy, don’t change the melody of a song! It’s one of my pet peeves in church music of the past decade or two. For example, was “Amazing Grace” really in need of fixing!? No. No, it wasn’t. I digress.

Finding out there’s a true OG version of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” with that same melody is pretty cool, even if I have no idea how to speak French. There are quite a few “foreign” songs that have been covered, or used, in English speaking songs. Another pair I discovered recently is a song I liked in high school called “Sukiyaki” by 4pm. I had no idea it was originally a Japanese song called… wait for it… “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakamoto. I can be a little slow sometimes. 😵‍💫 Check out both below and have a great weekend!

-Out of the Wilderness

Take My Hand…

I wrote a few days ago that I’ve been on a UB40 listening binge and, of course, how can one listen to UB40 and not include one of their biggest hits? So I’ve listened to many songs but keep coming back to “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” first made famous by Elvis Presley, just some guy.

The song has been covered by professional artists and karaoke kings and queens for decades, UB40 released their version in the early 1990s which is when I had first heard it. I could take this post in a number of directions now– are there any covers better than the originals– was the 90s the best decade of music– which is UB40s best song– is Elvis still alive– is this the best version of the song in a movie– you see? So many directions. But it’s the lyrics of the song I want to focus in on… and one phrase in particular.

Take my hand, take my whole life, too.

I’m not sure I can even communicate what this sentiment means to me. How deep it goes. The expression of full commitment. Total and utter abandonment of anything that was me and me alone. Nothing from this point forward will exclude you from my life. Of course, there are plenty of love songs. Millions of different ways to say I love you. Singer after singer has made an attempt to convey what they feel in their heart towards whoever they’re swooning over. But, and this is just my humble opinion, there is no line in any song more all-encompassing (as a friend put it) as this sentence in this song. Take my hand but don’t just take my hand… take every part of my entire being.

I guess wise men say only fools rush in. But if you can’t help falling in love with someone and you can give your hand and your whole life to them, don’t walk towards that future, rush in.

-Out of the Wilderness

Liberty Biberty Commercial – The Actor and the 2-Year-Old??

Viewers are divided on a recent commercial from Liberty Biberty Mutual Insurance. The ad stars soap opera actor Tanner Novlan (@tannernovlan_). He was Dr. Finn on “The Bold and the Beautiful” but he’s becoming known as the Liberty Biberty guy especially since he just won’t let it go that it’s not actually Biberty! Here he is arguing with a toddler about it in a recent commercial. Three questions… 1) do you think this is funny; 2) do you think the kid in the stroller is 2 years old; and 3) can you donate $1 to help me keep posting every day at 1pm central?

click here to donate $1 to Out of the Wilderness

We all know it’s pronounced Liberty and we all know that ain’t no 2-year-old! What else is this woman hiding, right!? If I had to guess, based on what we can see, that child is 5 years old at the youngest. So why wouldn’t they just say that, or actually have a 2-year-old in the stroller? It’s a little weird.

I think the commercial is fine if we don’t dig too deep. The aforementioned age thing, and I haven’t mentioned that in one of the first few Liberty Biberty commercials, the guy says “Biberty” on accident, it’s a gaffe. It’s not that he thinks the brand is actually called Liberty Biberty. But now this ad clearly suggests that the spokesman thinks the right word is “Biberty.” It’s inconsistent with previous ads and for that reason alone, it’s a fail.

What are your thoughts?

-Out of the Wilderness

Teaching an old dog new tricks

This is a hard post to write. I’ve been avoiding it for a while because it’s not happy or fun to admit I’m having daily, hourly, almost minute by minute conflicts with my senior (she’s 15!) beagle. It seems like she and I are on two completely different schedules and at this point in our relationship, I’m living my life on her terms. Maybe I’m really battling selfishness? Or the stress of living in a small space (a 26-ft camper) with two dogs? It’s actually not very stressful–I love my camper life– so that can’t be it. I guess it’s back to the battle of my will versus hers. She wakes up for breakfast at 330am. As soon as I sit down to write, or read, or for a quick power nap, she all-of-the-sudden needs to potty.

I guess what I’m saying is this: having an older dog who can’t hear, still has her vision though, but who’s driven by her nose and her appetite is tough. The moments together that are easy and enjoyable are few and far between. I guess this is part of being a pet person that I never really read about when I was thinking about adopting a dog.

With all that said, she is a good pup. The cutest face, the fiercest of personalities, the biggest and best ears, and I love her so much. I’m learning that I need to grow, adapt, and accept that how I interact with her has changed and has needed to change as she has become more fragile and dependent.

But she’s not the old dog that needs to learn new tricks, I am.

-Out of the Wilderness