The Freshpet Mafia Commercial – The Dog, the Actor, and More!

By now it shouldn’t surprise anyone that some people keep their dog food in the refrigerator. Oh goodness, forgive me… keep their Freshpet in the refrigerator. There was the red head, the basketball bros, and now things have taken a darker, more sinister turn. Badda bing badda boom, the mafia also keeps their Freshpet in the fridge.

The Kingpin. One might argue the kingpin of this mafia is the guy making decisions at the table. After all, the character is played by “Sopranos” actor Steve Schirripa. But behind every good guy, there’s a good boy. In this case it’s Junior, the King Charles Spaniel. Look how he commands respect from everyone at the table when the one mob guy comes in and mistakenly calls his food dog food. A fatal mistake.

Things are about to get ruff for that guy. He pawses, trying to understand why dog food is in the fridge, but soon he’ll embark on his journey to become fish food himself! Don’t mess with Junior.

What do you think about the commercial? Is it Freshpet’s best ad yet?

-Out of the Wilderness

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Close Calls, Clothes Call, and A Closed Call…

Close Calls. The first of college football’s last 3 days happened last night. Back and forth between Penn State and Notre Dame and it turned out that whoever scored last was going to be the winner. I’d label that a close call and Notre Dame squeaked out the win to move on. They’ll play the winner of tonight’s game which means they’re going to lose to Ohio State in 10 days.

Clothes Call. David Muir, host of newsy stuff on ABC got caught playing pin the tail on the donkey except he was the donkey and it wasn’t a tail they pinned on him. It was a fireman’s jacket and now David’s facing heat because of it. Heat… get it? I’ve seen this method used back when I worked in television but typically it’s something the host is aware of, to not show the cameras. Oopsy. David’s regular fitting clothes called and said they want some recognition here.

Closed Call. I guess that would be someone hanging up the phone, right? Closing the call. How many of you are getting spam calls, or spam texts? I get them more than I’d like throughout the week and the most common is people calling to find out if I’d like to sell my house in Tennessee. The thing is, I don’t have a house in Tennessee! Not as of 2021. These people need to get their facts straight, Jack! So every one of those phone calls end up as a quickly closed call.

How’s 2025 going for you so far? Any close calls, clothes calling your name, or closed calls?

-Out of the Wilderness

Ty Myers “Can’t Hold Me Down” and It’s Not A Puff Daddy Cover

This new song and video popped up on YouTube and I just knew it would be a cover of the Puff Daddy song “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.” Besides the double negative meaning that someone actually CAN hold me down, the Ty Myers song is less of a brag and more of a pleading request. And it’s super catchy. Also, it’s not a cover of the Puff Daddy song because… well, in today’s current music industry climate, no one and I mean no one is getting within 10 miles of Sean Combs.

Isn’t that a great song? Also, a music video can make or break a song. Without the right images to go along with the music an artist can really miss the mark. But Ty hits it out of the park with this one. Clips of Texas, a road trip out to Vegas and it’s not cluttered with concert footage like some artists love to do. The video compliments the song’s tough attitude but in a likable way. Plus, I mean, Texas is an awesome state. The geography is amazing and I’m often reminded of my camping trip out there, starting in Florida and up through the Gulf states, to the panhandle of Texas, through Oklahoma (where I saw Judah and the Lion in concert) and back down to Florida. There in Texas, one of my favorite state parks… Caprock Canyons.

Great video. Great song. I hope Ty finds more and more success and isn’t held down anytime soon.

-Out of the Wilderness

Even the Ugly Birds Have a Purpose…

Did you know the wingspan of some vultures is 6 feet!? Those are some big birds, let me tell ya.

And we should be honest, they’re not very pretty to look at, are they? Big bodies, eating dead things, ugly heads. But back to that eating thing… even ugly birds have a purpose. That might be my top #1 favorite thing about God’s genius in nature. These birds, as unpretty as they are, serve such a vital role in the ecosystem.

Everything plays a role in the survival of its species, of that animal kingdom, the circle of life. Maybe it’s kind of like human feet. They’re often thought of as gross, some people really don’t like them (of course, some weirdos really DO like them 😜) but as unattractive as they can sometimes be, it’s hard to deny their critical role in every day life. So for that reason, they’re quite beautiful. Same with buzzards, vultures, raccoons, scavengers of land, etc. That’s why I put in a special mention of raccoons in my children’s book Big and Small, God Made Them All.

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We don’t see them often, usually just at night, but raccoons serve the world well. Plus, I purposely left out mentioning possums because whenever I can make a separate note about them, I will. I love possums.

That there is a possum I met at Roos and Coos Farm in Plant City, Florida. Before I was there, and even more since then, I would love to have a possum as a companion. It’s not easy so the time and situation needs to be right but I just love them so much. They’re adorable in their own weird way and now I’m missing Rosanna! She will be missed.

Isn’t it cool that when nature needs something, there’s something already in place to meet the need? The circle of life, the wheel of fortune, and now you’re singing Elton John like I am, too.

Even the ugly birds have a purpose…

-Out of the Wilderness

Decisions, Decisions

Why is it that whenever one good thing comes along, another good thing is happening simultaneously? It’s like trying to eat chocolate and peanut butter at the same time!! Wait, actually that’s my favorite dessert. But you get my point? When it comes to living in real time where you can’t really be in two places at once, a decision is required. Is there going to be a secret third option? OK, there’s ALWAYS a secret third option but for the predicament I’m in, I haven’t thought through it enough to spark my mind into what that surprise option #3 will be.

So for now… I’ll try to be happy that at least I’m having to pick between two good things. It’s not like one of those “would you rather” questions where you have to pick one of two horrible scenarios. Both of the twinning events are fun and good, I just have to pick one and making decisions like this has never really been my strong suit. I’m sure I’ll overthink it for the next 100 hours and then end up doing something I’d never considered.

Do you have any wisdom to share? Any advice? Should I just flip a coin? Now that I’m typing it out for the first time, I’m thinking I should hold both options up to my theme for 2025: Pursue, Purpose, Person. Which of the two events is more aligned with this theme? I’ll be thinking on it until I hear what you have to say. Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness