I Find It Kinda Funny, I Find It Kinda Sad
This week's ear candy & weird news: from Judith Hill and Tears For Fears to brain-eating amoeba and illegal underground gyms.
Hello!
Another new week, another new Rambunctious Roundup. Thanks for subscribing, by the way. You're awesome for doing that and I appreciate your click.
Ear Candy
Falling Down the Judith Hill Rabbit Hole: At the start of the month, I got an email from Scary Pockets announcing a new video with Judith Hill on vocals. It was an astounding funk cover of "Walk This Way."
That cover was so phenomenal, I had to look for other tracks she sang on. She did another cover with Scary Pockets, this time for AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." Once again, glorious vocal performance.
A comment on that video made me realize Judith Hill had competed on The Voice. Which led me to her wonderful cover of "What a Girl Wants" that had Adam Levine standing in his chair in disbelief.
In that video, we see shots of her parents offstage, cheering Judith on. Adorable. I continue Youtubing and find a video of Judith rocking a live performance... with her parents absolutely killing it on bass guitar and keyboards. Turns out they're musicians too!
I find out her parents, Pee Wee Hill (bass) and Michiko Hill (keyboards) met while in a funk band. And so I end up with my jaw on the floor watching this amazing performance of them playing a hybrid of classical & funk live in 2009. Such talent!
All this to say: your kids will pick up on what you love if you teach them and let them into your world. Cheers.
Wake Me Up Before the Go-Gos: When 2020 gets you down, The Go-Gos singing "We Got the Beat" in their 60s should remind you that you don't give up... you rock on.
Band on the Run: A Youtube channel I've recently fallen in love with is none other than Richie Castellano's Band Geek channel. Basically, they do note-perfect covers of 70s, 80s, and 90s songs. And they have fun as a band, no matter what track they do. Entertaining and super talented musicians, each and every one. This is my favorite video of theirs, a perfect cover of Yes' "Roundabout":
I Am Woman: Tune-Yards is back with multi-instrumentalist and vocal powerhouse Merril Garbus sharing the band's first new single since 2018: "nowhere, man." In typical Tune-Yards fashion, it is twenty shades of awesome. Best lyric: “If you cannot hear a woman then how can you write her song?”
When People Run in Circles It’s a Very Very Mad World: Before I share links to the maddest stories on the web, let me leave you with this track, which was released on September 20 -- but 38 years ago. This tender, acoustic version has Curt Smith performing with his daughter. Priceless. This really should be the theme song for 2020.
You Ought To Know
Word nerds, rejoice. This video by dialect coaches Erik Singer and Eliza Simpson breaks down some of the most common pet peeves we associate with language. For all intensive purposes, this video will trigger the grammarian tendencies of those who refuse to take language for granite. 🤣
Mad World
Take Me Down, 6 Underground: Pop culture is in love with the idea of secret spaces underneath the New York subway. Turns out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weren't the only ones with a subway hideout. Three employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were suspended without pay for outfitting a secret storage room beneath Grand Central Terminal with a futon, a fridge with beer, and a TV, turning it into a man cave!
Like Clockwork, I, I ,I: For 18 months straight, a village in Wales would lose broadband access every morning at 7 AM. The reason? A second-hand television was emitting a signal that interfered with the connection!
I Want Justice: A young boy in China dropped out of school and spent the next 17 years tracking down his dad's killer and bringing him to justice — in a totally legal way. No final battle involving bloody kung-fu moves.
Surfing USA... to the Philippines: Meanwhile, a surfboard lost in the waves of Hawaii was found on the shores of the Philippines — 5,200 miles away. Good thing the board had the owner's name and the internet connected the rest of the dots.
Say It Isn’t So: Be careful what you say in your reviews of Thai hotels. Because you could face 2 years in prison for an unflattering TripAdvisor review.
Watch Out, Boy, She'll Chew You Up: What do you do when brain-eating amoeba shows up in your city's water? You tell people not to use it. (Although, it's now been reverted to a "boil before use" warning.)
Let's Get Physical: What happens when gym rats can't go to gyms due to coronavirus lockdowns? Well, they start illegal, underground gyms — which are popping up everywhere from LA to New Jersey, with some of them not enforcing strict mask usage, too. Who knew being healthy could be so... dangerous?
Shameless Self Promotion
Force X Distance: In case you didn't know, I make shiny happy dad pop music in my free time. It sounds like a cross between Sheryl Crow and Tears for Fears— quite 80s in inspiration and sensibility. Download it over at Bandcamp.
That's it for this missive.
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Cheers, and stay safe.
~ Lionel