FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL đ«đđșđœ️đ. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
One year later, their power and brilliance remains undiminished: Old songs we loved are made new and great again, via the genius of TV4's "SĂ„ Mycket BĂ€ttre" re Ace of Base, Jenny Berggren, Lisa Nilsson, Kleerup.@aceofbase@jennyberggren @kwidewitt@kleerup
Kleerup & Lisa Nilsson - Longing For Lullabies (Live on TV4's "SĂ„ Mycket BĂ€ttre") https://youtu.be/EROHkyGeshU I can't even begin to tell you how OFTEN I've found myself singing or humming this amazing song the past year, esp. the last few months in and around South Florida. More recent segments and music videos from TV4's "SĂ„ Mycket BĂ€ttre" at its YouTube Channelthat I subscribe to: https://www.youtube.com/user/samycketbattretv4 In my opinion, the past two season have been the best of the past ten years, offering so much more insight that U.S. TV programs into music artists' thinking, their feelings about their craft and the industry and how they have been treated in it. Sometimes, you are even convinced that you have really seen a glimpse of their private side that few people see besides their family, friends and industry colleagues. And that definitely lingers with you, too @SaMycketBattrehttps://twitter.com/SaMycketBattre
Multi-talented DxDutch does it all: sings "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and plays talent scout and spots Old-style flash mob in the Old Country, complete with costumes: Flash mob in Munich shopping center startles some shoppers but amuses the hip and the cool kids who "get it"; #voXXclub, @DxDutch
Last week I first got wind of this interesting video and insight into German pop culture, courtesy of a Tweet by super-music talent DxDutch, one of the genuine stars of the YouTube generation, and an actual YouTube Partner, just like vlogger extraordinaire and HBB favorite Justine Ezarik, i.e. iJustine, http://ijustine.com/category/vlogs/ (See vid of them together at http://youtu.be/LBvWk6yv5XE) It features the music and antics of Universal Music Group (Germany) recording artist s voXXclub. http://www.universal-music.de/voxxclub/home
voXXclub YouTube channel video: "Rock mi" flashmob in den Riem Arcaden in MĂŒnchen. Uploaded March 19, 2013.http://youtu.be/0Y_VqqXphaQ
Over the weekend I was going thru my large YouTube inbox of subscribed videos I hadn't gotten around to watching yet because of the NCAA Mens Basketball tourney, the usual unethical doings in Hallandale Beach and environs, and some other matters not worth getting into now. There, staring back at me from my computer screen was this remake byDxDutch of a Sonny Bono tune that he wrote and which became a hit for Cher in 1966, reaching #2 onBillboard's Hot 100 list. And who, counter to some of her fan's fears, is NOT dead -NOWTHATCHERISNOTDEAD...
Metropolitan Police Service YouTube Channel video: Assault in Plaistow, November 13, 2012. Uploaded November 20, 2012. http://youtu.be/uMYatywmGZk Be sure to read the description below the video on YouTube for more details.
The following ITV video about the above incident was uploaded within the past three hours.
ITV News, London Tonight: Reporter Paul Brand talks to the 16-year-old girl in Plaistow in East London who was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a complete stranger and punched to the ground and left unconscious. Police detectives who have seen the video have described themselves as shocked by its utter brazenness, taking place in broad daylight in a commercial area. http://vimeo.com/53958859
Teen girl's despicable revenge plot goes viral -and now comes the backlash to her cyberbullying! New York Observer's Jessica Roy has the scoop on the video from Putin's Russia: "Video of Russian Teens Brutally Bullying Peer Goes Viral. Bullying breeds more bullying"; @JessicaKRoy
New York Observer
Betabeat blog
Video of Russian Teens Brutally Bullying Peer Goes Viral
Bullying breeds more bullying.
By Jessica Roy
September 18, 2012
2:40 p.m.
It starts with a young blonde boy, who looks to be in his early teens, his face covered in dirt and bruises, bent over on his knees kissing the pink sandals of a teen girl. The video, which was filmed in Novomoskovsk–a city in western Russia–and depicts three teens violently bullying and abusing one of their peers, has gone viral on the Russian Internet.
Meanwhile at Coachella 2012, where the fashionable people frolic and network, Far from the Madding Crowd of South Florida...; see 'Swedish House Mafia' perform LIVE online Saturday at 3:25 a.m. Eastern, 'First Aid Kit' at 5:15 p.m. Eastern on Sunday
As you can see, on Tatooine, unlike South Florida, it's a dry heat. Just like Coachella. Less believably, a hot princess like Princess Amidala of Naboo walks amongst the hoi-polloi and attends their amusing pod races and nobody- but-nobody bats an eye at her. On what planet? ----- #CoachellaLive
But through my eyes the light of you is all I see..."
Simply put, genius personified. One of THE greatest songs ever for playing while driving across the U.S.A. at night on the Interstate, especially on curving roads that you maneuver like slalom runs, gliding with little effort.
And it's even better when you're by yourself at 2 a.m. and there's no side traffic and you can use your steering wheel as your synthesizer and drum.
When I close my eyes and hear this song (and this iconic album), I almost immediately see myself, circa 1979-1987 on I-24 getting close to Chattanooga, and I-75 in Georgia, north and south of Macon, circa 1979-1987, with stops at the Shoney's Big Boy for a post-midnight slice of Key Lime pie and real Cherry Coke, because another hamburger is not what the doctor ordered. Sugar rush!
This video is 100% accurate about the first two minutes depicted here! The immediate area around Monteagle, TN, whether going up or down the mountain, was always THE scariest part of the drive for me between Miami and Chicago -or Bloomington- because of all the armies of trucks that were just flying by me -doing the speed limit- and the cars driven by locals that were passing THEM!
Even while bits of wet rocks and gravel from the mountain were always just inches from the road.
Runaway truck!!!!!
That was always the case heading north towards IU in Bloomington or up to Chicago/Evanston from North Miami Beach, because it means that I still have a ridiculous amount of driving still ahead of me.
And the thing is, even though we've never met, I know that somewhere up on I-65 north of Nashville, maybe just inside of the Bluegrass State, there's at least a few sleepy truck drivers in Kentucky pulling big rigs I have to be wary of, because while they may've stopped to eat, they're still sleepy.
Why?
Because there are always sleepy truck drivers at night around there.
Always!
Guys who'll drive faster than the posted speed limit while its raining hard, and I know in advance that IF I don't keep a nice safe distance, ahead of them or behind them. their water will just pour onto my windshield like I'm drowning and make my windshield wipers useless.
Trust me, that is damn scary at night on long stretches of roads with trucks forever getting on your bumper while you're trying not to get blown off the road.
To quote myself, "If only blogs and digital cameras had existed then."
I'd have hundreds and hundreds of amazing photos and shots of the passing American scene of the 1980's I knew -and lots of restaurant reviews!- and dozens of anecdotes about my friends and classmates I visited along the way who lived along the Interstate that connected my past and my then-present in America's heartland.
Especially like my sweet and adorable friend, Beth George in Louisville, whose friendliness, smile, wit and accent never failed to amaze me, and make me thankful to have someone like her as a friend.
Yes, she wasn't an IndianaPi Phifor nothing! ------ 5 p.m. Postscript: YouTube Frustration. Since I posted this earlier this morning, I realized that I'd forgotten to add something that was nagging me after I hit "Post" and went to sleep. Maybe those of you who are my age or share my particular musical tastes and come to this blog fairly often thought the same thing I am now, since it has happened before with other videos of musical talents I greatly admire and appreciate and have chosen to post here. Since rather out-of-the-blue I'd found myself humming and singing this great song for the past few days while stuck in traffic around the area -something that happens multiple times a day around here at this time of the year because of visitors and toursists, esp. given that there are only three main roads to navigate thru the city- I had already decided that I was going to post this version of the song on the blog today, since late Saturday night is usually the easiest time for me to write something pop culture-related, even if I don't post it for a few days. The song, which came out as a single in the summer of 1977 when I was 16 years-old and soon to be an Junior at North Miami Beach Senior High School, and one that everyone I knew then, male or female, White or Black or Hispanic, petite gymnast or lanky soccer player loved. And so, that being the case, that everyone actually DOES LOVEStevie Wonder, esp. his material from that era, I assumed that it would be rather simple to find a long version of the song on YouTube with him singing it that year or within a few years, whether from a concert or TV appearance, as well as find a version there of British singer George Michael singing the song, too, since he loves it too and has sung it in the past on his concert tours, esp. in Europe. I'd seen the videos of that before, so knew that going in. But early this morning I discovered that despite all the tens of millions of things on YouTube, there is NOT a single video of Stevie Wonder singing the song in concert or on TV pre-1985, and NOT a single good video of George Michael singing it in concert, whether via a handheld camera or TV broadcast, where both the audio and video were very good, much less amazing. Instead, for the latter, much to my consternation, there are a lot of bits and pieces of the song being sung in London, Manchester, Amsterdam or Antwerp where the video is very good but the audio sucks, or vice-versa. This one from a June 2007 concert at the City of Manchester Stadium has a fan's amazing video of George Michael literally circling the crowd as it were, but the fans around him are so loud that some audio is drowned out. Man, this video could have been spectacular but for the other fans. And sometimes, the rare ones that are good at both, like this one also at that week of June 2007 dates in Manchester, end after barely more than two minutes, in the middle of the song, right when ridiculously-talented George Michael is really getting into the swing of things. Wow that is SO frustrating! After spending a lot of time looking, for me and my ears and eyes, this video below from a George Michael fan going by the name of unotraitanti, is THE most consistent quality version on YouTube, but if you know of one that is better, both audio and video clarity, please let me know.
Prepare to meet an amazing musical talent: Anni Bernhard is 'Full Of Keys'; TV4's Nyhetsmorgon: Desolate; Suicide Bridge; Suicide Bridge LIVE at Stenkullen I am SO tremendously impressed by Anni Bernhard'stalent, insight and musical sensibility. I first became aware of this amazing singer from Stockholm last Fall, and made a mental note that sometime over the Christmas holidays, I needed to find some free time some Saturday or Sunday -maybe during halftime of a Dolphins game or an IU basketball game- to do some quality Internet sleuthing around. My mission? Look for more of her performances on YouTube and other video services and then track down any useful references to her in the blogosphere -mostly in Sverige, obviously- to catch up on what she was doing before I first heard of her. As you know, for the most part, with a few exceptions, I like to think of myself as an "early adopter," and hate being the last to find out about something good!
This was the captivating video which first brought Anni Bernhard to my attention:
Full of Keys official video: Full Of Keys - Desolate/Suicide Bridge (Official Video), August 31, 2011. http://youtu.be/_1_JNypjsTg
Then, three weeks ago, while looking for something else on the TV4 website, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to come across the clips of her being interviewed and performing LIVE on Nyhetsmorgon on January 11th. It literally made my day! (I even agreed with her thoughts about the current blah state of the music industry, too, which she's clearly doing something to change in her own positive way.) And now, three weeks later, because I was smart enough to sign-up for her official YouTube Channel after watching those TV4 clips -and sending them around the world to some friends- late last night, I was able to be THE FIRST person among the millions of folks on YouTube to see her new video, just a few minutes after it was posted online and still had "O Views." Me, I think I’m doing a good job of making up for lost time! The debut single:
Full of Keys official video: Full Of Keys - All The Roses (Official Video) April 25, 2011. http://youtu.be/N61plpOjmi4
Here's the video that Anni posted online Friday night after performing "Suicide Bridge" with just an acoustic guitar at the hotel:
Full of Keys official video: Suicide Bridge (LIVE at Stenkullen, acoustic) February 3, 2012. http://youtu.be/9Z-dwOyAf9g
And not to wax overly-rhapsodic about the marketing angle or anything, but wow, on top of all that vocal talent, lyric cleverness and musical sensibility, she's got that AMAZING face of her's!
She's like some glorious combination of Natalie Portman, Gennifer Goodwin, Giada De Laurentis & Rachel Leigh Cook all wrapped into one, and let me tell you, from where I'm sitting, that's one hell of an amazing and interesting combination.
When you see the interview with her below where she sounds off on what she doesn't particularly like about the current music industry trends, and how, unfortunately, too many singers seem to lose their spark once they become a commercially successful artist, about the third or fourth time I played it, and knew what she was going to say, all I could do was focus on that face -and melt.
If you doubt me on this, just go to Eva Warner's photography website and look under "Commissioned" and click Full of Keys.
