MY GO-TO YOU TUBE

It has been said that: Music soothes the savage beast.

I am not sure if this was initially intended as mockery from one class to another but I have found that listening to a few songs on You Tube will calm my inner, battle of the ‘who-is-the-loudest-voice-in-here’ band. There seems to be so many voices in this brain that can rarely take a full night’s sleep any more. This, this is the fruit of my half century of labor. I awake in the morning and Automaton pulls on my pants, starts the coffee and feeds the dogs. In there, somewhere, he starts the computer but nothing more. Morning Joe kicks in with the third sip of Moschetti blend. (A blatant plug for Fabrice here: https://youtu.be/MknA-PD6WOA ) Now, depending on what lies ahead in my day, either Working Walt or Lazy Larry will make a debut. Working Walt generally requires more coffee than a single press pot can produce. Lazy Larry usually takes just one but sometime later in the day may wish another.

In either case, sometime during the day, Ear-Ringing Randy will make an appearance. Ear-Ringing Randy is the voice that appears before Miffed Matthew, who shows before Irritated Aaron. As it turns out, having spent over half a century with these man-boys, I have worked out a system to slow, circumvent and even redirect the internal changing of the guard. And that system relies heavily on  . . . You Tube. Who knew? So when Ear-Ringing Randy makes an appearance, You Tube comes on. Sometimes just a quick song, other times a full coffee break worth of action.

My fascination with You Tube began over a decade ago. It started off slowly, with the occasional social use.  Then I found myself sneaking off, sometimes avoiding social contact altogether, to get my fix.  Now, never a day goes by with-out at least a solid half hour to calm me. At night, when I go to bed, I click to it on my phone and let it play so that I can go to sleep. Now there a 3 distinctly different types of videos I watch . . . okay maybe 4.

1. Singers – Singers on BGT and The Voice. I especially love it when young children walk on stage and sing with amazing voices. True gifts. The one video that got me hooked on You Tube, the one that I have watched countless time now (and just watched again), is Susan Boyle on BGT: https://youtu.be/RxPZh4AnWyk
2. Technical – Here is where people I know and love mock me.
   1. For a period of time I was fascinated with Ram Pumps. If you do not know what a ram pump is, let me explain . . . Better to share the link: https://youtu.be/zFdyqTGx32A?t=65
   1. Tree Felling – Now this topic is rich with both professionals and amateurs alike.  I recommend starting off with the Proper tree felling lessons and after you have moved through those seek out the falling failures so that you can criticize the latter’s technique: https://youtu.be/yFOVgH8OOCM
3. British Comedy – This actually all started with:
   1. Craig Ferguson: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGzp9qxI4tJqXT62h54CTg
   1. Moved on to Graham Norton : https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialGrahamNorton
   1. Stumbled upon WILTY (This is fricking hilarious): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFZO6aPugMrZjUOobX7IQDA
   1. Finally landed with Mock The Week: https://youtu.be/BCPnpXvlpVs
4. Then there are these guys (don’t judge): https://www.youtube.com/user/whoisjimmy

By far my favorite are the singers. I especially love to hear Tom Jones stand up and bust out a tune on The Voice UK.  Real talent grabs my attention and will yank a tear or two from my eyes.  I have often said that I find pure joy watching someone do what they are born to do. There is a palpable Zen state as the master attends to their craft. It does not matter what the field, each one of them brings a sense of music, dance, and poetry to their work.

With almost 60 years under my belt I understand my need to interact with interesting people. When I find these people I gravitate to them and seek to share whatever time they will share with me.  In this Times of Covid, when I am not making coffee, or writing, or organizing a socially distant cocktail hour, I do two things: I work, and I find sustenance in watching the gifted share the gift they were given.

Until tomorrow,

Tommy Judt