M Is FOR MASHUP - December 11th, 2013
What Mashups Look Like
By DJ Useo
I've always believed that if you have an interesting cover for your mashup,
you have a better chance of luring people into listening. In fact it was my
custom when I began posting my tracks to always do hand drawn covers. Ahh,
those were the days.
Of course, the habit of including a cover came from the old days of music,
when most 45 rpm vinyl records had some type of cover image in an attempt
to sway your purchase. Today, I went thru a LARGE number of mashup covers
and freely offer you an overview of what bootleg pirates like to decorate
their creations with. Now, I'll clam up for a bit and just let the art do
the talking.
Yeah, you can get some swell art along with your new mashups. Most mixes
have the art attached and you can rip the images to a folder and use them
for great screen savers . I hope your eyes responded favorably to this
experience.
Mix Of The Week
TheMashFactor delivers a 2013 tune review with a Yuletide
twist called "A Festifus For The Rest Of Us (best-of-2013-smashed)".
TheMashFactor sez "Well as tradition dictates here is my end of year / best
of 2013 mash up mix. it's basically the crap I've listened to and loved
over the past 12 months...with a Christmas twist....give it a listen, you
may like it (some of it)." Full playlist and
link here
( yourlisten.com/randsta/a-festifus-for-the-rest-of-us-best-of-2013-smashed#comment )
( www.soundunsound.com/showthread.php/10234-A-festifus-for-the-rest-of-us-%28best-of-2013-smashed%29?s=c5f36465a2e8f6fd84253bb97353eb5c )
Mashup Tip
Make a mashup today and share it with some pals. Here's a
free mixing program that is friendly to beginners.
( audacity.sourceforge.net/ )
Latest Useo Thing
"I've Seen All Godzilla" (Yes vs Kryotex). Listen as
Yes sings over Kryotex. It's classic rock vs dubstep. Hoya-hey!!
( hearthis.at/vXMfxz7w/ive-seen-all-godzilla-yes-vs-kryotex/ )
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2013/12/ive-seen-all-godzilla-yes-vs-kryotex.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Scratch and Win Mashups will be
big in the coming year. Simply rub off the silver coating and listen to a
great new mashup.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Obama and the harsh reality check (SF Gate)
You want the good news, or the wincingly bleak news that makes you shudder and sigh and wish you didn't have such sad dreams? You want a bit of both? You should probably hear a bit of both.
Tom Meltzer: Want to buy citizenship? It helps if you're one of the super-rich (Guardian)
Malta has announced it is selling passports to foreign investors for £546,000, but that's cheap compared with other countries, such as Britain and the US.
Ian Sample: Nobel winner declares boycott of top science journals (Guardian)
Leading academic journals are distorting the scientific process and represent a "tyranny" that must be broken, according to a Nobel prize winner who has declared a boycott on the publications.
Challenge your own preconceptions (CNN)
Take the 'ignorance' test.
Woolies and Soweto Gospel Choir: Madiba Tribute (YouTube)
Watch the Soweto Gospel Choir sing a tribute to Madiba (Nelson Mandela).
Speed control Bikini Bandits, Danish, Copenhagen
NSFW video.
Stuart Heritage: From Doctor Who to American Psycho: Matt Smith and other actor rebrands (Guardian)
Matt Smith has ditched Doctor Who for Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. It's quite a contrast, and he's not the first to do this sort of thing. So why do actors love these big switcheroos?
YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?
To celebrate 2013, we invited some YouTubers to star in a mashup of popular moments this year. Can you spot all the references?
Love Actually 2 - Trailer Parody (YouTube)
Everyone loves the holiday classic Love Actually, but have you seen the new trailer for the sequel?
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit warmer.
US Charity Revealed As Anonymous Bidder
Hopi
A U.S. charitable foundation said Wednesday that it was the anonymous bidder which paid $530,000 for 24 Native American masks, and will return them to the Hopi Nation in Arizona and the San Carlos Apache tribe.
"These are not trophies to have on one's mantel," said Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, director of the Los Angeles-based Annenberg Foundation. He added: "They do not belong in auction houses or private collections."
Twenty-one masks are being returned to the Hopis and three to the San Carlos Apaches.
"Our hope is that this act sets an example for others that items of significant cultural and religious value can only be properly cared for by those vested with the proper knowledge and responsibility. They simply cannot be put up for sale," Sam Tenakhongva, a Hopi cultural leader, said in a statement Wednesday.
Hopi
Nominations Announced
SAG Awards
Steve McQueen's historic saga "12 Years a Slave" topped the nominations list for the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Wednesday, cementing it as a solid Academy Awards prospect with four nominations.
John Wells' dysfunctional family adaptation "August: Osage County," which hits theaters Dec. 25 and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, also picked up awards-season momentum with three nominations, including outstanding performance for the cast.
The SAG nominations are one of Hollywood's first major announcements on the long road to the March 2 Oscars. Also key are the Golden Globe nominations, which will be revealed Thursday morning.
Noticeably absent from Wednesday's SAG lineup were Spike Jonze's futuristic computer love story "Her," starring Joaquin Phoenix; Ethan and Joel Coen's folk scene-focused dark comedy "Inside Llewyn Davis"; Richard Linklater's raw and romantic "Before Midnight"; and Martin Scorsese's stockbroker story "The Wolf of Wall Street," which features performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.
Robert Redford, as a resourceful sailor in "All is Lost," was also snubbed, as was Ryan Coogler's numbing injustice tale "Fruitvale Station" and the film's lead actor, Michael B. Jordan.
SAG Awards
17-City US Tour
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is kicking off its 60th anniversary with a 17-city U.S. tour.
The concerts in February and March will feature an ensemble of jazz artists picked by festival creator George Wein (ween). They include clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen, vocalist-pianist Karrin Allyson, bassists Larry Grenadier and Ben Allison, among others.
Wein says the group features artists from around the world who represent different eras and styles of jazz.
Called "Newport Jazz Festival: Now 60," the tour kicks off Feb. 8 in Atlanta and includes dates in Boston, New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., and Los Angeles. Other concerts are expected later in the summer, including some dates in Europe.
Newport Jazz Festival
Baby News
Winslet - Rocknroll (Smith)
A spokeswoman for Kate Winslet says the actress has given birth to a son and is "doing great."
Publicist Laura Symons says Winslet had a boy, her third child, on Saturday at a hospital in southern England. She says mother and baby are both doing well.
The baby's name has not been announced.
This is 38-year-old Winslet's first child with husband Ned Rocknroll, whom she married last year. She has a daughter, Mia, and a son, Joe, from previous marriages to directors Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes.
Winslet - Rocknroll (Smith)
"Hacking Banter"
Rupert
Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper business, exchanged banter with rival editor Piers Morgan at a dinner party in 2003 about hacking each others' phone messages, a court heard on Thursday.
The conversation between the then editor of the Sun and former Daily Mirror editor Morgan - now hosting his own TV chat show in the United States - took place at a steak restaurant in south London, according to witness Ambi Sitham.
Sitham told the Old Bailey court the two editors had been discussing each other's upcoming front pages at the restaurant.
Sitham, a former solicitor, said that when she offered her number to Brooks later in the evening, Morgan turned to her and said: "Careful - she'll tap your phone."
Former Murdoch confidante Brooks is on trial along with seven other defendants, accused of an array of offences including conspiracy to hack phones and two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office. She denies all offences.
Rupert
Connection To Disputed Portrait
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal told a jury that an Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett that hangs in his home is one of his deepest connections to his longtime partner and that he does not believe he should have to hand it over to the actress' alma mater.
The University of Texas at Austin is suing O'Neal to try to gain possession of the portrait. Fawcett left all her artwork to the school and it claims O'Neal improperly took it from her condo days after her death.
The Oscar-nominated actor took the stand for the second time in the trial to assert his ownership of the portrait and why it's important for him to keep it.
The actor's portion of the trial is drawing to a close, with jurors hearing for the past several days from some of Fawcett's closest friends. Each has said Fawcett told them that one of the Warhol portraits belonged to her and the other one was owned by O'Neal. They also recounted the same origin story artwork: Fawcett told them that O'Neal arranged for two portraits to be made, and both actors picked them up from Warhol's New York studio at the same time.
Ryan O'Neal
Tops Forbes' Most-Overpaid Actors List
Adam Sandler
American comedian Adam Sandler topped Forbes' list of Hollywood's most-overpaid actors, commanding a high up-front fee while delivering middling returns, the magazine said on Monday.
Sandler, 47, the star of recent comedies "Jack & Jill" and "That's My Boy," dethroned Eddie Murphy for the dubious distinction. Forbes estimated that Sandler's last three films returned an average of $3.40 for every dollar he was paid.
Katherine Heigl, who starred in the poorly performing films "Killers" and "One for the Money," placed slightly behind Sandler, returning an average of $3.50 per every dollar she earned.
Reese Witherspoon, the star of recent films "Water for Elephants" and "This Means War," was third on this list, with an average return of $3.90 for every dollar she was paid.
Nicholas Cage was fourth, with a $6 average return, and comedian Kevin James was fifth, returning an average of $6.10.
Adam Sandler
Weinsteins Sue Warner Bros.
'The Hobbit'
Harvey and Bob Weinstein have sued Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema claiming they're owned a share of the profits from the second and third "Hobbit" films.
In a suit filed Wednesday in New York, the Weinsteins say their 1998 sale of the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy to New Line applies to all subsequent "Hobbit" films. Warner Bros. elected to split "The Hobbit" into three films, the second of which opens in theatres Friday.
Warner Bros. responded with a statement calling Weinstein's sale of "The Hobbit" rights "one of the great blunders in movie history." The studio says the Weinsteins and Miramax agreed to be paid only for the first film based on "The Hobbit," and it says "that's all they're owed."
'The Hobbit'
Estate Settled
Beresford-Redman
The family of a reality TV producer accused of killing his wife in Mexico has settled a dispute with the woman's sisters over her estate, and all its money will be set aside for the couple's two young children, attorneys told a judge Wednesday.
The agreement ends years of fighting between the sisters of Monica Burgos Beresford-Redman and the parents of former "Survivor" producer Bruce Beresford-Redman, who remains jailed in Mexico.
The producer, his wife and children were on vacation in Cancun when Monica Beresford-Redman was killed and her body placed in the sewer cistern of the swank family resort where they were staying. The vacation was an attempt to save their marriage after Monica Beresford-Redman learned her husband was cheating on her.
The couple's children are cared for by the husband's parents and will each receive a monthly stipend from a trust account, lawyers told Superior Court Commissioner Donald Cowan during a brief hearing Wednesday.
Bruce Beresford-Redman remains in a Mexican jail and is unable to receive mail from his family or lawyers, Petty said. A Mexican judge ruled last year that there was enough evidence for him to stand trial, but Petty said a date had not been set.
Beresford-Redman
Artworks Stolen
Damien Hirst
Two Damien Hirst artworks together valued at 33,000 pounds ($54,000) have been stolen from a London art gallery, police said Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police said the two signed prints, "Pyronin Y" and "Oleoylsarcosin," were taken from the Exhibitionist Gallery in west London in the early hours of Monday by a thief who forced the gallery doors. The works are among Hirst's series of "spot" pieces, covered in multicolored dots.
Gallery manager Nathan Engelbrecht said the thieves appeared to have targeted the Hirst works.
"The thief left other works in the gallery, just taking the prints. The store room had not been touched at all. The spot prints are the most recognizable Hirst works. The others we had were left behind."
Damien Hirst
Bavaria To Keep Blocking Publication
'Mein Kampf'
Bavaria's state government says it will try to keep Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" out of publication in Germany after the copyright expires in 2015 - reversing a decision to support new editions with critical commentary.
"Mein Kampf" isn't actually banned in Germany, but Bavaria has used its ownership of the copyright to block publication. The copyright expires 70 years after the author's death.
The Bavarian governor's chief of staff, Christine Haderthauer, said late Tuesday Hitler's anti-Semitic memoir amounts to incitement and the government will file a criminal complaint if anyone tries to publish it in the future, news agency dpa reported.
Governor Horst Seehofer pointed to Bavaria's participation in a drive to have modern Germany's main far-right party banned and said that doesn't fit with supporting publication of "Mein Kampf."
'Mein Kampf'
In Memory
Christopher Evan Welch
Christopher Evan Welch, the actor whose roles on New York stages led to a series of film and television roles, including a regular spot on AMC's "Rubicon," has died in Southern California.
His family said in a statement Wednesday that Welch died Dec. 2 in Santa Monica. He was 48 and had been diagnosed with lung cancer.
The Dallas-born actor won an Obie Award in 2000 for his performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the New York Theatre Workshop.
On television, Welch had roles in "The Sopranos," ''The Good Wife" and the conspiracy-themed drama "Rubicon."
Last year he played a clerk in the House of Representatives in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln."
Welch is survived by his wife, Emma, their daughter June Harper, his parents, a brother and a sister.
Christopher Evan Welch
CURRENT MOON lunar phases |