M Is FOR MASHUP - January $$, 2010
4ourth Annual DJ Pie Exchange Half-Baked
By DJ Useo & The Useoettes
Fans of stained clothing & gooey hair entertained themselves at the 4ourth Annual DJ Pie Exchange, January 11th. If you were in CrustTown, Indiana that day you would have been served up one savoury scene. Pies can be either "filled", where a dish is covered by pastry and the filling is placed on top of that, but the regular pie-fest has been going on since Turntabler Tom & Alarmix met at a Dennys & fought over a Stargazy Pie.
To many it may seem strange this pasty pursuit, so I asked participating DJ Larryl Van Ill what the ****? "Gosh, I dunno, but it was good fun, & made work for underpaid janitors who sorely need more pie fights, I guess. "Said Larryl. Rather the waste of a long distance phone call for that comment, eh?
Weel, the next thing you know, Old Dirty Jed emails me to say "there's nothing wrong with pie fights. Leave off! If little baby martians came out of the UFO's they'd have pie fights." I hope those multiple pie strikes to the head aren't causing serious damage. I think his creams gone sour. lol
A highlight of the PIE EXCHANGE was Garth The Electric Particle DJ & his demonstration of how to breath pie. Apparently after the first few fruit or cream pies, the lungs develop a more flexible management system for mixing nitrogen, oxygen & merengue. The audience witnessed for themselves as Garth's assistant DJ Reako da Geako merely blinked widely & puffed after an exchange of 12 Buko pies to the puss.
Next the Homity Pie & Scoth Players enacted the battle of CrustTown as occured last year. This year they had high hopes for a total pie-out, but Sir Walter of Decks actually ate his weaponry & severely crimped his teams serving barrage of desparately needed Key Lime Pies.
As you can see in this pic, many observers who were not actually dj's found themselves pie-engaged. This was the dignitary from Wales & his entourage who only came for the Steak & Kidney Pie. They took it very poorly when they became besieged by Cottage pies. He was heard to say "^*($E%& #&&E&(()@)@!)!!@" loudly & long.
Films were show to all DJ's after about 2 hours of showers & cleaning in general. Everyone rollicked to the pie-throwing adventures of movie classics Laurel & Hardy & The Three Stooges. Rumour reached my ears that they showed a blue-movie called Danish Meat Pie in the green room, but I cannot confirm that.I heard it from DJ Pie Bird,& he was snockered at the time. Not the best source come to think of it.
The celebration ended when somebody pied the mayor's wife & in a final frenzy of Banana, Banoffee & Blackberry pies the 75 or so Cream-topped DJ's escaped at pie point. No doubt they'll be invited back soon to find out who pied the police chief's house.
Note from Useo -
Hey if you wanted links with this week's column, enjoy this, there're 7 mashup albums ( http://suprmchaos.com/bcEnt-Wed-010610.index.html ).
Back again next Wednesday with less pie.
DJ Useo's Podcast
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Emily Bazelon: For Better or for Worse (slate.com)
California's gay-marriage trial is an all-star, high-stakes affair.
Theodore B. Olson: The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage (newsweek.com)
Why same-sex marriage is an American value.
Cut This Story! (theatlantic.com)
Newspaper articles are too long, encrusted with conventions that don't add to your grasp of the news, argues Michael Kinsley...
"Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World (MacMillan Science)" by Eugenie Samuel Reich: A review by David Kaiser
For many years, historians of the Renaissance have lauded the value of forgeries and fakes.
John Crace: A Year in Provence, 20 years on (guardian.co.uk)
When Peter Mayle moved to rural France, he intended to write a novel - not a bestselling memoir. Two decades and several imitations later, he is still living the dream.
Victor Godinez: Texas Instruments getting into e-books (The Dallas Morning News)
The Dallas-based chipmaker said Thursday that it has developed processors and software for the booming category of electronic books that are more energy efficient than current systems.
Yvonne Villarreal: Ethan Hawke is always in development (Los Angeles Times)
Whatever happened to the 90-minute movie? Ethan Hawke is mulling that over, slouched in a dining chair inside a small empty ballroom at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, slightly rumpling his light brown three-piece suit. He's not playing the slacker anymore; at 39, he's a film veteran and he talks with a certain cinematic weariness.
Robert W. Butler: 'Youth in Revolt' director is choosy about his movies (McClatchy Newspapers)
In his 13-year directing career, Miguel Arteta has made only four features.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Education (athensnews.com)
As you would expect, teachers are good thinkers. A visitor whom a teacher wanted to impress visited her class, and the teacher succeeded in impressing the visitor, since whenever she asked a question, all of the students in her class raised their hands and whomever the teacher called on to answer the question knew the correct answer. However, the teacher did employ a trick. All of the students had received instructions before the visitor arrived: If they knew the answer, they were to raise their right hand, and if they did not know the answer, they were to raise their left hand.
David Bruce: "Composition Project: Writing an Argument Paper" (lulu.com)
Free download. This short pdf file describes a composition project that teachers can adapt, if they wish, for their own courses.
Tat: Road to Paradise (music; youtube.com)
Mikhaela Reid: Cartoon
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'What ever happened to... Where are they now?' Edition
Every now and again, an article appears about what a former 'Celebrity', e.g. an actor/actress, politician, author, musician or sports star, is now doing in their present state of obscurity and where they're doing it.
Is there a former 'Celebrity' that you'd be interested in knowing where they are and what they're doing?
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Link from RJ
Humming Bird Moth
Hi
Would you be interested in the following as a link? I know that moths aren't exactly the most exciting of beasties, but this one is just a little different! Well, quite a lot to be honest!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Says No Thanks
Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien has refused to play along with NBC's plan to move "The Tonight Show" and return Jay Leno to late-night, abruptly derailing the network's effort to resolve its scheduling mess.
O'Brien said in a statement Tuesday that shifting "Tonight" will "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting," and he expressed disappointment that NBC had given him less than a year to establish himself as host at 11:35 p.m. EST.
O'Brien is in line to make approximately $30 million from NBC if he is replaced on "The Tonight Show" or if the show is canceled, said a source close to the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about it publicly. However, the source said the sum would not apply just for moving O'Brien to a later time slot.
The network had been counting on O'Brien's cooperation, and wanted an answer quickly, so it could get the revamped schedule ready to begin airing after NBC broadcasts the Winter Olympics, which will dominate NBC's schedule from Feb. 12-28.
Conan O'Brien
Ending China Censorship
Google
Google Inc. will stop censoring its search results in China and may pull out of the country completely after discovering that computers hackers had tricked human rights activists into opening their e-mail accounts to outsiders.
The change-of-heart announced Tuesday heralds a major shift for Google, which has repeatedly said it will obey Chinese laws that require some politically and socially sensitive issues to be blocked from search results that are available in other countries.
Google disclosed in a blog post that it had detected a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China." Further investigation revealed that "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists," Google said in the post written by Chief Legal Officer David Drummond.
Google did not specifically accuse the Chinese government. But the company long associated with a motto of "don't be evil" added that it is "no longer willing to continue censoring our results" on its Chinese search engine, as the government requires. Google said the decision could force it to shut down its Chinese site and its offices in the country.
Google
Changing This Week
Doomsday Clock
The minute hand of the famous Doomsday Clock is set to move this Thursday, and for the first time, anyone with Internet access can watch. Which way the hand will move and by how much have not been made public.
The event will take place at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) on Jan. 14 at the New York Academy of Sciences Building in New York City. While the actual clock is housed at the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences offices in Chicago, Ill., a representation of the clock will be changed at Thursday's news conference. (You can watch the live Web feed at www.TurnBackTheClock.org.)
The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January 2007, when it was pushed forward by two minutes, from seven to five minutes before midnight. The change was meant to reflect two major sources of potential catastrophe that could bring us closer to "doomsday," according to the board of "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," a magazine focused on warning the world of the dangers that the invention of the atomic bomb helped to unleash.
Doomsday Clock
In Bid To Unionize
Hollywood Composers
After 28 years without a union, film and television composers are attempting to unionize again.
The new union would be designated the Association of Media Composers and Lyricists and would be the first group of its kind since the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America, which dissolved in 1982 after a punishing seven-year legal battle with the major studios. (A subsequent attempt to create a new union in 1984, with the assistance of the Writers Guild of America, was derailed by the National Labor Relations Board, which denied the Society of Composers and Lyricists guild status.)
The attempt to organize is being led by record producer/composer Alan Elliott ("Cop Rock," "Celebrity Deathmatch"); Bruce Broughton, a former Society of Composers and Lyricists president; James Di Pasquale, who helped form the SCL in 1983; and Alf Clausen, the veteran composer of "The Simpsons." The timing in many ways couldn't be better because conditions for film and television composers have never been worse and fees have dropped radically from their levels a few years ago.
"Thirty years ago, the average television all-in fee was $35,000 -- for an hour of television," Elliott says. "That would include the money that would go to the studio, the contractor, the musicians, the orchestrators, the copyists, the players. With inflation from 1979 to 2010, that should be $104,000, but most network television shows now are around $14,000 all-in, which means that the total number has fallen to about 13% of what it was."
Hollywood Composers
Renews 3 Comedies
ABC
Fans of "Modern Family," "Cougar Town" and "The Middle" can take comfort in knowing the ABC shows will be back next year.
ABC programming chief Stephen McPherson announced the decision Tuesday. ABC took a risk last fall in scheduling four new comedies on Wednesday nights, and it's a strong batting average for three of them to work. The fourth, Kelsey Grammer's comedy "Hank," is already off the air.
McPherson also said "Bachelor Pad," a spinoff series to its hit "The Bachelor," will launch this summer.
ABC
Vatican Pans
'Avatar'
The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film "Avatar" simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.
L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron's big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.
L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that while the movie reviews are just that - film criticism, with no theological weight - they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity."
'Avatar'
Rare Map
China
A rarely seen 400-year-old map that identified Florida as "the Land of Flowers" and put China at the center of the world went on display Tuesday at the Library of Congress.
The map created by Matteo Ricci was the first in Chinese to show the Americas. Ricci, a Jesuit missionary from Italy, was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing in the early 1600s. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map in 1602 at the request of Emperor Wanli.
Ricci's map includes pictures and annotations describing different regions of the world. Africa was noted to have the world's highest mountain and longest river. The brief description of North America mentions "humped oxen" or bison, wild horses and a region named "Ka-na-ta."
Several Central and South American places are named, including "Wa-ti-ma-la" (Guatemala), "Yu-ho-t'ang" (Yucatan) and "Chih-Li" (Chile).
China
New Museum
Chile
Chile inaugurated a museum on Monday to thousands murdered, "disappeared" and tortured during General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, stirring up bitter memories just days before a presidential vote that is expected to pave the way for a new rightist government.
Chile's current center-left government says 3,195 people were killed or "disappeared" during Pinochet's 1973-1990 rule and around 28,000 people, including President Michelle Bachelet, were tortured.
Some in the crowd heckled visiting Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, a prominent supporter of conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera, who is expected to win a presidential run-off on Sunday and end the center-left's rule.
Some of Pinera's advisors worked under the dictatorship and his base includes former Pinochet supporters. But the airline magnate has long distanced himself from Pinochet and his legacy.
Chile
Court Rejects Appeal Against CBS
Dan Rather
New York's top court Tuesday rejected Dan Rather's bid to reinstate his $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS Corp.
Rather's motion was denied without comment Tuesday by the Court of Appeals.
CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs said the network was pleased with the outcome. Calls to Rather, who now produces an hourlong news program for cable channel HDNet, and to his lawyer Martin Gold were not immediately returned.
Rather sued CBS and its top executives in 2007, claiming he had been wrongfully removed from his "CBS Evening News" anchor post over a report that examined resident George W. Bush's military service.
Dan Rather
Investigation Closed
David Copperfield
Federal prosecutors have closed a two-year investigation into rape allegations against magician David Copperfield without filing charges.
The notice came in a brief court document filed Tuesday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Roe.
The woman who made the complaint, a former Miss Washington contestant, said in a related civil lawsuit against Copperfield, whose real name is David Kotkin, that she met him during a performance in Kennewick and was invited to visit his private island in the Bahamas in July 2007.
The woman claimed that once she arrived, Copperfield sexually assaulted her.
David Copperfield
Cybill Shepherd's Son Charged
Cyrus Shepherd-Oppenheim
The son of actress Cybill Shepherd has been charged with stealing from fellow airplane passengers during a cross-country flight.
Police say 22-year-old Cyrus Shepherd-Oppenheim was arrested in Philadelphia on Tuesday around midnight after the United Airlines plane arrived from San Francisco.
Police say witnesses identified Shepherd-Oppenheim as the man who allegedly stole cash, a digital camera, leather make-up case and a small travel bag from two passengers' carry-on luggage.
He is the son of "Moonlighting" star Cybill Shepherd and chiropractor Bruce Oppenheim, who divorced in 1989.
Cyrus Shepherd-Oppenheim
Sues French Media
Roman Polanski
The news snapshot shows Roman Polanski standing at a window, a thin slice of his face visible amid an opening in the curtains. The French paper that printed the photo saw it as a newsworthy depiction of the director's life under house arrest in his Swiss Alpine chalet.
Lawyers for the "Chinatown" director say that the December 2009 photo and many others invaded his privacy as well as his family's, and he and his wife are suing four French publications, two newspapers and two magazines for a total of about (EURO)150,000 ($217,215).
In a hearing Tuesday, Polanski lawyer Marion Gregoire said the suits were an attempt "to put an urgent stop to the media spotlight" on the filmmaker and his family that has intensified in the months since a 32-year-old sex case against him was revived.
Several of the photos at issue depict Polanski's children, Elvis and Morgane - who, as minors, are especially protected by French media law.
Roman Polanski
'Cougars,' 'Cubs' Unwelcome
Carnival Cruises
Carnival Cruise Lines won't be sailing anymore with a boatload of "cougars" and their willing prey. The Miami-based company has turned down a request from a singles travel group to book another cruise with the cougar theme. The term refers to older women who date younger men.
The singles group says the ban is unfounded. They point to their first cruise on Carnival's Elation in December that drew about 300 women and the men they call "cubs."
Analysts say it's meant to protect Carnival's focus on family fun.
Party planners say they've had no trouble booking with rivals Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.
Carnival Cruises
Thief Nabs $1M From SUV
Usher
Atlanta police say a thief stole $1 million in jewelry, clothing and other belongings from R&B singer Usher's SUV while he shopped last month.
According to an Atlanta Police Department report, the Atlanta resident was returning from the airport on Dec. 14 when he and a companion stopped at an AT&T Store in an upscale shopping area in the Buckhead neighborhood.
Police say an unidentifed man pried open the driver's side door of the SUV and stole $1,065,700 worth of laptops, cameras, jewels and other items. A witness tells police the suspect escaped in a burgundy Chevrolet Impala.
A message left seeking comment wasn't immediately returned by a spokeswoman for Usher, whose real name is Usher Raymond IV.
Usher
Completes Jail Sentence
Farruquito
Spanish flamenco star Farruquito on Tuesday completed his three-year jail sentence for a hit-and-run death in 2003 while speeding and driving without a licence.
He entered the jail in the southern city of Seville in January 2007 but was granted a work furlough for good behaviour in April of the following year which meant he only had to sleep at the prison during the rest of his sentence.
Farruquito, which means "Little Pharoah", struck a pedestrian down in Seville in September 2003. His victim, Benjamin Olalla, 35, later died at the hospital.
The grandson of the legendary flamenco dancer El Farruco and son of the acclaimed singer El Moreno, Farruquito began his career at the age of five on Broadway in New York.
Farruquito
Wins Damages
Peaches Geldof
Peaches Geldof has been awarded substantial undisclosed libel damages over a newspaper article that implied she was a prostitute who charged 5,000 pounds ($8,000) a night.
The 20-year-old TV presenter and model, daughter of Live Aid campaigner Bob Geldof, had brought legal proceedings over a September 2008 front page story in The Daily Star.
Her solicitor, Jonathan Coad, told Mr Justice Eady at London's High Court that she had initially gone to the Press Complaints Commission about the item, headlined: "Peaches: Spend the night with me for 5k."
The newspaper's solicitor Zoe Norden said her client accepted there was "no truth in the allegation."
Peaches Geldof
Half-Plant, Half-Animal
Sea Slug
A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.
The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis - the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy.
"They can make their energy-containing molecules without having to eat anything," said Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
The sea slugs live in salt marshes in New England and Canada. In addition to burglarizing the genes needed to make the green pigment chlorophyll, the slugs also steal tiny cell parts called chloroplasts, which they use to conduct photosynthesis. The chloroplasts use the chlorophyl to convert sunlight into energy, just as plants do, eliminating the need to eat food to gain energy.
Sea Slug
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Jan. 4-10. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "NFL Playoff: Philadelphia vs. Dallas," NBC, 32.12 million.
2. "BCS National Championship Game: Texas vs. Alabama," ABC, 30.78 million.
3. "NFL Playoff Pre-Kick: Philadelphia vs. Dallas," NBC, 26.98 million.
4. "NFL Wildcard Post-Game: Green Bay vs. Arizona," Fox, 25.18 million.
5. "NCIS," CBS, 21.37 million.
6. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 18.07 million.
7. "BCS Championship Pre-Game," ABC, 17.28 million.
8. "The Simpsons," Fox, 14.62 million.
9. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 14.03 million.
10. "The Good Wife," CBS, 13.98 million.
11. "Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Boise State," Fox, 13.82 million.
12. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 11.95 million.
13. "The Biggest Loser," NBC, 11.74 million.
14. "Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special," Fox, 11.43 million.
15. "The Mentalist," CBS, 11.01 million.
16. "Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa," Fox, 10.88 million.
17. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 10.87 million.
18. "People's Choice Awards," CBS, 10.81 million.
19. "Law & Order SVU," NBC, 10.59 million.
20. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 10.55 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Ruth McBride Jordan
Ruth McBride Jordan, whose life story was celebrated by her son in a best-selling book, "The Color of Water," has died. She was 88 and had been in failing health.
James McBride said his mother died Saturday at her home in Ewing, N.J.
His 1996 book, subtitled "A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother," catapulted his mother to international fame.
Born in Poland, Ruth grew up in Virginia and moved to New York. She married a black pastor, the Rev. Andrew McBride, and after his death, another black man, Hunter Jordan.
They had 12 children. James wrote that his mother never paid attention to the slights of those who found interracial marriage unacceptable.
Jordan is survived by six sons and five daughters. A private funeral is planned.
Ruth McBride Jordan
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