M Is FOR MASHUP - February 10th, 2021
Now There’s Nine Best Of Useo Volumes
By DJ Useo
Well, I finally got around to releasing this latest “Best Of DJ Useo” volume. It’s volume 9 with most of the tracks on this one originating in 2018. So, you can discern the next 2 volumes would be easy to release, if I was so inclined. This 9th volume is the 2nd album post for me in 2 months as I proceed with my planned one-album-a-month 2021 releases.
The Useoettes fan club gave me help by listening to eligible tracks, & ultimately dismissing one which they liked, but felt it was “a bit strange”. Lol. I’ve always found them to be a great aid to focusing on the more “wide appeal” tracks. Big thanks, Ladies. They also bring me a lot of aid with pitching difficult tracks. All of the Useoettes have been singers, & display a fine ear for all aspects of music.
The mixes included on volume 9 all feature wide genre clash, yet obtained a fine response when posted. The featured artists are all excellent already, so I hope you approve of the changes I made. Certainly, the audiences who heard me play them showed a very positive response. A few even gifted me candy! Yum!
Notable blends on this album include Jefferson Starship vs XTC, Elvis Presley vs Bad Religion, Led Zeppelin vs Creedence Clearwater Revival, & The Chemical Brothers w_Q-Tip vs Deee-Lite vs Timo Maas vs Fatboy Slim. The
preview track video of "Song 2 With Butterfly Wings" ( Smashing Pumpkins vs Blur ) is by Bobby G
( www.youtube.com/channel/UCpabWsQvDo2szc-IaJtfjGw ) & can be enjoyed
here
( youtu.be/YizYrteTFpk )
I turned out a one-track mix of the album that you can
stream, & download here
( hearthis.at/vxmfxz7w/dj-useo-best-of-dj-useo-vol-9-mix/ )
People tell me they like the ease of access that the streaming link provides. I enjoy the process of competently passing between the tracks while mixing them as much as possible. In this long set I used up over 10 minutes by playing tracks over each other.
Obtain your free copy of “Best Of DJ Useo vol 9” from
mirror links here
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2021/02/best-of-dj-useo-vol-9.html )
As I mentioned, there’s best of Useos to come from 2019-2021. & by the time they appear, it’s likely that I’ll have made several more. Thanks for listening, & I’ll catch you on the flip side.
Have the day of good - DJ Konrad Useo
from Bruce
Anecdotes
Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "No More Peace Forever"
Album: SATIRE X
Artist: Cassandra Syndrome
Artist Location: Frederick, Maryland
Info:
“Cassandra Syndrome is a Maryland-based Symphonic/Gothic Metal band brimming with explosive riffs, operatic punch and infectious energy. This female-fronted powerhouse combines elements that are simultaneously dark and beautiful. Forcefully heavy riffs and a healthy dose of groove combine with soaring soprano vocals to create what Metal Bite calls ‘[P]ure metal magic.’”
“Eschewing the synthesizer-laden stereotypes of symphonic metal, Cassandra Syndrome (formed in 2005) revolutionizes the genre with a unique blend of axe-heavy melodic metal and operatic vocals. The powerful alliance of Joe Cariola's punishing bass, scathing riffs of Jen Tonon's rhythm guitar, and throbbing beats of Jay Jericho's drums create a driving ground assault which weakens your defenses before being met by the searing lead lines of guitarist Chris Kackley. Above it all, radiant as Angelic Death, the resplendent soprano of Irene Jericho soars above the battlefield.”
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE)
Genre: Metal.
Links:
SATIRE X
Cassandra Syndrome on Bandcamp
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
If you didn't see Jamie Raskin's opening to the second impeachment of Predator, you need to see it, he is amazing and brought me to tears:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on his honeymoon.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny, but chilly (for these parts).
Wardrobe Donated
Alex Trebek
Fourteen suits, 58 dress shirts, 300 neckties and various other items of clothing that once belonged to Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek have been donated by the show and the Trebek family to The Doe Fund, an organization that provides paid work, housing, vocational training, continuing education, and comprehensive social services to underserved Americans with histories of addiction, homelessness, and incarceration.
At the suggestion of Trebek’s son Matthew Trebek, a supporter of The Doe Fund, the clothing will be distributed to those participating in the organization’s “Ready, Willing and Able” reentry program to be worn on job interviews.
“During his last day on set, Alex extolled the virtues of everyone opening up their hands and their hearts to those who are suffering,” said Mike Richards, Executive Producer, Jeopardy!. “Donating his wardrobe to those who are working to rebuild their lives is the perfect way to begin to honor that last request.”
“We are so grateful for Jeopardy! and the Trebek family’s commitment to lifting up the most vulnerable among us,” said Harriet McDonald, President of The Doe Fund. “The men in our career training programs are always in need of professional attire, so they can shine in their job interviews and work with confidence once they’re hired. This donation alleviates the obstacle of not having appropriate clothing.”
Harriet continued, “We understand the enormous loss Matt and Jean are going through, as well as their incredible resilience in the face of hardship. Last week, The Doe Fund’s Founder and President of 35 years, my husband George McDonald, passed away. I’m thankful that George got to see Alex’s suits delivered to the people we serve before he left us. This generous gift honors the legacies of both men, and I know they’re smiling down on us.”
Alex Trebek
Remake Planned
‘Wizard of Oz’
New Line Cinema is making a new adaptation of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” L. Frank Baum children’s novel, with Nicole Kassell, the visual architect of “Watchmen,” set to direct. Baum’s 1900 novel, now in the public domain, has spawned many adaptations over the years — most famously, of course, the 1939 MGM musical by Victor Fleming and starring Judy Garland.
Kassell’s version will not be a musical. New Line said it will be a “fresh take” and a “reimagining” of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” It will have some advantages, too, since Warner Bros. owns New Line and the 1939 film. That means it can use some trademarked elements like the ruby slippers.
“While the 1939 musical is part of my DNA, I am exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale,” said Kassell in a statement. “The opportunity to examine the original themes — the quest for courage, love, wisdom and home — feels more timely and urgent than ever. These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road!”
Kassell is an executive producer of HBO’s “Watchmen” and directed three of its nine episodes, including the pilot. She has worked primarily in television but directed the feature films “The Woodsman” and “A Little Bit of Heaven.”
‘Wizard of Oz’
Closing Blue Sky Studios
Di$ney
Disney is shuttering Blue Sky Studios, the $5.9 billion global-grossing former 20th Century Fox animation division that during its run churned out 13 feature films including the Ice Age franchise.
One can say that the writing was always on the wall for Blue Sky, especially after Disney acquired 20th Century Studios and its assets in March 2019. However, the past year has been challenging for Disney on many fronts, of course due to the pandemic — not just on the studio side but also with theme park closures and cruise line dockings. Sustaining a third feature animation studio was no longer viable for Disney given the current economic realities caused by Covid.
The last day for Blue Sky will be in April. The number of Blue Sky employees being impacted numbers 450. Disney will be working with the employees at the Greenwich, CT-based studio to explore open positions at the other internal studios.
The Blue Sky’s library and IP will remain part of Disney, and there are no plans for another major studio to absorb Blue Sky’s employees and operations. A series based on Blue Sky’s Ice Age characters is already in the works for Disney+. Through five movies, the Ice Age series grossed $3.2 billion at the global box office.
Blue Sky’s top-grossing animation features at the worldwide box office were Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (’09, $886M), Ice Age: Continental Drift (’12, $877M), Ice Age: Meltdown (’06, $660M), Rio 2 (’14, $500M), Rio (’11, $484M), Ice Age: Collusion Course (’16, $408M), Ice Age (’02, $383M), Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (’08, $297M), Ferdinand (’17, $296M), Epic (’13, $268M), Robots (’05, $260M), The Peanuts Movie (’15, $246M) and Spies in Disguise (’19, $171M).
Di$ney
Aunt Jemima's New Name
Pearl Milling Company
Quaker Oats said Tuesday that its Aunt Jemima brand pancake mix and syrup will be renamed Pearl Milling Company. Aunt Jemima products will continue to be sold until June, when the packaging will officially change over.
Quaker Oats, a division of PepsiCo Inc., had announced last June that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the character’s origins are “based on a racial stereotype.” The smiling Aunt Jemima logo was inspired by the 19th century “mammy” minstrel character, a Black woman content to serve her white masters. A former slave, Nancy Green, became the first face of the pancake products in 1890.
Quaker Oats bought the Aunt Jemima brand in 1925 and had updated the logo over the years in an effort to remove the negative stereotypes. But in the cultural reckoning that followed last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, Quaker decided to change the name altogether. Other brands, like Uncle Ben’s rice, followed.
Quaker said Pearl Milling Company was founded in 1888 in St. Joseph, Missouri, and was the originator of self-rising pancake mix. While the brand will be new to store shelves, the boxes and bottles of syrup will still have the familiar red packaging of Aunt Jemima.
Pearl Milling Company
Medical Expenses
COVID-19
A California woman reportedly had a brush with death amid her battle with COVID-19 last year. As her road to recovery continues, she is now dealing with over a million dollars in medical expenses.
Patricia Mason of Sacramento was hospitalized from March 28 to April 20, during which she received treatment at two different hospitals. Months after she was released, Mason received a medical bill totaling $1,339,181.94, she told the Los Angeles Times.
The woman’s insurance, Blue Shield of California, covered a majority of the bill, but she still owes $42,184.20 for out-of-network costs, according to the report. Mason said it is unlikely she will ever pay off the debt.
“I don’t have $42,000 to spare,” Mason said. She and her husband reportedly have five jobs between them. “We’re at the point where we’re trying to make it through the next 15 years, so hopefully we can one day retire…. I am lucky enough to be alive, so we take that into consideration. But the reality is I don’t have [the money]. It’s not going to happen.”
Mason’s hospital costs reportedly break down as follows: $479,162.40 for her stay in the coronary care unit at NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield, $470,950.94 for pharmacy charges, and respiratory services cost $166,669.80, per the report.
COVID-19
Contested Sale
Christie
Christie’s of Paris said it auctioned off about 30 pre-Hispanic sculptures and other artifacts Tuesday, despite the lodging of a complaint by Mexico with the French government against the sale.
Christie’s of Paris said that the sale exceeded expectations at auction, totaling over €2,500,000 euros ($3million).
The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History said it also filed a criminal complaint, arguing it is illegal to export or sell such pieces.
On Tuesday, Christie’s said that “the objects sold in the Quetzalcoatl sale were offered for sale as part of a transparent and legally compliant public sale process… these results reinforce our position that there is strong demand for a legitimate market for Pre-Columbian art.”
The collection included “an impressive” 1,500-year-old stone mask from the ancient city of Teotihuacan, and a “majestic,” equally ancient statue of the fertility goddess Cihuateotl, apparently from the Totonac culture.
Christie
Presidents Day Sale
Washington’s Hair
It’s almost Presidents Day, and now there’s a chance to own a quirky piece of White House history.
Locks of George and Martha Washington’s hair, Andrew Johnson’s order of a national day of mourning after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the pen that Warren Harding used to end U.S. involvement in World War I are among a trove of nearly 300 presidential artifacts hitting the auction block.
Boston-based RR Auction said online bidding gets underway Thursday and runs through Feb. 18. Other items being auctioned include John F. Kennedy’s crimson Harvard sweater and a photograph of Lincoln and his son, Tad, signed by the 16th president.
There are also numerous documents and personal papers signed by John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield and other presidents.
Washington’s Hair
Once Believed Extinct
Coelacanth
An analysis of coelacanth DNA suggests its genome has experienced some significant changes in recent evolutionary history, potentially dispelling the popular image of these iconic fish as being “living fossils.”
The discovery of a live coelacanth (pronounced “see-lah-kanth”) off the coast of South Africa in 1938 was quite the shock, as these animals were believed to be extinct. The large fish were thereafter referred to as “living fossils” owing to their uncanny resemblance to near-identical species spotted in the fossil record.
New research published in Molecular Biology and Evolution presents evidence showing that at least one species of coelacanth, formally known as Latimeria chalumnae, is not the living fossil it’s presumed to be, having acquired dozens of new genes in the past 23 million years—a surprising finding, and a far cry from the idea that the species has barely changed since its ancestors emerged over 300 million years ago. What’s more, the finding is further evidence that the living fossil concept is outdated and somewhat of a misnomer.
Not much is known about coelacanths, but they’re not particularly aggressive, and they’re actually somewhat social, Isaac Yellan, the first author of the new study, explained in an email. L. chalumnae lives in the Indian Ocean and the waters off the coast of southeast Africa, and, though not extinct, the fish is elusive and critically endangered, said Yellan, a graduate student with the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto.
Yellan and his colleagues made the discovery while doing research into proteins that bind DNA, with a focus on a protein called CGG Binding Protein 1 (CGGBP1). Other researchers have studied the function of this protein in humans, but its role in evolutionary history is poorly understood, as is its apparent similarity to a specific family of transposons—DNA sequences capable of shifting positions within a genome. This led the team to study binding proteins in other species, in a journey that eventually led them to the idiosyncratic fish.
Coelacanth
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