M Is FOR MASHUP - RERUN - April 5th, 2017
Moderated Mashups
From DJ Useo
When I started getting into mashups, I would leave comments on every new mashup I saw. So, if you went to a mashup forum, there'd be like 20 Useo comments in a row. This led to complaints as many felt my behavior was excessive. Eventually, I was pressured into a policy of mainly three comments during each "session". Actually, there's naught wrong with employing restraint, I just like to leave feedback. I also like to get feedback. Perhaps the annoyed few were worried I would use up the "limited" number of comments the web could generate. If you notice the major lack of comments at any mashup location, perhaps they had a point. Lol.
I've been running my own mashup forum for years now. My most recent forum is
Audioboots The Friendly Mashup Forum
( audioboots.com ) which is just now celebrating three years of net presence. Before that I was at GET YOUR BOOTLEG ON, Laptop Punk, Beatles Remixers Group, SoundUnsound, Global DJ Network, Mashstix, & too many more to mention. As "Super-Moderator" at Audioboots I attempt to see to day to day matters, while Chocomang does all the technical stuff. I was pressed for time today, but I did manage to moderate some posts, which means editing, & answering, & for me, sharing on social sites.
Here's the posts I attended before offline matters took me away. I know you'll enjoy them a lot., because I already heard them. A few of mine in there, too, as it happens.
01 - DJ Useo - Nuclear Shape ( Ed Sheeran vs Init vs LUMBERJVCK )
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1480/nuclear-shape-ed-sheeran-vs-init-vs-lumberjvck )
02 - DJ Memphis - Modo vs. AronChupa - I am an Albatraoz Polizei
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1479/modo-vs-aronchupa-i-am-an-albatraoz-polizei )
03 - DJ Useo - Birthday Mix For Maz ( 1:19: 48 )
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1481/birthday-mix-for-maz-1-19-48 )
04 - ETK - All-Star Relaxation (Smash Mouth vs Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1478/etk-all-star-relaxation-smash-mouth-vs-frankie-goes-to-hollywood )
05 - DJ Useo - Bruno Mars vs Gary Numan
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1483/bruno-mars-vs-gary-numan )
06 - Grim Reap - Forever Trippin' (Forever vs Trippin')
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1477/grim-reap-forever-trippin-forever-vs-trippin )
07 - DJ Useo - Jesus And Mary Chain vs twoloud, Konih
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1484/jesus-and-mary-chain-vs-twoloud-konih )
08 - SMASH - Can't Fade The Feeling (Visage vs. Justin Timberlake vs. Dr. Alban)
( audioboots.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1476/smash-cant-fade-the-feeling-visage-vs-justin-timberlake-vs-dr-alban )
In hindsight, I think this is one dynamite batch of bootlegs. You'll love them, & your friends will be impressed when they hear you jamming them out. I'll be back next Wednesday with more home prouced music.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bruce took the day off.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• During the McCarthy era, free speech was frowned upon - unless your free speech consisted of saying things no more controversial than this: "I love my mother." African-American entertainer Paul Robeson used his First Amendment right of free speech to point out that at the time the Soviet Union was the only country that had made racial discrimination illegal, and as a result haters of free speech called him a Communist. Mr. Robeson was supposed to sing in Peerskill, New York, but he was not allowed to; instead, a mob called him "Commie" and shouted racial epithets at him. In addition, they beat up his crewmembers and destroyed his sound equipment. Eventually, his concert was rescheduled, and he sang - protected by 1,500 members of a New York union. Mr. Robeson sang well, but the protection by union members was necessary. A mob had gathered and threw rocks at cars as the audience left the concert. Folksinger Pete Seeger attended the concert, and several rocks hit his car. He picked up three rocks and cemented them to his fireplace as a memento of the concert.
• The record album cover for Nirvana's Nevermind features a 4-month-old baby named Spencer Eldon swimming underwater. The baby's penis is clearly visible, a fact that made the record company uncomfortable enough to want this particular piece of anatomy airbrushed out. Nirvana composer/singer Kurt Cobain suggested instead that the record company let the photograph remain untouched and instead put this warning label on the cover: "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile." The record company let the photograph remain untouched. By the way, Spencer's father joked about his son, "He did what David Bowie and the Rolling Stones could never do: full frontal nudity." (And when Spencer received a platinum record award due to the album's success, his father hung it in Spencer's room.)
• Country musicians are known for their use of free speech - on both sides of the issues. For example, in 1992 Toby Keith wrote an American fighting song with the lyric "we'll put a boot in your *ss, it's the American way." In contrast, Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, a band from Texas, considered Mr. Keith's song "ignorant," opposed President George W. Bush, and even said in a concert in London in 2003 shortly before the second war in Iraq, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Mr. Keith responded to the remark by performing in front of a huge faked photograph that purported to show Ms. Maines embracing Saddam Hussein. Ms. Maines responded to T.K.'s action by wearing a T-shirt at a music-awards ceremony - the T-shirt displayed the initials "F.U.T.K."
• Because of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which became law in 2005, the Federal Communications Commission can now levy fines of up to $325,000 per violation. What kind of violation? The violations include offending viewers because of indecency. This law has led to very strange things as a result of fear of very heavy fines. For example, British singer Amy Winehouse has on her arm a tattoo of a topless woman. Before she performed on the 2008 televised Grammy Awards, the producers asked her to cover up the nipples of the tattoo. Ms. Winehouse used a ballpoint pen to draw a bra on the tattoo. (Something tells me that Ms. Winehouse was simply being polite and that she does not regard female nipples as indecent.)
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Caught David Muir's "interview" with Lumpy - more like a stenography session with close ups.
Why is the media so afraid of a bad tweet that they fellate a bully in public instead of standing up to him?
Can't someone, somewhere, drop a pair and channel Edward Roscoe Murrow long enough to ask "Sir, have you no shame?"
Virtual Commencement Specials
Barack & Michelle Obama
Former President Barack Obama will deliver a commencement message for America's high school seniors in a televised multimedia primetime special Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020. ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC will simultaneously air the special on May 16, at 8 pm ET/PT/7 pm CT, along with more than 20 other broadcast and digital streaming partners.
Hosted by XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation, and The Entertainment Industry Foundation the primetime special will bring together notable figures to give a joyful tribute to America's Class of 2020. Among those joining President Obama are LeBron James, Malala Yousafzai, the Jonas Brothers, Yara Shahidi, Bad Bunny, Lena Waithe, Pharrell Williams, Megan Rapinoe, H.E.R., Ben Platt, and others.
Barack and Michelle Obama each will deliver commencement speeches - as well as a joint heartfelt message - to this year's high school and college seniors who are missing graduation celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, Michelle Obama's Higher Reach Initiative will host a full hour of content to kick off the celebration.
In addition to BTS and Lady Gaga, commencement speakers include former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, CEO of Alphabet and Google Sundar Pichai, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Malala Yousafzai. BTS and others will perform at a virtual grad night afterparty. "Dear Class of 2020" will also include special appearances from YouTube creators Jackie Aina, AsapSCIENCE, Dude Perfect, Mr. Kate, And The Try Guys.
"Dear Class of 2020" can be streamed on the YouTube Originals channel and the Learn@Home site. The full schedule of commencement events will be available on the Learn@Home site beginning on May 17.
Barack & Michelle Obama
Weekly Play Readings
Actors Fund
A reading of David Mamet's play November, starring John Malkovich, Patti LuPone, Dylan Baker, Ethan Phillips and Michael Nichols, will kick off a new weekly livestream series of readings Thursday to benefit The Actors Fund, with subsequent presentations to feature Bryan Cranston, Sally Field and To Kill A Mockingbird's Gideon Glick.
The Spotlight on Plays series will be featured on Broadway's Best Shows, a new YouTube and Facebook channel for Broadway-related content. The play series kicks off Thursday, May 7 at 8 p.m. ET with November, written and directed by Mamet. The comedy, which opened on Broadway in 2007, follows a fictional U.S. president in the days leading up to his second election.
Joshua Harmon's acclaimed Significant Other, about a young man standing by as his friends pair off and settle down, is set for Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m. ET and will reunite the original Broadway cast of Glick, John Behlman, Sas Goldberg, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Lindsay Mendez, Luke Smith and Barbara Barrie. Trip Cullman directs, with Jeffrey Richards and Rebecca Gold exec producing and Broadway's Best Shows, Jim Glaub and Jacob Soroken Porter producing.
A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, starring Cranston and Field, will be livestreamed Thursday, May 21 at 8 p.m. ET. Directed by Jerry Zaks, the play follows the 50-year correspondence between of two soul mates. Executive Produced by Jeffrey Richards, Love Letters is produced by Broadway's Best Shows, Jim Glaub and Jacob Soroken Porter.
Each one-night-only event will be livestreamed on The Actors Fund YouTube channel and Broadway's Best Shows YouTube and Facebook channels. The productions will only be available at the designated streaming time and are free to access, with donations to The Actors Fund COVID-19 Emergency Assistance program encouraged.
Actors Fund
Mundane Tasks
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger showed Jimmy Fallon how to make the most out of quarantine in a spoof PSA clip.
The Rolling Stone appeared on Fallon's show on Monday to support Save the Children, a humanitarian aid organisation.
"This pandemic is affecting everyone across the globe," Fallon said to introduce the video.
"Check out this thing I saw earlier today on BBC."
A faux news clip then began playing, showing Jagger playing his guitar while a narrator comments: "In times of international crisis, every man, woman, and child must pull their weight. But look at this fella: not a care in the world."
Mick Jagger
Reads Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter himself will read Harry Potter to your kids this lockdown. Daniel Radcliffe, who wielded the boy wizard's wand for eight movies, is back nearly a decade after he hung up his cloak to read chapter one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone.
You can listen to that magical reading on J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World website (you don't have to sign up, just click play and leave your kids to it) and Spotify here.
Radcliffe isn't the only big name from the Harry Potter universe to lend his voice to the book reading. "Stephen Fry, David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, Noma Dumezweni, Eddie Redmayne and many more will lend their voices and passion to the effort," Spotify announced Tuesday. (I know Beckham isn't technically from the Harry Potter universe, but being English makes it so.)
Daniel Radcliffe
Loses Verdict Appeal
Quincy Jones
An appellate court ruled on Tuesday that the Michael Jackson estate does not have to pay $6.9 million in royalties and fees to Quincy Jones.
The three-judge panel of the 2nd Appellate District overturned the bulk of a 2017 jury verdict, finding that the trial judge had allowed the jury to misinterpret Jones' contract.
Jones' attorneys had argued that the producer was entitled to some $30 million in royalties and other income derived from the "This Is It" concert film, two Cirque du Soleil shows and other revenue streams that followed Jackson's death in 2009. After a two-week trial, the jurors awarded Jones $9.4 million.
But on Tuesday, the appeals court took most of it back, saying that Judge Michael L. Stern had erred by not interpreting the contract himself, and instead leaving it up to the jurors.
Quincy Jones
Evening Newscasts
Ratings
ABC News' World News Tonight with David Muir again was the most watched show in broadcast and cable last week, as the traditional evening newscasts enjoy a resurgence during the coronavirus crisis.
But the network said that the half-hour broadcast also reached a ratings milestone for the season to date, ranking No. 1 in total viewers and in two key demographics, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49, where it holds a narrow lead over NBC Nightly News. The last time World News Tonight reached that benchmark was during the 1995-96 season. The figures come from ABC via the Nielsen Co.
For the week of April 27, World News Tonight had 10.5 million total viewers, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt had 9.5 million, and CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell had 6.6 million. In adults 25-54, the numbers were 2.14 million for World News Tonight, 2.08 million for NBC Nightly News and 1.14 million for CBS Evening News. In the 18-49 demo, the numbers were 1.47 million for World News Tonight, 1.42 million for NBC Nightly News and 797,000 for CBS Evening News.
All of the newscasts were up compared with the same period a year ago. ABC and NBC's were up by 25% and CBS by 15% in total viewers.
Ratings
Active Tectonic System
Moon's Nearside
Most of the Moon's surface is covered by regolith, a powdery blanket of ground-up rock created by the constant bombardment of tiny meteorites and other impactors.
Areas free of regolith where the lunar bedrock is exposed are vanishingly rare.
But University of Bern researcher Adomas Valantinas and Brown University's Professor Peter Schultz used data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to spot strange bare spots within and surrounding the lunar maria.
For the study, the scientists used the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment (DLRE), an instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that measures the temperature of the lunar surface.
Moon's Nearside
Brains Replay Recent Experiences
Sleep
While we sleep, our brains are busy organizing fresh memories into long-term storage-or at least, that's the theory. Intriguing new research is bolstering this assertion, with evidence that our brains replay the day's experiences during sleep, in what is an integral part of the memory-storage process.
In our brains, the conversion of short-term memories to long-term memories happens while we sleep, including during short naps. Neuroscientists refer to this process as "memory consolidation," and it has been the subject of many studies, both on humans and animals, for decades.
There are plenty of moving parts to this hypothesized process, but the two key brain areas involved are the hippocampus and the neocortex. The hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory, and it's a super-plastic part of the brain as its synaptic strengths can change quickly. The neocortex, on the other hand, is far less pliable, making it a reliable place to store long-term memories. Very simply, memory consolidation is a process in which the hippocampus delivers newly formed memories to the slower-learning neocortex, which is less susceptible to data loss, so to speak.
During sleep or rest, the repeated activation or "offline replay" of recent experiences is believed to consolidate these memories. In other words, "to make them stronger and to gradually incorporate them synergistically into our existing knowledge base in the neocortex, without disrupting the information that's already there," said Jarosiewicz, who previously worked on the research initiative BrainGate.
Sleep
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
