M Is FOR MASHUP - May 15th, 2019
M Is For Mashup - May 15 2019
By DJ Useo
Friends came to visit last Sunday. Amazingly, they had NEVER heard mashups, let alone heard OF them. This gave me the fun of selecting which tracks they'd be exposed to first. Well, they were perplexed some, & also pleased to a high degree. To process this new sound experience, their left, & right side of their brains had to percieve together what was happening audio-wise. This is not always an easy task for newbies. In many case, the artists mixed were unknown & the comment was made, & repeated "is this a mashup, or a regular song?". Here's a fine new batch of recently released blends. It's likely you won't know the artists employed. Give them a try, & see if you can tell which type of track it is.
01 - DRA'man - "Trouble et Moi" ( Anouk vs Jacques Dutronc )
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12956/anouk-vs-jacques-dutronc-trouble-et-moi )
02 - Martinn - "Arcade DGAF" ( Dua Lipa vs Duncan Laurence )
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12942/arcade-dgaf-dua-lipa-vs-duncan-laurence )
03 - SMASH - "Honestly Sweet But I Like It Psycho" ( Ava Max vs Multiple Artists )
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12939/honestly-sweet-but-i-like-it-psycho-ava-max-vs-multiple-artists )
04 - Star Man / YITT - star icon "Loaded City" ( Power Glove vs Starship ) star icon
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12931/-power-glove-vs-starship-loaded-city-star-man-mashup- )
05 - Grave Danger - "Broken One More Time" ( Daft Punk vs lovelytheband )
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12930/quotbroken-one-more-timequot-daft-punk-vs-lovelytheband )
06 - DJ Useo - "Love Missile Bereft" ( Sigue Sigue Sputnik vs IERRP )
( sowndhaus.audio/track/12900/sigue-sigue-sputnik-vs-ierrp )
So, how did that go for you? Did you notice that they began very "normally', & progressed to a more bootleg sound?
Have fun giving this "test" to your friends. I wager you'll be surprised how few of your pals even know of mashups.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Peter Wehner: The Genius of Stephen Curry (The Atlantic)
He isn't the best basketball player in history-but he's revolutionized the game.
Luke O'Neil, "The planet is on fire': Bill Nye driven to F-bomb rant by climate change" (The Guardian)
The beloved science educator and children's show host appeared on Last Week Tonight to help explain carbon-pricing.
Lauren Cockrune: "Reality v Instagram: did Taylor Swift's ME! kill the kooky social media aesthetic?" (The Guardian)
With its pastel colours and fluffy clouds, Swift's video feels out of step with the online shift back to reality.
Arwa Mahdawi: I don't watch Game of Thrones- which makes me a lot more interesting than you (The Guardian)
Whenever too many people like something, it's obvious there's something wrong with it. Right?
Suzanne Moore: "A sex strike is not enough: women need to down tools completely" (The Guardian)
The idea proposed last week by Alyssa Milano won't cut it. To assert their worth, women should refuse to fulfil the unpaid labour expected by society.
Peter Bradshaw: "Doris Day: the wholesome face of postwar American optimism" (The Guardian)
The actor, who has died aged 97, worked with the greats of Hollywood's golden era and rivalled the crossover success of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
Alex Hess: "'I'm sucking up your IQ!': what 90s Batman teaches us" (The Guardian)
The dialogue is corny, the heroes moody, the fights risible, but the Batman films of Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher paved the way. Catch them again on re-release.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
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from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Walter Legge, an English classical music producer, was kind to his recording artists. He was also persuasive - perhaps too persuasive. He once persuaded conductor Carlo Maria Giulini to agree to make a recording of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, although Mr. Giulini said that he had no sympathy for that piece of music. They started to record the symphony, but after 15 minutes, Mr. Giulini stopped and said, "I can't go on." Mr. Legge simply sent the orchestra home and did not try to persuade Mr. Giulini to continue. After Mr. Legge died, Mr. Giulini remembered, "And you know what a [financial] loss that is to a company. Then we took a long walk together in Hyde Park. We talked of other things." Of course, Mr. Legge could get angry. He had a collection of early recordings of opera singers and orchestras and violinists that his father had given to him when he was only 12 years old. When he was 62 years old, he offered to give his collection to what he called "a venerable Swiss institution," but the institution declined to accept it unless he also donated money as an endowment for a curator and for the maintenance of the collection. In a short memoir, Mr. Legge wrote, "In one of my better rages, I broke every record into bits and tossed the pieces into Lake Geneva."
• Comedian Red Skelton was robbed or burgled a few times in his life. Once, in Las Vegas, a man with a gun demanded all his cash. Red handed over the couple of hundred dollars he was carrying, but the man with the gun recognized him and said, "I wouldn't rob you, Mr. Skelton." Red told him to keep the money: "You must need it, young man, or you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble." Red, who spent the early part of his career impoverished, did spend a lot of money during his life, but he sometimes did not part with money so easily. He once saw a painting he liked and asked the art dealer how much it cost. The art dealer snootily replied, "Five thousand wouldn't take that." Red left, saying, "I'm one of the five thousand."
• Benny Carter had a jazz band at Club Harlem, but the club was about to go out of business due to financial troubles. George Rich, whose last name was appropriate, wanted Mr. Carter's band to keep playing at Club Harlem. He told Mr. Carter, "They can't do this to you. You've got to have a place for your band. Come over to the house tonight after the gig." The talked that night, and Mr. Rich said, "I'm going to buy the place." He started digging up bundles of cash that he had stashed in his home and bought the place. He came into Club Harlem occasionally, and Mr. Carter appreciated the good deed. Mr. Carter said, "His only purpose for buying the club was to keep my band together, and I shall never forget him for it."
• Walter Damrosch hired Emil Fischer, bass from the Dresden Royal Opera, to sing at the Metropolitan Opera Company. Mr. Fischer made $250 per appearance, but he was not happy in his marriage and requested that his written contract state that he made $200 per appearance and that he receive the other $50 in cash. This was a way for him to hide about $600 per month from his wife so he could have some money of his own. His wife complained to Mr. Damrosch, "I do not know why my Emil is so badly paid while all the others get these enormous salaries. My Emil sings better than any of them, and he has to be content with only two hundred dollars an appearance!" Mr. Damrosch kept Mr. Fischer's secret.
• Many artists and musicians are concerned about money and about how many people are in the audience. Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of these creative people. Conductor Walter Damrosch once asked Mr. Rachmaninoff what he was doing when he stared at the gallery. Mr. Rachmaninoff replied, "Counting the standees in the balcony. The manager told me they were not allowed, but there were forty-three." Mr. Damrosch's daughter Gretchen Finletter wrote that a manager "may grow nostalgic for the dreamy artist who does not understand about money, but he seldom has the pleasure of dealing with one."
• Rich and famous comedian Danny Thomas, whose birth name was Amos Jacobs and who was raised in Toledo, Ohio, once paid for tickets at a box-office booth, and when he received his change, he dropped a dime. Lots of people saw him drop the dime, and Danny was too embarrassed to pick it up. He thought, I am Danny Thomas. I'm one of the world's top comedians. I've made millions. I'm not bending down to pick up that dime. Then he reconsidered: In reality, I'm Amos Jacobs of Toledo, Ohio, and Amos Jacobs knows how hard it is to make a dime. He picked up the dime.
• Being a drug addict is expensive. Charlie Parker became addicted to heroin at age seventeen. He once showed a friend the veins in one of his arms and said that he had spent enough money on the heroin he had shot into that arm that he could have bought a Cadillac. He showed his friend the veins in his other arm and said that he had spent enough money on the heroin he had shot into that arm that he could have bought a house. He said, holding out one arm, "This is my Cadillac. Then he held out his other arm and said, "And this is my house."
• People whose job is creating funny cartoons tend to be funny. Tex Avery once lost $10 in a card game to his boss, Leon Schlesinger. He didn't have the money then, but paid it a little later: He walked into his boss' office with $10 in pennies, dumped the 1,000 pennies on his boss' desk, and walked out. Chuck Jones once owed Mr. Schlesinger $5: Mr. Jones paid it back with 500 pennies in a jar of honey. Animator Benny Washam once owed $5 to cartoon screenwriter Tedd Pierce and paid it back with 500 pennies baked inside a homemade loaf of bread.
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Current Events
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Last Night
Still overcast, but a bit of sun in the late, late afternoon.
Epic Climate Change Rant
Bill Nye
Bill Nye made his name as the titular host of 90s after-school classic, Bill Nye the Science Guy, with his quirky lab-coat-and-bow-tie get up and zany experiments. Today, he is earning himself a reputation as one of the go-to spokespersons for climate science, battling climate skeptics on national TV and urging for more stringent climate change action.
His latest stunt - which involved fire, safety goggles, and a burning globe - has gone viral. Appearing on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Sunday, Nye took to the screen to talk about the climate change crisis - and used some very non-PG language to boot.
"Safety goggles on," said Nye, strapping a pair to his forehead. "By the end of this century, if emissions keep rising, the average temperature on Earth could go up another 4 to 8 degrees."
"What I'm saying is the planet is on fucking fire," he continued, setting a globe aflame to make his point.
There are ways to put it out, he said, but none of them will be free. "Nothing's free, you idiots. Grow the fuck up," he told viewers. "You're not children anymore. I didn't mind explaining photosynthesis to you when you were 12 but you're adults now and this is an actual crisis, you got it?"
Bill Nye
Hits Back at Rumors
George R.R. Martin
Tired? George R.R. Martin has no pages. Wired? George R.R. Martin has all the pages.
The ongoing, incredibly lengthy wait for the next chapter in Martin's sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire series has perhaps escalated recently with the advent of Game of Thrones' final season going... some places. But it got even weirder than it usually does-years of waiting will do that to an ASOIAF fan-this week thanks to a truly bonkers rumor from an equally absurd source: Ser Barristan Selmy, one of the most honorable knights in all the Seven Kingdoms.
Well, not Selmy specifically, but Ian McElhinney, who played the former Kingsguard turned right hand man of Daenerys Targaryen (turned, err, corpse) across the first five seasons of Game of Thrones. Speaking at Epic Con in Russia late last month, McElhinney dropped a bizarre bombshell seemingly out of nowhere, claiming that not only has Martin already finished The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in the ASOIAF series, but he's also completed its sequel, A Dream of Spring, which is meant to be the final chapter of the saga.
According to McElhinney-who was discussing Selmy's altered role in the show compared to the books-the books have not been released because Martin has a secret pact with HBO to only release his version of the story's end after Game of Thrones has come to a conclusion. If this were true, it would've meant an imminent surprise drop, given we're about to witness the show's final end this Sunday:
George has already written Books 6 and 7, and as far as he's concerned there only are seven books. But he struck an agreement with David and Dan, the showrunners on the series, that he would not publish the final two books until the series has completed. So if all goes well, in another month or two we might get Books 6 and 7, and I'm intrigued to know how Barristan, for instance, ends up going through those final two books. George, I talked to him during Season 1 and he did say to me that Barristan had a very interesting journey. But unfortunately I didn't get to play all of that, so we'll have to wait and see.
George R.R. Martin
Hosting a Revival
Tiffany Haddish
Kids Say the Darndest Things is making a comeback on ABC, and it looks like the network has found the perfect comedian to host. According to Variety, Tiffany Haddish will be the MC for the series in its new iteration, and she'll also serve as an executive producer on the show.
"When I was dreaming of stars I wanted to bring to ABC, Tiffany Haddish was top of my list," ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said in a statement. "Tiffany starring in and producing this iconic series is everything I hoped for." Kids Say the Darndest Things will center on Haddish as she interacts with children in a variety of ways and listens in to all of the hilarious things they say.
"I'm excited to hear what kids have to say these days because I can't understand what they are saying on social media," Haddish said in a statement. "They're using too many abbreviations!" The show was originally hosted by Bill Cosby and aired on ABC from 1998 to 2000.
ABC's revival will be taped in front of a live studio audience and will feature in-studio segments as well as segments filmed in other parts of the country. A few segments include "Kids Rule," which sees Haddish taking direction from kids who are forced to give her a lesson on good sportsmanship; "Best Carpool Ever," in which the Night School actress plays chauffeur to a minivan full of kids, and "Granny Tiff," which honestly needs no explanation. Kids Say the Darndest Things is set to premiere this Fall on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET.
Tiffany Haddish
Ex-Manager Charged
Stan Lee
The former manager of Stan Lee has been charged with elder abuse against the late comic book legend, a Los Angeles court official said on Monday.
Keya Morgan was charged on Friday with five counts of elder abuse, including false imprisonment, fraud and forgery stemming from an incident last summer when Lee was 95 years old, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Superior Court public information office told Los Angeles City News Service.
The spokeswoman added that a warrant for Morgan's arrest had been issued.
Morgan, a New York-based memorabilia collector who became involved with Lee in 2017, was served with a restraining order last year after Lee's family accused him of elder abuse.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office on Monday said it was unable to provide any information. An attorney for Morgan could not be located but last year Morgan denied allegations of abuse.
Stan Lee
In "Full Operational Control" Of Hulu
Disney
Disney's white-gloved paws, once only loosely clasped onto the coattails of Hulu, have now fully encircled the streamer. Per Variety, Disney now has full operational control of Hulu, having inked a fluid deal with Comcast that contains a myriad of possibilities for the streamer's future. The good news, though, is this: For now, Hulu's original series-stuff like The Handmaid's Tale and Shrill-aren't going anywhere, nor are next-day episodes of SNL, This Is Us, or any shows streaming on the platform.
To quote Variety:
Under the deal, Comcast's NBCUniversal will continue to license content to Hulu through late 2024. However, as soon as next year, NBCU will have the right to pull back programming previously licensed exclusively to Hulu (continuing to make it available to Hulu on a nonexclusive basis for a reduced licensing fee). And by 2022, NBCUniversal will have the right to cancel most of its content-licensing agreements with Hulu. NBCU is planning to launch a free, ad-supported streaming service next year.
...
Comcast/NBCU will retain its 33% ownership interest in Hulu. As early as January 2024, Comcast can require Disney to buy NBCU's interest in Hulu. By the same token, Disney can require NBCU to sell its interest to Disney for its fair market value at that time, the companies announced Tuesday.
Basically, nothing will change right now, but it's likely Hulu will look a lot different once it's fully bundled with ESPN+ and the forthcoming Disney+ streaming service in a few years. As Indiewire notes, Hulu will also become home to FX, which is also owned by Disney. While several FX series, including Atlanta, are currently streaming on Hulu, others are exclusive to the likes of Netflix and Amazon. That will apparently change, as FX chief John Landgraf said today that FX's content "belongs on Hulu."
Disney
The Best State
Washington
The home of Amazon, Microsoft and the NFL's Seattle Seahawks has been named the best state in America.
Washington state earned top honors on U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the Best States, published on Tuesday.
The outlet calculates where all 50 states fall in their rankings based on several criteria, including health care, education, economy and opportunity. Certain categories are weighted more based on an annual survey with thousands of people to determine which issues are most important.
Washington was the top state overall, followed by New Hampshire and Minnesota.
The rankings also found Hawaii ranked as the top state for health care, while Massachusetts finished first in education. The full rankings are available on the U.S. News website.
Washington
Least-Desirable Luxury Buildings
NYC
Trump Tower, once the crown jewel in Don-Old Trump's (R-Emolument) property empire, now ranks as one of the least desirable luxury properties in Manhattan.
The 36-year-old building has been turned into a fortress since Trump won the presidency, ringed with concrete barriers and the two main entrances partially blocked off. It hasn't been substantially updated in years. And Trump's name has been a huge turnoff in liberal New York City.
For anyone who owns a unit in the tower, the past two years have been brutal. Most condo sales have led to a loss after adjusting for inflation, property records show. Several sold at more than a 20% loss. By contrast, across Manhattan, just 0.23% of homes over the past two years sold at a loss, according to real-estate data provider PropertyShark, although the firm doesn't adjust for inflation.
It's all a far cry from the days when the New York landmark attracted the likes of Michael Jackson, Johnny Carson and Steven Spielberg. These days, it's better known for a Trump campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer documented in Robert Mueller's Russia report.
While some corners of Trump's business empire have thrived, such as his Washington D.C. hotel, others have suffered from his high unpopularity. Rounds of golf are down at his public course in New York, a clutch of once Trump-branded buildings have torn his name off their fronts, and an ambitious plan to launch a new mid-tier hotel chain across the country fizzled.
NYC
14,000 Years Ago
Grotta della Ba`sura
About 14,000 years ago, a party of five barefoot people - two adults, one preteen and two children - walked and even crawled through a dark passageway in a cave, according to a new study that analyzed the hand- and footprints these individuals left behind.
To light their way, these late Stone Age people likely burned bundles of pine (Pinus) sticks, which archaeologists also found in the cave, known as Grotta della Ba`sura, in northern Italy.
The cave's ceiling was so low, that at one part, the ancient explorers were forced to crawl, leaving behind "the first evidence ever of human footprints left during crawling locomotion," that is, in a "crouching walk" position, said study first author Marco Romano, a postdoctoral researcher at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Researchers have known about the ancient human presence in Grotta della Ba`sura since the 1950s. But the new analysis is the first high-tech look at these particular trackways, in which the researchers used laser scans, sediment analysis, geochemistry, archaeobotany and 3D modeling to study the prints.
There were so many prints - 180 in all - that the researchers were able to piece together what happened that day during the upper Paleolithic (also known as the late Stone Age). According to the different sizes of footprints, it appears there were five people: a 3-year-old, 6-year-old, a pre-adolescent (8- to 11-year-old) and two adults, the researchers found.
Grotta della Ba`sura
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 6-12. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 12.6 million.
2. "Game of Thrones," HBO, 12.5 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 11.7 million.
4. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 10.5 million.
5. "FBI," CBS, 8.8 million.
6. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 8.5 million.
7. "Mom," CBS, 8 million.
8. "American Idol" (Sunday), ABC, 7.9 million.
9. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.82 million.
10. "Chicago Med," NBC, 7.8 million.
11. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 7.7 million.
12. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Houston, ESPN, 7.32 million.
13. "Survivor," CBS, 7.3 million
14. "The Voice," NBC, 7.27 million.
15. NBA Playoffs: Golden State at Houston, Turner, 7 million.
16. NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia at Toronto, Turner, 6.9 million.
17. NBA Playoffs: Houston at Golden State, Turner, 6.86 million.
18. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 6.8 million.
19. "NCIS: New Orleans, CBS, 6.7 million.
20. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 6.4 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Tim Conway
Comedian and actor Tim Conway, best known for his role in TV's McHale's Navy and for making his co-stars on The Carol Burnett Show laugh, has died at 85.
Although Conway made his mark on the entertainment industry beginning in 1962, with his Emmy-nominated performance in McHale's Navy, he continued giving critically acclaimed performances through the current decade. He starred in live-action Disney movies, including The Apple Dumpling Gang with Don Knotts and The Shaggy D.A., in the 1970s. He frequently guest-starred on the most popular shows of the day, including Married with Children and Mad About You. His turns on Coach and 30 Rock earned him Emmys.
Conway's later work included voicing a character on SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons.
The Ohio native, who ended up with five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award and many more nominations in all, was a natural performer.
Nevertheless, Burnett considered him a master of comedy.
"There's nobody funnier in the world, I don't think, than Conway," she said in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation published in 2012.
She quipped that she should have had "some investment in Depends, because nobody could be with Tim and keep a straight face," particularly Burnett and Conway's co-star Harvey Korman, who died in 2008. Korman was a close friend of Conway's who often broke into laughs during Conway's performances.
Conway was married twice, first to Mary Anne Dalton, from 1961 to 1978, and then to Charlene Fusco, whom he married in 1984. They have seven children between them.
Tim Conway
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