M Is FOR MASHUP - June 8th, 2011
Eternal Summer Mashups Return
By DJ Useo
Aside from the funny mashup series I didm 'It Is To Laff', I get asked most about the SUMMER BOOTY mashup series of compilations. People want to know when the next LAFF album is coming out, sure, but they REALLY want to know when the 5th annual SUMMER BOOTY rekkid hits the net. After that they want to know 'where are the links for SUMMER BOOTY 2007?'. It was hosted on the old Beat-Boot-Ique forum's servers, you see, & when that forum folded they took the links with them. Luckily, since I oversaw the assembling of the whole collection I had all the original wavs, the art, & the text. I finally got motivated recently & pulled out the 5 year old files & re-mastered them. NOW they sound WONDERFUL!
Yeah, I admit it, when the first SUMMER BOOTY was released, we didn't bother to do a final mastering. Totally a mistake, as I recall hearing even back then. Ever since, I've taken the time to level, & re-master all tracks on every comp. (Except the large handful of tracks that just don't need it due to production excellence on the part of the mixers, like MarcJohnce, that cat has it going on.) I had enjoyed the SUMMER BOOTY 2007 comp lots as it has great peeps mixing onnit like NORWEGIAN RECYCLING, MISS FRENCHIE, DJ MORGOTH & many more who have since gone on to wide acclaim, but this new version hits on all cylinders. If I remember correctly, the original tracks started with loud songs & decreased in volume as each side progressed. Now, after being remastered, the volume & sound quality never lets up. I know you won't have the original mix to compare the remaster to, but in every way the sound is stronger, wider, & warmer.
The tracklist is the same,though. Since I don't dare list the artists whose work is 'wrecked' on my blog, allow me to give you a full glimpse of the SUMMER BOOTY 2007 playlist -
Summer Booty 2007 REMASTERED
---------
Volume 1
01 - Voicedude - Voicedude's Summertime Suite
(Will Smith w/ DJ Jazzy Jeff vs Billie Holiday w/ Artie Shaw vs Frank Sinatra vs Ace Of Base vs Beyonce vs 213 w/ Snoop Dogg vs The Jamies vs Lovin' Spoonful vs Sublime vs War vs Sly & The Family Stone & others)
02 - Norwegian Recycling - Pure Times (as_st)
03 - Supakon - Summer Season Rockit
(The Zombies vs Underdog Project vs Herbie Hancock)
04 - Mr.Brightside - Up In Paris
(Ciara vs Mylo)
05 - Miss Frenchie - Shake Ur Freak On
(Missy Elliott vs Shy FX)
06 - Stab - Heads Off In The City
(Joe Cocker vs Looptroop)
07 - Copycat - The Tide Is Pata Pata High
(Blondie vs Osibisa vs Miriam Makeba)
08 - DJ JohnnyRed - Girls Got Yo' Money
(Ol' Dirty Bastard vs R. Kelly Feat. Baby)
09 - FiveFive - In The Summer Traffic Jam Dude
(Mungo Jerry vs Beenie Man vs Stephen Marley)
10 - DJ Morgoth - Read My Summer Lovin'
(The Killers vs Musikk feat. John Rock)
11 - MP3J/Beamones - Penny Lane Dont Care
(Beatles vs Ramones)
12 - DJ Clive$ter - The Sensimilla Skettle
('unknown')
13 - Kai - This Is Cicciolina Gettin Jiggy
(Pop Will Eat Itself vs Montell Jordan vs Will Smith)
Volume 2
---------
01 - Hahnstudios - Die Da
(Beachparty Mix) (as_st)
02 - DJ JohnnyRed - Love Is Gon'na Break It Off
(Rihanna Feat. Sean Paul vs Benny Bennasi)
03 - Supakon - Sunny
(Boogie Pimps vs NWA)
04 - DJ M.i.F. - Change Your Bad Breath
(Police vs 2Pac vs Aretha Franklin)
05 - Swisscheese - Summerjam On The Motorway
(DJ Shadow vs Underdog Project)
06 - Krazyben - Rise Up My Love
(Yves Larock vs Jody Watley)
07 - Icky - Master Blaster Don't Matter
(DJ Luck,MC Neat & jj vs ?)
08 - Andy S - Starry Eyed In The Summertime
(Paul Oakenfold vs DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)
09 - MashupMark - Funky French Nymphae Slave
(Le Knight Club vs Britney Spears)
10 - DJ Useo - Dentaku Summer
(Donna Summer vs Kraftwerk)
11 - Eamezey - Home On The Beach
(Chris Rhea vs Pet Shop Boys)
12 - AeKon - Lazy Dakota
(Silversun Pickups vs Stereophonics)
13 - Professor Quillam - Glamorous Electronic Girl
(Fergie vs Duran Duran)
14 - DJ Morgoth - Madonna's Sunshine
(Robbie Williams feat. Pet Shop Boys vs The Corrs)
Volume 3
---------
01 - Hahnstudios - Summer Samba Mix (as_st)
02 - DJ JohnnyRed - Welcome To Summertime
(Sublime vs Damien Marley Feat. The Notorious B.I.G.)
03 - Supakon - Showing Off My Suntan
(Beach & Tia vs Joey Riot)
04 - Alpha1999 - When Salsoul Adores Gabriels Powerhouse Hustle
(Salsoul Orchestra vs Prince vs Roy Davis Jr vs Van Mccoy vs Powerhouse)
05 - DJ JohnnyRed - Electrico Satisfaction
(Hot Hands vs Ludacris Feat. Field Mob)
06 - Kai - Summer Breakthru
(Queen vs Don Henley)
07 - DJ Useo - Heard It Through The Summertime
(Gladys Knight vs Ray Barreto)
08 - DJ Petrushka - Strictly Groove
(EPMD vs Fortran 5)
09 - AeKon - The Fire Sleeping Game
(Rage Against The Machine vs Disturbed)
10 - Kai - Close To Kweli
(Cure vs Talib Kweli)
11 - Eamezey - JCB Worshipper
(Nizlopi vs Mylo)
12 - Stab vs DJBenedict - Sex O Philly Samba
(Stab vs DJBenedict)
13 - Virtual DJ - Drop It Like it's Chichi
(Snoop Dogg vs Chichi Peralta vs Guatemala Jungle Animals)
14 - Eameazey - Summertime Ladies
(Robbie Williams vs Justin Timberlake)
That's some 3 (!!) discs, eh? I was only shooting for 2 back then, but I remember the BBI Admin asked me to push it to 3. A good start to a fine semi-tradition. Back in 2007 I always drew, or hand-crafted all my covers, so when it came to the SUMMER BOOTY covers, we had a thread on BBI inviting peeps to offer up their own cover ideas. 3 were so good, we went with a diff cover for each disc. You can see all three, one in each of the folders .I've had the links available on my GROOVY TIME blog for over a week without the time to post them around to the usual haunts, yet they pulled in very good download numbers with no letup between the 3 discs. People sure know what they like. The best news out of all this is that this 2007 Remaster is only meant to wet your mashup appetite for the all-new SUMMER BOOTY 2011 album that comes out on the Summer Solstice June 21st. I've heard many of the tracks already & it's going to be such a GREAT ALBUM! Invited to fulfill the promise of a mashup that sounds like eternal Summer,mixers from across the globe are finding it a finestkind motivation for mixing.
Get your copy of SUMMER BOOTY 2007 now! Here
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/05/summer-booty-2007-remastered.html )
Mix Of The Week
Here's this week's mix assignment! Using itunes, load a little over an hour of your music faves, set the itunes preferences to 'fade' all tracks to the most seconds possible (usually 12) & if you like the results, send me an mp3 of it. (At least 160 kbps,please) I'll post the best amateur mix you send here next week! Have fun! Write if you need help!
useo8@yahoo.com
Mashup Tip : When mixing don't pass the center beat meridian if there's a solid white line. A big truck would likely flatten you & your entire track.
Latest Useo Thing
Gawrsh, people have quickly made my new Beatles vs Goa track my most popular & I haven't even gotten around to posting it anywhere but my own blog yet. Get ready for Ringo Starr & the lads singing harmoniously over European psychedelic trance, it's 'Friends Colours' (The Beatles vs Liquid Soul).Find it
here
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/05/beatles-go-goa.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Bobby Bland will be spiced up plenty when DJ How-Do-U-Do mashes him with Rob Zombie & some Prodigy loops. That'll happen July 4th, so big whoop!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
John Blake: Actually, that's not in the Bible (CNN)
NFL legend Mike Ditka was giving a news conference one day after being fired as the coach of the Chicago Bears when he decided to quote the Bible.
Graeme McNaughton: Palin supporters attempting to rewrite history on Wikipedia (Digital Journal)
While former governor Sarah Palin claims she wasn't wrong in her story on Paul Revere, some of her supporters have taken to Wikipedia to make it true.
Robert Reich: Why Washington Isn't Doing Squat About Jobs and Wages
The unemployed are politically invisible. They don't make major campaign donations. They don't lobby Congress. There's no National Association of Unemployed People. This is why neither party seems to care that we're heading back towards a double-dip recession.
Barer ML, Evans RG, Hertzman C, Johri M: "Lies, Damned Lies, and Health Care Zombies: Discredited Ideas that Will Not Die" (CHSPR)
Why are health care costs so high, and so hard to control? Everybody knows the answer, or at least a large part of it. "Spiraling costs" have been driven by the aging of the population. As the baby boomers turn geriatric, the pressure can only get worse. And everybody is wrong. All the evidence points in a very different direction.
Alicia Munnell: 3 Ways Your Social Security Payments Are Already Being Cut (Wall Street Journal)
Social Security will provide you with less money than it used to even under current law.
Elizabeth Cohen: Prevent STDs like a porn star (CNN)
But this wasn't a first date -- it was strictly business. After chatting, Ryan and Wylde got to work, which in their case meant having sex. Ryan and Wylde (their stage names) are adult performers.
Henry Rollins: Sound Trekking (Los Angeles Weekly)
Henry's thoughts on creating soundtracks for his travels.
Lamb: 'We made a huge leap of faith' (Guardian)
The reunited duo tell Killian Fox how they made their comeback album without the help of a major record label.
Kyle Eastwood: Son of a gun (Guardian)
As Clint's boy, Kyle Eastwood has some big shoes to fill - but when it comes to jazz he is very much his own man, finds Laura Barnett.
"'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz': 100th Anniversary Edition (Books of Wonder)" by L. Frank Baum: A review by Ellen Handler Spitz
I disagree with Salman Rushdie's elevation of the iconic and justly well-loved 1939 film, the Judy Garland one, over the original Baum text. This text -- literary, philosophical, and brilliant -- merits priority.
Mary Beard: Hannibal at bay (Times of London)
It is hard to see past the mistakes and inconsistencies in Livy's account of the Hannibalic War.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (Athens News)
One of the things that Molly Ringwald most admires about very young children is their ability to easily make friends. At a playground where her daughter, Mathilda, was playing, Molly saw a young girl tap Mathilda on the shoulder and ask, "What's your name?" Mathilda told her, and asked the young girl her name, which turned to be Elle. Mathilda then said, "I like cats." Elle replied, "Me, too. Let's be friends!" And they were friends.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Coastal Eddy is back for a visit.
Jo, the lucky lizard, is on the mend after his cricket-related loss of tail, and even starting to grow a new one.
$100 Million!
Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann's move from MSNBC to the relatively obscure Current TV, where his new show premieres June 20, is hardly a step-down in the pay stakes.
The TV personality -- who abruptly announced his departure from MSNBC in January -- will earn $10 million a year for his second incarnation of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," according to a source, an increase of more than 40 percent from his $7 million salary at MSNBC. Even better, MSNBC will continue to pay him for another year and a half.
Current TV disputed the figure but adds it does not "disclose confidential, contractual details."
Olbermann also serves as Current's chief news officer -- making him No. 4 on the corporate ladder behind founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt and CEO Mark Rosenthal -- and has an equity stake in the company. When all is said and done, Olbermann could make as much as $100 million over the course of his five-year deal.
Keith Olbermann
Visits FDR's NY Home For Role
Bill Murray
Academy Award-nominated actor Bill Murray has checked out Franklin D. Roosevelt's old upstate New York digs as he prepares for a turn as the former president in a film set on the eve of World War II.
The "Caddyshack" and "Ghostbusters" star spent several hours Sunday in Hyde Park, which is the setting for Richard Nelson's screenplay, "Hyde Park on Hudson."
The film centers on the June 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to FDR's Hudson Valley home. The movie is being directed by Roger Michell, who helmed "Notting Hill."
Laura Linney is cast as FDR's distant cousin Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, with whom the 32nd president had a close relationship. Filming starts next month. Release is scheduled for 2012.
Bill Murray
Show Heads To Paris
Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson is taking "The Late Late Show" to the City of Lights.
Ferguson announced on Monday's show that he'll travel from that budget-strapped Los Angeles home to tape in Paris the week of June 13-17.
Kristen Bell will be among the guests joining Ferguson for the episodes dubbed "Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson."
They will be seen the week of Aug. 1. The "Late Late Show" airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. Eastern.
Le Late Late Show avec Craig Ferguson
Work-Related Injury
Jon Stewart
The story about U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner's use of Twitter to send a lewd photo to a woman has been awkward for comic Jon Stewart, a friend of the congressman's. On Tuesday, it proved painful.
Stewart broke a glass and gashed his wrist while taping a Weiner skit on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." The taping was briefly stopped so a bleeding Stewart could get medical attention, then resumed after he was bandaged up. Network spokesman Steve Albani said the accident was left in Tuesday's show.
Tuesday's skit featured Stewart in a mock news conference designed to resemble Weiner's from the day earlier. Stewart broke the glass when the script called for him to make a margarita.
The show posted a picture of Stewart's bandaged wrist and a bloodstained cuff of his shirt.
Jon Stewart
First Novel To Be Published
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle's debut novel is to be published for the first time in September, nearly 130 years after it was written.
"The Narrative of John Smith" was unfinished and differed radically from the Sherlock Holmes stories that made him famous, but experts said it offered a window into the mind of Conan Doyle as he started out as a young doctor and author.
To be published by the British Library which owns an extensive Conan Doyle collection, the book was written in 1883 and 1884, a few years before the publication of "A Study In Scarlet," the first story to feature the character of Holmes.
Through the character of John Smith, a 50-year-old man confined to his room by an attack of gout, Conan Doyle sets down his thoughts and opinions on subjects including literature, science, religion, war, and education.
Arthur Conan Doyle
August Comeback
Seiji Ozawa
Celebrated Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa said Tuesday he would make a full comeback onstage in August with a series of 70-minute opera performances in the Japanese mountain city of Matsumoto.
The 75-year-old maestro, who underwent surgery on oesophageal cancer last year and has been treated after hernia surgery in January, said he would conduct the Saito Kinen Orchestra on August 21, 23, 25 and 27.
They will perform Bela Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" at the 20th Saito Kinen Festival, an annual classical music festival in Matsumoto.
Before his full comeback, he is also scheduled to offer lessons from June 24 at a Geneva-based music academy which he founded and perform a special concert in Geneva on July 3 and in Paris on July 6, Kyodo news agency reported.
Seiji Ozawa
NBC Wins TV Rights Until 2020
Olympic Games
NBC Universal edged out rivals FOX and ESPN to win the U.S. broadcasting rights for four Olympic Games from 2014 until 2020 for $4.38 billion, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday.
NBC Universal, which is controlled by Comcast Corp and has broadcast every summer Olympics since 1988 and every winter edition since 2002, also has the rights until the 2012 summer Games in London.
It acquired the rights for all platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobileTV, the IOC said.
The 2014 winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia and Rio den Janeiro has been picked to stage the 2016 summer Games.
Olympic Games
Settles With Rupert
Sienna Miller
Film star Sienna Miller's privacy and harassment claim against the News of the World over alleged phone-hacking by its reporters was settled for 100,000 pounds damages on Tuesday.
Miller, the on-and-off girlfriend of fellow Hollywood star Jude Law, was one of the main plaintiffs suing Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation over allegations reporters at the tabloid illegally listened to voice messages to get scoops.
The 29-year-old actress last month agreed to accept the damages along with an unconditional admission of liability.
As well as the damages and her legal costs, Miller, who was not at court for the hearing, was granted an injunction preventing any further unlawful accessing of her voicemail and publication of her private information.
Sienna Miller
Corruption Trial
Alabama
A federal gambling corruption trial at the Alabama Statehouse could look like a country music concert or a political convention rather than a court case.
The nine defendants in the case that began this week include VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor and four current and former state senators. Prosecutors accuse the group of swapping millions of dollars for votes on legislation that was designed to protect electronic bingo casinos from raids by former Gov. Bob Riley's gambling task force.
Defense and prosecuting attorneys read lists of possible witnesses to potential jurors Tuesday to get their reactions.
Attorneys say they may call country stars George Jones; Lorrie Morgan; and Randy Owen, lead singer for the group Alabama. All three supported gambling legislation called "Sweet Home Alabama" that's at the heart of the trial. Witnesses also may include Riley, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and other Southern lawmakers.
Alabama
Home On Market
Zsa Zsa Gabor
The Bel Air home of Zsa Zsa Gabor went up for sale on Tuesday with an asking price of $15 million, while the 94 year-old Hollywood actress recovered in hospital from her latest medical setback.
The house, built in 1955 in the exclusive hillside Los Angeles neighborhood, boasts four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a pool, real estate agent Christophe Choo said.
Gabor's ninth husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, first talked about selling the house in January, saying it was too big for the couple. He said at the time he wanted $28 million for the house but Choo said on Tuesday that price was unrealistic.
Gabor's spokesman said on Tuesday that von Anhalt is also planning to auction Gabor's vast collection of gowns, shoes, furniture and antiques later this year.
Zsa Zsa Gabor
1960s Sign Painted Over
Greenwich Village
A vestige of 1960s Greenwich Village has been painted over by a Mexican restaurant, prompting an outcry from New York City preservation advocates.
An old sign for the Fat Black Pussycat Theatre had remained for decades at its original site on Minetta Street, a location taken over by Panchito's Restaurant in the 1970s. Last week, Panchito's covered the sign with bright red paint.
The coffee bar had been a beatnik haven, where some claim a young Bob Dylan wrote "Blowin' in the Wind." Bill Cosby, Richie Havens and Tiny Tim performed there.
Panchito's owner Bob Engelhardt said the nostalgia is misplaced, and that the Village is a place for freedom, not regulations.
Greenwich Village
Surfing Madonna
A mosaic of a surfing Madonna that is stuck to a wall under a train bridge in the California beach city of Encinitas is technically graffiti under the law.
But her beauty is drawing a mass following, and city officials have spent thousands hiring an art agency to see about removing her without causing damage.
The Los Angeles-based art conservation agency, Sculpture Conservation Studio, on Tuesday began testing ways to safely remove the 10-by-10-foot rock and glass mosaic. But it concluded in a recent report that there's no better spot for the Surfing Madonna than under the overpass, protected from the sun and rain.
Mystery artists disguised as construction workers attached the mosaic to the concrete wall last month. They used a strong epoxy glue.
The mayor says the artwork will go to a local, private business where it can still be easily viewed.
Surfing Madonna
Tradition Trumps Twitter
Iowa Writers' Workshop
Inside the 154-year-old Victorian home that houses the Iowa Writers' Workshop, you won't see many Amazon Kindles. Twitter is viewed as a potentially disastrous distraction. And you can even anger an instructor for mentioning Google in your writing.
At a time when so much has changed in the publishing industry, the nation's oldest and most prestigious creative writing program embraces tradition. And why not? For more than seven decades, the nation's best young fiction writers and poets have escaped from life to spend two years in Iowa City writing, reading, hearing criticism of their work and meeting lifelong trusted readers. And that formula continues to have success helping top-notch writers develop their craft.
The program, which has helped train everyone from Flannery O'Connor to Michael Cunningham and T.C. Boyle, remains a powerhouse in American literature as it turns 75 this week. To mark the milestone, hundreds of alumni are coming back to campus in what amounts to an all-star gathering of writers who have breathed the air in Iowa City and that of its once-smoky bars.
Even in a town where it is not uncommon to bump into award-winning writers at the grocery store, the reunion is creating tremendous buzz. Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award recipients and MacArthur Foundation "geniuses" will be among the hundreds of workshop alums in attendance. One of the program's star faculty members, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Marilynne Robinson, is kicking off the events on Thursday with a public speech about the workshop.
Cunningham, who wrote "The Hours," will speak with other authors at a public event Saturday. Boyle, 2010 Pulitzer fiction winner Paul Harding, author Denis Johnson and dozens more will participate in smaller panel events Friday and Saturday addressing topics such as, "what makes literature immortal?" and "the writer as outsider."
Iowa Writers' Workshop
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for May 30-June 5. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. NBA Finals: Dallas vs. Miami, Game 2, ABC, 15.52 million.
2. NBA Finals: Miami vs. Dallas, Game 3, ABC, 15.34 million.
3. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 15.28 million.
4. NBA Finals: Dallas vs. Miami, Game 1, ABC, 15.17 million.
5. "The Voice," NBC, 14.41 million.
6. "NCIS," CBS, 11.31 million.
7. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 9.91 million.
8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.55 million.
9. "The Mentalist," CBS, 8.77 million.
10. "So You Think You Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 8.58 million.
11. "So You Think You Can Dance" (Thursday), Fox, 8.06 million.
12. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 7.98 million.
13. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 7.42 million.
14. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 7.23 million.
15. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 7.2 million.
16. "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition," ABC, 7.11 million.
17. "Flashpoint," CBS, 6.9 million.
18. "Blue Bloods" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.85 million.
19. "CSI: NY," CBS, 6.71 million.
20. "Rules of Engagement," CBS, 6.69 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Lilian Jackson Braun
The author who wrote 29 books in the "The Cat Who ..." mystery series almost quit writing after the third book was published because popular tastes had changed so much.
Lilian Jackson Braun, who died last week in South Carolina, took an 18-year hiatus between "The Cat Who Turned On and Off" and "The Cat Who Saw Red," published in 1986. She resumed because her husband encouraged her to return to writing after she retired from The Detroit Free Press in 1984.
"By the time I had written the fourth one, tastes in mysteries had changed," Braun said in an obituary provided by her publisher, Penguin Group (USA). "They wanted sex and violence, not kitty-cat stories. Gore was not my style, so I just forgot about `The Cat Who.'"
Braun, 97, died Saturday of natural causes at the Hospice House of the Carolina Foothills in Landrum. She had lived in Tryon, N.C., for the past 23 years with her husband, Earl Bettinger. She wrote 31 books, including two short story collections, and worked 30 years at The Detroit Free Press.
"The Cat Who ..." books began with "The Cat Who Could Read Backwards," published in 1966. They ended when Braun retired from writing in 2007 after the publication of "The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers." Her books about Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, were regulars on the New York Times bestseller lists and were translated into 16 languages.
Her books redefined the mystery genre, said Natalee Rosenstein, Braun's longtime editor and vice president, senior executive editor of Berkley Books, a Penguin Group imprint.
Rosenstein said in a statement that she loved the books when she first read them, but "it did take me awhile to figure out what genre it belonged to.
"She ultimately created a whole new chapter in the American mystery, and our wonderful working relationship spanned more than two decades. But most of all, it is Lilian the person I will remember - a strong, dedicated feisty woman who would always speak her mind and not be intimidated by anyone."
Braun wrote her books in longhand, then typed them herself, according to her publisher.
Braun was born June 20, 1913, in Chicopee Falls, Mass. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Louis Paul Braun; sister, Florence Jackson; and brother, Lloyd Jackson.
No memorial service will be held.
Lilian Jackson Braun
In Memory
Giorgio Tozzi
Award-winning opera singer
Giorgio Tozzi has died in Bloomington, Ind. He was 88.
Born in Chicago in 1923, Tozzi grew up to become one of opera's most recognized bass voices. He won four Grammy awards.
Tozzi sang with New York's Metropolitan Opera from 1954 to 1974, featuring in 399 performances of 37 roles, including Boris in "Boris Godunov;" Ramfis in "Aida;" Figaro in "The Marriage of Figaro;" Don Basilio in "Barber of Seville;" Philip II in "Don Carlo;" and Hans Sachs in "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg."
He also performed with La Scala in Milan; Teatro Reale in Rome; Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires; the National Theater in Munich; and the San Francisco Opera.
He starred on stage in musicals including "South Pacific," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "Man of La Mancha," and appeared on a variety of television shows in the 1970s and 1980s. According to the Internet Movie Database, Tozzi's voice was dubbed in the role of Emile de Becque (Rossano Brazzi) in the 1958 film version of "South Pacific."
Tozzi appeared as a soloist with the orchestras of New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco, London and several European ensembles.
Tozzi retired from Indiana University in 2006 after teaching voice there for 15 years.
A World War II U.S. Army veteran, Tozzi is survived by his wife, a son and daughter, and three grandchildren.
Giorgio Tozzi
In Memory
Jorge Semprún
Spanish writer, left-wing activist and former culture minister Jorge Semprún died in Paris on Tuesday aged 87, his grandson Thomas Landman said.
Semprún, who went into exile in France with his family after the Spanish Civil War, died "very peacefully" at home, Landman said.
Semprún was born on December 10, 1923, in Madrid, the son of a leading politician and the grandson of a former prime minister.
Living most of his life in France, where his family eventually settled after the Republicans were driven out of Madrid in 1937, Semprún adopted French as his working language.
He was to return to Spain after World War II, first as an underground communist militant and later as a government minister, after Franco's death led to the return of democracy.
He remained loyal to left-wing causes all his life. But having experienced the worst that both Nazism and Stalinism could offer, he summed up his philosophy in his later years by saying: "The jungle of the market is better than the totalitarian zoo."
He also wrote for the cinema and contributed major screenplays for Alain Resnais, with "La Guerre est Finie" (The War is Over) and "Stavisky", and for Costa Gavras, with the classic political dramas "Z" and "L'Aveu" (The Confession).
All but "Stavisky" starred Yves Montand, about whom Semprún later wrote an acclaimed biography.
With the restoration of democracy to Spain, Semprún became a prominent figure in Spanish as well as French cultural circles, and his stint as culture minister in Madrid, where he served as a non-party member of the Socialist government from 1988, was the logical culmination of his political career.
He stepped down in 1991, his independent opinions having seriously incommoded several of his cabinet colleagues, and returned to Paris to resume writing.
His experiences in government were the subject of his memoir "Federico Sanchez vous salue bien", whose title echoes his earlier account of life in the Spanish Communist party, "The Autobiography of Federico Sanchez".
His later work included "L'Ecriture ou la Vie" (Writing or Life), in which he returned yet again to the problem of finding an appropriate tone for describing the indescribable, his concentration camp experiences.
Jorge Semprún
In Memory
Shrek
New Zealanders were mourning the loss of the country's most famous sheep Tuesday, a shaggy national icon named Shrek who was renowned for avoiding being shorn for years.
Shrek captured the public's imagination in 2004 after he evaded the annual shearing roundups for the previous seven years by hiding in caves on his farm on the South Island. When finally found, he was clad in an astonishing 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of wool.
That's about five times a typically annual shearing from Shrek's breed, the Merino sheep prized for some of the softest wool.
In a country where sheep outnumber people by nearly 10 to one, Shrek's story of stubbornness and guile appealed to many. After his capture, Shrek was shorn on live TV in a broadcast that was picked up around the world. His story inspired three books.
"He was quite an elderly statesman," said owner John Perriam. "He taught us a lot."
Until becoming sick three weeks ago, Shrek toured the country, commanding $16,000 for appearances and getting the star treatment wherever he went. In one appearance, Shrek was shorn atop a large iceberg that was floating near the South Island coast.
Shrek was one of about 17,000 sheep on the the 27,000-acre (11,000-hectare) Bendigo farm in the small town of Tarras. Perriam believes Shrek was able to survive the winters and avoid detection by moving about a series of sheltered caves and by munching on small native shrubs.
After Shrek became a star, Perriam gave him his own barn and showroom. Shrek even had a personal caregiver look after him when he became sick, before the sheep was euthanized Monday at age 17.
Perriam is planning a funeral service and will ask a friend to scatter Shrek's ashes atop Mt. Cook, New Zealand's tallest mountain.
Shrek
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