M Is FOR MASHUP - July 3rd, 2019
Mash Of The Titans VIII Is Served
By DJ Useo
Panos T
( panost.net/ )
has released a volume of "Mash Of The Titans" every year now, for eight years in a row. The series features significantly talented bootleggers mixing mainstream-style tracks of the highest order. Many of the volumes are 2, or even 3 discs' worth, so ponder the quantity of blends that entails. All past volumes remain available, with this latest collection expanding the multitude.
Panos provides excellent videos for many of the new cuts. Links for viewing are
located here
( panost.net/mash-of-the-titans/mash-of-the-titans-viii/ )
where the album download link is also displayed. The content is quality throughout, with mixers like Kill_mR_DJ, Jarod Ripley, MixmstrStel, & many more providing the thrills.
As a Special bonus, Panos has just released "
Mash of The Titans VIII - Metamorphosis" as an extension of the #MOTT8 album. It includes 14 more brand new mashups by producers from around the world.
( panost.net/mash-of-the-titans/mash-of-the-titans-viii-metamorphosis/ )
A fine addition to the joy which the 8th MOTT brings all on it's own.
I've been into this series since it was birthed, as you can tell from this "Mash Of The Titans' mix"
I personally spawned earlier this year
( hearthis.at/vxmfxz7w/dj-useo-selections-from-mash-of-the-titans-podcast/ )
It gives a fine overview perspective as it uses two tracks from every volume.
You'll leave your friends impressed with your musical tastes when you turn them onto this mashup feast.
So, grab the latest volume, or gorge on the entire menu of eight volumes from
links here
( panost.net/mash-of-the-titans/ )
I hope y'all find mashups suitable for your 4th of July celebration.
They're certainly a better choice than tanks. ;)
Have the Summer of good -
DJ Konrad Useo
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Moochers of Middle America (NY Times Column)
In 2017, [Kentucky] received $40 billion more from the federal government than it paid in taxes. That's about one-fifth of the state's G.D.P.; if Kentucky were a country, we'd say that it was receiving foreign aid on an almost inconceivable scale. This aid, in turn, supports a lot of jobs. It's fair to say that far more Kentuckians work in hospitals kept afloat by Medicare and Medicaid, in retail establishments kept going by Social Security and food stamps, than in all traditional occupations like mining and even agriculture combined. So if you really believe that Americans with higher incomes shouldn't pay for benefits provided to those with lower incomes, you should be calling on "donor" states like New Jersey and New York to cut off places like Kentucky and let their economies collapse. And if that's what you mean, you should let Mitch McConnell's constituents know about it.
David A. Graham: What Trump Did in Osaka Was Worse Than Lying (Atlantic)
During the president's weekend press conference, he didn't simply deny the truth.
Amy O'Connor: "Taylor Swift: Who bought her master tapes and why is she so incensed?" (Irish Times)
Stars such as Justin Bieber take sides as singer claims her master tapes have been sold to 'manipulative bully.'
Will Lloyd: Nineteen Eighty-Four is not a guidebook for the present day (Spectator)
A powerful totalitarian state is no longer needed to coerce human beings.
Rich Pelley: "Lily Allen: 'Sex can still be an addiction'" (The Guardian)
I worry about Instagram for my daughters, because it makes young, impressionable girls feel their whole value is based on their looks. When the surefire way to increase your followers and likes is by taking your clothes off and piling on makeup, that's what you'll do because you want validation, just like every teenager.
Suzanne Moore: We laugh at Ivanka Trump - because to take her seriously is frightening (The Guardian)
The handbag entrepreneur was snubbed by world leaders, but it doesn't matter - she is still the perfect product placement for brand Trump.
Suzanne Moore: Billie Eilish embodies the angsty spider-eating teenage girl in all of us (The Guardian)
The 17-year-old was astonishing at Glastonbury and reminds me of Kate Bush - but she should not have to disappear like her to express her artistic freedom.
Alison Flood: Why should authors read your bad reviews? (The Guardian)
After Angie Thomas requested that she not be tagged into negative reviews of her books on social media, she has received a torrent of abuse.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Size vs. Strength
David
Thanks, Dave!
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• R' Yonasan of Prague was a friend to the king, and the king asked him before setting out to war if R' Yonasan could tell which of the two gates of the city he would use when he returned from war. R' Yonasan said that he would not answer the question right now, because whatever gate he mentioned, the king could easily decide to go through the other gate. Instead, he would write down his answer, then seal it so that the answer could not be read, and after the king had returned to the city, he could break the seal and read the answer. The king agreed and carried the answer with him to the war. Returning from the war, the king decided to trick R' Yonasan and not use either gate to enter the city; instead, he ordered that the wall be breached and a third gate be built, and he entered the city through that. After entering the city by way of the new gate, the king broke the seal and read a quotation from the Gemara: "A king may breach a wall to make a path for himself" (Bava Basra 100b)
• In 1960, Senator John Sparkman, a Democrat from Alabama, was introduced to the Queen of Greece. He introduced himself as "Senator John Sparkman," but a colleague told him he should have added the rest - "Senator John Sparkman of Alabama." The Queen overheard and asked, "Oh, are you from Alabama?" After the Senator admitted that he was, the Queen said that she had met a young lieutenant recently, who had told her, "I'm from Alabama, honey." Senator Sparkman said that the lieutenant should have added the rest - "I'm from Alabama, honey child." For the rest of evening, everybody called the Queen of Greece "Honey Child."
• The Quakers used to be persecuted in the early years of the colonization of America; however, King Charles II ended the practice by sending a Quaker as his envoy to America. Quakers believe in the equality of Humankind, so they don't take their hats off before humans of high rank. The American Governor was so displeased by the Quaker's not taking his hat off that he knocked the hat to the ground. However, as soon as he learned that the Quaker was the envoy of the king, he hurriedly picked up the Quaker's hat - and took off his own.
• In a controversy between King George IV and Queen Caroline, who was accused of many infidelities, the Duke of Wellington supported the King. However, the populace of London supported the Queen. Once, several London workmen stopped the Duke's carriage and said they would not let him pass until he said, "God save the Queen." The Duke replied, "Well, gentlemen, since you will have it so, 'God save the Queen' - and may all your wives be like her!"
• While in Tunis, comedian Beatrice Lillie became ill with dysentery and was forced to miss a party with King George VI, who, it turned out, was suffering from the same illness. Later, the two finally met. Ms. Lillie explained why she had missed the Tunis party, and King George VI commiserated with her about the effects of dysentery. Later, Ms. Lillie's friends asked what she and the King had been discussing. She replied, "Diarrhea."
• Gerald Arpino met Princess Margaret on Oct. 27, 1977, at the Contemporary Dance Foundation Gala at the Hotel Pierre. He had always been told that British royalty are impeccable in their pronunciation, and so he practiced perfectly saying, "I - am - pleased - to - meet - you - Your- Royal -Highness." The meeting went very well. Mr. Arpino was impeccable in his pronunciation, and Princess Margaret responded, "How d'ja' do?"
• Quakers believe that all people are created equal, so they don't remove their hats, even when before royalty. William Penn once visited King Charles I, and in accordance with Quaker custom, Mr. Penn kept his hat on in the presence of the king. King Charles I immediately took off his own hat. When Mr. Penn asked why he had done that, the king replied, "It is the custom of this place for only one man to wear his hat at a time."
• When Marie, Queen of Romania, was growing up in England, a playmate of hers attended a children's party at Buckingham Palace - home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. After the party, the little boy's father asked if the Prince of Wales had spoken to him. The little boy answered, "Yes, he trod upon my toes and said, 'I beg your pardon.'"
• While Peter Ustinov was playing the Prince of Wales in a movie produced in England, he sent a Hollywood executive this telegram: "Greetings to my loyal subjects in the colonies. P Ustinov, Prince of Wales."
• Dionysus, the dictator of Syracuse, once criticized his son for acting inappropriately, but his son replied that Dionysus had never had a king for a father. Dionysus replied, "If you behave like that, you won't have a king for a son."
• Each time soprano Birgit Nilsson returned to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, general manager Rudolf Bing got on his knees before her. After he had been knighted, he kneeled again at her return to the Met, and she told him, "You do that much better since you practiced it for the Queen."
• Tallulah Bankhead could be quite critical of royalty. Once while she was shown her suite at a hotel, she was told that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor had spent their honeymoon there. Ms. Bankhead felt the bed, then said, "Ah yes, it's still cold."
• At one time, the Pope was supreme in worldly affairs. At the coronation of King Henry VI of Germany, Pope Celestine III kicked the crown off the king's head to demonstrate that he could both make and unmake kings.
• The King of Holland once attended a piano recital by Clara Schumann; afterward, he met her husband, the famous composer Robert Schumann, and asked, "Are you musical, too?"
• "When I sat next the Duchess at tea, / It was just as I knew it would be, / Her rumblings abdominal / Were something phenomenal - / And everyone thought it was me." - Anonymous.
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal with a nice breeze.
Didn't Violate Prince Copyright
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol transcended a photographer's copyright by transforming a picture of a vulnerable and uncomfortable Prince into an artwork that made the singer an "iconic, larger-than-life figure," a judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in Manhattan sided with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts over renowned photographer Lynn Goldsmith.
The case tested whether the legendary artist who died in 1987 made fair use of a 1981 picture of the famed late singer when he created a series of 16 artworks that became known as the "Prince Series." The series contained 12 silkscreen paintings, two screen prints on paper and two drawings.
The judge noted that Goldsmith believed photographs she took of Prince in her New York City studio revealed that he was "not a comfortable person" and was a "vulnerable human being."
Andy Warhol
American Medical Association Sues
North Dakota
The American Medical Association has sued the state of North Dakota to block a new law that they say forces doctors to "act as the government's mouthpiece" and lie to women seeking abortions.
"The Compelled Reversal Mandate forces physicians to tell their patients that medication abortions may be reversible, a claim wholly unsupported by the best, most reliable scientific evidence, contravening their ethical and legal obligations as medical providers," the AMA stated in the 23-page complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Bismarck.
"The Compelled Personhood Mandate forces Physicians to act as the government's mouthpiece to speak a message that is unrelated to the medical details, risks and benefits of the procedure," the complaint states.
The AMA said that when this law goes into effect on Aug. 1. doctors will be forced - under the threat of criminal penalty - to deliver a "controversial and ideological message about fetal personhood that is unmoored from medical science."
"The patient-physician relationship is the cornerstone of health care, and depends upon honest, open conversations about all of a patient's health care options," AMA President Patrice Harris said in a statement to NBC News. "North Dakota's law undermines this relationship by requiring physicians to mislead and misinform their patients with messages that contradict reality and science. The AMA will always defend science and open conversations about all health care options available to patients."
North Dakota
Sells At Auction
Lewis Chessman
A 900-year-old Viking chess piece bought for a few dollars in the 1960s has sold at auction for 735,000 pounds ($927,000).
The 3 1/2-inch (8.8-centimeter) Lewis Chessman sold to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby's in London on Tuesday.
The Lewis Chessmen are intricate, expressive chess pieces in the form of Norse warriors, carved from walrus ivory in the 12th century.
A hoard of dozens of pieces, amounting to four chess sets, was discovered in 1831 on Scotland's Isle of Lewis - but five of the pieces were missing.
The Sotheby's piece, the equivalent of a rook, is the first missing chessman to be identified.
Lewis Chessman
Summer Box Office
Meltdown
Heading into the new year, box office analysts were bullish that 2019 would beat, or at least match, the record-breaking success of last season. Followups to "Avengers," "Secret Life of Pets" and "Godzilla" combined with reboots of storied franchises such as "Men in Black" and "Shaft" would elevate ticket sales to new heights, theater owners and studio executives predicted. Alas, it was not to be.
Much of the blame has been pinned on franchise fatigue, the age-old diagnosis that stems from audiences growing tired of movies with endless Roman numerals tacked on the end. But that's not entirely the case. People will still show up for franchise fare. "Toy Story 4" has cracked the $500 million mark, "John Wick 3" is the highest-grossing entry in the action series, and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" is poised to dominate the July 4th box office. Moreover, sequels, reboots and spinoffs soared at the box office last summer as revenues for "Avengers: Infinity War," "Incredibles 2" and "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" set the stage for a new benchmark in North America. People don't hate sequels. They avoid bad movies.
The indie market has also slid steeply, with some indie players reporting that ticket sales in the specialty space are down more than 30% through the first six months of the year. Movies like the Mindy Kaling comedy "Late Night" or "Wild Rose" may have been hits at film festivals, but they failed to convert that buzz into butts in seats when they opened to the general public. That could turn around with the debut this week of "Midsommar," a twisty horror pic that should do for the image of Swedish villages what the "Wicker Man" did for the reputation of Scottish islands.
Only Disney has reaped big profits while its rivals falter. The studio has fielded the four biggest movies of the year so far and controls nearly 40% of the Stateside market share. It has made nearly seven times as much as Sony or Paramount, almost triple what Universal has racked up, and more than double what Warner Bros., its next closest rival, has generated. Now that Disney controls Fox, and with it the keys to hit series such as "Avatar" and "Deadpool," it looms even larger over the movie business. However, Fox's film studio hasn't proved to be as profitable as some had hoped. The studio's first major summer release, "Dark Phoenix," was an unmitigated disaster, one that leaves the X-Men in series need of a reboot.
Meltdown
Europe's Hottest On Record
June
As Europe's heat wave shifted eastward Tuesday, delivering scorching temperatures to Serbia and the rest of the Balkans, new data showed that last month set a new June record for the continent.
Measurements collected by the European Union's Copernicus satellite program revealed Europe's average temperature in June was more than 2 degrees Celsius higher than during the 30-year reference period from 1981 to 2010.
The intense heat toward the end of June also beat the previous Europe-wide record for the month set in 1999 by 1 degree Celsius. France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Spain all registered new national highs for June, with the southern French town of Gallargues-le-Montueux recording a blistering 45.9 Celsius (114.6 Fahrenheit) on Friday.
In a separate study published Tuesday, an international group of experts who examine the possible link between extreme weather events and climate change warned that Europe faces more frequent and intense heat waves.
After analyzing temperatures in the French city of Toulouse between June 26 and 28 the World Weather Attribution group concluded that every heat wave occurring in Europe today "is made more likely and more intense by human-induced climate change."
June
76-Day Trek From Norway To Canada
Arctic Fox
A 1-year-old explorer made an epic journey from Norway to Canada, covering 2,176 miles in 76 days. That young explorer was an Arctic fox.
Scientists were left "speechless" by the fox's journey, Greenland's Sermitsiaq newspaper reports. Researchers from Norway's Polar Institute had been tracking the young female fox on a GPS, according to BBC News. They freed her into the wild on the east cost of Spitsbergen, the main island of the Svalbard archipelago of Norway.
The fox started her journey in March, at just under a year old. She walked nearly 1,000 miles from the archipelago near the North Pole to Greenland. She completed this leg in just 21 days, then began the second part of her trek.
The fox then walked about 1,242 miles farther to Canada's Ellesmere Island. The whole trek took her just 76 days, averaging about 28.4 miles a day. Some days, however, the ambitious fox walked over 96 miles.
The fox could have traveled even farther, but scientists stopped tracking her when she reached Canada in February, because her transmitter stopped working, the Polar Institute said.
Arctic Fox
Lost Palace Unearthed
Iraq
When a drought dried up the water in Iraq's Mosul Dam reservoir, it exposed ruins from an ancient city dating to the Bronze Age.
The city included a palace with walls preserved to heights of 22 feet (7 meters); inside were chambers that had once been decorated with painted murals, archaeologists recently said in a statement.
The scientists dated the site - named Kemune - to the time of the Mittani Empire, a kingdom of the Near East that ruled portions of Syria and northern Mesopotamia from the 15th century to the 14th century B.C. Only three other sites from this period contain Mittani palaces, and all of them were found in the outer reaches of the empire. Kemune alone offers insights into life at the center of the kingdom, according to the statement.
The palace once stood just 65 feet (20 meters) from the Tigris, overlooking the river from an elevated position on the bank, and a sloping terrace wall supported the palace's western side. To the north lay the rest of the city, according to archaeological surveys conducted around the palace ruins.
The team partly excavated eight rooms, some of which were paved with slabs of fired brick. Paintings on the palace's plastered walls retained traces of vivid hues in red and blue. Important structures built by the Mittani Empire - such as this palace - were likely commonly decorated with colorful murals, but few examples have survived to the present, making the discovery at Kemune "an archaeological sensation," said Ivana Puljiz, excavation co-leader and an archaeologist with the University of Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany.
Iraq
Ghostly Blue Clouds Only Appear at Night
Noctilucent Clouds
It looks like a ring of blue fire in the sky. But, in fact, that swirl of sapphire over the North Pole and Greenland is actually ice - that, and a bit of pulverized meteor dust.
They're called "noctilucent clouds," because they only appear after sunset. Blue and wispy, these moonlighting cirrus strands form high in the atmosphere in spring and summer, when the upper atmosphere starts to cool as the lower atmosphere warms. There, ice crystals hovering about 50 miles (80 kilometers) over Earth glom onto little particles of dust from smashed-up meteorites and other windblown sources, then condense into smoky ribbons of cloud. (The same phenomenon has been spotted on Mars.)
These are the highest clouds in the sky, according to the American Geophysical Union, and form so high up that they glow icy blue even after the sun appears to have passed below the horizon at ground level. Usually, they're only spotted at high latitudes in warm months - a satellite that measures how much sunlight is being reflected into space by high-atmosphere clouds - appeared over Greenland on June 12, 2019.
However, according to NASA's Earth Observatory, noctilucent clouds like these have been creeping farther and farther south lately. At dusk on June 8, a sheet of noctilucent clouds was visible in 10 states, including Oregon, Minnesota, Michigan and Nevada. Those southward-creeping clouds seem to be part of a trend that has gotten more pronounced every year for more than a decade.
Noctilucent Clouds
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for June 24-30. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "Democratic Debate" (Thursday), NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, 18.1 million.
2. "Democratic Debate" (Wednesday), NBC, MSNBC, Telemundo, 15.3 million.
3. "America's Got Talent," NBC, 10.14 million.
4. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7 million.
5. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 5.74 million.
6. "Big Brother" (Tuesday), CBS, 4.94 million.
7. "Celebrity Family Feud," ABC, 4.87 million.
8. "American Ninja Warrior," NBC, 4.67 million.
9. "The $100,000 Pyramid," ABC, 4.59 million.
10. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 4.53 million.
11. "Young Sheldon" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), CBS, 4.44 million.
12. "Big Brother" (Sunday), CBS, 4.32 million.
13. "Holey Moley," ABC, 4.31 million.
14. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 4.309 million.
15. "Young Sheldon" (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.), CBS, 4.274 million.
16. "Songland," NBC, 4.272 million.
17. "Press Your Luck," ABC, 4.19 million.
18. "To Tell The Truth," ABC, 4.03 million.
19. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 3.93 million.
20. "Amazing Race," CBS, 3.82 million.
Ratings
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