'Best of TBH Politoons'
M Is FOR MASHUP - July 9th, 2008
The Look Of Mashups : Mashups & Videos
By DJ Useo
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Video: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency (theonion.com)
Sam Eifling: Raising an audio Lazarus (arktimes.com)
Musician Nathan Brown hopes to bring back the 8-track.
Jon Bream: Derek Trucks balances fatherhood, 3 bands and a new home studio for him and his guitar-goddess wife (Star Tribune)
Derek Trucks, arguably the best rock guitarist under the age of 30, knows all about the Minnesota Zoo even though he's never been there. His wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, has performed there twice and told him all about it. They'll be bringing their children, ages 6 and 3, along when their joint group, Soul Stew Revival, plays there on their current tour.
Vince Falconi: Mash-Up Magician (jacksonfreepress.com)
Known to the world as Girl Talk, Gregg Gillis set up his Saran Wrap-covered laptop and rocked the sold-out crowd to mash-ups using songs by Three 6 Mafia, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Rick Springfield, Toto, M.I.A. and many more, all arranged in a well-choreographed musical "collage," as Gillis put it.
Jack Chang: Argentine tango veterans revive glory days (McClatchy Newspapers)
As a sold-out crowd in Buenos Aires' historic opera house erupted in applause, veteran tango singer Virginia Luque took the stage backed by some of her country's greatest musicians.
Jordan Levin: "We want you: Presidential election rocks to a new Latin beat" (McClatchy Newspapers)
They're not just rocking the vote - they're salseando, perreando and mariachi-ando it.
CHRISTIAN JOHN WIKANE: "20 QUESTIONS: Rahsaan Patterson" (popmatters.com)
The purveyor of 21st century soul chats with PopMatters 20 Questions about chocolate, Chaka Khan, and the significance of Snoopy.
Mojo Flucke, PhD: A Chat with Bass player Dr. Matt Destruction from the Swedish punk-new wavers the Hives (bullz-eye.com)
Tell me how the University of Mississippi cheerleaders ended up on the chorus of "Try It Again." Whose idea was that? And was it kind of fun to have them around?
JON LANGMEAD: Tales of Mighty Antietam (popmatters.com)
With the release of their new epic double-album, rock stalwarts Antietam sit down with PopMatters' Jon Langmead to dissect their long, storied, and powerful past, pulling off shoestring-budget miracles in the hopes that just one song is all that is needed to change your life.
Roger Moore: Make-believe is the real thing for 'Journey' star Brendan Fraser (The Orlando Sentinel)
If anybody knows the secret to how one acts when starring in big-screen, big-effects summer movie spectacles, it's Brendan Fraser. The guy's done two Mummy movies, with a third in theaters in August. And he's in "Journey to the Center of the Earth," a 3-D action epic, opening Friday.
Rick Bentley: Ron Perlman is proud to hide his face behind the mask of 'Hellboy' (McClatchy Newspapers)
Ron Perlman has a face made for makeup. But he's OK with that.
Lee Drutman: "BOOK REVIEW: 'The Dumbest Generation' by Mark Bauerlein" (latimes.com)
In the four minutes it probably takes to read this review, you will have logged exactly half the time the average 15- to 24-year-old now spends reading each day. That is, if you even bother to finish. If you are perusing this on the Internet, the big block of text below probably seems daunting, maybe even boring. Who has the time? Besides, one of your Facebook friends might have just posted a status update!
I Spy Review
Twisterbait
by
Eric Loranger
It's a good thing the ever-expanding indie genre still holds a place for groups like this, who don't sound like Interpol or The Strokes! Rap your mind around that! No guitar downstroking, no hi-hat Franz Ferdinand drum beat, and no quiet-part-loud-part emo dynamics. Just goofy, energetic authenticity.
Twisterbait mix electronics with dancey indie tunes, where bouncing beats support bluesy riffs and processed vocals. The drums and bass are humongous in the mix, making it damn near impossible not to at least nod along (if not to throw your hands in the air and / or wave them like you just don't care.)
The group really is unclassifiable. Their sound is like if Moby and Talking Heads had a baby who was addicted to crack. I'm sorry if your mind just painted the ugliest picture you've ever seen, but that's really the only simile that fits.
But they do grab influences from a bunch of random groups. "Dead Man" is like what Nine Inch Nails might sound like if Trent Reznor had a good day ever in his life, and "Popstars" sounds like it could be a long lost Ween outtake - especially in lyrics like "I am the most fun here! Have no fear! I am the fun one here!"
Of course, both of the above associations took a stretch of the imagination to conjure, and I get the impression Twisterbait take a good amount of pride in the fact that they don't really sound like anybody else out there. And accordingly, I've got to tip my hat. Actually being unique is an entirely different thing from actually being rich, and most rock stars have already given up on trying to mix both dreams. Here's hoping Twisterbait reach the second goal as well.
So play I Spy at your next party!
As long as it's a pretty obnoxious party.
Don't Believe Me? Twisterbait - I Spy
Rating: :-) :-) :-) :-)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Tolerable here on the coast, but hellish inland.
Not A G8 Protester
Bill Nighy
He may be campaigning at the G8 summit in Japan on behalf of Oxfam, but veteran actor Bill Nighy has insisted that he is not a protester.
The actor said: "I am not protesting against the G8. We are not protesters, I prefer to think of us as a kind of benign nuisance."
He added: "We want to achieve exactly what we wanted to achieve last time, which is to keep the G8 leaders and their governments to their promise.
"The promise that they would fulfil the Millennium Development Goals: primary school education for everyone; HIV medicines for all the people that are requiring it; maternal health; sustainable environment.
Bill Nighy
Named To Board of Governors
Annette Bening
Three-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening has been elected to the governing board of the organization that gives out Hollywood's highest film honours, the Academy Awards, the group said on Monday.
Bening, 50, who is married to actor Warren Beatty, will now join the 43-member Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which draws up the rules and regulations for the Academy Awards, or Oscars.
She most recently starred in the 2006 art-house drama "Running with Scissors." Other major screen credits have included roles opposite Michael Douglas in the box office hit "The American President" and Beatty in the gangster drama "Bugsy."
Annette Bening
Fake Arkansas Bouts
'Blue Collar Brawlin'
Crowds in Arkansas came for the lure of cage fighting and $1 beer, but police say what they got instead was men ripping each others' clothes off and kissing - a stunt suspected of being orchestrated by Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame.
"We had a contract for cage fighting. We were deceived," said Dwight Duncan, president and CEO of Four States Fair Grounds in Texarkana, where the first of two Arkansas fights raised suspicions last month.
The day after the June 5 Texarkana bout, Fort Smith's convention center hosted "Blue Collar Brawlin.'" Fort Smith police Sgt. Adam Holland said organizers told him a character named "Straight Dave" would goad a planted audience member into the ring for a fight.
An elaborate array of mounted and handheld video cameras caught the crowd of 1,600's reaction as the two men "went right up to the line" of the city's morality laws, Holland said. The two men stripped down to their underwear, kissed and rubbed on each other, the sergeant said.
'Blue Collar Brawlin'
Vent Anger In Anti-Viacom Videos
YouTube Users
Viacom has reassured the YouTube community that it only wants YouTube viewer log data to prove its copyright case against Google, but the YouTube community hasn't gotten the message.
In the past week, the number of videos associated with the search keyword "Viacom" has increased by 871, more than 28.5%. Already on Monday, 341 new videos associated with the "Viacom" keyword have been uploaded. (In a subsequent search, the number dropped to 320, suggesting that some anti-Viacom videos are being removed.) Mostly, the videos are critical of Viacom.
Among titles that can be reprinted on the InformationWeek Web site, user sentiment is evident: "Viacom is a Copyright Bully," "VIACOM VS YOU = BOYCOTT," and "Screw You, Viacom."
A Viacom spokesperson declined to comment. However, Viacom's publication of a statement on its corporate Web site promising to keep YouTube's data confidential shows that the company is aware of the sensitive nature of this issue.
YouTube Users
Maybe Next Year
Radio Royalties
Chances appear slim that Congress will vote this year on legislation requiring terrestrial radio stations to pay artists and labels performance royalties to play their recordings.
A resounding voice vote June 27 by the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property in favor of the legislation sent the Performance Rights Act to the full House Judiciary Committee. A vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a similar bill is also possible. But the legislation doesn't seem poised to get much further in this election year, as Congress is scheduled to adjourn for a summer recess after the first week of August and faces a full agenda after it reconvenes following the Labor Day weekend.
The National Assn. of Broadcasters (NAB) has rallied opposition to what it derides as a performance "tax," releasing in late June a list of 219 House members (out of 435) who signed a nonbinding resolution declaring that such fees would impose "severe economic hardship" on radio stations.
Still, supporters of performance royalties can point to bipartisan backing of their own, amid signs that even some opponents of the bill are absorbing a fundamental message that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and artists' groups have been hammering home for months: that terrestrial radio broadcasters in other industrialized countries, as well as satellite and Internet radio companies in the United States, all pay performance royalties.
Radio Royalties
Golden Jubilee Banquet
Aga Khan
Both are ardent fans of horse racing and share an understanding of what it's like to hold an important ceremonial role. So the Queen was particularly glad to be hosting a glittering banquet for the Aga Khan's Golden Jubilee, which he celebrated last year.
Her guest at Monday's dinner in Buckingham Palace is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and the leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims. They've met up on several occasions since the Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather to the title in 1957.
The golden theme was also picked up by the Aga Khan's sister Yasmina, the daughter of his father Prince Aly and Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth. She was resplendent in a shimmering metallic floor-length creation, accessorised with a matching clutch.
Aga Khan
New aAlbum Online
Carla Bruni
Carla Bruni's fans will be able to get a preview of the French first lady's new album starting on Wednesday when her record label puts all 14 tracks on line.
Bruni's website will offer two free hours to fans who want to listen to "Comme si de rien n'etait" (Simply), Bruni's third album which hits music stores in France and elsewhere in Europe on Friday.
Record label Naive said in a press release Tuesday that "all cybersurfers will have a two-hour credit to listen to all of the songs on the album" from Wednesday to July 21.
The 40-year-old wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote the lyrics to 11 of the 14 songs including "Tu es ma came," a love song that draws a tongue-and-cheek parallel with drug addiction.
Carla Bruni
Baby News
Levi Alves McConaughey
Baby McConaughey's got a name!
The often shirtless wonder and girlfriend Camila Alves have named their li'l boy Levi Alves McConaughey, the actor's rep confirms to E! News.
So how'd they come up with it?
"Levi was another name for the apostle Matthew in the Bible," McConaughey tells OK! magazine.
Levi Alves McConaughey
Baby News
Lara Logan
Lara Logan, the chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, tells The Washington Post she is pregnant, and the father is a married federal contractor whom she met while stationed in Iraq.
Logan's relationship with Joseph Burkett - who's in the midst of a divorce from wife Kimberly, with whom he has a 3-year-old daughter - has made media headlines, including the front page of the New York Post.
Logan is going through a divorce from estranged husband Jason Siemon, a Chicago-based energy lobbyist whom she married in 1998.
Logan, whose pregnancy was unplanned, told the newspaper her due date is in January, and she's "looking forward to being a mom."
Lara Logan
Profits Über Alles
Climate Change
Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney's office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday. The official, Jason K. Burnett, said the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.
Burnett's assertion, which he made in a July 6 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA., chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conflicts with the White House explanation at the time that the deletions reflected concerns by the White House Office of Science and Technology over the accuracy of the science.
Burnett, until last month a senior adviser on climate change at the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.
"The Council on Environmental Quality and the office of the vice president were seeking deletions to the CDC testimony (concerning) ... any discussions of the human health consequences of climate change," Burnett wrote.
Climate Change
Slander Suit Dismissed
Gary Condit
A U.S. judge on Tuesday dismissed a slander lawsuit filed by former Congressman Gary Condit against journalist Dominick Dunne stemming from the 2001 disappearance of a government intern linked to Condit.
U.S. District Judge Peter Leisure dismissed the suit and said Dunne's remarks did not amount to slander. "The context in which Dunne's statements were made demonstrates that they were part of a discussion about 'speculation' in the media and inaccurate media coverage," the judge said.
In a separate but similar lawsuit filed earlier by Condit, Dunne was forced to pay an undisclosed sum of money under a settlement agreement in 2005.
Gary Condit
'Survivor' Producer Sued By Ex-Partner
Mark Burnett
The producer of the hit reality series "Survivor" and "The Apprentice" has been sued in Los Angeles by his former business partner.
Conrad Riggs filed the lawsuit against Mark Burnett on Monday. Riggs claims he is owed more than $70 million for his contributions to their joint efforts.
The two met in the 1990s when Burnett was trying to pitch the "Survivor" concept and Riggs worked for Walt Disney Co.
According to the lawsuit, Burnett stopped paying his partner in February 2007 after Riggs refused to sign a contract formalizing their long-standing verbal agreement. Riggs contends the terms in the contract differed from their "agreements and practices."
Mark Burnett
Revisionist Retelling?
History TV
Cable network History -- formerly known as the History Channel -- is retelling the stories of World War II and the September 11 attacks from a fresh perspective.
The network has ordered a 10-part series, "WW II HD," for 2009 that will make use of 3,000 hours of restored color archival footage and hundreds of pages of unpublished diaries and journals to create what History said will be one of its most ambitious projects ever.
Meanwhile, the network has compiled amateur and professional footage shot on September 11 for "102 Minutes That Changed America," a 102-minute special that will retell the events of that morning in real time.
"102 Minutes," premiering without commercial interruption on September 11, will feature footage from more than 100 individual sources pieced together in chronological order, without narration, to provide what History is calling a "seamless historical record of that day," from bewilderment and confusion to comprehension of what was taking place.
History TV
Scalpers Ask $1,500 For Free Concert
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi's concert in Central Park this Saturday is free. But that isn't stopping some scalpers from selling tickets for as much as $1,500 a pair - despite a warning they cannot be resold.
New York City has distributed 60,000 tickets, with each person limited to two freebies. The performance is billed as a prelude to the July 15th All-Star baseball game, which will highlight the final season at Yankee Stadium.
The New York Post reports that it found 267 listings for tickets on eBay Monday. Prices ranged from 99 cents to $1,500 a pair.
Bon Jovi
Charged With Stalking
Nate Dogg
Prosecutors have filed felony charges against Nate Dogg, who authorities suspect threatened and stalked his wife.
The rapper, whose real name is Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, was charged Monday. He was arrested last month by the California Highway Patrol after his wife claimed he was threatening her and following her as she drove on a freeway south of Los Angeles.
Hale, 38, will be arraigned July 16 on felony counts of making criminal threats, stalking and a misdemeanor charge of driving while his license was suspended for a drunken driving violation.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, said Tuesday he looked forward to defending his client in court. "Unfortunately he's had a tough year and we look forward to getting him through it," Geragos said.
Nate Dogg
Sketches Sell For Millions
Goya
Three sketches by Goya, presumed lost for 130 years, sold Tuesday for $8 million.
Christie's says the sketches first went up for sale in Paris in 1877 and were presumed lost until a private Swiss collector contacted the auction house about them.
The sketch titled "Bajar Rinendo," or "They Go Down Quarreling" - which depicts four women fighting as they fall through the air - sold in London for about $4.6 million.
The other two sketches depict a constable stitched inside a dead horse and a wide-eyed man praying in front of a cross.
Goya
Shushes Parent Protesters
China
Angry parents whose children were crushed to death in schools that collapsed in China's mighty earthquake are no longer being allowed to march, wave banners and vent their rage in public.
Officials are now using a variety of tactics - threats, money, promises of justice, police muscle - to intimidate, appease or hush up the grieving mothers and fathers who believe that nearly 7,000 classrooms crumbled so easily because corrupt and incompetent officials didn't build them properly.
Such protests were tolerated for a time after the 7.9-magnitude quake, but then came the police warnings to stay off the streets.
China
Files For Bankruptcy
Michael Vick
Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between $10 million and $50 million to creditors.
Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million.
The debt includes part of a signing bonus that the Falcons are seeking to recover.
Michael Vick
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for June 30-July 6. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (22) "America's Got Talent," NBC, 12.04 million viewers.
2. (64) "Wipeout," ABC, 9.46 million viewers.
3. (20) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 9.13 million viewers.
4. (58) "So You Think Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 8.76 million viewers.
5. (23) "CSI: NY," CBS, 8.5 million viewers.
6. (15) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 8.49 million viewers.
7. (17) "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.21 million viewers.
8. (7) "House," Fox, 8.06 million viewers.
9. (14) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 8.03 million viewers.
10. (46) "Hell's Kitchen," Fox, 8.03 million viewers.
11. (13) "NCIS," CBS, 8 million viewers.
12. (9) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 7.61 million viewers.
13. (69) "48 Hours Mystery" (Tuesday)," CBS, 7.60 million viewers.
14. (X) "The Bachelorette" (Monday, 9 p.m.), ABC, 7.48 million viewers.
15. (58) "Million Dollar Password," CBS, 7.45 million viewers.
16. (77) "Dateline NBC" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), NBC, 7.44 million viewers.
17. (77) "The Bachelorette" (Monday, 8 p.m.), ABC, 7.30 million viewers.
18. (87) "Price Is Right Primetime," CBS, 7.29 million viewers.
19. (77) "Celebrity Family Feud," NBC, 6.89 million viewers.
20. (45) "Rules Of Engagement," CBS, 6.89 million viewers.
Ratings
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