M Is FOR MASHUP - July 17th, 2013
Chocomang and The Boots de France
By DJ Useo
If you've listened to mashups to any degree you're sure to have heard some excellent work from Frances' Chocomang. In fact, if you've read this column much, you've seen his mixes brought up a good bit. Recently, Chocomang appeared on IT IS TO LAFF 3 under the name ' ', and on SUMMER BOOTY 2013. Just last week I dropped a large mention of his new SUMMER BOOTY 2013 video with On display at his site
( chocomang.org/ ) you can find more than a hundred individual
Chocomang mashup links, plus many compilations he's put together there and elsewhere. All are well worth hearing. Check Vimeo or Youtube and Chocomang videos are abundant and satisfying.
Now Chocomang continues his upward spiral of great mixes with his new album-length release, 'BOOTS de FRANCE'
( chocomang.org/mashup/BootsDeFrance.htm ). The collection does something few mashers succeed at, and that's to employ their native artists on every track. This record features at least one French artist on every cut. That's the over-riding theme here, aside from the general attractiveness and excellent production sound. Initial reaction has been completely complimentary, whether one speaks French or not. There's plenty of artists that are non-french among this set, and the nationality-clash provides so very many audio winners.
On this compilation, you'll find French artists like Stupeflip, Philippe Katerine, Jean Jaques Goldman plus more ; all paired with international recording artists like Bob Marley, Bryan Ferry, Kraftwerk, Avril Lavigne etc. . Not only will you find the mashups in this assortment to be true gems, but they have that certain something that compels delightful re-playing. Even though these are new mixes, 'BOOTS de FRANCE' functions as a great Chocomang primer to his other work. I think this is a perfect jumping on point for those of you who wish to start a Chocomang fan club. He has so many fantastic mixes, videos, and collections, the good times will roll for you.
A smaller detail of 'BOOTS de FRANCE' is Chocomang invited me to submit a few French-artist related tracks of my own, which he included! A real treat for me, and for you as well, I'm sure. Have fun with this FREE album and savor the playlist here
( chocomang.org/mashup/BootsDeFrance.htm )
( official.fm/playlists/VqJM )
(password, if asked for, is france)
Get ready next week for a BIG mashup project come to fruition. It's something you'll be well-pleased with. Come back in a week for the scoop!
Mix Of The Week
Fort Knox Five did the 'ENDLESS SUMMER MIX' a year ago, but since it's endless, I present it to you again. It's marvelous bootleg tunes mixed to a 'T'. Full playlist plus streaming function and download available here
( soundcloud.com/fortknoxfive/endless-summer-mix )
( www.mixcloud.com/FortKnox/endless-summer-mix/ )
Mashup Tip
Mash groups with only initials for names. It's fun and HIP! Like 'ELO vs NOFX vs ATV'.
Latest Useo Thing
Latest Useo Thing
I saw a picture of PSY with Weird Al here on BARTCOP E, so it inspired me to do a track to go with the picture. Here's 'White and Nerdy Gentleman' ( Weird Al Yankovic vs PSY ) . It sure turned out swell. It's a rollicking laugh-fest, plus the mix has lots of appeal. Listen or download from here
( soundcloud.com/dj-useo/weird-al-yankovic-vs-psy )
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2013/07/weird-al-yankovic-vs-psy.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
When DJ Earworm finally passes on, all acapellas will be retired in his honor.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
The text of Malala Yousafzai's speech at the United Nations
. . . I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist, "Why are the Taliban against education?" He answered very simply. By pointing to his book he said, "A Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book." They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would send girls to the hell just because of going to school. The terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and Pashtun society for their own personal benefits. Pakistan is peace-loving democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. . . .
Lee Siegal: Who Ruined the Humanities? (Wall Street Journal)
Of course it's important to read the great poets and novelists. But not in a university classroom, where literature has been turned into a bland, soulless competition for grades and status.
Phil Plait: The View Hires Notorious Anti-Vaxxer Jenny McCarthy (Slate)
I was not exactly a fan of the show before-giving a soapbox to someone like Sherri Shepherd, who wasn't sure if the Earth was round or not, rather dampens my enthusiasm-but this secures my opinion of it now.
How one community brought these cute penguins back from extinction (io9)
On Australia's Phillip Island, these Little Penguins have an adorable habit. Hundreds emerge from the ocean at sunset, shaking off water and waddling home to their burrows. But it was this very cuteness that endangered them - until the locals came up with an ingenious solution.
The wonderful world of Selena Gomez (Guardian)
Selena Gomez could so easily be a brat. She's the child star whose every move is documented by the paparazzi - not least because she's Justin Bieber's other half. Yet, as Olly Richards discovers, the Disney alumna is growing up with cool, calm cunning.
Jerry Seinfeld the highest-earning comedian? You have to be kidding me (Guardian)
With an income of $32m over the past 12 months, Seinfeld has topped the Forbes list despite his show having been off air for 15 years.
Matthew Kohlmorgen: 6 Famous Authors Who Were Nothing Like You Expect (Cracked)
#6. J.R.R. Tolkien Hated His Hippie Fans
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (Athens News)
Art Linkletter is famous in large part because of his funny question-and-answer sessions with children, but other celebrities have also interviewed children. One such celebrity is Ed McMahon, who is most famous for his many years as Johnny Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show." He interviewed children on a TV morning show called "Strictly for the Girls." He once asked, "When should a girl marry?" The answers included "If she ever kisses a boy," "Not until she's six years old, " and "I'm never gonna be married."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Bosko Suggests
Have a great week!
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
wrote:
responded:
took the day off.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E. Suggests
Thanks, David!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit of a marine layer.
Won't Perform In Florida
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder says he won't perform in Florida and other states with a "stand your ground" law.
In a video posted on YouTube, the 63-year-old singer said at a concert in Quebec City, Canada, on Sunday "that until the 'stand your ground' law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again."
Wonder added: "Wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world."
Wonder's representative said the singer had no further comment.
Stevie Wonder
Stamp Raises Right-Wing Ire
France
The new face of France - or at least the official postage stamp for the President Francois Hollande era - is modeled after a Ukrainian woman who takes her top off to defend feminist causes.
Not everyone thinks that's appropriate. The small, conservative Christian Democrat Party is calling for a boycott of the stamp.
Hollande on Sunday unveiled the new stamp, meant to represent Marianne, a symbol of France since the revolution.
Afterward, artist Olivier Ciappa said the image was modeled largely after Femen activist Inna Shevchenko. It's unclear whether Hollande, a Socialist who has pushed for more women's rights, knew about the Femen inspiration.
Marianne is sometimes depicted topless. Shevchenko now lives in France, where Femen activists frequently stage protests with slogans scrawled across their bare breasts.
France
"The Cuckoo's Calling"
J.K. Rowling
Not many people owned a copy of "The Cuckoo's Calling" before word leaked out over the weekend that author Robert Galbraith was, in fact, J.K. Rowling. But a handful who did have a signed edition.
Rowling spokeswoman Nicky Stonehill told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Rowling, the "Harry Potter" author, signed "a few copies" of her detective novel as "Robert Galbraith." Wishing to keep her identity secret, Rowling made no promotional appearances for the book, published quietly in April, and Stonehill declined to say how any reader obtained a signed copy.
Bids for a signed first edition have topped $1,000 on eBay.
"Yes, those books will have value," said Angel Webster of Bauman Rare Books in Manhattan. "The first edition is already a scarce commodity and she only signed a handful of them under vague circumstances."
J.K. Rowling
Leads Forbes' Highest-Paid Actors
Robert Downey Jr.
With estimated earnings of $75 million, "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. is Hollywood's highest paid actor, ahead of Channing Tatum and Hugh Jackman, according to Forbes.com.
Downey, 48, starred in Disney's Marvel superhero films "The Avengers" in 2012 and "Iron Man 3" in 2013, each of which earned more than $1 billion at the box office, assuring him the top spot in the annual ranking of Hollywood's top acting earners.
New father Tatum, 33, who self-financed the male-stripper movie "Magic Mike" that made $167 million with director Steven Soderbergh, captured the No. 2 spot with estimated earnings of $60 million. Australian actor Jackman, 44, whose new movie "The Wolverine" opens in U.S. theaters next week, was not far behind with $55 million.
Mark Wahlberg, 42, had a comedy hit with "Ted," a film that earned $550 million and pumped up his earning to $52 million to secure fourth place, and wrestler-turned actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, 41, rounded out the top five with $46 million.
Robert Downey Jr.
New Video
Pussy Riot
Four members of Pussy Riot danced on an oil pipeline in garish masks, tights and short dresses in a new video released on Tuesday, comparing President Vladimir Putin to an "ayatollah in Iran" and attacking his allies in Russia's rich energy sector.
In their first performance in almost a year, posted on Youtube, the feminist punk protest collective also accused Putin of being homophobic after passage of what is widely seen as anti-gay legislation.
"Like in a Red Prison" is one of Pussy Riot's few performances since its anti-Putin protest in a Russian Orthodox church last year won global fame for the band members but led to three of them being jailed.
The aim of the video, the band explains, is to draw attention to what they say is Putin's practice of allowing only close allies to share in the vast proceeds generated by the Russian energy industry. Rosneft declined comment.
Pussy Riot
Re-Defines Academic Freedom
Mitch Daniels
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels pledged to promote academic freedom when he became president of Purdue University in January, but newly released emails show he attempted to eliminate what he considered liberal "propaganda" at Indiana's public universities while governor.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request show Daniels requested that historian and anti-war activist Howard Zinn's writings be banned from classrooms and asked for a "cleanup" of college courses. In another exchange, the Republican talks about cutting funding for a program run by a local university professor who was one of his sharpest critics.
The emails are raising eyebrows about Daniels' appointment as president of a major research university just months after critics questioned his lack of academic credentials and his hiring by a board of trustees he appointed.
In a rapid exchange of emails between top state education officials on Feb. 9, 2010, including then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, Daniels sought assurance that a Zinn book exploring historical events that Zinn said got little attention was removed from Indiana classrooms.
"This terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away," Daniels wrote. "The obits and commentaries mentioned his book, 'A People's History of the United States,' is the 'textbook of choice in high schools and colleges around the country.' It is a truly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation that misstates American history on every page.
Mitch Daniels
Lawsuit Settled
'Anger Management'
The parties in a lawsuit over Charlie Sheen's FX comedy "Anger Management" have taken a cue from the show's title and decided to set aside their hard feelings.
"Anger Management" producer Joe Roth and Jason Shuman, who claimed that he was owed a $50 million chunk of the series, have settled their lawsuit, according to court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday and obtained by TheWrap.
Shuman and his Blue Star Entertainment filed his suit in April 2012, claiming that he was tapped by Roth in 2008 to comb through Revolution Studios' film catalog for titles that could be developed into adaptations or remakes. Shuman claims that he developed the 2003 Jack Nicholson/Adam Sandler film "Anger Management" for what eventually became the series, but was frozen out and denied promised back-end ownership and credit on the series.
Roth filed a countersuit last June, which claimed that Shuman was told in January 24, 2012 that his consulting agreement was being terminated.
'Anger Management'
Sequel Producers Sue Over Rights
'Dumb and Dumber'
The producers of the "Dumb and Dumber" sequel are suing to keep the producers of the original 1994 Jim Carrey comedy out of the picture altogether.
Red Granite Productions on Monday asked a Los Angeles judge to affirm that Steve Stabler and Brad Krevoy, the producers of "Dumb and Dumber," will play no role in the follow-up. The company claims the two have threatened legal action if they are not paid a producer's fee and given a credit on the production.
Tentatively entitled "Dumb and Dumber To," the film will reunite stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels with directors Peter Farrelly and Bob Farrelly. After being put into turnaround at Warner Bros. and New Line, it was rescued last June when Universal Pictures and Red Granite agreed to take on the $35 million comedy.
Attorneys for Red Granite say any sequel rights that the two producers have were nullified because Red Granite is signing an agreement with New Line Pictures - the studio behind the first film. That agreement grants Red Granite all rights related to "Dumb and Dumber" and a potential follow-up, according to the filing.
'Dumb and Dumber'
Board of Examiners Problem
John Rosemond
John Rosemond has been dispensing parenting advice in his newspaper column since 1976, making him one of the longest-running syndicated columnists in the country.
In May, Kentucky's attorney general and its Board of Examiners of Psychology told Rosemond his parenting column - which regularly offers old-school advice and shows little tolerance for any kind of parental coddling - amounts to the illegal practice of psychology.
They want him to agree to a cease-and-desist order. In particular, they want Rosemond to stop identifying himself as a psychologist, because he is not a licensed psychologist in Kentucky. They also suggest that columns written in a question-and-answer format are a particular concern because they are akin to providing direct mental health services.
Rosemond, an author of 11 parenting books who has a master's degree in psychology from Western Illinois and is a licensed psychologist in his home state of North Carolina, sees the board's letter as an effort at censorship and is filing a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court seeking to bar the state from taking any action against him. His column is syndicated through McClatchy-Tribune News services and is estimated to run in more than 200 newspapers.
He is represented by the Arlington, Va.-based Institute for Justice, which has filed multiple lawsuits challenging what they see as overreach by government licensing boards.
John Rosemond
Aide Arrested in Hidden Camera Theft Probe
Bachmann
Javier Sanchez, the Michele Bachmann aide arrested last week in connection to a series of thefts at a congressional office building, was identified as the suspect in the theft investigation after the U.S. Capitol Police installed a hidden security camera and placed "bait" money in Bachmann's Rayburn House office.
He's denying the second degree theft charge against him in connection to the thefts. But it looks like the investigation has already cost Sanchez his job: NBC News reports that he was fired after his arrest. Second-degree theft, which means that the stolen goods were worth $1,000 or less, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Earlier reports, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes, indicated that Sanchez had been arrested in connection to a series of thefts at various offices in Rayburn House, which holds the offices of over 160 members of the House of Representatives. But the affidavit mentions only a series of thefts from the offices of Bachmann herself in February and March of this year.
U.S. Capitol Police responding to earlier theft reports installed a hidden camera in Bachmann's congressional office on April 4. They also left bait money in two envelopes, one containing $80, marked "petty cash," and another with $120 marked "Birthday Money." The money was discovered missing on June 25, and a subsequent check of the surveillance footage determined that the cash from at least one of the envelopes was taken two weeks earlier...Footage taken at about 6:30 p.m. on June 14, just after office hours, shows a man opening the desk drawer of Bachmann chief of staff Robert Boland. That's where the $80 "petty cash" envelope was stashed. According to the affidavit, the suspect "removed the envelope, counted the money, and took both the cash and the envelope."
Bachmann
Stepdaughter Suspects Handyman Stole
Pablo Picasso
More than 400 of Pablo Picasso's sketches and watercolors have gone missing, the victim is Catherine Hutin-Blay- daughter of Pablo Picasso's second wife-and the prime suspect is a handyman named Freddy Munchenbach. This, folks, is your highbrow art crime of the day.
Art heists of late have been sort of demure compared to the Hutin-Blay scheme. Take the casual spiriting away of a $500,000 Dalí on the Upper East Side last June or the $250,000 Rembrandt gone missing from a California hotel in 2011. Sure, each one nabbed a piece more expensive than some homes, but neither heist involved a relative of the artist. Nor did the thieves steal 400 pieces of art from the greatest painter of the 20th century.
Hutin-Blay, according to The Age, "inherited a vast collection of Picasso's work on the death of her mother in 1986 and still owns the Chateau de Vauvenargues near Aix-en- Provence in the south of France," where Picasso and his second wife, Hutin-Blay's mother, are buried. But her collection is down some 400 pieces because of thefts she believes occurred between 2005 and 2007, and reported in 2011 after she was alerted that a couple of Picasso originals had gone up for auction.
"In the beginning I suspected everyone, until I got to [the handyman]," Ms Hutin-Blay told Le Parisien, referring to, yes, the aforementioned Freddy Munchenbach. Munchenbach, according to the Huffington Post, worked for both Hutin-Blay and Sylvie Baltazart-Eon, the daughter of Picasso's art dealer, who also noticed some pieces stolen. "He worked for Sylvie when we were neighbours. I never gave (him) a spare key - I didn't trust him, but he worked as a gardener at the house and took advantage of this by getting a key cut for himself," Hutin-Blay added.
Pablo Picasso
Moving To TBS
'American Dad!'
The long-running Fox comedy "American Dad!" is headed to TBS.
But not right away. TBS says the animated series will be moving from its berth on Fox's Sunday night lineup late next year. The show will remain a Fox fixture for its upcoming 10th season.
The series will join TBS's prime-time lineup in late 2014. The network has ordered 15 new episodes. Sister network Adult Swim is set to present encores of each episode after its initial TBS airing.
"American Dad!" follows staunch conservative and CIA agent Stan Smith and the misadventures of his odd-ball family in Langley Falls, Va. The show's creators included "Family Guy" mastermind Seth MacFarlane.
'American Dad!'
Prime Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for July 8-14. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "Under the Dome," CBS, 10.709 million.
2. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 10.707 million.
3. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 9.81 million.
4. "NCIS," CBS, 8.71 million.
5. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 8.16 million.
6. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 6.88 million.
7. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 6.80 million.
8. "60 Million," CBS, 6.44 million.
9. "Big Brother" (Sunday), CBS, 6.27 million.
10. "America's Got Talent (Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT repeat), NBC, 6.24 million.
11. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 6.19 million.
12. "Big Brother" (Thursday), CBS, 6.18 million.
13. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.00 million.
14. "Dateline Friday," NBC, 5.94 million.
15. "MasterChef" (Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT), Fox, 5.46 million.
16. "MasterChef" (Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT), Fox, 5.44 million.
17. "Person of Interest," CBS, 5.41 million.
18. "Hell's Kitchen," Fox, 5.25 million.
19. "Rookie Blue," ABC, 5.24 million.
20. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 5.18 million.
Ratings
In Memory
James Lewis Carter "T-Model" Ford
James Lewis Carter "T-Model" Ford, a hard-living blues singer who taught himself to play guitar when he was 58 years old and his fifth wife left him, died Tuesday at his home in Greenville, Miss.
His age was uncertain. Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson said the family told her Ford was born in 1924 and had already had his birthday this year, which would have made him 89. But a blues expert and longtime friend, Roger Stolle, said Ford didn't remember what year he was born and claimed to be 93.
Johnson told The Associated Press that Ford had been under hospice care and died of respiratory failure shortly after 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday. She said he was at home with several relatives, including his wife, Estella Ford.
Stolle, who owns a Clarksdale, Miss., store called Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, accompanied Ford and other blues men when they toured Europe in 2009. He also traveled with Ford to gigs in New York.
"He was known as one of the last really authentic Mississippi blues men," Stolle told AP on Tuesday. "He has a story and could back it up."
When Ford was young, he served two years of a 10-year prison sentence for killing a man in self-defense, and he had scars on his ankles from serving on a prison chain gang, Stolle said.
Ford had six wives and 26 children, Stolle said. When Ford's fifth wife left him, she gave him a guitar as a parting gift.
"He stayed up all night drinking white whiskey," or moonshine, "and playing the guitar," Stolle said. "He kind of went on from there."
Ford started his blues career by playing at private parties and at juke joints in Greenville.
"He'd play late, then he'd spray himself with a bunch of mosquito spray and sleep in his van," Stolle said.
Stolle said Ford recorded seven albums with three labels, including three albums with Fat Possum Records in Oxford, Miss.
Clarksdale Mayor Bill Luckett, who co-owns the city's Ground Zero Blues Club with actor Morgan Freeman, said Ford was "a master of old-school blues" with an international following.
Ford would show up for gigs early and often play longer than expected, even when he started experiencing heart problems in recent years, Stolle said. Ford would also swig Jack Daniels on stage and chat with the audience. Often, he'd pick out a happy-looking couple that included an attractive woman and would talk directly to the man.
"He'd say, 'You'd better put your stamp on her because if she flags my train, I'm going to let her ride,'" Stolle said. "He'd do it with a gleam in his eye and a smile. He could get away with a lot."
James Lewis Carter "T-Model" Ford
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