M Is FOR MASHUP - July 21st, 2021 Alternate Earth 23.1
50s Rock n’ Roll Music Gets Mashed
By DJ Useo
IWillBattle has a superb new album out of great oldies he’s blended with new tunes. It’s available under the title “IWillBattle - Mashed Up at the Sock Hop Vol. 1”
( iwillbattlemashups.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/mashed-up-at-the-sock-hop-vol-1/ )
You can enjoy the audio version from zip file, or view
the visual version from You of Tube
( youtu.be/zyH8GvsaL2o ) .
I’d write more about it, but IWillBattle has a swell write-up already, & it’s at the same link
( iwillbattlemashups.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/mashed-up-at-the-sock-hop-vol-1/ )
The tunes all shine, plus you get the bonus effect of people’s odd looks as they try to sort out what they’re hearing.
Giant T-Storms occurring here in Austin right now, so I’m sending this article before the power goes out again.
PS. Beatles bootlegger MP3J has released a fantastic 4-disc box of his latest creations. This long-running series is always fantastic. - “WTF 80”
( www.tapatalk.com/groups/beatlesremixers/wtf-80-t2989.html )
Peace all - DJ Konrad Useo
from Bruce
Anecdotes
Fans
• At the 1972 Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, Janet Lynn fell on her flying sit-spin — a spin she had practiced and performed thousands of times without mishap. But she got up smiling and won both the bronze medal and the hearts of thousands of Japanese fans watching her. After the Olympics, Janet received many letters written in Japanese, which a Japanese friend translated for her.
• At the 1978 World Championships, gymnast Kurt Thomas won a gold medal in floor exercise — thus winning the United States its first gold medal ever at this level and becoming an instant celebrity. Immediately, he began receiving lots of fan letters from 12- and 13-year-old girls who had developed crushes on him. Each of these letters was answered — by Kurt’s wife, Beth.
• After a baseball game at which he had officiated, minor league umpire Harry “Steamboat” Johnson was accosted by a woman who hit him several times with her umbrella. He warded off the blows as best he could, then told the woman, “Lady, I don’t know who you are, but if you can get someone to introduce us, you can go on hitting me.” She laughed and quit hitting him.
• For many years, Soviet athlete Albert Azaryan was the Lord of the Rings in men’s gymnastics. At a national championship tournament, a woman arrived late at the gym and asked, “When is Azaryan performing on the rings?” When she learned that he had already performed his routine, she started crying and explained, “But I only came here because of him.”
• Gymnast Vera Cáslavská of Czechoslovakia won seven gold medals at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics Games. During an interview, a reporter asked her about her hobbies. She said that she collected postcards, and within three days after the interview appeared, fans had sent her 3,500 more postcards to add to her collection.
• After winning gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, women’s gymnastics teammate Amy Chow became a major celebrity. While attending her first year at Stanford University, she was forced to take her name down from her room in the dormitory because so many students were stopping by to congratulate her on her gold medal.
• At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut won several medals and became beloved by the world. As an instant celebrity, she found it difficult to shop for souvenirs for her family in Munich stores. Once, she even tried shopping in a wig and a borrowed maxi dress — but she was still recognized.
• Tallulah Bankhead was born in Alabama. A baseball fan as well as an actress, she worked frequently on Broadway and supported the New York Giants, once telling New York Yankee Lou Gehrig, “I wish I could be a fan of your side. But I just couldn’t root for a team named Yankees.”
• Charles W. Eliot of Harvard was on his way to attend the Yale-Harvard football game in the company of Edward Everett Hale, when an acquaintance asked where he was going. Dr. Eliot replied, “To yell with Hale.”
Fathers
• Lisa Fernandez won an Olympic gold medal as a softball player. Her father supported her from the very beginning, although in Hispanic culture, women’s and girls’ sports are not emphasized. He took a lot of kidding from his friends because of his athletic daughter, but when her first poster and her first signed Louisville Slugger bat came on the market, he showed them to his friends and said, “This is what my daughter does!” And when she won her Olympic gold medal, he wore it around his neck for several days just so other people would know what his daughter had accomplished.
• Sonja Henie dominated early women’s figure skating, winning 10 consecutive world championships and three Olympic gold medals. Her father was a big supporter — he once grabbed a broom and chased an unappreciative skating judge down a street.
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes — Buy
The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes — Buy the Paperback
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The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes — Kobo
The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes — Smashwords: Many Formats, Including PFD
Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. was first, and correct, with:
responded:
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "In Shadow"
Album: SEVEN WEIGHS MORE
Artist: Lazer Gun Saloon
Artist Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Info:
“Lazer Gun Saloon, and Atom/X were created to launch my work into the world and share my passion of music. Making my first mainstream release in 2020, I tried to capture the tone of a space western and incorporate the aspects I admire most about music to create my sound. I write, arrange, and perform all the music, unless otherwise noted with collaborations.”
Price: Name Your Price (Includes FREE)
Genre: Instrumental Space Western. Surf Rock.
Links:
SEVEN WEIGHS MORE
Lazer Gun Saloon on Bandcamp
Lazer Gun Saloon on YouTube
Lazer Gun Saloon Official Website
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Stephen Suggests
History Class
Nah, no need to teach that in history class.
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
This coming Monday the epage will have been around for 20 years.
Returns
Farm Aid
Farm Aid is returning to Hartford, Connecticut’s Xfinity Theatre on September 25th with a lineup that includes board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and Margo Price alongside Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Bettye LaVette, Jamey Johnson, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Allison Russell, Particle Kid, and Ian Mellencamp. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10:00 am EDT.
The first Farm Aid was held at Champaign, Illinois’ Memorial Stadium on September 22nd, 1985. It’s been held every single year since 1992, although they were forced to hold a streaming event in 2020 due to the pandemic. The event has raised over $60 million for America’s farmers.
The 2018 Farm Aid was also held at Hartford’s Xfinity Theatre. “Live performances by artists who are passionate about agriculture and good food are the deep roots that sustain Farm Aid’s year-round work for family farmers,” Farm Aid Executive Director Carolyn Mugar said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that Hartford is welcoming Farm Aid back again after our successful 2018 event. We’re grateful to the management and staff at Xfinity Theatre for working hand-in-hand with us to ensure the safety of our artists, crew, volunteers, farmers, and fans.”
The event will mark Neil Young’s first public performance since the 2019 Farm Aid at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley Music Theatre. He spoke in early 2020 about a possible run of North American arenas with Crazy Horse, but he recently told fans he has no immediate plans to book that. “Not until the audience is safe,” he wrote. “Those venues are not ready.”
Farm Aid
Stolen Costume Returned
'Big Bird'
A group of thieves who stole a $160,000 costume of Sesame Street's Big Bird returned it a few days later with a note in his beak apologizing for being "such a big birden."
Dubbing themselves the "Big Bird Bandits," the thieves stole the giant yellow avian costume in mid-April from the Sesame Street Circus Spectacular in Adelaide, Australia.
"We had no idea what we were doing, or what our actions would cause," the note said. "We were just having a rough time and were trying to cheer ourselfs [sic] up. We had a great time with Mr. Bird, he's a great guy and no harm came to our friend."
"Sorry to be such a big birden!" the note concluded.
Police arrested two suspects in connection to the incident - Tasman Binder, 22, and Cody Milne, 26 - who were charged with theft and unlawfully being on-premises, in late June. Last week, a third and previously unknown suspect, who remained unnamed in a press release, was arrested after she was captured on CCTV footage during the theft. All three suspects are scheduled to appear in court later in the year.
'Big Bird'
Recanting Disinformation
Rupert
Several Fox News hosts include Sean Hannity (R-Rupert's Sock Puppet) recanted their disinformation campaigns on COVID-19 vaccines on Monday as the network faces criticism for misinformation on the virus, safety measures, and vaccinations.
Hannity on Monday urged viewers to get vaccinated. He encouraged them to take the pandemic "seriously" and said he believed in the "science of vaccines."
"Just like we've been saying, please take COVID seriously," Hannity said on Monday. "I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death."
"Take it seriously. You also have a right to medical privacy, and doctor-patient confidentiality is also important," he stated. "And it absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated. I believe in science, I believe in the science of vaccination."
Hannity has previously called the virus a hoax, and also repeatedly denied calling the virus a hoax, The Washington Post reported.
Rupert
Income Has Fallen Sharply
Caitlyn
Caitlyn Jenner (R-Bad Driver)’s earnings have fallen precipitously in the last several years from a high of $2.5 million in 2016 when she had her own reality TV show to $550,000, tax filings show.
Jenner is among those running in California’s upcoming recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom. All candidates were required to release their tax returns for the past five years by last Friday, though Jenner and many of the other hopefuls only submitted four years because they haven’t yet filed their 2020 returns.
Newsom signed a law in 2019 requiring candidates for president and governor to release their tax returns to be on the California ballot. It was passed in an effort to force former President Donald Trump to release his tax returns during the 2020 election. A court struck down the presidential requirement but left it in place for gubernatorial candidates. This is the first election in which it’s applied.
Jenner was the 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medalist who married Kris Jenner and appeared with her on the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Jenner came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
Jenner’s income was about $550,000 in both 2018 and 2019. Much of it came through an entity called Team Tours Inc. and her business, Cait’s World. Her campaign did not respond to request for comment about what type of work Jenner did for either business.
Caitlyn
Bomb Squad Caused Explosion
Los Angeles
Los Angeles bomb technicians grossly miscalculated the weight of homemade fireworks last month when they detonated them in a containment chamber, likely causing a catastrophic explosion that injured 17 people and rocked a neighborhood, the police chief said Monday.
Chief Michel Moore said five members of the department’s bomb squad have been removed from field duties as the investigation continues. They could face discipline.
The explosion — which damaged dozens of homes, businesses and vehicles just days before July Fourth — was highly unusual, officials say, because such containment chambers are designed to withhold blasts. The bomb technicians overloaded it above the safety rating, however, even as authorities are investigating if the detonation device had a defect.
The incident has prompted the Los Angeles Police Department and FBI to review police protocols regarding the detonation of explosives. The Police Department is now requiring a captain to sign off on detonations, in addition to the two bomb technicians and a supervisor who are already required.
The explosion came after police had spent the day disposing of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of commercial-grade fireworks that were found in a South Los Angeles home following an early-morning tip. Those fireworks were detonated at an off-site location.
Los Angeles
LAPD Fireworks Accident -- Displaced Families | GoFundMe
Another Day, Another Bully
Idaho
An Idaho lawmaker who publicized the name of a 19-year-old intern who accused another state lawmaker of rape will face a legislative ethics hearing over her actions next month.
The House Ethics and Policy Committee found probable cause that Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R - Pro-Rape), a Republican from the tiny town of White Bird, engaged in “conduct unbecoming a representative, which is detrimental to the integrity of the House as a legislative body,” the committee announced Tuesday.
The finding came after two formal complaints — including one signed by a bipartisan group of roughly two dozen lawmakers — were filed, alleging Giddings threatened the intern's privacy and safety by sharing her identity and that the lawmaker tried to mislead the ethics committee when asked about it under oath.
Giddings faced criticism and complaints this year after sharing links to a far-right blog post that included the intern's name, photo and details about her life with thousands of people in a newsletter and on social media.
Giddings did not immediately respond to a phone message and email from The Associated Press requesting comment. On Facebook, she claimed a political rival was pushing for the ethics hearing as a form of “dirty politics.”
Idaho
Urbanization
Xerces Blue Butterfly
Scientists say they’ve confirmed a decades-old suspicion about the loss of the Xerces blue butterfly in the U.S by the 1940s. Based on genetic analysis of a 93-year-old specimen and others, they say the Xerces blue really was a distinct species of butterfly, rather than a sub-group of another existing species, as some scientists have speculated. If true, it would reaffirm the end of the butterfly as the first known insect extinction in the U.S. tied to urbanization.
The Xerces blue, or Glaucopsyche xerces, was native to the San Francisco Peninsula in California. The name actually only referenced male butterflies, since the front of their iridescent wings had a striking blue to violet coloring and black trim. Females had plainer brown wings. The last confirmed sighting of the Xerces blue took place in the early 1940s. And though there are related species of the butterfly still around today, it’s widely thought that its evolutionary journey ended soon after that, thanks in no small part to its growing loss of habitat caused by our development of new buildings and structures in the area.
The sad tale of the Xerces blue has motivated environmentalists ever since. In 1971, the Xerces Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to the conservation of insects and other invertebrates, was established, having adopted the butterfly as its mascot. More recently, some people have wondered if the Xerces blue would be an ideal candidate for de-extinction, the idea of bringing a species back to life. This could happen either through genetic engineering techniques (like Jurassic Park) or via the introduction of a closely related species to its once native habitat—in essence, trying to recreate the conditions that gave rise to the lost butterfly in the first place.
But some researchers have also wondered, given its close resemblance to other butterflies, if perhaps the Xerces blue should be more accurately considered a subspecies of another group still widely found today in the western half of North America: the silvery blue butterfly, or Glaucopsyche lygdamus. To help settle this debate, scientists at various research institutions did a deep dive into the DNA of the Xerces blue and other butterflies. Though much of the DNA collected from their key specimen, taken from the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, had degraded, the team’s use of next-generation sequencing let them recover enough information to make valid comparisons about its lineage, they say.
Xerces Blue Butterfly
Facebook Snafu For Gardening Group
The Word "Hoe"
Moderating a Facebook gardening group in western New York is not without challenges. There are complaints of wooly bugs, inclement weather and the novice members who insist on using dish detergent on their plants. And then there’s the word “hoe.”
Facebook’s algorithms sometimes flag this particular word as “violating community standards,” apparently referring to a different word, one without an “e” at the end that is nonetheless often misspelled as the garden tool.
Normally, Facebook’s automated systems will flag posts with offending material and delete them. But if a group’s members — or worse, administrators — violate the rules too many times, the entire group can get shut down.
Facebook uses both human moderators and artificial intelligence to root out material that goes against its rules. In this case, a human likely would have known that a hoe in a gardening group is likely not an instance of harassment or bullying. But AI is not always good at context and the nuances of language.
It also misses a lot — users often complain that they report violent or abusive language and Facebook rules that it’s not in violation of its community standards. Misinformation on vaccines and elections has been a long-running and well-documented problem for the social media company. On the flip side are groups like Licata’s that get caught up in overly zealous algorithms.
The Word "Hoe"
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