By DJ Useo DJ Useo is under the weather
think of this as a summer rerun
I seriously believe that all regular fans of bootleg mashups, remixes, & long mixes are familiar with the exemplary work of multi-talented mixer, dj & bon vivant, Party Ben (www.partyben.com) .
He's not only a gifted musical artist, but also has a generous nature as is proven by the bounty of tracks available on his site. Now, he gives of himself again with some splendid insight into his world, & mind, with this interview. Let's begin -
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Q1: I'm certain that most of your followers, fans & friends would like to know how you came into the bootleg dj profession, & who, if any, influenced you to take up the practice. Can you fill us in?
"Profession" you say? Well, it was a long interview process here at Mashups, Bootlegs & Bastard Inc., but once I proved to the CEO that I had what it takes... er, no. Actually to be honest, I've always been screwing around with other people's songs. If you tracked down my high school friends they'd tell you about how awesome it was that I'd always inflict my glitchy tape edits of Pet Shop Boys songs on them. I spent endless hours making mixes on my little Sears stereo. Once I discovered they made things called "mixers" there was no stopping me, and I started DJing parties and on the radio in college. I started working at LIVE 105 radio in San Francisco in 1994, and eventually they got ahold of rudimentary multi-track software ("Session 8"), which I used to make some basic remixes and stuff. Bootlegs specifically were a logical next step, although it took producers like Freelance Hellraiser and Go Home Productions, to inspire me to try cross-genre stuff. "Stroke of Genie-us" was a mind-blowing moment for me, like it is for a lot of us.
Q2: I would be surprised to find a PARTY BEN fan who didn't know of your famous SIXX MIXX series for LIVE 105 / San Francisco. A fantastic body of work from the beginning & a startler of fine skill, the SIXX MIXXes remain popular through torrents & fan sharing, do you have any memories of the series you'd care to relate?
Well, it's funny, because I'm working right now on remastering the old mixes which I'll be re-releasing on my website, one by one. The show started out very electronic-based and only evolved into a showcase for my own and others' mashups after a couple weeks. Those first couple shows also really sucked, so I'm a bit embarrassed to re-release them. Of course, everybody knows the story about how "Boulevard of Broken Songs" was the finale of a Sixx Mixx in October 2004 and the reason I used Eminem's "Sing (For the Moment)" was because I couldn't find Aerosmith's "Dream On," and I was on the air in like an hour? Anyway, good times. It was great to have a show like that but it just killed me to produce it, I was putting in 70-80 hours a week doing general production for the radio station and then would stay there til like 4am on Thursdays finishing the Mixx, then of course DJing and stuff as well, plus trying to have sex once in a while... it was pretty brutal. When my boss, losing his mind under corporate pressure to "clean up" the station, cancelled all specialty shows including mine, I didn't have it in me to fight to keep it going, to be honest, I'd had a good run.
Q3: Anyone familiar with you knows of your success at LIVE 105 with the 'Untitled Show', the electronic music show 'Subsonic; & the 'Friday Night Game Show', what are you up to currently as far as programming?
Well, I'm programming what I play on my home hi-fi. I left the station in August of 2007 and while I miss some of my old radio pals, honestly a lot of my friends have left too, so I don't really miss the constant battle. Since then it's turned very corporate and terrible, and not to get all schadenfreude-y on you but ratings have collapsed as well. American radio is very troubled at the moment so it's actually very sad to see. I'm still doing production work for a couple other stations but honestly I'm not really interested in jumping back into that environment so I'm focusing on other freelance work and DJing and stuff. Also selling my body for science experiments.
Q4: You've DJ'ed live in many parts of the world including Germany, Poland & Mexico. Have you noticed any difference in the response to bootleg material depending on where you play it? I live in Michigan & when I play mashups people often just look perplexed. (Until the bar opens, lol)
Mostly it's just funny to see how people's reactions evolve. Back when we started Bootie, people would scream when they heard the vocal come in over a different track, now everybody's jaded, they're used to it. I think it's starting to get like that everywhere -- people just expect your DJ sets will be crazy cross-genre collages.
Q5: I remember a super track you made of Queens Of The Stone Age vs Nine Inch Nails. Is it true you crafted the track while on tour with them?
Actually, I was in the hot tub with Trent and Josh, and they were arguing over who was going to give me a back rub. The only way I could settle it was by letting them both explore the wonderland of my body at the same time. Later, watching the video I'd surreptitiously taped, I had an idea for a musical tribute to our 72 hours of meth-fueled passion. The rest is history.
Q6: The 'DEAN GRAY' bootleg collection you bestowed upon the world with Team 9 created quite a stir in many respects. Is there a chance you might work on a similar project with any other bootlegger? I would relish the opportunity to hear tracks you made with the likes of DJ Moule, Pheugoo, or McSleazy.
All DJ Moule wants to talk about is English words for bodily functions, McSleazy is busy tending to his elaborate facial hair, and I have no idea how to pronounce Pheugoo, so screw all those guys. Honestly, I'm surprised Team 9 was able to put up with me for the time it took to assemble the Edit. Thankfully the fact that we're basically at complete opposite sides of the world helped to provide a kind of "annoyance cushion." I could use some "hipster points" though, so I should probably try and hitch my train to another hot young producer.
Q7: Your expertise in music extends to the world of journalism with your history of reviewing for MOTHER JONES magazine's arts blog. Like, how's that going for you?
Like, totally awesome. Actually I don't know if anybody's reading it, they just have me on as a kind of easily-mockable columnist. I'm a real jabberjaws though so this gives me an outlet, at least.
Q8: As a resident DJ at 'Club Bootie', America's First All-Mashup Nightclub™ you've delighted clubgoers since 2003. Can you tell us a little about the bootie shows?
Who have you enjoyed working with at bootie,& who have you met while at club that you enjoyed? Or perhaps didn't enjoy.
Oh, you'd love for me to spill the Bootie gossip wouldn't you. I have so many stories I could tell. Mysterous D, she's really a MAN baby. Actually, you know, some guest DJs at Bootie stay at Party Ben's deluxe accommodations, i.e., my couch. I've seen things you could never imagine. Ahem! At the club itself, it's always interesting to see what different people bring to the floor -- the "all-mashup" thing is both a blessing and a curse, and it's kind of tough to do a set that balances the need to play clear, obvious a-plus-b's with some evidence of DJ talent and mixing and stuff. But I love seeing what people do, so that's always great, and I can steal their ideas after they leave. Honestly, everyone I've met in the mashup "scene" has been incredibly friendly, funny, and unpretentious, and I wonder if, like, the minimal techno scene is like this? Or do they just all sit around quietly looking fabulous? Something to be said for that too...
Q9: It's not so often that we see you posting at bootleg forums of late. I reckon you do fine without the moodiness that occurs at some forums, but can you tell us any stories of your time spent at them?
I'm the moodiest of them all, that's for sure. Actually I give all the respect in the world to GYBO, of course I couldn't have done the Sixx Mixx show without it, so I always felt like a) I needed to post the shows there as a "thank you" to all the producers who had contributed or inspired me, and b) the least I could do in return was post some of my own stuff for people. But to be honest, I don't really care what people think about my work, and so now I feel like if someone is interested in what I do they know where to find it.
Q10: Are there any bootleg collections you enjoy hearing? I'm enamored with mashup collections, & hope they continue to appear regularly & forever.
Yeah, boy, I dunno, collections get attention but I rarely have time to contribute or listen. When I had the idea for American Edit, that was my first thought, was to open it up and have different tracks from all different people, but then I realized that it would probably be far too scattered, and I had kind of envisioned it as a single "work." Working with Team9 meant I only had to hypnotize one person to agree with me instead of 20. So, with respect to all the collection-makers out there, I know that you can get a post on Boing Boing for doing 'em but they rarely grab me.
Q11: What do you see as the future of bootlegging? I hear a lot that it's dead, but I hear that phrase about every style of music & even polka music still continues. lol.
I love how mashups have died and come back to life, zombie-like, about 7 times since I've started doing it, and even then it had already been dead for years. I'm terrible at predictions though -- if I could predict the future, I'd be sitting on a billion dollars worth of Google stock right now, not talking to you about bootlegs.
Q12: What artists or tunes captivate your listening when you aren't playing mashups?
Oh my God. My appetite for music is totally ravenous, so I don't even know where to start. Album-wise, Portishead, Santogold, M83, Beach House, No Age, Lil Wayne, Cut Copy... Also I'm nuts for swampy stoned-sounding instrumental hip-hop so the Flying Lotus album is on heavy rotation. Anything with a laser-bass noise like Sinden, Herve, Fake Blood, Machines Don't Care; spazzy techno like Crookers, Boy 8-Bit, Jokers of the Scene. My Last.fm account shows that In Rainbows is still my #1 most listened to album this year though.
Q13: I've heard that you favor ADOBE AUDITION when mixing your tracks.Is that still the case, or have advancements changed that? It seems to me it's the mixer, not the program. I've even heard fantastic tracks created on freeware like AUDACITY.
Yeah, still mucking about in Audition. I'm so unbelievably lazy, I can never be bothered to learn new stuff, and I've been using Audition for like 7 years now, so I can work pretty fast with it. I always imagine other producers have these fantastic setups, since mine is pretty rudimentary, but then I see they're using crappy old PCs or whatever and that's kind of heartening.
Q14: Thanks much for taking the time to give of yourself in this interview. As we wind up this exchange, what can you share with us of upcoming PARTY BEN matters?
Well, since I've been freed from focusing on productions that will appeal to mainstream alt-radio listeners, I've defaulted to my love for quirky electro, and I'm currently working on a bunch of tracks that are basically my attempt to sound like Fake Blood, stuff I can play out at the discotheques. Who knows if anyone will like them. I keep thinking I should do another mashup album project but nothing has struck my fancy. Then, of course, there's the obvious fact that I've had my brief 15 minutes of fame and I should slink off the stage before things get too embarrassing, but I'm so lazy I can't be bothered to cancel my web hosting account. Lots of bootleggers like to make "I'm leaving the scene" announcements but that's not my style: I'll just slowly peter out until everybody's forgotten about me. I'm already 3/4 of the way there I think. In the movie version, I'd retire to an island off Costa Rica, when suddenly there would be a worldwide crisis that could only be solved by mashups. They'd send DJ Zebra out to find me, and I'd be all grizzled and leather-skinned and I'd grumble, "that man who used to make mashups is dead, he's dead I tell you," but then he'd arrange it so I'd have to save a little girl from a crocodile using only a mashup and then realize I owed it to the world to come back. That'd be cool.
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Useo again now. Thanks Party Ben for a intriguing, pleaser of an interview. If y'all want to thank him, drop by his site, sample the wares & leave a note of thanks. I know I will.
Mix Of The Week - If you check on the long mix section of Party Ben's site, you'll find his 'Party Ben's Neon Noise Guest Mix Part One'. It's 23 minutes of joy recorded during a broadcast at Indie 103.1 FM Los Angeles. Pure bastard pop fine enough to make you tear up, grab yours now!
Mashup Tip : If you add some olive oil to any hip hop track, it will graft onto rock music better.
Andrew Tobias: McCAIN DISCRIMINATES (andrewtobias.com)
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said on the Today Show last Friday that "John McCain has fought his entire life for equal rights for everyone." Well, maybe not quite everyone. He ... fights to prevent gays and lesbians from serving in the military ...
20 QUESTIONS: Clyde Edgerton (popmatters.com)
Novelist Clyde Edgerton talks with PopMatters 20 Questions about Ry Cooder's slide guitar, Errol Morris' Vernon, Florida, and the soothing effects of chicken watching.
Kelley L. Carter and Glenn Jeffers: Comedian Bernie Mac dies at 50 in Chicago hospital (Chicago Tribune)
The comic born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough could cut an imposing figure. He stood 6-foot-3, was built like a fullback and carried himself with a bouncer's reticence. But perhaps the strongest weapon in the Chicago comedian's arsenal was that voice, that amalgam of thought and a delivery that could rise like a tidal wave, outpace a Gatling gun and remained, to his last days, loud and unapologetic.
David Wild: "Isaac Hayes: I Thank You, Black Moses" (huffingtonpost.com)
I later bought Isaac Hayes' classic album Black Moses. This real sexy, funky, soul music forever blew my Caucasian mind, and led me to explore many of the greatest sounds ever made -- not only by Hayes, but contemporaries like Curtis Mayfield, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Barry White and countless other geniuses of soul during that era.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Good Deeds (athensnews.com)
Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis was generous with his money, giving much away to charities, including Detroit's Phyllis Wheatley's Home for Old Ladies. Mr. Louis once said, "They all call me 'son.' That gives me around 20 mothers."
What was the first American novel written on a typewriter?
A: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
B: House of the Seven Gables
C: Last of the Mohicans
D: Moby Dick
E: The Scarlet Letter
Source
mj was first, but wrong, with:
Another guess
D, the big Dick. Since Melville wrote about scrivners, he would be familiar with all mechanisms for reproducing such things.
Alan J replied:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Charlie ("Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
~ Mark Twain) responded:
A: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sally said:
(A) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (actually entitled, "Life on the Mississippi") was the first American novel written on a typewriter.
I just visited Hannibal, MO last May on my way back from Colorado. It's a pretty town - didn't see the typewriter though...
My photo of downtown Hannibal where everything is Twain...
View of the Mississippi River, outside of downtown Hannibal, is still free and a powerful sight.
Dan answered:
I do know that Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer on a typewriter. I don't know if it was the first, but I'll go with that answer.
MAM responded:
I thought I knew this one . . . A: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (written 1874)
When I went to verify it I found that Mark Twain, submitted 'Life on the Mississippi' first. It was the first book written on a typewriter. (But it is a memoir, not a novel)
John O answered:
A. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Twain was always interesting in the latest advances in printing
technology. He lost a lot of money backing a type setting technology
that didn't win out. Of the novels listed, Twain's is by far the most
readable.
Thanks to Charlie, Sally & Marianne for the pictures.
Coming Eventually - More 'Prizes' - 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' on DVD!
(Just not as soon as expected.)
One Christmas Santa Brougt my older sister a Ouija Board....
(Circa Late 60's.....)
Our Entire Family was got the Hong Kong/Swine Flu during the Holiday Season!
To this day, This was the Worst Flu I had ever had....THE WORST!
My Grandmother came over to take care of us, and discovered the Ouija
Board under the Christmas Tree.
Grandma Freaked out, and took the Ouija Board outside, put lighter fluid
on it, and burned it to a crisp!
That night Our Entire Family........Got better from the Flu!
CBS starts the night with a FRESH'Greatest American Dog', followed by a RERUN'Criminal Minds', then a RERUN'CSI: The 3rd One'.
On a RERUNDave (from 6/24/08) are Charlize Theron, Richard Belzer, and Motley Crue.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Julie Chen, Craig Robinson, and Ron Irizarry.
NBC fills the night with more pre-taped, sanitized, and jingoed-up 'Olympics'.
(How To Watch Beijing 2008 Olympics Online For Free)
Leno is pre-empted for Olympic coverage.
Conan is pre-empted for Olympic coverage.
Carson 'The Scab' Daly is pre-empted for Olympic coverage.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'Wife Swap', followed by a RERUN'Supernanny', then 'Primetime: Crime'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 7/29/08) are Gillian Anderson, Alex Cambert, and Bryan Adams.
The CW offers a RERUN'America's Next Top Model', followed by a RERUN'Supernatural'.
Faux has a RERUN'Bones', followed by a RERUN'Sarah Connor Chronicles'.
MY has an old 'Twilight Zone', followed by another old 'Twilight Zone', 'Whacked Out Videos', and another 'Whacked Out Videos'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'Dog The Racist Bounty Hunter', another 'Dog The Racist Bounty Hunter', still another 'Dog The Racist Bounty Hunter', followed by a FRESH'Dog The Racist Bounty Hunter', then a FRESH'Criss Angel Mindfreak', and another FRESH'Criss Angel Mindfreak'.
AMC offers the movie 'WarGames', followed by the movie 'Road House', then the movie 'Striking Distance'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 11
[12:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 1
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 Walnut Tree
[2:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 6
[3:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 28 Wetherby 55
[3:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 29 Newark 64
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 4
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 5
[5:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 2
[5:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 The Fenwick Arms
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Teen Transsexual
[9:00 PM] The The Fastest Man On No Legs
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America
[11:00 PM] Teen Transsexual
[12:00 AM] The The Fastest Man On No Legs
[1:00 AM] Teen Transsexual
[2:00 AM] The The Fastest Man On No Legs - Fastest Man On No Legs
[3:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 7 Dukes of Hazzard: Catherine Bach, Tom Wopat
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 28 Wetherby 55
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 29 Newark 64
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 10 Ollier
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 11 Inglis
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Project Runway', another 'Project Runway', followed by a FRESH'Project Runway', and a FRESH'Shear Genius'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and a FRESH'Lewis Black's Root Of All Evil'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Philip Pan.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Dick Meyer.
FX has the movie 'Changing Lanes', followed by the movie 'The Rundown', then the movie 'The Rundown', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'MonsterQuest', and 'Jurassic Fight Club'.
IFC -
[6:55 AM] Does Your Soul Have a Cold?
[8:25 AM] The Golden Bowl
[10:45 AM] Bright Young Things
[12:40 PM] Bun-Bun
[1:00 PM] Does Your Soul Have a Cold?
[2:30 PM] The Golden Bowl
[4:50 PM] IFC News Special
[5:00 PM] Bright Young Things
[6:50 PM] IFC in Theaters
[7:00 PM] Mansfield Park
[9:00 PM] Ulee's Gold
[11:00 PM] Coastlines
[1:45 AM] Cube
[3:20 AM] IFC News Special
[3:30 AM] The Last Metro
[5:50 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has 'Ghost Hunters', 'Ghost Hunters International', followed by a FRESH'Ghost Hunters International', then a FRESH'Scare Tactics', and another FRESH'Scare Tactics'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] 100 Films and a Funeral
[06:30 AM] The Keys to the House
[08:30 AM] The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
[09:00 AM] The Best of Youth (Part 2)
[10:45 AM] Celebration
[11:45 AM] Cookie's Fortune
[01:45 PM] Funny Ha Ha
[03:15 PM] Being Julia
[05:00 PM] La Vie Promise
[06:45 PM] U-CARMEN eKHAYELITSHA
[09:00 PM] Episode 11 - Middle East, Part 2
[09:30 PM] Episode 3
[10:00 PM] Friends With Money
[11:30 PM] Soar
[12:00 AM] Chapter 2. Secrets and lies
[01:00 AM] High Art
[02:45 AM] Bright Future
[04:20 AM] The Feeling, Gnarls Barkley & The Killers
[05:15 AM] Fahrenheit 451 (ALL TIMES EST)
Singer Bonnie Raitt performs during a concert in Portland, Maine, on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. Raitt was in town performing as part of a fund-raising event for U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, next November.
Photo by Pat Wellenbach
John Lennon's killer was denied parole for a fifth time Tuesday by a board that said he remains a threat to the public. Mark David Chapman will remain in New York's Attica Correctional Facility for at least two more years for gunning down the former Beatle nearly three decades ago on a Manhattan sidewalk.
Chapman, 53, has been in prison for 27 years since pleading guilty to the murder, which he has said he committed to gain attention. He became eligible for parole in 2000 after serving 20 years of a maximum life sentence.
The parole board said the although Chapman has had a clean disciplinary record since 1994, he told board members during the hearing that he planned and conducted Lennon's killing "with an essentially clear mind."
Considering that, the board said, his release "would not be in the best interest of the community."
Actress Jodie Foster poses during the premiere of "Tropic Thunder" at the Mann's Village theatre in Westwood, California, August 11, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on August 13.
Photo by Mario Anzuoni
The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director has revealed.
Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and did not sing a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster aired Tuesday.
But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the Olympic stadium during the spectacular ceremony was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.
"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in an interview that appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China.
Time Warner Inc's CNN plans to double its news-gathering presence in the United States, even as threats of an advertising recession have led to job cuts at other news organizations.
The pioneer global cable news network said on Tuesday it will double the number of regions from which its news-gathering staffs operate to 20. It will begin operations in Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Minneapolis; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Seattle.
CNN will hire a handful of new employees, while reassigning some current employees to new jobs. The goal is to have a mix of traditional network correspondents and what CNN calls "all-platform journalists" or APJs, who gather news using lightweight kits that include laptops, cameras and editing tools for Internet, as well as on-air programming in all 20 cities.
"Everyone's a reporter now," Nancy Lane, senior vice president of newsgathering for CNN/U.S., said in an interview. "Even our viewers."
Brian Epstein's copy of his management contract with The Beatles, a pact that proved to be worth millions, is being offered for sale in London next month.
The four-page document, signed Oct. 1, 1962, by John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey - Ringo Starr's real name - carries an estimated price of $480,000. The Fame Bureau auction house said Tuesday it had scheduled the sale for Sept. 4 at the Idea Generation Gallery.
The contract, also signed by Harold Hargreaves Harrison and James McCartney on behalf of their underage sons, gave Epstein a 25 percent cut of the band's earnings, provided they made more than $400 each per week.
The Fusilli Jerry statuette is displayed in the 60-foot long Seinfeld bus at the start of the Sony Pictures Television Campus Tour on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008, outside Turner Field in Atlanta in Atlanta. The bus features Seinfeld television show memorabilia and television clips.
Photo by Erik S. Lesser
Fabian Forte will be honored by the museum dedicated to actor Jimmy Stewart.
The 65-year-old singer-actor will receive the 2008 Harvey Award on Oct. 24 from the James M. Stewart Museum Foundation. The museum is in Stewart's hometown, Indiana, Pa., about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Fabian was a teen idol in the late 1950s and early '60s who appeared in more than 30 films, including two with Stewart, "Dear Brigitte" (1965) and "Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation" (1962).
An actor who appeared in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" has been arrested for investigation of attempted murder after his former girlfriend was stabbed more than 20 times, leaving her critically injured, authorities said Tuesday.
Shelley Malil, 43, remained in custody on $2 million bail after he was taken into custody late Monday as he left a train in Oceanside, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.
Malil, who lives in Sherman Oaks, a suburb of Los Angeles, was arrested for investigation of attempted murder, mayhem and burglary and booked into the county's Vista Detention Center, the statement said.
Malil played one of star Steve Carell's co-workers in "The 40-Year-Old-Virgin" and has appeared in dozens of TV shows including "NYPD Blue" and "Scrubs."
Participants in the annual Blobfest festival run screaming from the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville, Pa., July 11, 2008. The exodus is a re-enactment of a pivotal scene from the 1958 horror-sci-fi film 'The Blob,' filmed in and around Phoenixville.
Photo by Ted Anthony
Paris Hilton didn't do enough pledging for a 2006 sorority comedy, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Worldwide Entertainment Group Inc. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleging the 27-year-old model-actress-heiress owes $75,000 in damages for not fulfilling promotional obligations.
Hilton entered into an agreement in 2004 for the production and distribution of the movie "National Lampoon's Pledge This!," according to the lawsuit. Hilton starred in the film and received credit as an executive producer.
The Miami-based concern said it paid Hilton and her company, Paris Hilton Entertainment Inc., $1 million for "Hilton's acting services" and for "reasonable promotion and publicity" for the movie, which was released in 2006 and featured Hilton as the president of an exclusive sorority.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge settled a dispute between David Hasselhoff and ex-wife Pamela Bach, putting their house on the market for $5.95 million.
Hasselhoff wanted it listed at less than $5 million; Bach thought it was worth nearly $8 million. The 10,000 square-foot spread, including two guest houses, sits on an acre and a half in Encino.
Judge Robert A. Schnider issued his ruling last week, but it was publicly released on Tuesday. Hasselhoff and Bach divorced in 2006 after 16 years of marriage.
Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
The GAO study did not investigate why corporations weren't paying federal income taxes or corporate taxes and it did not identify any corporations by name. It said companies may escape paying such taxes due to operating losses or because of tax credits.
More than 38,000 foreign corporations had no tax liability in 2005 and 1.2 million U.S. companies paid no income tax, the GAO said. Combined, the companies had $2.5 trillion in sales. About 25 percent of the U.S. corporations not paying corporate taxes were considered large corporations, meaning they had at least $250 million in assets or $50 million in receipts.
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Aug. 4-10. 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. (X) "Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony," NBC, 32.63 million viewers.
2. (X) "Summer Olympics Sunday Primetime," NBC, 30.80 million viewers.
3. (X) "Summer Olympics Saturday Primetime," NBC, 23.04 million viewers.
4. (13) "America's Got Talent," NBC, 12.11 million viewers.
5. (17) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 9.70 million viewers.
6. (20) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 8.86 million viewers.
7. (54) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Thursday), Fox, 8.46 million viewers.
8. (13) "NCIS," CBS, 8.45 million viewers.
9. (47) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 7.91 million viewers.
10. (17) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 7.76 million viewers.
11. (47) "The New Adventures of Old Christine," CBS, 7.43 million viewers.
12. (X) "America's Got Talent" (Thursday), NBC, 7.26 million viewers.
13. (29) "CSI: NY," CBS, 6.96 million viewers.
14. (47) "Wipeout," ABC, 6.84 million viewers.
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Don Helms, a renowned steel guitarist who played in Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys band and on country classics by Patsy Cline and Lefty Frizzell, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 81.
Helms, of New Brockton, Ala., was an original member of Williams' Drifting Cowboys and provided the signature steel guitar parts on tunes like "Cold, Cold Heart" and "Your Cheatin' Heart."
After Williams' death in 1953, Helms played on Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight," Frizzell's "Long Black Veil" and many other songs.
"The sound of Helms' precise yet bluesy steel guitar (on Williams' recordings) helped usher in a honky-tonk sound that would define country music for years to come," the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said in announcing a program honoring Helms in 2006.
Helms had played with Williams in local Alabama venues in the early 1940s, the museum's profile said. His career was interrupted by Army service, and he eventually rejoined Williams' Drifting Cowboys in 1949, when Williams had become a star on the Grand Ole Opry.
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