M Is FOR MASHUP - August 30th, 2017
Assal & Chocomang Bring on The Funk
By DJ Useo
In the flood of mashup music, there's always tons of great styles represented. Pop, rock, house, the list goes on. One of the musical genres that I hear many requests for is Funk. Sure, tracks appear that use funk, but it's not near as often as the use of dance & pop. Now, there's a team-up album of funk mashups from 2 of the world's greatest home producers.
Chocomang from France, & Assal also from France have released the excellent "The Fabulous Chocomang et Assal Mashent du Funk"
( chocomang.org/Albums/AssalChocomangMashentDuFunk/ ).
There's 12 super appealing tracks that combine artists like Ness Diggydown vs Ed Sheeran, Tensnake vs Diana Ross vs Bruno Mars, & Kool & The Gang vs Michael Jackson vs Nightcrawlers, among many others.
The production employed on this collection is among the best one could expect. The results bear the truth of both mixers advanced skills. I wholeheartedly endorse this release, & urge you to check it out. It's a wonderful no-charge release. There's also a one-track mix of the full album that you can stream. It's located at the
bottlom of the page here
( chocomang.org/Albums/AssalChocomangMashentDuFunk/ )
I may sound a bit gushy in my praise, but believe me, it's warranted. More new mashup albums next week.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Crosby: What If We Lose Live Performance? (Huffington Post)
What happens when artists and venues no longer can get insurance?
Hadley Freeman: Should you spend £3,500 on a baby jacket? Not if you want a healthy child (The Guardian)
While there are kid-sized clothes that cost more than most adult monthly salaries, that doesn't mean you should buy them.
Who is the unnerving 'Trivago girl' following commuters home? (The Guardian)
The woman from the hotel-booking website's current adverts is spooking Londoners with her omnipresent poster campaign.
Michele Hanson: 'Waiting is bad enough, but not knowing how long for is worse' (The Guardian)
A little information goes a long way when you've been told your flight's delayed or the queue seems endless at A&E.
David Cox: Young at heart: why children who exercise become healthier adults (The Guardian)
Such are the wide-ranging benefits of exercise in childhood that scientists are desperately trying to reinforce the message of its importance. "Physical activity in humans in general is rapidly declining and looks set to get worse," says Hillman. "Every chance we have to promote it is good for our health, the economy, the planet, everything really."
Steve Rose: Innocence lost: Stephen King's It and the real-life horror of kids in Hollywood (The Guardian)
Child peril isn't just a theme of the biggest scary films, it's an off-screen reality.
Graeme Virtue: Captain America, X-Men, Iron Man, the Avengers … Jack Kirby, king of comics (The Guardian)
The cigar-chomping artist helped create some of Marvel's biggest superheroes - but remained in the shadows. A look at his legacy, on his 100th birthday.
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 over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Circumcision
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
THIS IS A TERRIBLE TIME TO BE A FREE SPEECH ADVOCATE.
"HOW SOON WILL HE DISAPPEAR?"
DUMBER THAN A BOX OF ROCKS.
THE STUPIDITY OF CONSERVATIVES!
THESE PEOPLE NEED TO FIND A JOB.
BUILD A BRIDGE AND CROSS IT.
ANYONE THAT DENIES CLIMATE CHANGE IS A FOOL AND A CHARLATAN!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Unpleasantly hot and humid.
Judge Blocks New Movie
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd won a permanent injunction blocking the production and distribution of a movie depicting the 1977 plane crash that killed the rock band's lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant.
In a decision made public on Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan said "Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash," based on recollections of former drummer Artimus Pyle, violated a 1988 consent order governing the use of the Lynyrd Skynyrd name.
The lawsuit had been brought against Pyle and co-defendant Cleopatra Records Inc by lead guitarist Gary Rossington, lead singer and Van Zant's brother, Johnny Van Zant, and heirs of Ronnie Van Zant and the late guitarists Steve Gaines and Allen Collins.
Sweet issued his 64-page decision after a non-jury trial on July 11-12.
According to the lawsuit, surviving band members agreed that Pyle, who left the band in 1991, could tell his own life story, but that the movie would cause irreparable harm by destroying their right to use the Lynyrd Skynyrd name and history.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Spreading Fake News About Hurricane Harvey
Fox "News"
The internet has a beautiful knack for finding notes of levity in even the darkest of situations. If it can trick a fool or two into believing the unbelievable, bringing humor to moments of crisis, that's even better.
A viral hoax of a Photoshopped shark swimming in a flooded Houston highway hit by the devastating Hurricane Harvey made waves Monday afternoon, when countless Twitter users and folks scrolling through their Instagram feeds were shocked by the force of Mother Nature. By Monday night, the internet had dispelled the myth that a live shark was floating among driving cars escaping the storm, even discovering that the hoax was the same one used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But that development went unnoticed by the good people at Fox News.
Jesse Watters, co-host of The Five and a regular Fox News personality, was convinced there were "some really weird biblical things" happening after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Texas Friday night, before tapering off to a tropical storm and leaving floods and destruction in its path. That included the fake swimming shark, among other unconfirmed reports spreading across the web.
"I've seen some amazing things out there, just watching television," Watters said. "Alligators on people's backdoor steps. I saw a shark on a highway swimming in the water."
"Like Sharknado!" co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle exclaimed, referring to the apocalyptic comedy-horror film in which sharks swim through flooded city streets. "Like Sharknado," Watters echoed.
Fox "News"
Pulls Fox "News" From UK
Rupert
Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) has pulled his Fox News channel from the Sky platform in Britain, where the government is assessing a bid by the media mogul to buy the broader Sky pay-TV company for $15 billion.
In a statement, Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox said it had decided it was no longer in its commercial interest to provide Fox News in Britain, where only a few thousand viewers watch it.
Critics of Murdoch and his company regularly cite the right-leaning Fox News channel as a reason why Murdoch should not be allowed to buy the 61 percent of Sky it does not already own.
"Fox News is focused on the U.S. market and designed for a U.S. audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the UK", the company said.
"We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the UK."
Rupert
"Princess Royal"
Ivanka
White House aides reportedly refer to Ivanka Trump as "princess royal" behind her back, and it's definitely not meant to be a compliment.
The president's daughter apparently gained the nickname after the G-20 summit, during which at one point she sat in for her father, Vanity Fair reports.
At the time, former first daughter Chelsea Clinton tweeted, "Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not."
According to Vanity Fair, one former Trump adviser responded by stating, "Excuse me. This is not a royal family, and she's not the princess royal," which helps explain the nickname.
According to Vanity Fair, Washington insiders have had just about enough of Trump and Kushner. As one unnamed political veteran told the magazine, "What is off-putting about them is they do not grasp their essential irrelevance. They think they are special."
Ivanka
Lets Transgender Troops Remain In Service
Jim Mattis
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that transgender troops would continue to serve in the military while he studies an order by Donald Trump (R-Draft Dodger) banning them from US forces.
Trump surprised Pentagon leaders in July by announcing via Twitter the ban on transgender people serving "in any capacity", reversing a plan launched by his predecessor Barack Obama that would see the military accept openly transgender recruits.
Trump said at the time that the integration of transgender troops would result in "tremendous medical costs and disruption," and issued a formal memorandum last Friday on the issue, saying the ban should be in effect from March 23, 2018.
But the memorandum gave Mattis discretion on how to handle transgender people already serving in the military.
In what appeared to be a barb against the slow movement in the White House to approve all the senior staff he needs, Mattis said "the soon arriving senior civilian leadership of the DOD will play an important role in this effort."
Jim Mattis
Judge Rejects Lawsuit Against The New York Times
Mrs. Palin
A federal judge on Tuesday tossed out a defamation lawsuit by Sarah Palin against The New York Times, saying the former Alaska governor failed to show the newspaper knew it was publishing false statements in an editorial before quickly correcting them.
The written ruling by Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said the lawsuit seeking unspecified damages "fails on its face to adequately allege actual malice."
The decision came weeks after the onetime Republican vice presidential nominee sued over an editorial titled "America's Lethal Politics." It was published in June after a gunman opened fire on Republican lawmakers in Virginia, wounding U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.
The Times' editorial was corrected twice when readers complained that it appeared to blame a political action committee belonging to Palin, a former Republican vice presidential candidate, for "political incitement" after it distributed a map depicting Democratic lawmakers beneath crosshairs before the 2011 shooting of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in Arizona. The newspaper issued corrections the next morning to remove those references and note the map showed electoral districts, not people, in crosshairs.
"What we have here is an editorial, written and rewritten rapidly in order to voice an opinion on an immediate event of importance, in which are included a few factual inaccuracies somewhat pertaining to Mrs. Palin that are very rapidly corrected. Negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure it plainly is not," Rakoff said.
Mrs. Palin
New Insurance Law
Texass
The embattled populations of southeastern Texas, may soon encounter a new obstacle in their quests to rebuild their lives after Harvey when a new state insurance law that makes it harder for consumers to receive full claims goes into effect Friday.
The new law decreases the chances that an insurance company will be forced to pay claim delay penalties and plaintiff attorneys' fees related to weather-involved claims - a protection that may discourage struggling households from pursuing legal action even if they think the insurance companies are offering less of a payout than they should. Under the new regulations, insurance companies will enjoy greater freedoms to push back on insurance claims, and the first wave of such claimants are likely to be coming from areas impacted by Harvey.
Residents reeling from Harvey now have until just Friday to assess the damages to their homes that may still be under water, and to notify their insurance company of nay damages if they want to avoid navigating that new law. After Friday, new legal restrictions will be in place that make things more difficult for consumers, and interest rates imposed on insurance companies to deter late payments will be cut nearly in half.
"Without this law, and as the law currently is until Friday, I think insurance companies would be more responsive to claims," Kir Pittard, a Dallas attorney, wrote on Facebook of the new law. "After Friday, there won't be the incentive because the penalty for delays have been reduced."
"Insurance companies already had a lot of power, and the bill gives them a lot more power. As we know, too often insurance companies wrongfully withhold payments, they delay payments, they deny claims," Ware Wendell, the executive director of consumer watchdog group Texas Watch, told The Independent. "So, we're very concerned that people are going to have blue tarps on their homes instead of roofs."
Texass
Keeps Plugging His Own Merchandise During Hurricane Harvey
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Crooked) and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Texas Tuesday in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which ripped through the Texas coast and triggered one of the worst floods in U.S. history, causing catastrophic damage to the greater Houston area and claiming at least 10 lives so far.
A visit to a disaster area is not the most appropriate time for product promotion, but here we are.
Trump arrived in Corpus Christi wearing the white "45/USA" hat that's available for $40 on his own website, shop.donaldjtrump.com. This marks the third time in four days that the president has worn on-sale campaign merchandise during events related to Harvey, including two previous meetings for which the White House released photographs.
Melania Trump received some blowback for the "Top Gun"-esque outfit she wore to board their flight to Texas ? namely, for a pair of sky-high black stilettos that prompted many Twitter users to deem her "out of touch," as they assumed she planned to wear the shoes on the ground. But her spokeswoman said the first lady would change before arrival, and she touched down in Texas wearing flat sneakers and a complete change of clothing, including a black "FLOTUS" baseball hat.
A glance at Trump's website shows his wife's FLOTUS hat is not currently for sale there. Her director of communications, Stephanie Grisham, did not respond by time of publication to an inquiry about the hat and whether it will be sold, too.
T-rump
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Aug. 21-27. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "America's Got Talent" (Tuesday), NBC, 12.59 million.
2. "Game of Thrones," HBO, 12.07 million.
3. "America's Got Talent" (Wednesday), NBC, 10.84 million.
4. NFL Exhibition Football: San Francisco at Minnesota, NBC, 7.32 million.
5. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.16 million.
6. "Big Brother" (Sunday), CBS, 6.28 million.
7. "NFL Pre-Game Show," NBC, 6.25 million.
8. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 6.14 million.
9. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 6.11 million.
10. "Big Brother" (Thursday), CBS, 6.03 million.
11. "Celebrity Family Feud," ABC, 6 million.
12. "NCIS," CBS, 5.54 million.
13. "American Ninja Warrior," NBC, 5.46 million.
14. NFL Exhibition Football: Kansas City at Seattle, CBS, 5.22 million.
15. "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update," NBC, 5.15 million.
16. "Presidential Address on Afghanistan," Fox News, 5.12 million.
17. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 5 million.
18. "NFL Post-Game Show," Fox, 4.98 million.
19. "America's Funniest Home Videos, ABC, 4.9 million.
20. "Hollywood Game Night," NBC, 4.83 million.
Ratings
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