M Is FOR MASHUP - November 11th, 2008
World's Funniest Mashups 2009
By DJ Useo
Some may think I'm a pushy nut who likes asking people to do things they don't normally do, but I prefer to think I offer opportunities that invite creativity & new motivation. I'm referring to how I had the nerve to write some of the best bootleggers in the world & ask them to depart from their rock/pop/hip hop/techno genius & take a stab at doing a funny bootleg. If you remember last year still, you might recall I did the same thing then, resulting in an entire funny mashup album called IT IS TO LAFF. Despite the total madness of some of the cuts on it, people really loved it. It accrued over 30,000 downloads before I lost track of the numbers. Give me some slack. There was one main link & 3 mirrors after all. There were probably a lot more downloads, but honestly numbers are not my thing.
I never intended to repeat the format,but eventually I realized I couldn't live without another,so I took keyboard in hand & contacted a large flock of mixers.See,I reckoned that many wouldn't be interested in such a large departure from their beloved regular tracks.It can be tough enough just coming up with those.I mean,for instance,who knew the Black Eyed Peas & The Kings Of Leon would go together so well? Now I come along & ask them to pair up the best pop tunes with nutty novelty nuisances.I got some really amusing rejections,but you can't make an album of those.I really got gutsy & asked the world-famous & fabulously-talented Frenchbloke for instance.He simply answered with a terse 'I don't think so'.hehe.
So - knowing there would be a large attrition rate as some would not be interested outright, & many might not manage so well doing funny tracks when they're not used to that, I invited 50 bootleggers. Right away I started getting incredibly hilarious tracks. It looked for a while like I might even manage an undreamt-of 2 discs! Well, reality set in soon after that. Plenty of great funny boots came in though from people you'd never expect tracks like that from. Quickly it became apparent that despite their interest, making a funny track required more than some were ready for in the amount of time I was giving. There was also the almost insurmountable obstacle of locating funny instrumentals & pellas.
Time wore on as is its way & soon The album took shape. Now IT IS 2 LAFF ( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2009/11/it-is-2-laff-funny-mashup-collection.html ) has been posted, & the response is the best I've had since SUMMER BOOTY 2009. There came the comparisons to the first LAFF album last year, which I think is healthy. I concede easily that as much as last years was hi-lariously funny, it was damn quirky at points. More novelty than I realized at the time. This years, however, is over-the-top funny & yet maintains a high listenability factor. It wasn't planned that way. In fact I specifically told them the tracks didn't have to be mixed great, but they HAD TO BE FUNNY! I was hoping to bring back everyone from last years' compilation. They were mostly not available. Sigh! But no prob! The peeps that did agree to be featured filled their shoes admirably.
I can't tell you the names of the mixers,tho'. As with last year's LAFF album, we all released it under fake names & won't reveal the actual dj names until next week's article. So for now, you'll have to make do with knowing that mixers like Spongemike Squareglove, DJ TBA, Dick Sinormous, & DJ Getalife appear on it alongside other crazily-named folk. I apologize for this mainly dry read, but can atone for that with the link to the LAFF 2 album where you will find more than enough humour to choke a sawhorse. You'll encounter tracks pairing artists like Benny Hill & Deee-Lite, Elvis Presley & Paul McCartney (& it's funny!), Lenny Kravitz & Futurama, among many more inspired mixes.
For those of you who want the full LAFF experience,you can find last years' IT IS TO LAFF newly-remastered here - ( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2009/11/it-is-to-laff-2008-remastered.html )
Already, I've heard people say 'when is the next one?'! Laff Out Loud!
Remember to come back in a week to learn who these madman mixers really are. If you guess in the meantime, that will be great fun for you. There are some clues. Keep your eyes open,& good luck not laughing so hard you choke!
Mix Of The Week
Briscoes' 'Future Is Calling' is a fantastic mix of funky techno. With early tech artists like Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, & Sasha, it is not music I expect you'll know, but it IS tunes you'll want to own! Be prepared for a whole new world of sounds that never feel dated. Find your copy
here - ( www.bmbx.org/2009/10/future-is-calling/ )
Mashup Tip - Don't raise the pella, lower the mental! (An actual useful mashup tip, lol.)
DJ Useo's Podcast
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Nancy Pelosi Delivers (nytimes.com)
Short blog entry.
Andrew Tobias: Two Kinds of Saving (andrewtobias.com)
Both good, one more real than the other.
Daniel Gross: Too Much Beef (slate.com)
Why Arby's is so low on the restaurant food chain.
Nicole Brodeur: "Sit down and shut up: Don Rickles is in the house" (The Seattle Times)
You call him Mr. Rickles because he deserves it. He's a legend. Honorary member of the Rat Pack. The guy Johnny Carson tossed into a hot tub. And a performer who has as much respect for the term "politically correct" as a New Yorker does for a "Don't Walk" sign.
Scott Burns: Reshelving the Future (assetbuilder.com)
One of the mixed blessings of moving: Things that had become invisible become visible. Books, for instance. Titles that you haven't thought about for years, maybe even decades, suddenly present themselves. In reshelving my library I found quite a few books about the future.
How Waterstone's killed bookselling (guardian.co.uk)
When it started, Waterstone's was a breath of fresh air. But as it got ever bigger, many say it lost its soul. What effect has that had on publishing, asks Stuart Jeffries.
Erika Bolstad: Palin's much-anticipated book inspires, well, copies (McClatchy Newspapers)
The envy of nearly every other first-time author, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's good fortune includes an advance upward of $1.25 million, an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show the day before publication, and a print run of 1.5 million books for a memoir that already sits on bestseller lists.
Why do people gush over Proust? I'd rather visit a demented relative (guardian.co.uk)
'A la Recherche du Temps Perdu' is unfinished, chaotic and badly translated - and reading it is time wasted, writes Germaine Greer.
PAUL CONSTANT: Who Killed Bailey/Coy Books? (thestranger.com)
Bailey/Coy Books owner Michael Wells told his staff over the last week-first, individually, the employees who rely on the bookstore for health insurance and then everyone else in a large, reportedly teary meeting-that Bailey/Coy Books will be closing by the end of November. Anyone who has seen Bailey/Coy's nearly bare shelves lately-some holding just a single lonely book-shouldn't be surprised by the news.
Stephen Moss: 'This business is hard and really mean' (guardian.co.uk)
Martine McCutcheon on trying to survive as an actress - and why the main character in her debut novel is undisguisedly her.
The Sex Toy Talk (slate.com)
Should a 16-year-old tell her mother she wants a vibrator?
David Bruce: Wise Up! Food (athensnews.com)
Before the Holocaust, Leopold Mendlovic's parents fed hungry people at their own family's table in Czechoslovakia, although they had nine children of their own to feed. The young Leopold noticed that the impoverished people sometimes stank. Leopold says, however, "My parents were very accepting and never said a word." Leopold managed to escape death at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust, but his parents died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
The Weekly Poll
Results Delayed One More Day
'The Devil is in the Details' Edition...
We all have had to make difficult decisions, from time to time, that involve compromises that can be distasteful. Such as...
A.) Would you take your dream job that has great pay and benefits, but you would have to relocate to an area that you'd loathe (such as Oklahoma)?
or...
B.) Would you live in an area that you've always wanted to but at a minimum wage, hand to mouth, subsistence level existence with no chance of improvement?
It's either A or B... No in between... Choose! Choose now! Ha Ha!
Send your response to
Dareland Scores
New Yorker Contest
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer than seasonal.
At All Time High
U.S. TV Viewing
Americans are spending more time watching television, as well as playing on computers and chatting on social networking sites.
The Nielsen Company said on Tuesday that U.S. television viewing reached an all time high in the 2008-09 season, with Americans spending an average four hours and 49 minutes a day in front of the television.
The figure, which includes Americans watching recorded TV within 7 days of airing and cable viewing, was up four minutes from the previous TV season year and up 20 percent from 10 years ago.
Nielsen said the average household watched eight hours and 21 minutes a day on average -- also an all-time high. Daily viewing during prime-time remained flat compared to a year ago but was still at its highest peak since 1991.
U.S. TV Viewing
New Inductees
TV Hall of Fame
Late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, comedy duo Tom and Dick Smothers and actress Candice Bergen will be among those inducted into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in January.
The Television Academy said on Tuesday they would be joined by "Saturday Night Live" and game show announcer Don Pardo, "The Price is Right" game show creator Bob Stewart and Emmy-award winning art director Charles Lisanby for the annual ceremony.
"This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture and entertained us royally while doing so," said Television Academy chairman John Shaffner.
TV Hall of Fame
Top Earning Man On U.S. TV
Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell, the acerbic "American Idol" judge, creator of "America's Got Talent" an record producer, is the top earning man on prime-time U.S. television with an estimated haul of $75 million, Forbes.com said on Tuesday.
Cowell, 50, beat out "The Apprentice" show host Donald Trump ($50 million) and "American Idol" presenter Ryan Seacrest ($38 million), based on estimated pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009.
Rounding up the top five were "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen ($21 million) and "The Office" actor Steve Carell ($20 million).
Simon Cowell
Achievement Award
Shirley Douglas
Stage and screen actress Shirley Douglas is being honoured by the group Women in Film and Television-Toronto.
Douglas will receive an international achievement award at a gala luncheon Nov. 30 in Toronto. glas, whose father was former Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas and whose son is actor Kiefer Sutherland, says it's "a tremendous honour" to receive the award.
Her long career spans stage, screen and television, and includes work with famed directors including Stanley Kubrick and David Cronenberg.
She's also made a name for herself as one of Canada's most vocal advocates of publicly funded health care.
Shirley Douglas
Drops "Eastwick"
ABC
ABC has opted not to order additional episodes of "Eastwick," its rookie supernatural comedy-drama starring Rebecca Romijn.
"Eastwick," a fresh take on the hit 1987 movie "The Witches of Eastwick," will finish production on 13 episodes; ABC plans to run them all.
ABC is also yanking its reality show "Let's Dance," which was supposed to premiere on November 23 with Kathy Griffin hosting.
It has also picked up five more episodes of its Tuesday crime drama "The Forgotten," starring Christian Slater.
ABC
Rock Hall Events Salute
Janis Joplin
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is celebrating the brief, electrifying career of Janis Joplin with a week of events building up to a tribute concert.
The hall in Cleveland calls the bluesy singer one of rock's most passionate and influential artists. Joplin, who rose to fame during San Francisco's 1967 "Summer of Love," was 27 when she died of a drug overdose in 1970.
The rock hall and Case Western Reserve University are hosting talks this week by those who knew Joplin, including her siblings, her former road manager, and Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (YOR'-mah KOW'-kah-nen). Saturday's tribute show will feature Lucinda Williams, Country Joe McDonald, and songwriter Bob Neuwirth, who penned the Janis Joplin favorite, "Mercedes Benz."
Janis Joplin
Granted Temporary Restraining Order
Jennifer Lopez
A California judge has granted a temporary restraining order barring Jennifer Lopez's first husband from distributing 11 hours of home video footage from their marriage that the singer-actress claims includes sexual situations.
Ojani Noa and his manager Ed Meyer had planned to distribute the footage and proposed making a film, "The J.Lo and Ojani Noa Story." The Tuesday order also applies to Meyer.
Lopez wed Noa in 1997, but their marriage lasted just 11 months. In 2007, Lopez won $545,000 in damages and attorney fees in another lawsuit that blocked Noa from publishing a ghostwritten tell-all book. Lopez claimed Noa demanded $5 million to keep him from publishing the book.
Noa claimed the footage included nothing sexual and alleged that Lopez is trying to keep him from success.
Jennifer Lopez
Arrest Warrant Dropped
Quaids
An arrest warrant has been dropped for actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, who are accused of stiffing a Santa Barbara County hotel on a $10,000 bill.
Prosecutor Lee Carter says the warrant was recalled after the Quaids posted bail of $20,000 each last week.
The Quaids' attorney, Robert Sanger, says the bill has been paid and he hopes to talk with prosecutors about resolving the case.
The warrant was issued after the Quaids failed to show up for three court appearances.
Quaids
Another Studio Executive Exits
Disney
Another executive at The Walt Disney Co.'s movie studio is exiting hurriedly as the company's troubles continue at the box office with a weak opening for "A Christmas Carol."
Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group and the head of worldwide marketing for all Disney, Pixar, Touchstone and Disneynature movies, said Monday he is stepping down immediately.
Zoradi's move came after the 3-D remake of the classic Christmas tale starring Jim Carrey opened to $30.1 million at the weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada.
With an estimated $175 million production budget and a marketing campaign that involved a 40-city train tour, Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz says he expects it to lose $50 million to $100 million.
Disney
Presses $400 Billion Lawsuit
Samuel Bartley Steele
A Massachusetts man is pursuing a $400 billion lawsuit against Bon Jovi, Time Warner and Major League Baseball, among others, against all odds.
Last year, Samuel Bartley Steele filed a lawsuit against the defendants for allegedly ripping off his ode to the Boston Red Sox entitled, "(Man I Really) Love this Team." According to the complaint, the song was released in October 2004 and performed by the Bart Steele Band. Steele says he handed out copies to Red Sox executives, sent copies of the song to players, performed it live on local television, and sent it to MLB with the idea for a "country" song that would market baseball.
During the 2007 playoffs, Bon Jovi released a song, "I Love This Town," that was used by MLB to promote playoff baseball on Time Warner's TBS cable station. Steele claimed that frontman Jon Bon Jovi either heard the song when he was campaigning for John Kerry in Boston in 2004 or that some executive passed it along to him.
Sounds ridiculous. But things got weirder after Steele's own musicologist testified that the songs weren't very similar. The district judge ruled that no reasonable jury could conclude there was substantial similarity between the songs and dismissed the claim.
Samuel Bartley Steele
Album Banned From Display In Germany
Rammstein
The German government has banned hard rock group Rammstein's latest hit album from public display in stores because of its depictions of sado-masochism.
Officials were offended by the track "Ich tü Dir Weh" ("I Want to Hurt You"), which includes such lines as "Bites, kicks, heavy blows, nails, pincers, blunt saws - Tell me what you want," as well as artwork showing guitarist Richard Kruspe with a masked, naked woman on his knees.
The album, "Liebe ist Für Alle Da" ("Love is For All") has been a big seller globally since its release a month ago via Universal Music. It hit No. 1 in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands. It made No. 2 in France, and No. 3 in Sweden and Belgium. In the United States, it debuted at No. 13, a record for the band.
The German Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People in Bonn also criticized the single "Pussy," stating that it incites listeners to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse despite the risk of AIDS. But the song was not officially part of the ruling.
Rammstein
Turtle Convinces Villagers
Lord Jagannath
Hundreds of poor Hindu villagers in eastern India have refused to hand over a rare turtle to authorities, saying it is an incarnation of God, officials said on Tuesday.
Villagers chanting hymns and carrying garlands, bowls of rice and fruits are pouring in from remote villages to a temple in Kendrapara, a coastal district in eastern Orissa state.
The turtle is protected in India and anyone found keeping one without permission can be jailed for a year or more and fined.
But adamant villagers have refused to give up the reptile, saying the turtle bears holy symbols on its back and is an incarnation of Lord Jagannath, a popular Hindu deity.
Lord Jagannath
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by The Nielsen Co. for Nov. 2 to Nov. 8. 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) World Series Game 6: Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Yankees, Fox, 22.34 million viewers.
2. (2) Sunday Night Football: Dallas at Philadelphia, 21.88 million viewers.
3. (1) "NCIS," CBS, 20.18 million viewers.
4. (12) "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 17.26 million viewers.
5. (X) World Series Game 5: N.Y. Yankees at Philadelphia, 17.09 million viewers.
6. (15) "60 Minutes," CBS, 16.85 million viewers.
7. (3) "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 16.69 million viewers.
8. (7) "The Mentalist," CBS, 16.21 million viewers.
9. (8) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.60 million viewers.
10. (6) "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 15.29 million viewers.
11. (12) "Dancing With the Stars Results," ABC, 15.05 million viewers.
12. (15) "V," ABC, 14.30 million viewers.
13. (4) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 13.95 million viewers.
14. (10) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 13.80 million viewers.
15. (12) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.51 million viewers.
16. (18) "The Good Wife," CBS, 12.74 million viewers.
17. (18) "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 12.73 million viewers.
18. (11) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 12.55 million viewers.
19. (15) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 12.52 million viewers.
20. (22) "Survivor: Samoa," CBS, 12.44 million viewers.
Ratings
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
