M Is FOR MASHUP - November 18th, 2015
DJ Useo And A Half 20 Track Album
From DJ Useo
Here's a just released collection of new mashups by me. All tracks were intended to be single releases, but instead I held them aside so I'd have a killer album. Now I give you that album, "
DJ Useo And A Half".
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2015/11/dj-useo-and-half-mashup-album.html )
I barely managed to put the files on a thumb drive, before I lost access to my mac, when my home flooded. Now I'm on a backup laptop pc in a hotel. All I had to do was add the cover art. I'm real proud of this variety style album, & think most people will take to the tracks, no matter the style. Here's brief comments on some of them. Have fun reading, & listening.
01 - This Charming Single Ladies Man
( Beyonce vs Smiths plus ) People always tell me they like multiple vocal tracks. Me too.
02 - Wondersoul Kitchen
( Oasis vs Doors ) Classic Rock music with alt rock singing. A great fit in this case.
03 - Only When I Lose King Midas
( Depeche Mode vs Hollies ) Hey! The same style! This is my fave track. Waited years to do a mashup of this Hollies track.
Preview link to hear this track.
( hearthis.at/vxmfxz7w/03-only-when-i-lose-king-midas-depeche-mode-vs-hollies/ )
04 - The Main Thing In A Lifetime
( Talking Heads vs Roxy Music ) I was all hepped to make a mashup with Roxy Music, & wow, do I love what resulted.
05 - Imagine Random Reload
( John Lennon vs Gary Numan vs Seismix ) This is intended as an anti gun violence track.
06 - I Love Synthetic Penetration
( The Jesus and Mary Chain vs Rupert Donovan & Matthew Larkin ) Would have been on the next INTENSE PSYCHEDELIA album of mine, if I was going to make one.
07 - Tie Your Blues Theme Down
( Queen vs Davie Allan ) Surf music with great classic rock vocals. Can you dig it?
08 - I Can Hear The Grass Groove
( The Move vs Max Sabatini ) Waited to do something with this Move song for ages. Now, you can REALLY hear the grass growing! Lol!
09 - Lean On Bloodlines
( Dethklok vs Major Lazer ) Death metal singing over chill pop. This genre clash really succeeds in being likeable.
"DJ Useo And A Half".
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2015/11/dj-useo-and-half-mashup-album.html )
Hope you give it a listen.
Next week will be an article on the new AudioBoots group compilation "Mashups To Knock Your Teeth Out".
ps. Still not back home after being flooded out. Mold & mildew took over when the landlord didn't act.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Chitra Ramaswamy: Why we're flushing £13m of gold down the plughole each year (The Guardian)
Hand-washing and teeth-brushing has seen a level of gold deposited in our sewage systems comparable to that of working mines. So, er, how do we get it out?
Michele Hansen: The world is not as full of scoundrels as I suspected (The Guardian)
We're going down like ninepins but, even if we fall flat on our faces, strangers care for us.
Hannah Marriott: "Totes amaze: what does your canvas bag say about you?" (The Guardian)
Whether it's from Marni or a cheese shop, your carrier reveals a lot about your self-image and tribe.
Laura Barton: "Bjork on Iceland: 'We don't go to church, we go for a walk'" (The Guardian)
Björk used to walk across the tundra singing at the top of her lungs. John Grant left America for its rocky grandeur and Sigur Rós's music captures its isolation. What is it about the Icelandic landscape that hypnotises artists?
Emma Brockes: "We've reached peak gentrification: they're making fortunes out of thin air" (The Guardian)
In the districts dubbed SoTo and NoTo punters are queuing up to re-sell flats that don't exist. Isn't this how the crash occurred?
Nico Lang: "Evil but fabulous: in praise of films' complicated, queer villains" (The Guardian)
Flamboyant, transgressive villains remind us that embracing the darkness isn't just liberating - it's also an important step toward larger societal acceptance.
Adam Elkus: The Emotional Uncanny Valley (Slate)
How zombies could be the future of artificial intelligence.
Tara Marie: 5 Beloved Classics Despised By Their Creators (Cracked)
You ever read an interview with your favorite band where they start joking about how shitty an early album of theirs was? And it happens to be by far your favorite? You never know quite how to feel. Either you have terrible taste (according to the very people who made the thing), or the creators themselves aren't good judges of what they create. But how can that be true?
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.
wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Massage
David
Thanks, Dave!
Reader Suggestion
New Mashup
I've watched this 3 times - love the song, the moves, the mash-up. My Tuesday moment of Zen.
Team Coco
CONAN in Armenia
CONAN Highlight: Conan & his assistant Sona drop by a Yerevan market to pick up everything from dried apricots to "Armenian Viagra." (live now. Worldwide)
Before he takes their beloved Sona to Armenia, Conan quizzes the Movsesian family on what goodies they'd like from their homeland. (live 5:30 am ET)
Conan wants to sound like a native Armenian, so he tries to master local phrases like "I want to eat your liver."
The Yerevan flea market has it all, from Soviet-era phones to risqué paintings of women.
Conan meets the locals in the capital city on Yerevan Day, AKA, "The Festival of Bad Ideas."
Conan is cast in the role he was born to play: an Armenian mob boss leading a band of goons.
Conan promised Sona's family he'd find her an Armenian husband, but the pickings are a bit slim.
Conan learns an Armenian folk dance, and in return, teaches the dancers the ol' American razzmatazz.
Plus, Conan travels the countryside in a Russian-made SUV.
Conan's foolproof strategy to herd sheep: have Sona talk about the upcoming season of "The Bachelor."
Conan learns about the intricate art of rug-making in Armenia-in the most awkward way possible.
Conan meets the adorable children of Yerevan, including one scamp who just loves running into traffic.
Sona visits the Armenian Genocide Memorial to pay her respects and relate how her family was affected by the catastrophe.
Conan & Sona return from their travels in Armenia with goodies for her whole family.
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
THE WAR ON AMERICA!
THE LICE LADIES!
TALK ABOUT FASCISTS!
"YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE."
"JEB" IS A DICK!
"HOME OF THE BRAVE"
WE MUST PUNISH THE CRIMINAL STATES!
"I COULD WEEP FOR A RIVER-VALLEY…"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and seasonal.
Bad Boy Days Are Over
Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen said his bad-boy days are over and, with Tuesday's declaration that he's HIV-positive, he aims to become an inspiration to others.
"My partying days are behind me," Sheen said in a letter posted online. "My philanthropic days are ahead of me."
The manifesto was released as the former "Two and a Half Men" star appeared on NBC's "Today" to say he tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS about four years ago, but that, thanks to a rigorous drug regimen, he's healthy.
Sheen said one reason for going public with his condition was to put a stop to shakedowns from prostitutes and others. He said one prostitute took a photo of the HIV-related drugs in his medicine cabinet and threatened to sell that photo to the tabloids.
Charlie Sheen
Hits 5,500 IS Accounts
Anonymous
The hacker group Anonymous claimed Tuesday to have taken out 5,500 Twitter accounts linked to the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
The loosely organized hacking collective made the claim in a tweet one day after launching #OpParis campaign, which stepped up an earlier effort to shut down social media accounts of the organization.
It was not immediately clear how the accounts would have been disabled. But the hacker group said it posted the accounts to an online forum labeling them as #daeshbags, a reference to Daesh, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
In an apparent riposte, a message posted via the messaging service Telegram calls on Islamic State affiliates to secure their Internet communications.
Anonymous
Mauna Kea Telescope
Hawaii
The Hawaii Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily suspended a permit that allows a giant telescope to be built on a mountain many Native Hawaiians consider sacred.
The court granted telescope opponents' request for an emergency stay of the effectiveness of the permit until Dec. 2, or until another court order.
The ruling was issued as protesters were gathering on Mauna Kea in anticipation of blocking telescope work from resuming. Work has been stalled since April amid protests.
Telescope officials announced last week a crew would return to the site this month to do vehicle maintenance work but they wouldn't specify a date.
Representatives for the project and the state attorney general's office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
Hawaii
Smoking Chimpanzee
Candy
An animal rights group is suing to get a chimpanzee named Candy out of an amusement park where, it says, she smokes cigarettes and is given soft drinks instead of water.
Candy is isolated in an inadequate cage at the Baton Rouge park, and should be moved to a sanctuary, according to the federal suit filed in Baton Rouge on Tuesday by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
"Defendants have for decades allowed members of the general public to throw items into Candy's cage, including lit cigarettes that Candy smokes. Just as with humans, cigarette smoking is very harmful for chimpanzees," and letting her smoke violates the Endangered Species Act, the suit states.
The lawsuit is the first filed under a new federal rule that requires captive chimps get the same protection as wild chimps, said Carter Dillard, the group's attorney. That rule, which was made public in June and took effect Sept. 14, changes captive chimps' classification from threatened to endangered, the same classification as wild chimpanzees.
Candy
Rover's Dark Money
Crossroads GPS
Crossroads GPS, one of the nation's largest politically active "dark money" nonprofits, quietly supplied millions of dollars in 2014 to other politically active nonprofit groups seeking to influence the midterm elections, according to new tax filings reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity.
One group received nearly all its money from Crossroads GPS: Carolina Rising, a North Carolina-based group that sprang up and spent almost all its money running thousands of TV ads that boosted now-U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis in what was one of the nation's most hotly contested Senate races.
Their nonprofit status means they aren't required to reveal their donors, making the source of the money behind the Carolina Rising ads - filtered through two different layers of anonymity - nearly impossible to penetrate.
Crossroads GPS - together with a related super political action committee, American Crossroads, that does reveal its donors - spent nearly $49 million directly on the 2014 elections, all supporting Republican candidates, according to campaign finance data tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The two groups were co-founded by Karl Rove, a political strategist and former advisor to then-resident George W. Bush (R-9/11).
Crossroads GPS
Secret Donors
North Carolina
A series of nonprofit groups backed by secret donors spent millions of dollars to help elect North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R-For $ale) in last year's midterm elections, paying for television ads and crucial voter outreach efforts in what ended up as the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
Tax filings made public on Tuesday show how some of those nonprofits were working together. In all, about 30 nonprofits played a role in the election, with the majority spending money to help Republican Tillis beat incumbent Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan. The total cost, between the candidates and the outside groups, came to about $118 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based political tracker.
Nonprofit groups can accept donations of any size and are not required to disclose who is giving them money. In exchange for those privileges, they are supposed have "social welfare" as their primary mission and limit their overtly political activity. Some of the best-known social-welfare nonprofits are AARP and the National Rifle Association.
Political campaigns, by comparison, must abide by contribution limits and disclose their donors. The political groups known as super PACs can accept donations of any size but also must disclose the names of donors.
Some of the nonprofit groups involved in the North Carolina race appear to have pushed the limits of what is allowed by law.
North Carolina
Issues Arrest Warrant
Spain
A Spanish judge has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other former and current government officials for a deadly fight at sea in 2010. As long as the warrant is in effect, if Netanyahu and those officials set foot in the western European country, they could be detained and questioned.
The 2010 incident was a flotilla raid, in which a group of pro-Palestinian human rights activists attempted to disrupt an Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israeli naval forces were able to stop the flotilla, but when they boarded one of the activists' ships, the Mavi Marmara, they wereattacked by knives and clubs
In an ensuing gun battle, nine activists died. Most of the deceased were part of a Turkish NGO, the IHH, that has alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In addition to Mr. Netanyahu, the implicated officials include former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, former defense ministers Moshe Ya'alon and Ehud Barak, former Interior Minister Eli Yishai, former Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor, and Minister without Portfolio Bennie Begin.
Spain
Carrying Leprosy Bacteria
Armadillos
The armadillos in the southern United States carrying the bacteria that can cause leprosy are now found over a much larger geographic range than just a few years ago, a new study suggests.
The nine-banded armadillos that can transmit the bacteria Mycobacterium lepraeto humans were once thought to be primarily confined to parts of Louisiana and Texas. However, now there's evidence that some of the animals with this infection live in other regions in the southeastern United States, said the paper, published online (Oct. 29) in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Leprosy - which is usually called by its modern name, Hansen's disease - is curable with antibiotics, and has a low risk of being spread among people.
In the study, researchers tested bacteria in 645 armadillos from eight locations in four states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi - between 2003 and 2012. The researchers found armadillos infected with M. leprae in each location, according to the study.
About 16 percent of all the armadillos screened showed some evidence of infection, even though these areas had all previously been thought to be free of infected armadillos, the study found.
Armadillos
STD Epidemic Worsening
CDC
A U.S. sexually transmitted diseases epidemic is increasing and the most common infection, chlamydia, has risen to record levels, government officials say.
Reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis all increased in 2014. Chlamydia cases had dipped in 2013, but last year's total of more than 1.4 million - or 456 cases per 100,000 - was the highest number of annual cases of any condition ever reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The chlamydia rate was up almost 3 percent from 2013, the CDC reported Tuesday.
Sexually transmitted diseases are among more than 70 diseases that are reportable to the CDC, including measles, chickenpox and tuberculosis. Flu is reported differently, by hospitalizations.
Gonorrhea cases totaled 350,062, up 5 percent from 2013, and the most contagious forms of syphilis jumped 15 percent to 20,000. As in previous years, the syphilis increase was mainly in gay and bisexual men.
Most gonorrhea and chlamydia infections were in 15- to 24-year-olds, an ongoing trend. Both can cause infertility in women but can be treated with antibiotics. They often have no symptoms, and while yearly screening is recommended for sexually active women younger than 25, many don't get tested and infections go untreated, the CDC said.
CDC
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Nov. 9-15. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Arizona at Seattle, NBC, 19.39 million.
2. "60 Minutes," CBS, 18.13 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 16.68 million.
4. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 14.92 million.
5. "Sunday Night NFL Pregame," NBC, 13.94 million.
6. Republican Presidential Debate, Fox Business, 13.5 million.
7. "The Walking Dead," AMC, 12.87 million.
8. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 12.63 million.
9. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 12.39 million.
10. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 12.02 million.
11. NFL Football: Chicago at San Diego, ESPN, 11.44 million.
12. "Empire," Fox, 11.2 million.
13. "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 10.86 million.
14. "Madam Secretary," CBS, 10.61 million.
15. "Football Night in America," NBC, 10.34 million.
16. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 10.33 million.
17. "The Voice" (Wednesday), NBC, 10.14 million.
18. "Scorpion," CBS, 9.34 million.
19. "Survivor," CBS, 9 million.
20. Democratic Presidential Debate, CBS, 8.55 million.
Ratings
In Memory
P.F. Sloan
P.F. Sloan, the songwriter behind such classic 1960s tunes as Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" and Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction," has died. He was 70.
Howard Wuelfing, a spokesman for Sloan, says the singer-songwriter died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles after battling pancreatic cancer for several weeks.
Sloan signed his first record deal when he was 13 and went on to write songs for such artists as the Turtles, Grass Roots and Fifth Dimension. He also released several of his own albums and published the memoir "What's Exactly The Matter With Me?" last year.
Other songs written by Sloan included Herman's Hermits' "A Must to Avoid," Terry Black's "Unless You Care" and Jan Dean's "I Found a Girl."
P.F. Sloan
In Memory
Michael C. Gross
Michael C. Gross, an artist, illustrator, film producer and personal designer who created two of the most iconic pop culture images of the 20th century - the enduring "Ghostbusters" logo and a dog with a gun to its head for the cover of National Lampoon - has died of cancer at age 70.
Gross died Monday at his Oceanside, California, home, his son, Hollywood cameraman Dylan Goss, told The Associated Press.
The artist, who had survived cancer 30 years before he was given a terminal diagnosis in 2014, said he decided to forgo any life-extending efforts. Instead, he told the AP following the diagnosis, that he would "go down fighting" and launched a darkly comic anti-cancer campaign.
Gross solicited dozens of paintings and drawings from fellow artists and created some of his own, each featuring a hand with a raised middle finger. Underneath them he put the words "Flip Cancer."
In 1973, he was art director for National Lampoon when he put a frightened-looking dog on the cover with a gun to its head and the words, "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog."
"We were just going to do it as a subscription ad in the magazine," he told the AP. "Then we thought the next one would be, 'OK, we killed the dog. Now we're going to kill the cat. We really mean it.'"
When he learned the magazine was planning an entire issue making fun of death, the dog was promoted to the cover. In 2005, the American Society of Magazine Editors rated it one of the 40 greatest covers of all time.
For the first "Ghostbusters" film in 1984, Gross created the drawing of the confused-looking spirit caught in the middle of a red circle with a slash through it. It has come to be a ubiquitous symbol in American pop culture.
Born Oct. 4, 1945, Michael Curtiss Gross grew up in the Hudson River town of Newburgh, New York. As a child he began publishing his own fan magazines and making home movies with friends.
Unable to decide which career to pursue, he attended Pratt, where he majored in fine art and eventually drifted toward illustration. After working for National Lampoon, Esquire and other publications, he became John Lennon's personal designer. He also worked as a senior designer for the 1968 Olympics.
A prolific artist, his work ranged from animation to comic strips to political cartoons to abstract expressionist paintings. Various examples of it have been displayed in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Switzerland's Olympic Museum and other institutions.
His first movie credit, as associate producer, was for "Heavy Metal," the 1981 cult film that merged animation with science fiction, sex and blaring rock music.
From there he would go on to produce nearly a dozen films, including "Twins," ''Kindergarten Cop," ''Legal Eagles" and both of the "Ghostbusters" movies.
He also worked in television, earning Emmy nominations for the series "SCTV Network," the animated film "Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas" and the animated series "The Real Ghostbusters."
Twenty years ago he retired to a small beach house in the San Diego suburb of Oceanside.
He remained active, however, until his final days, posting regularly on Facebook until last week and attending last month's Geekie Awards, a light-hearted annual Hollywood affair honouring geek art. There, he received a lifetime achievement award.
Gross' wife of nearly 40 years, Glenis Gross, died in 2006.
In addition to his son, he is survived by a daughter, Gina Misiroglu, and three grandchildren.
Michael C. Gross
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