M Is FOR MASHUP - RERUN - 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
Paul Krugman: The Depravity of Climate-Change Denial (NY Times Column)
Risking civilization for profit, ideology and ego.
Damian Paletta: President Trump is demanding top advisers craft a plan to reduce the country's ballooning budget deficits, but the president has flummoxed his own aides by repeatedly seeking new spending while ruling out measures needed to address the country's unbalanced budget. (Washington Post)
Even as Trump has told aides he's finally interested in taking steps to reduce deficits, he has floated several ideas that would further expand them. He has proposed a 10 percent tax cut for the middle class, a huge package of infrastructure spending and billions of dollars for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He hasn't specified how he would pay for any of those things.
Greg Sargent: Trump is failing miserably on his biggest issue. And he's covering it up with lies. (Washington Post)
[Trump] will be aided in this by one of the worst conventions in political reporting - the habit of asserting that a given occurrence "provides fodder" for a politician's attacks or arguments, simply by virtue of the fact that the politician will try to use it that way, regardless of whether facts or logic support it. For example, the New York Times claims "the unrest" will "likely provide him with additional ammunition" to keep out the migrants. So let's be clear on the real meaning of the latest mayhem: It doesn't give Trump "ammunition" at all. Instead, it shows that Trump's immigration agenda is a total and abject failure - and that he is covering up this glaring reality with lies.
Jonathan Chait: Trump Threatening GM Over Its Plant Closure Is the Real 'Gangster Government' (NY Mag)
Trump has spent his brief political career systematically exposing the bad faith of every complaint Republicans made against Barack Obama (and, for that matter, Bill Clinton). But his overt bullying of GM is a special case that calls to mind a spate of especially virulent hysteria that was summed up by the phrase "gangster government."
Jonathan Chait: The Deficit Grew Because Trump's a Republican, Not Because He's an Idiot (NY Mag)
President Trump has been demanding that his aides draft a plan to reduce the swelling budget deficit while simultaneously ruling out virtually all categories of possible deficit reduction and demanding new deficit-increasing measures of his own. The Washington Post has plenty of hilarious details from the administration's internal fiscal deliberations, such as they are. Trump comes across as possessing every bit as much fiscal acumen as you would expect from a man who managed to bankrupt a casino, required hundreds of millions of dollars in secret cash infusions from his father to stay afloat, and can barely absorb written material of even the shortest length.
E.J. Dickson: Sex doll brothels are now a thing. What will happen to real-life sex workers? (Vox)
The Rent the Runway of sex dolls may pose some real competition.
Kelsey Piper: One of the most frequently used criteria for judging a charity is also one of the worst (Vox)
Our focus on "overhead" doesn't help us learn what really matters.
Don't just give. (GiveWell)
Make your dollar go further.
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David Bruce has over 100 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
Coffered Ceilings
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• In 2008, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull appeared in movie theaters, and suddenly the media began to interview Smithsonian anthropologist Dr. Jane MacLaren Walsh, a lesbian who is a crystal-skull expert. Unfortunately, her research has shown that crystal skulls are not real archaeological artifacts; in fact, no documented archaeological site has ever excavated a crystal skull. Interestingly, in the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, a golden figure sets off the impressive opening sequence. Dr. MacLaren says, "That golden figure is an image of a goddess that's based on a supposed pre-Columbian Aztec piece. The piece is in the Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington, and I've studied it at length. It's a nineteenth-century fake. That's a theme of these films: Indy goes after a lot of fakes.
• Being an actor can be an insecure experience, as actors frequently worry about whether they will ever find another acting job. Alan Arkin tells a story about the great actor George C. Scott. One month after Mr. Scott had won an Oscar for Best Actor for his title role in Patton, a good friend of his visited him and heard him yelling. He was yelling for joy, screaming, "I got a job! I got a job!" Mr. Arkin makes the important point, "So most [actors] never get over that sense of never working again. It's a precarious life." Of course, Mr. Arkin tries to get quality jobs, although compromise can be a necessity: "I just want good material. But part of taking a role is your bank account. If you haven't worked in six months and the cupboard is bare, then your sights get lowered a bit out of necessity."
• Werner Herzog, the director of Fitzcarraldo, The Enigma of Caspar Hauser, and Aguirre, the Wrath of God, has advice on how to become a successful filmmaker: "Work as a bouncer in a sex club, work as a taxi driver, work as a butcher-earn the money and make your own film." Perhaps his most important advice is to make a film instead of making excuses for why you can't make a film. He says, "Today, with these little digital cameras, there is no excuse any more." Mr. Herzog himself stole his first camera and used it to make 11 films. He says about the camera, "It fulfilled its real destiny."
• Great art is frequently earthy. One of the most famous scenes in Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander shows the character Uncle Carl amusing children with his virtuoso farting; his talents include being able to blow out a candle with his wind. Was the actor who played Uncle Carl really farting? Unfortunately, no. Bertil Guve, who played the boy Alexander, explains, "They had a person sitting right next to the candle with a tube." Watch the scene carefully. When the candle is blown out, the wind does not come from Uncle Carl's backside.
• Science-fiction author Harlan Ellison once briefly worked as a writer at Disney. Why briefly? On his first day of work, while taking a break in the cafeteria, he told his fellow workers about his ideas for an X-rated Disney cartoon, even going so far as to act out the scenes. His fellow employees were amused, but the bosses watching him from a distance were not amused. When he returned to his desk, he found a pink slip waiting for him. Journalist Andrew Osmond identifies the moral of this story: "Don't mess with the Mouse."
• Jack Lemmon's first big movie was It Should Happen to You, starring Judy Holliday and directed by George Cukor. Jack was an enthusiastic actor, and Mr. Cukor kept telling him to act less. Eventually, Jack became upset and yelled, "If I do it any less, I won't be acting!" Mr. Cukor replied, "Exactly."
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"HAPPY SELFISH CHRISTMAS"
FEEL THE WARM!
PERSONA NON GRATA.
MISSISSIPPI MUD.
THE REPUBLICANS WAVE THEIR 'BONE SAWS'.
THE MAN WHO COULD NOT SHUTUP.
'HE'S TOAST'!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running late.
TCL Chinese Theatre
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones was honored Tuesday in Hollywood, where the music mogul and pioneer dipped his hands and feet in cement outside the TCL Chinese Theatre.
The ceremony for the 85-year-old Oscar- and Grammy-winning film composer took place at 11 a.m. in the forefront of the historic theater.
Jones said he was overwhelmed at the honor, reflecting back on his teen years in Seattle when he would watch movies in awe.
His daughter, actress Rashida Jones, rapper Snoop Dogg and R & B singer Usher delivered remarks at the event.
Jones is the first film composer to be honored in the famed Chinese Theatre forecourt. The honor came on the heels of the Netflix documentary about his life, "Quincy," which was released in September.
Quincy Jones
Gets Candid
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen's memoir Born to Run detailed his long history with depression - and he's revealing more about his mental health battle.
In a new interview with Esquire, the legendary singer, who's wrapping up his one-man show on Broadway next month, talks a lot about growing up the son of a paranoid schizophrenic. Springsteen, 69, also gets candid about his breakdowns - the first in 1982 and another in 2009 - and how he keeps his mental health in line.
Springsteen's relationship with his father, Doug Springsteen, cast a shadow on him for much of his life. The star got some answers late in his dad's life, when he was finally diagnosed with schizophrenia, before dying in 1998. His father never told Bruce that he loved him and often sat brooding in silence in their family home. While his father's diagnosis explained much that Springsteen had not understood, it also made him worry for his own mental health and his family's.
"I have come close enough to [mental illness] where I know I am not completely well myself," Springsteen revealed to the magazine. "I've had to deal with a lot of it over the years, and I'm on a variety of medications that keep me on an even keel; otherwise I can swing rather dramatically and … just … the wheels can come off a little bit. So we have to watch, in our family. I have to watch my kids, and I've been lucky there. It ran in my family going way before my dad."
Springsteen talked about his first breakdown when he was 32. It was the time he released Nebraska (much was about his troubled upbringing) when he was road-tripping with a friend from New Jersey to L.A. On a late summer night, they drove through a Texas town where a fair was taking place. A band was playing, couples were dancing, kids were running around, and The Boss - from his car - watched the happy scene and cracked. He still doesn't know what it was about that exact place and time that so affected him.
Bruce Springsteen
Isn't That Impressed
Shania Twain
Shania Twain isn't that impressed with the current state of country music. The Real Country judge said she's "fed up" with the sexism and ageism prevalent in the industry.
Twain sat down with E! News to discuss her new singing competition show on USA. E!'s Carissa Culiner began the conversation by proposing "to talk about women in country music today."
"What women?!" the "That Don't Impress Me Much" singer quipped, before noting she's "bored" of country music right now.
"We have too much of the sameness right now. I'm a little bit bored of it, and I want to pick it up. The only way to do that is to be proactive," she explained. "I wanted a show that, when you talk about diversity, that includes gender diversity, style diversity, lifestyle diversity."
"We are not making radio progress, but we are making very small, steady steps towards awareness that we're lacking women on country radio," she added.
Shania Twain
Spielberg's West Side Story Remake
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno's insatiable (but also extremely justified) ability to hoover up all of Hollywood's most prestigious honors continues this week, as Deadlinereports that the EGOT-winner has signed on for a role in Steven Spielberg's upcoming West Side Story remake. Moreno-who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' 1961 adaptation of the Broadway hit-will play a new(ish) character in Spielberg's version: Valentina, an expanded version of Doc, the character who runs the neighborhood corner store in the original script. Given the level of prestige talent now associated with the picture, can the venerable EGOOT be far behind?
(Actually, if we want to get technical, Moreno is already an EEGGGOT; she's won two Emmys over the years, plus a Golden Globe for West Side Story, in addition to her Tony and the Grammy she got for The Electric Company. Oh, and a lifetime achievement award from SAG. The woman is a multi-talented treasure, is our point.)
The One Day At A Time star responded to the news in a typically enthusiastic and delightful way, noting that, "Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself revisiting this seminal work. And to be asked by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply thrilling! Then to work together with the brilliant playwright, Tony Kushner-what a glorious stew! I am tingling!" Moreno will also serve as an executive producer on said glorious stew.
Rita Moreno
Fires Film Critic
NPR's 'Fresh Air'
NPR's "Fresh Air" program has ended its association with David Edelstein following the film critic's controversial joke about the "Last Tango in Paris" rape scene in the wake of director Bernardo Bertolucci's death.
In a Facebook post, Edelstein posted an image of the rape scene with the caption, "Even grief is better with butter," referencing Marlon Brando's character use of butter as a lubricant. Many, including actress Martha Plimpton, demanded that Edelstein be fired.
NPR issued a statement on Tuesday, saying the post was "offensive and unacceptable," particularly given actress Maria Schneider's claim that she wasn't told about the simulated sex scene beforehand and it caused her to "cry real tears." Schneider died in 2011 at age 58.
Edelstein has deleted the post and said he "was not aware of" Schneider's experience on "Last Tango in Paris." "I now realize the joke was in poor taste and have removed it, and apologize for the remark," he wrote.
Earlier this month, Edelstein garnered ire for his review of the movie "Green Book," starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen. "The movie taps into a kind of nostalgia for when everything - even racism - seemed simpler," Edelstein wrote. He later apologized and updated the review, saying he didn't mean to imply that he was nostalgic for an era when racism was more "pervasive and deadly than it is today."
NPR's 'Fresh Air'
Executive Order 10450
Robert "Bobby" Cutler Jr.
In the annals of presidential directives, few were more chilling than a document signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in April 1953. Crafted during the height of the Cold War, Executive Order 10450 declared that alongside Communism, "sexual perversion" by government officials was a threat to national security. The order became the trigger for a massive purge of the federal workforce. In the years that followed, thousands of government employees were investigated and fired for the "crime" of being gay.
The full story of Executive Order 10450 and its terrible consequences has only started to surface in more recent years as a result of books like "The Lavender Scare" and films like "Uniquely Nasty," a 2015 Yahoo News documentary that this reporter co-wrote and directed. But it turns out there was an untold personal drama behind the making of the antigay White House order - a saga that is recounted for the first time in a new book to be published next week, "Ike's Mystery Man: The Secret Lives of Robert Cutler."
Written by Peter Shinkle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it tells the life story of the author's great-uncle, a central character in the creation of Executive Order 10450. A blue-blood liberal Republican from a prominent Boston family, a Harvard graduate and member of the elite Porcellian Club, a wealthy banker and U.S. Army general during World War II, Robert "Bobby" Cutler Jr. became a close adviser to Eisenhower during his 1952 presidential campaign. He was then tapped by Ike to serve as White House special assistant for national security affairs, the forerunner to the position of national security adviser.
In that post, Cutler, who prided himself on never talking to the press, was a pivotal figure, helping to direct U.S. foreign policy during an era of tense global confrontation with the Soviet Union. And it was Cutler who oversaw the drafting of Executive Order 10450 - a role all the more remarkable because, as Shinkle reveals, Cutler was a gay man who secretly pursued a passionate, years-long relationship with a young naval intelligence officer on the National Security Council staff.
"It's an incredible piece of research," said Charles Francis, president of the Washington Mattachine Society, who has filed multiple freedom of information requests to uncover documents relating to the government's past persecution of homosexuals.
Robert "Bobby" Cutler Jr.
London's Hyde Park Show
Bob Dylan, Neil Young
Bob Dylan and Neil Young have been announced as co-headliners for a July 12th, 2019 show in London's Hyde Park as part of the British Summer Time concert series. It will mark the first time they've shared a bill since Desert Trip in 2016, though they are longtime friends that first played together at the SNACK Benefit at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium in March of 1975. Tickets go on sale this Friday.
The yearly British Summer Time show in Hyde Park is one of the most high-profile events on the European festival circuit. It runs across two weekends and has featured some of the biggest names in rock and pop over the past five years, including the Rolling Stones, Roger Waters, Black Sabbath, the Who, Taylor Swift, Eric Clapton and Paul Simon. Neil Young and Crazy Horse played in 2014, but this will mark Dylan's first time at the event.
The show is the first event that Bob Dylan and Neil Young have put on the books for 2019. Young did a series of low-key theater shows with Crazy Horse in California earlier this year, leading to speculation he was contemplating a tour with his longtime backing band for the first time since 2014. But at least for this Hyde Park show, he'll be joined by Promise of the Real.
Bob Dylan is wrapping up his 2018 tour with a series of shows in New York and Philadelphia over the next week. Not that he acknowledged it any way, but this year was the 30th anniversary of his Never Ending Tour. This Hyde Park show is the first clear sign that it's going to continue into its 31st year.
Bob Dylan, Neil Young
Piece Of Staircase At Auction
Eiffel Tower
A piece of the original spiral staircase from the Eiffel Tower, Paris's most famous attraction, was sold for 169,000 euros ($190,885) on Tuesday, a spokesman for auction house Artcurial said, three times the initial estimate.
The successful bidder, an unidentified collector from the Middle East, acquired a section of the 129-year-old iron landmark that measures 4.3 meters (14 feet) in height, weighs about 900 kilos (1,984 pounds) and includes about 25 steps.
The piece, which came from a private collection in Canada, had connected the top two floors of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of 24 sections that were cut out in 1983 following the installation of a lift between the two floors.
Other sections of the staircase can be found in sites such as the Yoishii Foundation gardens in Japan, near the Statue of Liberty in New York and in Disneyland in Florida.
Tuesday's bidding was less frenetic than in 2016, when another portion of the Eiffel Tower went for 523,800 euros, exceeding its estimate tenfold.
Eiffel Tower
Items Up For Auction
Hugh Hefner
Hundreds of iconic items belonging to Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner will be auctioned off Friday and Saturday.
Famous personal items synonymous with Hefner -- smoking jacket, silk pajamas, pipe -- can be yours for the right price.
Julien's Auctions is showcasing memorabilia from Hefner's life at the Playboy Mansion before they auction it off.
Some other highlights include a vintage 1946 coin operated jukebox, a vintage portable typewriter and his famous white captain's hat.
Hugh Hefner
In Memory
Stephen Hillenburg
"SpongeBob SquarePants" creator Stephen Hillenburg has died following a battle with ALS, Variety reports. He was 57 years old. "Steve imbued 'SpongeBob SquarePants' with a unique sense of humor and innocence that has brought joy to generations of kids and families everywhere," Nickelodeon said in a statement, according to Variety. "His utterly original characters and the world of Bikini Bottom will long stand as a reminder of the value of optimism, friendship and the limitless power of imagination."
Prior to "SpongeBob," Stephen Hillenburg served as a director for "Rocko's Modern Life" from 1993 to 1996. "SpongeBob SquarePants" later premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. The show spawned two feature films-2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and 2015's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water-and the Tony-winning SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.
The SpongeBob show and movies featured original music from numerous notable artists, including Wilco, the Flaming Lips, Ween, and the Shins, among others. Famously, David Bowie voiced Lord Royal Highness in the episode "Atlantis SquarePantis." SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, which premiered in 2016, also included Bowie and Brian Eno's song "No Control," along with tracks written by T.I., Panic! At the Disco, John Legend, and more.
Stephen Hillenburg
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