M Is FOR MASHUP - December 07th, 2011
Mashups,Christmas & Creeps
By DJ Useo
After the huge success of the new Halloween mashup collection 'The Texas Chainsaw Mashacre', ( http://www.monstermashups.co.uk/ ) I quickly heard from the same bootlegging scoundrels about a new Christmas/Halloween blend project. "So whats it all about?" I asked. The head guy said back to me "THE 13 DAYS OF CREEPMAS is a reaction to the continuing incursion of Christmas into Autumn and Halloween, CREEPMAS is a good-natured chance for Halloween lovers to exact revenge by bringing some spooky good cheer into the holidays or, more appropriately, the Hallowdays."
Well, that hooked me. I started mixing to see what, if anything, I could conceive of that would blend both holidays in the same mashup. It really messed with my head, which seemed appropriate as that's just what the merging of all the winter holidays does to ya. I was quite surprised to find I came up with six weirdo holiday blended tracks that were not normal by any standard. I felt rather unsure, but handed all six over anyway, figuring if I didn't make even one onto the comp, it was ok. My longstanding dj slogan has always been "not mandatory". lol.
Here's a list of the six I made up with such futile, yet hopeful naivety.
01 - Weird Christmas Phantom Of The Bass (Jack Blanchard vs The Bassorcist)
02 - I Sit On Christmas At Ground Zero (Weird Al vs Lords Of Acid)
03 - Christmas Rubber Wall (The Beatles vs Dead Phantoms)
04 - Poison Joy To The World (Bob Rivers vs Groove Coverage)
05 - Man Seeks Oh Holy Night (NSync vs Attileo Mineo)
06 - Torso Christmas Bounce (The Bonzo Dog Band vs Fergus Keogh)
This list gives no true measure of how skewed these mixes all are. But the biggest clue is in the 2 that were chosen to actually be on the final ep (extended play, for those of you too young to remember vinyl records). I won't tell you which two were selected, so head over for a surprise! Give yourself a treat outside of mainstream music, & find a new way to express your reaction to all the over-commercialization of the holiday (shopping) season. There's amazingly creative mashups from Cheekyboy, DJ Nono, Sticks Downey, G4Gorilla & me.
See the promo video here
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG2tybXqmSs&feature=youtu.be ) >
Free record available here
( www.monstermashups.co.uk/ )
More Creepmas videos & lots more here
( creepmas.blogspot.com/ )
Mix Of The Week
One of the best long mixes of the year is 'Business As Usual' by Bong, Lenodd, & Stonehigh, 3 blokes who know their way around tunes! This set hits lots of styles & does 'em up better than you can imagine. Containing works by Dennis Williams, Ancient Astronauts, Soft Rocks & even Carly Simon, this is a guaranteed replay.
Stream, or download here
( www.bmbx.org/2011/10/business-as-usual/ )
Mashup Tip : Don't fret over perceived 'audio mistakes'. After proper cutting & pasting, they might make great samples!
Latest Useo Thing
I enteredthe mashup forum GET YOUR BOOTLEG ON's
( www.gybo5.com/ ) weekly mashup challenge. The previous winner offers up acapellas & instrumentals & you got'ta mix a track in 3 days good enough to get people to vote for you. I won last week with my track 'Chick Lit Dirtbag' (Brad Sucks vs We Are Scientists). It was mighty close! I think my track sounds pretty good & you might too!
Listen here
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/11/brad-sucks-vs-we-are-scientists.html )
Hear the other very good tracks entered here
( www.gybo5.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6590 )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
The popular fad of posting other people's mashups under your own name will continue for long years to come. I saw some of mine recently, re-named & posted by some dope who didn't think anyone would notice. Wot a fool!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Bruce is on vacation.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-) From: Scott E FahlmanI propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-) Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(
took the day off.
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Natural Forces
Reader Recommendation
World War II: Pearl Harbor
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny, still cold.
Theater Named For Actor
John Astin
A renovated theater at Johns Hopkins University has been renamed for "The Addams Family" actor John Astin.
Astin starred as Gomez Addams in the television show from 1964 to 1966. He has taught at the university since 2001 and is credited with revitalizing the school's theater program.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the 104-seat John Astin Theater recently underwent a $210,000 makeover.
Astin graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1952.
John Astin
Preferred Holiday Guest
Jennifer Aniston
Actress Jennifer Aniston and her ex-husband Brad Pitt would be the preferred guests at a holiday meal for many Americans, along with the Duchess of Cambridge.
Aniston, the former "Friends" star, topped the list with 30 percent in a survey that asked Americans which celebrity they would like to sit next to at a holiday meal.
Pitt polled third with 16 percent, while the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, came in second with 21 percent.
Actors Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher and reality television star Kim Kardashian rounded out the top choices.
Jennifer Aniston
New Coin Honors Author
Charles Dickens
The Royal Mint has come up with a novel way to wish Charles Dickens a happy 200th birthday - a new coin with a portrait of the author made up of the titles of some of his most famous fictional works.
The two-pound ($3.20) uncirculated collectible coin will be available via the Royal Mint's website for a price of 8.50 pounds ($13) starting this week, officials said.
Coins designed for circulation will be available early next year to mark Dickens' birthday. The celebrated Victorian novelist was born two centuries ago on Feb. 7, 1812.
The design released Tuesday shows a portrait by artist Matthew Dent that uses titles like "David Copperfield" and "A Christmas Carol" to form a silhouette of Dickens' face.
The edge of the coin is inscribed with the quotation "Something will turn up," associated with the ever-optimistic Wilkins Micawber character in "David Copperfield."
Charles Dickens
FCC Commissioner To Retire
Michael Copps
Michael Copps, a longtime Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, says he's retiring by year's end.
Copps, a vocal critic of media consolidation, has been a commissioner since May 2001. He did not give a reason in his public resignation letter Tuesday. He says he still plans to speak about broadband expansion and other issues as a private citizen.
Last year, Copps was the only commissioner to vote against Comcast Corp.'s takeover of NBCUniversal, saying the deal "confers too much power in one company's hands."
His departure would leave two Democrats and one Republican on the FCC, with two vacancies. President Barack Obama has already nominated Jessica Rosenworcel, a former legal adviser to Copps, and Ajit Pai, another former FCC staffer, to fill the seats.
Michael Copps
Wants 7 Dirty Words
Rupert
The network TV home of Glee and Family Guy, will square off against the Federal Communications Commission in a Supreme Court battle over decency standards in January. Fox, which touts its shows as "So brash, so bold, so Fox," is expected to argue that FCC-imposed fines for indecency are unconstitutional.
The FCC fined Fox for its profanity-laced broadcasts during the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards.
In its first ruling, the Supreme Court only addressed "whether the FCC's fine was arbitrary, and sent the case back to a lower court to determine the policy's constitutionality," The Hill reported. Lower courts have since sided with Fox, citing that the FCC's fines violate the First and Fifth Amendments.
The Cato Institute and other libertarian advocacy groups have come to Fox's defense. They hope to see the 1978 FCC v. Pacifica decision overturned. In that case, the high court upheld fines imposed on Pacifica radio stations after the network aired a show titled "Seven Dirty Words."
Rupert
Brainwashing Kids Says Rupert
Muppets
On Fox Business Channel, anchor Eric Bolling showed a clip of the new Disney movie and suggested -- well, no, he said outright -- that the story was aimed at planting the seeds of class warfare among our precious children.
That's because the Muppet-villain is an oil baron called Tex Richman.
"What's actually going on there? Is liberal Hollywood using class warfare to brainwash our kids?" he asked, quite reasonably.
"They've been doing it for decades," rejoined Fox guest Dan Gainor. "Hollywood -- they hate the oil industry, they hate corporate America."
The rest of America must love the oil industry, and has a warm and fuzzy feeling for corporate America. That must be why that Occupy Wall Street thing hasn't gone anywhere.
Muppets
Child-Molestation Crisis In Casting?
Hollywood
First, it was the Catholic Church. Then Penn State. Now, a new child-abuse scandal in Hollywood is raising questions over the safety of minors in the entertainment business and sparking calls for new child-labor regulations.
Last week Martin Weiss, a longtime manager of young talent, was arrested on suspicion of child molestation after an 18-year-old former client told police he had been abused by Weiss 30 to 40 times from 2005 to 2008.
Weiss' arrest came just weeks after it was discovered that a convicted child molester and registered sex offender under the name Jason James Murphy was working in Hollywood and helping cast children for movie roles.
Paul Petersen, a former child actor on "The Donna Reed Show" and founder of A Minor Consideration, a nonprofit that supports former child stars, said the situation is "worse today than it was in the '30s, and there was a lot of dirty stuff going on then."
"We want to have the same protections internationally for children that are enjoyed by animals in the entertainment industry," he told TheWrap. "When a movie says, 'No animals were harmed during the making of this film,' how can we not have that for kids?"
Hollywood
Mrs. Bachmann
GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann learned that protesters often come in adorable packages. A video captures the Minnesota congresswoman greeting 8-year-old Elijah and his mom at a signing event for Bachmann's book, "Core of Conviction: My Story," in South Carolina.
The candidate, who is an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, met her match with the soft-spoken, pint-sized activist. The video shows Bachmann leaning in to listen closely as the youngster whispers, "My mommy's gay, but she doesn't need fixing."
Bachmann bolts back up and manages a "bye bye" as mother and son walk away.
You can watch the video of Bachmann and 8-year-old Elijah here.
Mrs. Bachmann
Chris Matthews' Brother
Jim Matthews
The brother of MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews is accused of lying to a grand jury investigating political corruption in a suburban Philadelphia county.
Montgomery County Commissioner Jim Matthews was arraigned Tuesday on perjury and false-swearing charges stemming from an 18-month grand jury investigation. He was released on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Prosecutors say Matthews lied about his relationship with a title company that does county business.
The investigation also concerned breakfast meetings between Matthews, another commissioner and other county officials. Prosecutors say those meetings appeared to be improper but there was not sufficient evidence to establish they were in violation of the state's Sunshine Act.
Jim Matthews
Won't Be Tried Over Nazi Comments
Lars von Trier
French authorities who filed charges against director Lars von Trier no longer plan to prosecute him for remarks he made about Nazis at a Cannes Film Festival press conference in May.
Grasse public prosecutor Jean-Michel Cailleau said his recommendation to drop the charges had been forwarded to the French Ministry of Justice, which would make its final decision within a couple of weeks.
In August, Grasse authorities had charged von Trier with violating a French law that prohibits anyone from justifying war crimes by "glorifying, praising or at least presenting the crimes in question favorably."
"I found out I was actually a Nazi," he said. "My family was German...which gave me some pleasure. I understand Hitler. He certainly did some wrong things, but I can imagine him sitting in his bunker toward the end … Now how can I get out of this sentence. OK, I'm a Nazi."
After the press conference, von Trier was declared persona non grata by Cannes officials. In October, he was interviewed by Danish police at the behest of the Grasse authorities, who subsequently decided not to pursue the case.
Lars von Trier
Not An American Airlines Fan
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin has been kicked off a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for having words with a flight attendant over a word game he was playing on his cellphone.
Baldwin's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, says the "30 Rock" actor was asked to get off a New York City-bound flight for playing "Words with Friends" while the plane idled at a gate Tuesday.
Baldwin took to Twitter to vent, saying a flight attendant had reamed him.
Baldwin tweeted that it would be his last flight with the airline, and that "Words With Friends" is an addicting game.
Alec Baldwin
Scammed For $20M
Roger Davidson
A prosecutor says a wealthy New York musician has lost $20 million to scammers who persuaded him - after finding a virus on his computer - of threats against him from Central America, Opus Dei and the CIA.
Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore says a Chappaqua man was indicted last week in a scam targeting Roger Davidson, a pianist and composer who lives north of New York City. Davidson is founder and president of the Society for Universal Sacred Music. His great-grandfather and great-uncle founded the oil services company Schlumberger Ltd.
The prosecutor said 37-year-old Vickram Bedi was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of grand larceny. Bedi pleaded not guilty and was held on $5 million bail.
Roger Davidson
Israel Exhibit
Adolf Eichmann
Israel says it's bringing artifacts from its 1960 capture of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann out of the shadows.
Israel's Mossad spy agency is putting original items from Eichmann's capture on display at parliament this month.
Parliament spokesman Yotam Yakir said Thursday that the exhibit will open Dec. 12 in Jerusalem, then will travel to other Israeli venues. Details of the exhibition are being kept classified.
An exhibit this year at Israel's Holocaust memorial included never before seen items such as Eichmann's glasses and wallet.
Adolf Eichmann
First Sunday Talk Show
Mittens
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has booked his first Sunday talk-show appearance in more than a year: on "Fox News Sunday" December 18.
The former Massachusetts governor will talk with host Chris Wallace about the upcoming Iowa caucus and the GOP race to supplant Barack Obama, the network announced.
Romney has not appeared on a Sunday talk show since announcing his intention to run for the presidency. It also continues his string of Fox-only appearances.
Seeking to avoid the verbal gaffes of fellow aspirants such as Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, Romney has stayed on message and shunned impromptu media appearances.
Mittens
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen ratings company for Nov. 28 to Dec. 4. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "The OT," Fox, 19.39 million.
2. NFL Football: Detroit at New Orleans, NBC, 18.9 million.
3. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 14.79 million.
4. "NCIS," CBS, 13.37 million.
5. "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer," CBS, 12.64 million.
6. "60 Minutes," CBS, 11.88 million.
7. "Football Night in America," NBC, 11.21 million.
8. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 11.052 million.
9. "Survivor: South Pacific," CBS, 11.047 million.
10. "The X-Factor" (Wednesday), Fox, 11.045 million.
11. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 10.48 million.
12. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 10.43 million.
13. "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," CBS, 10.39 million.
14. "The X-Factor" (Thursday), Fox, 10.34 million.
15. "Last Man Standing," ABC, 10.32 million.
16. "The Good Wife," CBS, 9.94 million.
17. "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 9.9 million.
18. "Harry's Law," NBC, 9.88 million.
19. "CSI: NY," CBS, 9.76 million.
20. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 9.73 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Violetta Villas
She was a coloratura soprano who spurned opera for popular music, a Polish singer who became a cabaret star in Las Vegas, an artist trapped for years behind the Iron Curtain when she flew home to tend to her dying mother.
Singer Violetta Villas, 73, died late Monday at her home in Lewin Klodzki, a village in southern Poland, local police spokesman Pawel Petrykowski told The Associated Press. Prosecutors have ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said Tuesday.
Villas was born Czeslawa Cieslak in 1938 to a Polish coal miner's family in Belgium.
A unique talent with a trademark cascade of curly blond hair, Villas had a voice that spanned four octaves. Rather then pursue an operatic career, she preferred popular music, a genre that brought her wide popularity in Poland - where the family returned in 1948 after World War II - and abroad.
She once said her career was launched in 1960 by the head of state Polish Radio, composer Wladyslaw Szpilman - whose own story of survival during the Holocaust was the theme of director Roman Polanski's 2003 Oscar-winning movie "The Pianist."
From 1966 to 1969, Villas sang at the Casino de Paris at the famed Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, performing with luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka and Eartha Kitt. She also recorded songs for Capitol Records.
Villas also appeared in movies, including 1969's "Paint Your Wagon" with Lee Marvin and "Heaven with a Gun" with Glenn Ford.
In 1970, she returned to Poland to tend to her ailing mother, but later the communist authorities refused to approve her passport. She was not able to return to the U.S. until 1987, when she had a tour, starting at New York's Carnegie Hall.
Villas was also known as a colorful personality who refused to bend to the requirements of a career. Since the late 1980s, she had given only occasional performances and sometimes failed to turn up for studio recordings.
In recent years she lived alone and ran a shelter for animals in her home yard, but the shelter had to be closed due to overcrowding and insufficient care.
Villas was married twice: in 1954 in Poland to Piotr Gospodarek, and in 1988 in Chicago to Ted Kowalczyk, a businessman of Polish descent. Both marriages ended in divorce.
She is survived by her only son, Krzysztof. No funeral arrangements were immediately known.
Violetta Villas
In Memory
Barbara Orbison
Barbara Orbison, the widow of rock 'n' roll pioneer Roy Orbison, has died in Los Angeles. She was 60.
Family spokeswoman Sarah McMullen says Barbara Orbison died Tuesday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized since May.
Roy Orbison died in 1988. Barbara Orbison was his manager and co-produced a four-CD box set of her husband's 107 recordings after his death. "Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock and Roll" was released in 2008 and contains all of his hits and 12 previously unreleased tracks.
McMullen says Barbara Orbison's Nashville, Tenn.-based publishing company, Still Working Music, was recently awarded BMI's 2010 Song of the Year for Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me."
Last year Barbara Orbison accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on her husband's behalf.
Barbara Orbison
In Memory
Howard Tate
Soul singer Howard Tate has died in his New Jersey apartment a decade after a career resurrection that followed years of tragedy and obscurity.
A spokesman for the Burlington County medical examiner says Tate was 72 when he died of natural causes Friday in Burlington City.
Tate was born in Macon, Ga., and grew up in Philadelphia.
In the late 1960s and early '70s he had three top 20 R&B hits, including "Get It While You Can," written by his longtime producer Jerry Ragovoy and made more famous by Janis Joplin.
But Tate fell into drug addiction and ended up homeless. Ragovoy believed he had died.
Tate made a comeback a decade ago - again with Ragovoy producing. His 2003 release "Rediscovered" was nominated for a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.
Howard Tate
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