M Is FOR MASHUP - RERUN - December 21st, 2011
Have A B00MB0X Christmas!
By DJ Useo
I hope these words find you experiencing some strongly positive Christmas vibes. If, however, things suck, keep the faith, & perservere. We're all in this life together, & you're not alone. Reach out to someone & you'll make it through. If you're lonely, the holiday times can be especially trying. The hours drag. You drink too much corn syrup. It can be a total bummer. I reckon what we all need are some finely-mixed Christmas long mixes. That's where
B00MB0X
( www.bmbx.org/ ) the long mix site comes in. The dj's there, like Bong, Swampmaster, Vepik, & Warvadal always put an extra effort out in December to give you mixes that carry inspiring yuletide spirit. Let's take a quick look at this years blessings.
01 - DJ Riko - Merry Mixmas 2011 - The Merriest Mixmas - This is the 10th annual 'Merry MixMas' set from DJ Riko, & it feaures some of the best bootleg bits from some past shows along with wonderful new parts. It's beautiful, it's nostalgic, it's modern & it's DJ Riko. Need I say more? Tracks included from Jim Nabors, Dread Zeppelin, & Soulwax.
( www.bmbx.org/2011/12/merry-mixmas-2011-the-merriest-mixmas/ )
02 - Lenodd -The 12 Days Selector - Lenodd gives us a splendid Christmas mix with a strongly similar set of funk, hip hop, nostalgia & more. It's amazing how geniuses think alike. I don't believe Riko & Lenodd have ever met, let alone consulted on mixes. Lol. The main thing they appear to have in common is vast experience & ability at deejaying. Set includes James Brown, Yellowman, & Johnny Cash.
( www.bmbx.org/2011/12/the-12-days-selector/ )
03 - Bong - In Santa We Trust - Bong's Christmas mix sets off into the wild blue yonder of Christmas material, while maintain finestkind likeability. If tracks by lesser-known but great artists like The Electric Prunes, The Five Keys, & The Four Aces appeal to you, look
here
( www.bmbx.org/2011/12/in-santa-we-trust/ ) .
04 - S*A*T- It's A Studio1-derful Life - S*A*T delivers one amazing deejay-driven beats mix despite having artists like Bing Crosby, Loius Armstrong & Elvis in it. All is remixed by the best & S*A*T brings it all together. Is Christmas music supposed to be this cool? Decide for yourself
here
( www.bmbx.org/2011/12/its-a-studio1-derful-life/ )
05 - Hidden Persuaders - Is That Your Vinyl Prancer? - Hidden Persuaders brings you a perfect Christmas comfort mix. It touches on a few styles like bootleg, Christmas standard, rock & remix & brings them all together with refined skill. Listen for Saint Etienne, Foghat, The Eels & more
here
( www.bmbx.org/2010/12/is-that-your-vinyl-prancer/ )
06 - Der DiskothekerTM - A Child Was Born - DDTM Dies one awesome Christmas mix. This is for everyone, but especially for those who don't think they'd like Christmas music. I believe this would warm the heart of the toughest Grinch. Here's what S*A*T says "Awesome mix… so dense… kinda begins like a KLF chill out xmas special… then it goes elsewhere… love the trk at about 20 mins (?)… such a long list, can't work it out. Some great finds here also & a cool ending This will definitely be spinning again en route to the big day. cheers again Mr Disco. An excellent xmas soundtrk… I need to listen again. J " Listen for artists like R2D2, Dave Brubeck & Johnny Winter
here
( www.bmbx.org/2010/12/a-child-was-born-2/ )
07 - Vepik- FROSTBI2E - Vepik mixes such a fine Christmas mix one wonders how much north pole elf is in his family lineage? Lol! His new Christmas trance set really encapsulates the spirit of the season, while adhering to the most modern sound. You will hear Sonic Element, Orbital & Hybrid among many more. String some popcorn, pour some nog & listen
here
( www.bmbx.org/2011/12/frostbi2e/ )
Amaze your friends & family & share this article with them for Christmas. Yule be glad you did!
Christmas Podcast Of The Week
Me, DJ Useo, & me wife, DJ Petrushka, host our gift to everyone this Christmas, a great hosted podcast featuring all mashups from members of the Sound-Unsound Mashup forum. Listen for family-friendly Christmas mashups from some of the best bootleggers out there. You'll hear mashups from mARKYbOY, Chocomang,...And Sushi! Productions, and the rest of the gang. Included is the world's great Christmas mashup ever! -Qubic's 'Oíche Suaimhneach, Fir Caoin' (Mediaeval Baebes vs Loreena McKennitt). Also in the show is an unreleased mashup from me called 'Let It Snow Rising' (Frank Sinatra vs Purple Code vs Cubrik) & the unlisted capper is me & Petrushka hosting the 2011 Christmas mashup parade! Listen
here
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/12/sound-unsound-christmas-podcast.html )
Mashup Tip : Add a little bacon grease to your mixing program to ensure extra flavor.
Latest Useo Christmas Thing
I couldn't resist, so I entered another GET YOUR BOOTLEG ON mashup challenge. Last weeks winner OKI chose an appropriate Christmas theme, so I mixed up a Christmas mashup entry. It's called 'Happy Chinese Rock Xmas' & is John Lennon's perennial Christmas fave singing over the roaring punk gee-tars of Johnny Thunder & The Heartbreakers. Listen & see if you think I have a chance of winning. Personal word of mouth is the mix is great. ;)
( groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-punk-song-lennon-vs-johnny.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Santa will look favourably on all who give the gift of mashups, & leave them all some HOT WHEELS cars from the 1970's.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Emma John: "Miranda Hart: this much I know" (Guardian)
The comedian on getting drunk, being lonely and why she'd be a hopeless midwife.
Julie Daneluc: Five reasons to eat cranberries and a homemade sauce
Five healthy reasons to increase your cranberry consumption: 1. Recent studies show cranberries may not be as effective at curing urinary tract infections as we once thought - they are actually better at preventing UTI's!
Matthew Yglesias: Fighting Poverty by Giving Poor People Money (Slate)
A perhaps related point is that when you give a poor household stuff that helps them but in some ways may undercut local businesses involved in the production and distribution of stuff. Transferring purchasing power (i.e. money) to a high-poverty community not only helps the recipient, but creates economic opportunities for others to obtain that money by providing useful goods and services.
Frazier Moore: 2 actors we loved knowing, who seemed to know us (SF Gate)
What a couple of mugs, sporting less-than-perfect physiques in the bargain. But was there anything lovelier than Jack Klugman or Charles Durning doing what they did for an audience?
Jack O'Brien: 5 Actors Who Do the Exact Same Thing in Every Movie (Cracked)
#4. Tom Cruise Will Find an Excuse to Make You Watch Him Sprint
David Wong: 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person (Cracked)
If you want to know why society seems to shun you, or why you seem to get no respect, it's because society is full of people who need things. ... Either you will go about the task of seeing to those needs by learning a unique set of skills, or the world will reject you, no matter how kind, giving and polite you are. You will be poor, you will be alone, you will be left out in the cold.
David Wong: 14 Photographs That Shatter Your Image of Famous People (Cracked)
#14. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Pool Hustler
James Wood Gets Personal (Daily Beast)
Is the best literary critic of our time moving away from criticism, and does his new collection 'The Fun Stuff' hint at a different direction? Jimmy So profiles James Wood.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast but no rain.
Won't Run For US Senate
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.
Affleck says in a Monday posting on his Facebook page that while he loves the political process, he will not be running for public office.
Speculation about the Cambridge, Mass., native rose slightly when he did not completely rule out a Senate bid during an appearance on CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday.
In his Facebook posting, Affleck says he would continue working with the Eastern Congo Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps direct humanitarian aid to the war-torn region, and for other causes.
Ben Affleck
Copied Worldwide
Little Free Library
It started as a simple tribute to his mother, a teacher and bibliophile. Todd Bol put up a miniature version of a one-room schoolhouse on a post outside his home in this western Wisconsin city, filled it with books and invited his neighbors to borrow them.
They loved it, and began dropping by so often that his lawn became a gathering spot. Then a friend in Madison put out some similar boxes and got the same reaction. More home-crafted libraries began popping up around Wisconsin's capital.
Three years later, the whimsical boxes are a global sensation. They number in the thousands and have spread to at least 36 countries, in a testimonial to the power of a good idea, the simple allure of a book and the wildfire of the internet.
"It's weird to be an international phenomenon," said Bol, a former international business consultant who finds himself at the head of what has become the Little Free Libraries organization. The book-sharing boxes are being adopted by a growing number of groups as a way of promoting literacy in inner cities and underdeveloped countries.
Bol, his Madison friend Rick Brooks, and helpers run the project from a funky workshop with a weathered wood facade in an otherwise nondescript concrete industrial building outside Hudson, a riverside community of 12,000 about 20 miles east of downtown St. Paul, Minn. They build wooden book boxes in a variety of styles, ranging from basic to a miniature British-style phone booth, and offer them for sale on the group's website, which also offers plans for building your own. Sizes vary. The essential traits are that they are eye-catching and protect the books from the weather.
Little Free Library
Retracted Science Studies
2012
When you read about medical breakthroughs in the newspapers, you shouldn't get your hopes up. This is not because of journalistic hyperbole or even the fact that cures often are years away from the initial publication of result.
It seems that an increasing number of scientific studies are just plain wrong and are ultimately retracted. Worse, a study published in October 2012 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (uh, if it's true) claims that the majority of retractions are due to some type of misconduct, and not honest mistakes, as long assumed.
The blog Retraction Watch tracks such retractions and has notified its readers of hundreds of journal-article withdrawals in 2012 alone. The king of retractions, according to Retraction Watch, is Japanese anesthesiologist Yoshitaka Fujii, who falsified data in 172 of 212 of his papers published between 1993 and 2011. All of this came to light in 2012.
Sadly, fudged studies create false hopes, and they also sully the reputation and publication record of the co-authors, often students, who weren't aware of the fraudulent behavior.
2012
Christmas Eve Outage
Netflix
An outage at one of Amazon's web service centers hit users of Netflix Inc.'s streaming video service on Christmas Eve and was not fully resolved until Christmas day, a spokesman for the movie rental company said on Tuesday.
The outage impacted Netflix subscribers across Canada, Latin America and the United States, and affected various devices that enable users to stream movies and television shows from home, Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said. Such devices range from gaming consoles such as Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 to Blu-ray players.
Evers said that the issue was the result of an outage at an Amazon Web Services' cloud computing center in Virginia, and started at about 12:30 p.m. PST (2030 GMT) on Monday and was fully restored Tuesday morning, although streaming was available for most users late on Monday.
An outage at Amazon Web Services, or AWS, knocked out such sites as Reddit and Foursquare in April of last year.
Netflix
Abuse Files Published
Boy Scouts
The Times on Tuesday released about 1,200 previously unpublished files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on volunteers and employees expelled for suspected sexual abuse.
The files, which have been redacted of victims' names and other identifying information, were opened from 1985 through 1991. They can be found in a database along with two decades of files released by order of the Oregon Supreme Court in October. The database also contains summary information on about 3,200 additional files opened from 1947 to 2005 that have not been released publicly.
Together, the material in the database represents the most complete accounting of suspected sexual abuse in the Scouts that has been made public. All of the material was obtained as a result of lawsuits against the Scouts by alleged abuse victims or by media organizations. The Boy Scouts kept the files for nearly a century for internal use only, to keep suspected abusers from rejoining.
About as many files were opened in the six years before 1991 as in the previous two decades. At least in part, that reflects greater reporting of accusations, as awareness of child sexual abuse rose in the Scouts and society at large. About that time, the Scouts launched a concerted effort to train youths and adults on how to identify and prevent sexual abuse.
The files do not represent a complete accounting of alleged abuse in Scouting. Experts say many cases probably were not reported to the national office, and the Scouts say the organization destroyed an unknown number of files over the years.
Boy Scouts
Mark Hangings Of 1862
Dakota Indians
The day after Christmas will be somber for Dakota Indians marking what they consider a travesty of justice 150 years ago, when 38 of their ancestors were executed in the biggest mass hanging in U.S. history.
Overshadowed by the Civil War raging in the East, the hangings in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, followed the often overlooked six-week U.S.-Dakota war earlier that year -- a war that marked the start of three decades of fighting between Native Americans and the U.S. government across the Plains.
President Abraham Lincoln intervened in the case, demanding a review that reduced the number of death sentences. But he allowed 38 to be executed, including two men historians believe were hanged in error, even as he was preparing the Emancipation Proclamation to free black slaves in the South.
This month, in an annual event that started in 2005, some Dakota are making a 300-mile trek on horseback in frigid winter temperatures to revive the memory of this footnote in U.S. history.
This year's ride began on December 10 in Crow Creek, South Dakota, the reservation the Dakota were exiled to from Minnesota after the executions. It ends on December 26 in Mankato, where riders will attend a ceremony to remember the hangings.
Dakota Indians
Girds For More Tsunami Debris
West Coast
Volunteers who patrol California beaches for plastic, cigarette butts and other litter will be on the lookout this winter for flotsam from last year's monstrous tsunami off Japan's coast.
Armed with index-size cards, beachcombers will log water bottles, buoys, fishing gear and other possessions that might have sailed across the Pacific to the 1,100-mile shoreline.
The March 2011 disaster washed about 5 million tons of debris into the sea. Most of that sank, leaving an estimated 1 1/2 million tons afloat. No one knows how much debris - strewn across an area three times the size of the United States - is still adrift.
Like the past winter, scientists expect the bulk of the debris to end up in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and British Columbia. Last week, the Coast Guard spotted a massive dock that possibly came from Japan on a wilderness beach in Washington state.
Given recent storm activity, Northern California could see "scattered and intermittent" episodes, said Peter Murphy, a marine debris expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which recently received a $5 million donation from Japan to track and remove tsunami debris.
West Coast
In Memory
Charles Durning
Charles Durning grew up in poverty, lost five of his nine siblings to disease, barely lived through D-Day and was taken prisoner at the Battle of the Bulge.
His hard life and wartime trauma provided the basis for a prolific 50-year career as a consummate Oscar-nominated character actor, playing everyone from a Nazi colonel to the pope to Dustin Hoffman's would-be suitor in "Tootsie."
Durning, who died Monday at age 89 in New York, got his start as an usher at a burlesque theater in Buffalo, N.Y. When one of the comedians showed up too drunk to go on, Durning took his place. He would recall years later that he was hooked as soon as he heard the audience laughing.
Although he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen, Durning may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically corrupt governor in 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
Many critics marveled that such a heavyset man could be so nimble in the film's show-stopping song-and-dance number, not realizing Durning had been a dance instructor early in his career. Indeed, he had met his first wife, Carol, when both worked at a dance studio.
The year after "Best Little Whorehouse," Durning received another Oscar nomination, for his portrayal of a bumbling Nazi officer in Mel Brooks' "To Be or Not to Be." He was also nominated for a Golden Globe as the harried police lieutenant in 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon."
He won a Golden Globe as best supporting TV actor in 1991 for his portrayal of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald in the TV film "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" and a Tony in 1990 as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
Durning had begun his career on stage, getting his first big break when theatrical producer Joseph Papp hired him for the New York Shakespeare Festival.
He went on to work regularly, if fairly anonymously, through the 1960s until his breakout role as a small town mayor in the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play "That Championship Season" in 1972.
He quickly made an impression on movie audiences the following year as the crooked cop stalking con men Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the Oscar-winning comedy "The Sting."
Dozens of notable portrayals followed. He was the would-be suitor of Dustin Hoffman, posing as a female soap opera star in "Tootsie;" the infamous seller of frog legs in "The Muppet Movie;" and Chief Brandon in Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy." He played Santa Claus in four different movies made for television and was the pope in the TV film "I Would be Called John: Pope John XXIII."
Other films included "The Front Page," ''The Hindenburg," ''Breakheart Pass," ''North Dallas Forty," ''Starting Over," ''Tough Guys," ''Home for the Holidays," ''Spy Hard" and 'O Brother Where Art Thou?"
Durning also did well in television as a featured performer as well as a guest star. He appeared in the short-lived series "The Cop and the Kid" (1975), "Eye to Eye" (1985) and "First Monday" (2002) as well as the four-season "Evening Shade" in the 1990s.
Durning's rugged early life provided ample material on which to base his later portrayals. He was born into an Irish family of 10 children in 1923, in Highland Falls, N.Y., a town near West Point. His father was unable to work, having lost a leg and been gassed during World War I, so his mother supported the family by washing the uniforms of West Point cadets.
The younger Durning himself would barely survive World War II.
He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.
In later years, he refused to discuss the military service for which he was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.
"Too many bad memories," he told an interviewer in 1997. "I don't want you to see me crying."
Tragedy also stalked other members of his family. Durning was 12 when his father died, and five of his sisters lost their lives to smallpox and scarlet fever.
A high school counselor told him he had no talent for art, languages or math and should learn office skills. But after seeing "King Kong" and some of James Cagney's films, Durning knew what he wanted to do.
Leaving home at 16, he worked in a munitions factory, on a slag heap and in a barbed-wire factory.
Durning and his first wife had three children before divorcing in 1972. In 1974, he married his high school sweetheart, Mary Ann Amelio.
He is survived by his children, Michele, Douglas and Jeannine. The family planned to have a private family service and burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Charles Durning
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