Some context: Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an experimental multi-genre music producer, electronic musician, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper from Los Angeles, California. Flying Lotus has released five studio albums--1983 (2006), Los Angeles (2008), Cosmogramma (2010), Until the Quiet Comes (2012) and You're Dead! (2014)--to critical acclaim.
At his mother's house, Ellison saw an advertisement on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network asking for song submissions. He sent some in, under the name Flying Lotus (a moniker inspired by lucid dreaming) and was accepted.  Around this time, he was interning at the pioneering hip hop label Stones Throw Records. Days were spent in their offices, and nights were spent at his grandmothers, working on the music that would become his debut album: 1983. The record (released on LA indie label Plug Research) was an early touchstone for Ellison's eclectic creative mission, forging compressed, spacey and Eastern sounding hip-hop beats, that summoned Madlib as much as Dntel, while sampling as far back as 70s Japanese proto-synthpop and 60s jazz harp. It would also feature Laura Darlington, who went on to become a vocal fixture of future albums.  In 2006, Ellison participated in that year's annual Red Bull Music Academy, which took place in Melbourne, Australia. In 2007, he announced on CSU-Fullerton's Titan Radio that he signed with Warp Records (home to Prefuse 73, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin). Following his Warp debut, the six-track Reset EP, he quickly became one of the label's cornerstone artists and released his second studio album, titled Los Angeles, on June 10, 2008.  His first release on Warp, Reset EP, gave his new audience a taste of the steady grooves and darker breaks that had earned him the move. As Ellison's profile rose, he decided to commandeer the limelight by launching his own label, Brainfeeder, to house his friends (Samiyam, Ras G, etc.) and unite a large section of the LA beat scene under one label.
was the album a hit?
A: one of the label's cornerstone artists and released his second studio album, titled Los Angeles, on
Some context: Randi was born on August 7, 1928 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Marie Alice (nee Paradis) and George Randall Zwinge. He has a younger brother and sister. He took up magic after seeing Harry Blackstone Sr. and reading conjuring books while spending 13 months in a body cast following a bicycle accident. He confounded doctors who expected he would never walk again.
Randi is the author of ten books, among them Conjuring (1992), a biographical history of noted magicians. The book is subtitled Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC! The book's cover says that it is by "James Randi, Esq., A Contrite Rascal Once Dedicated to these Wicked Practices but Now Almost Totally Reformed". The book selects the most influential magicians and tells some of their history, often in the context of strange deaths and careers on the road. This work expanded on Randi's second book titled Houdini, His Life and Art. This illustrated work was published in 1976 and was co-authored with Bert Sugar. It focuses on the professional and private life of Houdini.  Randi also wrote a children's book in 1989 titled The Magic World of the Amazing Randi, which introduced children to magic tricks. In addition to his magic books, he has written several educational works about paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. These include biographies of Uri Geller and Nostradamus as well as reference material on other major paranormal figures. He is currently working on A Magician in the Laboratory, which recounts his application of skepticism to science. He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of his good friend Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers.  Other books are Flim-Flam! (1982), The Faith Healers (1987), James Randi, Psychic Investigator (1991), Test Your ESP Potential (1982) and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995).  Randi was a regular contributor to Skeptic magazine, penning the "'Twas Brillig..." column, and also served on its editorial board. He is also a frequent contributor to Skeptical Inquirer magazine, which is published by CSI, of which he is also a Fellow.
Anything else interesting about his books
A: Randi was a regular contributor to Skeptic magazine,
Some context: Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff  was born on April 3, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Alma Sophia (nee Welz), a housewife, and William Joseph Kappelhoff, a music teacher and choir master. All of her grandparents were German immigrants. For most of her life, Day reportedly believed she had been born in 1924 and reported her age accordingly; it was not until her 95th birthday, when the Associated Press found her birth certificate, showing a 1922 date, that she learned otherwise. The youngest of three siblings, she had two older brothers: Richard (who died before her birth) and Paul, 2-3 years older.
Having become primarily recognized as a musical-comedy actress, Day gradually took on more dramatic roles to broaden her range. Her dramatic star-turn as singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me (1955), co-starring James Cagney, received critical and commercial success, becoming Day's biggest hit thus far. Day said it was her best film performance. Producer Joe Pasternak said, "I was stunned that Doris did not get an Oscar nomination." The soundtrack album from that movie was a No. 1 hit.  Day starred in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense film, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with James Stewart. She sang two songs in the film, "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and "We'll Love Again". The film was Day's 10th movie to be in the Top 10 at the box office. In 1956, Day played the title role in the thriller/noir Julie with Louis Jourdan.  After three successive dramatic films, Day returned to her musical/comedic roots in 1957's The Pajama Game with John Raitt. The film was based on the Broadway play of the same name. She worked with Paramount Pictures for the comedy Teacher's Pet (1958), alongside Clark Gable and Gig Young. She co-starred with Richard Widmark and Gig Young in the romantic comedy film, The Tunnel of Love (1958), but found scant success opposite Jack Lemmon in It Happened to Jane (1959).  Billboard's annual nationwide poll of disc jockeys had ranked Day as the No. 1 female vocalist nine times in ten years (1949 through 1958), but her success and popularity as a singer was now being overshadowed by her box-office appeal.
what was her breakk through
A:
Her dramatic star-turn as singer Ruth Etting in Love Me or Leave Me (1955), co-starring James Cagney,