Thursday, January 30, 2014

Pete Seeger



Peter "PeteSeeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and left-wing activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, most notably their recording ofLead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmamentcivil rightscounterculture and environmental causes.
A prolific songwriter, his best-known songs include "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (with Joe Hickerson), "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" (with Lee Hays of the Weavers), and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (lyrics adapted from Ecclesiastes), which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are sung throughout the world. "Flowers" was a hit recording for the Kingston Trio (1962); Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962); and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while the Byrds had a number one hit with "Turn! Turn! Turn!" in 1965.
Seeger was one of the folksingers most responsible for popularizing the spiritual "We Shall Overcome" (also recorded by Joan Baez and many other singer-activists) that became the acknowledged anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement, soon after folk singer and activist Guy Carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. In the PBS American Masters episode "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song", Seeger stated it was he who changed the lyric from the traditional "We will overcome" to the more singable "We shall overcome".

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Ben Stiller

Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller 

(born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

After beginning his acting career with a play, Stiller wrote several mockumentaries, and was offered his own show entitled The Ben Stiller Show, which he produced and hosted for its entire run: 13 episodes. Having previously acted in television, he began acting in films; he made his directorial debut with Reality Bites.

Throughout his career he has written, starred in, directed, and/or produced over 50 films, including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Zoolander, There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, DodgeBall, Tropic Thunder, the Madagascar series, Night at the Museum, and the sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. In addition, he has had multiple cameos in music videos, television shows, and films.


Stiller is a member of the comedic acting brotherhood colloquially known as the Frat Pack. His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film.[2] Throughout his career, he has received several awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, several MTV Movie Awards, and a Teen Choice Award.

Owen Wilson



Owen Cunningham Wilson

(born November 18, 1968)

is an American actor and screenwriter born in Dallas, Texas. He is the middle child of three brothers; siblings Andrew and Luke Wilson are also actors.

Wilson is known for his long association with the filmmaker Wes Anderson, having shared co-writing and acting credits in the films Bottle Rocket (1996), which was his acting debut, and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and for his collaborations with fellow actor Ben Stiller. The two have appeared in eight films together.

Wilson is best known for his roles in Meet the Parents (2000), Zoolander (2001), Wedding Crashers (2005), Night at the Museum (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Midnight in Paris (2011), and The Internship (2013), as well as for his voice role as Lightning McQueen in Pixar's Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (2011).

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Jason Mraz

Jason Thomas Mraz (/məˈræz/;[1] born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter of Czech origin. Mraz first came to prominence on the San Diego coffee house scene in 2000.[2] At one of these coffee houses, Mraz met percussionist Toca Rivera and released Live at Java Joe's. He released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, Mr. A-Z, in 2005, that Mraz achieved major commercial success. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold over 100,000 copies in the US. In 2008, Mraz released his third studio album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and was a commercial success worldwide, peaking in the top ten of many international charts.
Mraz's international breakthrough came with the release of the single "I'm Yours" from the album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Mraz his first top ten single. The song was on the Hot 100 for 76 weeks, beating the previous record of 69 weeks held by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live". The song was a commercial success in the US, receiving a 5x platinum certification from the RIAA for sales of over five million.[3] The song was successful internationally, topping the charts in New Zealand and Norway and peaking in the top ten of multiple international charts.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Red Skelton



Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton
(July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) 

was an American entertainer best known for being a national radio and television comedian between 1937 and 1971 and host of the long-running television program The Red Skelton Show. 

Skelton, who has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, began his show business career in his teens as a circus clown and continued on vaudeville and Broadway and in films, radio, TV, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Pope Francis



Pope Francis 

Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio
(Born: 17 December 1936) 

is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, having been elected Bishop of Rome and absolute Sovereign of the Vatican City State.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before entering the seminary.

He was ordained a priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and was created a Cardinal in 2001. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, the subsequent papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March.

He chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first non-European Pope since Pope Gregory III, 1272 years earlier.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Apple iPhone 5

The iPhone 

is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs Apple's iOS mobile operating system.[14] The first generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007; the most recent iPhones, the seventh-generation iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, were introduced on September 10, 2013.

The user interface is built around the device's multi-touch screen, including a virtual keyboard. The iPhone has Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity (2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE). An iPhone can shoot video (though this was not a standard feature until the iPhone 3GS), take photos, play music, send and receive email, browse the web, send texts, and receive visual voicemail. Other functions — video games, reference works, GPS navigation, social networking, etc. — can be enabled by downloading application programs (‘apps’); as of October 2013, the App Store offered more than one million apps by Apple and third parties.

There are seven generations of iPhone models, each accompanied by one of the six major releases of iOS. The original 1st-generation iPhone was a GSM phone and established design precedents, such as a button placement that has persisted through all models and a screen size maintained for the next four iterations. The iPhone 3G added 3G cellular network capabilities and A-GPS location. The iPhone 3GS added a faster processor and a higher-resolution camera that could record video at 480p. The iPhone 4 featured a higher-resolution 960×640 "Retina Display", a VGA front-facing camera for video calling and other apps, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with 720p video capture.[16] The iPhone 4S upgrades to an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording, a dual-core A5 processor, and a natural language voice control system called Siri.

iPhone 5 features the dual-core A6 processor, increases the size of the Retina display to 4 inches, and replaces the 30-pin connector with an all-digital Lightning connector. The iPhone 5S features the dual-core 64-bit A7 processor, an updated camera with a larger aperture and dual-LED flash, and the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, integrated into the home button. iPhone 5C features the same A6 chip as the iPhone 5, along with a new backside-illuminated FaceTime camera and a new casing made of polycarbonate. As of 2013, the iPhone 3GS had the longest production run, 1181 days; followed by the iPhone 4, produced for 1174 days.

The resounding sales of the iPhone have been credited with reshaping the smartphone industry and helping make Apple one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies in 2011–12.

The iPhone is the top-selling phone of any kind in some countries, including the United States and Japan.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Jack Haley as the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz

John Joseph "Jack" Haley (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American stageradio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man in the now-classic film The Wizard of Oz. In the same film, he also played Hickory, one of the three farmhands that Dorothy, in her "dream", imagines as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Loki




Thomas William "Tom" Hiddleston

(born 9 February 1981)

 is an English actor. He is best known for playing the character of Loki in the Marvel Studios films Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), and Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Other notable roles have included Steven Spielberg's World War I film War Horse (2011), the British drama The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Woody Allen's romantic comedy Midnight in Paris (2011), and the 2012 BBC series Henry IV and Henry V.

He won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight and Best Villain in 2013 for his role in The Avengers.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Lori "Lolo" Jones.


Lori "Lolo" Jones.


(born August 5, 1982) is an American track and field and bobsled athlete who specializes in the 60 and 100 meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at LSU. 

She won indoor national titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the 60 m hurdles, with gold medals at the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and 2010.

She was favored to win the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but tripped on the penultimate hurdle, finishing in seventh place. She went on to win silver at the 2008 World Athletics Final. Jones is the American record holder in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.72.

Jones also competes as a brakeman on the U.S. national bobsled team. She won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2013 World Championships.