1.
Will Ferrell
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John William Will Ferrell is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. The two also founded the comedy website Funny or Die in 2007, Other films roles include Elf, Old School, Blades of Glory, and the animated films Megamind and The Lego Movie. He received an Emmy Award nomination for his work on Saturday Night Live and he was also named the best comedian of 2015 in the British GQ Men of the Year awards. Ferrell received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 26,2015. Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay, a teacher who taught at Old Mill School elementary school and Santa Ana College and his parents were both natives of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and moved to California in 1964. Ferrells ancestry includes English, German, and Irish and he has a younger brother named Patrick. When he was eight years old, his parents divorced, Ferrell said of the divorce, I was the type of kid who would say, Hey, look at the bright side. The divorce was amicable and both parents were committed to their children, the biggest problem was his fathers line of work. As a person in business, his paychecks were never steady. Growing up in this environment made Ferrell not want to go into show business, will first attended school at Turtle Rock Elementary and later attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, both in Irvine. He attended University High School in Irvine, and was a kicker for the varsity football team. He was also on the team and captain of the basketball team. Ferrell called third grade a pivotal year and he realized he could make his classmates laugh if he pretended to smash his head against the wall, or if he tripped and fell on purpose, and said it was a great way to make friends. He said the dullness of Irvine contributed to the growth of his humor, Growing up in suburbia, in safe, master-planned Irvine and my main form of entertainment was cracking my friends up and exploring new ways of being funny. I didnt have to have the survival mode instinct like other comics, for me, I grew up in Mayberry, and the humor broke the boredom. And there was a lot to make fun of, in his senior year of high school, Ferrell and a friend would perform comedy skits over the schools intercom system, with cooperation from the principal, the two had to write their own material. Ferrell also performed comedic skits in the talent shows. He won the Best Personality superlative voted by his classmates and he enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied Sports Broadcasting and joined the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
2.
George W. Bush
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George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was also the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 and he is the eldest son of Barbara and George H. W. Bush. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election and he is the second president to assume the nations highest office after his father, following the lead of John Quincy Adams. He is also a brother of Jeb Bush, a former Governor of Florida who was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 presidential election, the September 11 terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bushs first term as president. Bush responded with what became known as the Bush Doctrine, launching a War on Terror, a military campaign that included the war in Afghanistan in 2001. He also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, Social Security reform and his tenure included national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and torture. In the 2004 Presidential race, Bush defeated Democratic Senator John Kerry in another close election. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the spectrum for his handling of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina. Amid this criticism, the Democratic Party regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections, Bush left office in 2009, returning to Texas where he purchased a home in Crawford. He wrote a memoir, Decision Points and his presidential library was opened in 2013. His presidency has been ranked among the worst in historians polls published in the late 2000s and 2010s. George Walker Bush was born on July 6,1946, at Grace-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, as the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and his wife, the former Barbara Pierce. He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953. His grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U. S and his father, George H. W. Bush, was Ronald Reagans Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st U. S. President from 1989 to 1993. Bush has English and some German ancestry, along with more distant Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until the family moved to Houston after he had completed seventh grade. He then spent two years at The Kinkaid School, a school in Houston. Bush attended high school at Phillips Academy, a school in Andover, Massachusetts
3.
Cort Theatre
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The Cort Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theater District of midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is owned by the Shubert Organization, the largest owner of Broadway theatres, the Cort Theatre was designated a New York City landmark on November 17,1987. John Cort, founder of the Northwestern Theatrical Association, commissioned architect Thomas W. Lamb to design the theater and its façade was modeled on the Petit Trianon in Versailles. The resulting 1082-seat Cort Theater is one of the few Lamb theaters still extant, the interior was designed in the style of the era of Louis XVI, with a Pavanozza marble lobby with plasterwork panels. The arch of the stage consists of perforated plaster treated with art glass. The arch still exists as of 2007, although the feature is no longer in operation. The Cort Theatre opened on December 20,1912 with Laurette Taylor starring in the play Peg o My Heart, which ran for 603 performances, an auspicious start for the new venue. Numerous famous British actors have appeared at the Cort, Basil Rathbone played Dr. Nicholas Agi in The Swan in October 1923 and this was also the theatre where the aspiring actor James Dean made his broadway debut in 1952 with the play See The Jaguar. The Shubert Organization purchased the theatre in 1927, two years before John Corts death, the theatre was used as a television studio for The Merv Griffin Show from 1969 to 1972. However, in the scene where the theater blows up, the marquee of the Cort Theater can be seen, the Tony Award-winning revival of Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, achieved the box office record for the Cort Theatre. The production grossed $1,175,626 over eight performances, notes Bibliography Parker, John Whos Who in the Theatre, London,1947, pp. 477-478,1184. Official website Cort Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database Broadway Theatre Guide
4.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
5.
Broadway theatre
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Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would later revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
6.
Adam McKay
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Adam McKay is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, comedian, and actor. McKay served as writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for two seasons. He directed Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, McKay has a creative partnership with actor Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote all except one of these films. The Big Short was the first film McKay directed without Ferrell in the cast, McKay and Ferrell produced their comedy website Funny or Die through their company Gary Sanchez Productions also HBOs Eastbound & Down. McKay was born in 1968 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a cocktail waitress mother and he graduated from Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn State and Temple University. McKay dropped out from the university a semester-and-a-half before he was set to earn his bachelor’s and he described it as, settling with an imaginary degree”. While a member of the mainstage cast at Second City, he wrote and performed in that companys landmark revue, the latter performance was excerpted in Second Citys 40th anniversary compilation. Mckay serves on the Creative Council of Represent. Us, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization, McKay has an essential tremor, a benign neurological disorder that sometimes causes shaking. He is also a supporter of the Democratic Party and other liberal causes and he endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States during the 2016 Presidential Election. In 1996, he married director and actress Shira Piven, who directed the 2014 feature film Welcome to Me starring Kristen Wiig and his brother-in-law is actor Jeremy Piven. McKay originally auditioned for Saturday Night Live to be an onscreen performer, however, the scripts he submitted to the long-running sketch show earned him a job as writer from 1995 to 2001, including three seasons as head writer. He also directed a number of films for the show. McKay encouraged his Second City friend Tina Fey to submit some of her scripts to Saturday Night Live, in 2007, Ferrell and McKay launched the user-submitted comedy video site Funny or Die. A video on the site, titled The Landlord features both him and his daughter, Pearl, whom Ferrell and his wife bait to say curse words. Pearl also starred in a video titled Good Cop, Baby Cop. Ferrell. He rewrote the script for the Marvel Studios feature film Ant-Man, in addition to Eastbound & Down, he has also produced the TV series Big Lake, the miniseries The Spoils of Babylon, and The Chris Gethard Show. McKay directed and co-wrote with Ferrell the George W. Bush Broadway show and he produced the horror-action film Hansel and Gretel, Witch Hunters. McKay is in talks to direct the remake of Uptown Saturday Night, with Denzel Washington, McKay directed the TV movie documentary Lifecasters
7.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
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Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Adam McKay, produced by Judd Apatow, starring Will Ferrell, and written by McKay and Ferrell. The film is a take on the culture of the 1970s. It portrays a San Diego TV station where Ferrells title character clashes with his new female counterpart and this film is number 100 on Bravos 100 funniest movies, number 6 on TimeOuts top 100 comedy films of all time and 113 on Empires 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. The film made $28.4 million in its opening weekend, a companion film assembled from outtakes and abandoned subplots, titled Wake Up, Ron Burgundy, The Lost Movie, was released straight-to-DVD in late 2004. A sequel, Anchorman 2, The Legend Continues, was released on December 18,2013, in 1974, Ron Burgundy is the famous anchorman for a local San Diego television station, fictional KVWN channel 4. Ed later informs the team that they have forced to hire Veronica Corningstone. After a series of attempts by the team to seduce her, she finally relents and agrees to a professional tour of the city with Ron. Despite agreeing to keep the relationship discreet, Ron announces it on air as well as shouting in the office, after a dispute with a motorcyclist involving Rons dog Baxter being punted off the San Diego–Coronado Bridge, Ron is late to work. Veronica fills in for him on-air, gets higher ratings than Burgundy normally gets, Veronica is made co-anchor, to the disgust of the team, and both co-anchors become fierce rivals on and off the air. Depressed, the team decides to buy new suits, but Brick. Confronted by main competitor Wes Mantooth and his news team, Ron challenges them to a fight, however, when several other news teams converge onsite, a full-on melee ensues, only to be broken up by police sirens and causing them to flee. One of Veronicas co-workers informs her that Ron will read anything written on the teleprompter, so she sneaks into the station, the next day, Ron concludes the broadcast with Go fuck yourself, San Diego. Instead of his closing line, You stay classy, San Diego. Subsequently triggering an angry mob outside the studio and prompting Ed to fire Ron, knowing she went too far, Veronica attempts to apologize, but Burgundy angrily dismisses her. Burgundy becomes unemployed, friendless, and heavily antagonized by the public while Veronica enjoys fame, Ed also informs Champ, Brick, and Brian that if they see Ron they may not speak with him or they will be fired. Three months later, when a panda is about to give birth, in an attempt to sabotage her, a rival news anchor pushes Veronica into a Kodiak bear enclosure. When Ed could not locate Veronica, he recruits Ron, once at the zoo, Ron jumps in the bear pen to save Veronica, as the public watches helplessly. The news team then jumps in to save Ron and Veronica, just as a bear is about to attack, Baxter, who miraculously survived, appears and persuades the bear to spare them
8.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
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Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a 2006 American sports comedy film directed by Adam McKay and stars Will Ferrell, while written by both McKay and Ferrell. Additionally, the film features John C, reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole and Michael Clarke Duncan, and appearances by Saturday Night Live alumni. NASCAR drivers Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. make cameos, as do broadcasting teams from NASCAR on Fox, Talladega Nights was Pat Hingles last film before his death in 2009. Andy Hillenburgs Fast Track Enterprises and K4 Motorsports combined to race cars, hauler transportation. Previously, the companies assisted Herbie, Fully Loaded,3, The Dale Earnhardt Story, within Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, K4 Motorsports created custom wrapping for specific race cars, notably Bobbys ME car. Ricky Bobby is a man who grows up dreaming of going fast, while working on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver, Terry Cheveaux, Bobby acts as a replacement driver after Terry decides to take a break while in last place. After starting in last place in place of Cheveaux, Bobby finishes in third place, Bobby becomes the new great in the NASCAR and gains fame and fortune at Dennit Racing. While racing, he meets his wife, Carley, after she flashes her breasts. Bobby persuades Dennit Racing to sponsor a team car. Bobby arranges to have his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. on his team, while Bobby and Naughton succeed throughout competitions, their new teammate, openly gay French Formula One rival Jean Girard is tough to beat. He outperforms them to become Dennit Racings latest success story, in a bar, Jean tries to force Ricky into saying I like crepes Ricky refuses, and Girard breaks Rickys arm. Desperate to dominate, Bobby exceeds his limitations and crashes at Charlotte Motor Speedway, while paramedics attempt to take him to the hospital, Bobby runs around on the track. Wearing only his helmet and underwear, Bobby insists he is on fire, during his recovery, Bobby believes he is paralyzed. After deliberately stabbing himself in the leg, he realizes that he is not, now, Bobby is eager to rejoin the NASCAR circuit. Before a race at Rockingham Speedway, Bobby completed a test drive, Bobby is fired from Dennit Racing and his pit crew now works for Girard. Jamie McMurray acts as Bobbys replacement for the Wonder Bread car, desperate to remain wealthy, Carley divorces Bobby and marries Naughton. After accusing Naughton of ruining his life, Bobby ends their friendship, Ricky moves in with his mom, Lucy Bobby. Bobbys two trash talking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, join him as he works as a delivery man
9.
West Texas
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West Texas is a loosely defined part of the U. S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Fort Worth and Del Rio. There is no consensus on the boundary between eastern and western Texas, West Texas is often subdivided according to distinct physiographic features. The portion of West Texas that lies west of the Pecos River is often referred to as Far West Texas or the Trans-Pecos, the Trans-Pecos lies within the Chihuahuan Desert, the most arid portion of the state. Another part of West Texas is the Llano Estacado, a vast region of high, level plains extending into Eastern New Mexico, to the east of the Llano Estacado lies the “redbed country” of the Rolling Plains and to the south of the Llano Estacado lies the Edwards Plateau. The Rolling Plains and the Edwards Plateau subregions act as transitional zones between eastern and western Texas, the counties included in the West Texas region vary depending on the organization. West Texas has a lower population density than the rest of the state. It was once inhabited by nomadic Native American tribes, such as the Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa. This period was marked with savage war waged between the US Army, frontier Texans, and the Texas Rangers on one side and native peoples on the other. During the later 19th century, the population of Americans. This period was marked by the mapping and geographical intelligence collection of a denied area held by hostile Indian tribes. In turn, the Comanche way of war reached its zenith, having either subjugated or defeated the other Indian clans. In contrast, the support by the US government of Americans settlement. By the end of the 19th century, West Texas had been pacified of hostile Indians, leaving its turbulent history to what remained of outlaw Texans and people such as Judge Roy Bean. With the defeat of the Comanche and their allies and their removal upon demand by Texas from the state, the area was settled by Texans. These decades marked the last great cattle drives, the zenith of American cowboys, small farmers and ranchers battling sheepherders. This continuing socioeconomic trends resulted in the region having a mix of Mexican American and American communities of the modern day. As a result of historical development, many Mexican Americans still have close family ties in Mexico. Of American settlers, during the migration era, the vast majority were either East Texans or other Southerners going west for new opportunities
10.
Cort Theater
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The Cort Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theater District of midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is owned by the Shubert Organization, the largest owner of Broadway theatres, the Cort Theatre was designated a New York City landmark on November 17,1987. John Cort, founder of the Northwestern Theatrical Association, commissioned architect Thomas W. Lamb to design the theater and its façade was modeled on the Petit Trianon in Versailles. The resulting 1082-seat Cort Theater is one of the few Lamb theaters still extant, the interior was designed in the style of the era of Louis XVI, with a Pavanozza marble lobby with plasterwork panels. The arch of the stage consists of perforated plaster treated with art glass. The arch still exists as of 2007, although the feature is no longer in operation. The Cort Theatre opened on December 20,1912 with Laurette Taylor starring in the play Peg o My Heart, which ran for 603 performances, an auspicious start for the new venue. Numerous famous British actors have appeared at the Cort, Basil Rathbone played Dr. Nicholas Agi in The Swan in October 1923 and this was also the theatre where the aspiring actor James Dean made his broadway debut in 1952 with the play See The Jaguar. The Shubert Organization purchased the theatre in 1927, two years before John Corts death, the theatre was used as a television studio for The Merv Griffin Show from 1969 to 1972. However, in the scene where the theater blows up, the marquee of the Cort Theater can be seen, the Tony Award-winning revival of Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, achieved the box office record for the Cort Theatre. The production grossed $1,175,626 over eight performances, notes Bibliography Parker, John Whos Who in the Theatre, London,1947, pp. 477-478,1184. Official website Cort Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database Broadway Theatre Guide
11.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
12.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
13.
DVD
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DVD is a digital optical disc storage format invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. The medium can store any kind of data and is widely used for software. DVDs offer higher capacity than compact discs while having the same dimensions. Pre-recorded DVDs are mass-produced using molding machines that physically stamp data onto the DVD, such discs are a form of DVD-ROM because data can only be read and not written or erased. Blank recordable DVD discs can be recorded using a DVD recorder. Rewritable DVDs can be recorded and erased many times, DVDs containing other types of information may be referred to as DVD data discs. The OED also states that in 1995, The companies said the name of the format will simply be DVD. Toshiba had been using the name ‘digital video disk’, but that was switched to ‘digital versatile disk’ after computer companies complained that it left out their applications, Digital versatile disc is the explanation provided in a DVD Forum Primer from 2000 and in the DVD Forums mission statement. There were several formats developed for recording video on optical discs before the DVD, Optical recording technology was invented by David Paul Gregg and James Russell in 1958 and first patented in 1961. A consumer optical disc data format known as LaserDisc was developed in the United States and it used much larger discs than the later formats. CD Video used analog video encoding on optical discs matching the established standard 120 mm size of audio CDs, Video CD became one of the first formats for distributing digitally encoded films in this format, in 1993. In the same year, two new optical disc formats were being developed. By the time of the launches for both formats in January 1995, the MMCD nomenclature had been dropped, and Philips and Sony were referring to their format as Digital Video Disc. Representatives from the SD camp asked IBM for advice on the system to use for their disc. Alan E. Bell, a researcher from IBMs Almaden Research Center, got that request and this group was referred to as the Technical Working Group, or TWG. On August 14,1995, an ad hoc group formed from five computer companies issued a release stating that they would only accept a single format. The TWG voted to both formats unless the two camps agreed on a single, converged standard. They recruited Lou Gerstner, president of IBM, to pressure the executives of the warring factions, as a result, the DVD specification provided a storage capacity of 4.7 GB for a single-layered, single-sided disc and 8.5 GB for a dual-layered, single-sided disc
14.
Saturday Night Live
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Saturday Night Live is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11,1975, under the original title NBCs Saturday Night, the shows comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest and features performances by a musical guest, an episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, Live from New York, its Saturday Night. In 1980, Michaels left the series to other opportunities. He was replaced by Jean Doumanian, who was replaced by Ebersol after a season of bad reviews, Ebersol ran the show until 1985, when Michaels returned, Michaels has remained since then. Many of SNLs cast found national stardom while appearing on the show, others associated with the show, such as writers, have gone on to successful careers creating, writing, or starring in TV and film. The show format has developed and recreated in several countries. Successful sketches have seen life outside of the show as feature films, throughout four decades on air, Saturday Night Live has received a number of awards, including 50 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and three Writers Guild of America Awards. In 2000, it was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and it was ranked tenth in TV Guides 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list, and in 2007 it was listed as one of Time magazines 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME. As of 2012, it has received 156 Emmy nominations, the most received by any TV show, the live aspect of the show has resulted in several controversies and acts of censorship, with mistakes and intentional acts of sabotage by performers as well as guests. From 1965 until September 1975, NBC ran The Best of Carson reruns of The Tonight Show, in 1974, Johnny Carson announced that he wanted the weekend shows pulled and saved so that they could be aired during weeknights, allowing him to take time off. In 1974, NBC president Herbert Schlosser approached his vice president of late night programming, Dick Ebersol, at the suggestion of Paramount Pictures executive Barry Diller, Schlosser and Ebersol then approached Lorne Michaels. Over the next three weeks, Ebersol and Michaels developed the idea for a variety show featuring high-concept comedy sketches, political satire. By 1975 Michaels had assembled a talented cast, including Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Michael ODonoghue, Gilda Radner, and George Coe. The show was originally called NBCs Saturday Night, because Saturday Night Live was in use by Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on the rival network ABC, NBC purchased the rights to the name in 1976 and officially adopted the new title on March 26,1977. In 1975 and 1976, they were the most desirable demographic for television advertisers, NBC executives agreed with Michaels and decided to keep the show on the air despite many angry letters and phone calls that the network received from viewers who were offended by certain sketches. Chevy Chase left the show in November of the season and was replaced a few months later by the then-unknown comic actor Bill Murray. Aykroyd and Belushi left the show in 1979 after the end of season four, in May 1980, Michaels—emotionally and physically exhausted—requested to put the show on hiatus for a year to give him time and energy to pursue other projects
15.
Saturday Night Live (season 26)
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The twenty-sixth season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between October 7,2000, and May 19,2001. Before the start of the season, Cheri Oteri, Colin Quinn, with the three of them gone, the show added two new cast members. SNL head writer Tina Fey and Second City comedian Jerry Minor joined the cast as featured players at the start of the season, Fey had been a writer on the show since 1997 and began as the shows head writer in 1999. Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph remained featured players and this would be Molly Shannons final season on the show, leaving mid-season. Minor was let go after the season ended, chris Parnell was fired at the end of this season, but then rehired midway through the next season. Executive producer Lorne Michaels would later admit he made a mistake in firing Parnell from the cast, with Colin Quinns seat on Weekend Update empty, executive producer Lorne Michaels decided to have two anchors just as the segment had used in the 1970s. Jimmy Fallon and head writer Tina Fey were picked to anchor the segment together, because of Feys head writer status, she would appear rarely out of Weekend Update. Bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Based on Leon Phelps popular sketches, the films star Tim Meadows left Saturday Night Live at the end of the previous season but returned to promote the film in the first episode of this season. The movie was panned by critics and flopped at the box office
16.
United States presidential election, 2000
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The United States presidential election of 2000 was the 54th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7,2000, Bush was seen as the early favorite for the Republican nomination and, despite a contentious primary battle with Senator John McCain and other candidates, secured the nomination by Super Tuesday. Bush chose former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney as his running mate, both major party candidates focused primarily on domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal social insurance programs, although foreign policy was not ignored. Clinton and Gore often did not campaign together, a deliberate decision resulting from the Lewinsky sex scandal two years prior. This was the closest presidential election in the history, with a. 009% margin,537 votes. The narrow margin there triggered a mandatory machine recount the next day, after which Gore requested recounts in four counties, including populous South Florida, litigation ensued in numerous counties in both state and federal courts, ultimately reaching the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. Nationwide, this was the presidential election in which the winner received fewer votes than his opponent. After the election, recounts conducted by news media organizations continued a primary focus on ballots that machines read as not showing a vote. Based on the review of these ballots, their results indicated that Bush would have won if certain recounting methods had been used, but that Gore might have won under other standards and scenarios. The Green Party gained widespread attention during the 2000 presidential election when the ticket composed of Ralph Nader. Nader was vilified by some Democrats, who accused him of spoiling the election for Al Gore, Naders impact on the 2000 election has remained controversial. Until 2016, this was the last time a Republican candidate won a vote in the region of New England. As of 2017, this was the last election where a Republican candidate won New Hampshire, traditionally, the primary elections are indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The partys delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the partys behalf, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat and former Governor of Arkansas, was ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment. In accordance with Section I of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expired at 12,00 noon EST on January 20,2001, Democratic candidates Al Gore, Vice President of the United States Bill Bradley, former U. S. Senator from New Jersey Al Gore from Tennessee was a consistent front-runner for the nomination, of these, only Wellstone formed an exploratory committee. Running an insurgency campaign, Bradley positioned himself as the alternative to Gore, the closest Bradley came to a victory was his 50–46 loss to Gore in the New Hampshire primary. On March 14, Al Gore clinched the Democratic nomination, none of Bradleys delegates were allowed to vote for him, so Gore won the nomination unanimously at the Democratic National Convention
17.
The Daily Show
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The Daily Show is an American news satire and late-night talk show television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central, describing itself as a fake news program, The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organizations, and often uses self-referential humor as well. The half-hour-long show premiered on July 21,1996, and was first hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 17,1998, Stewart was succeeded by Trevor Noah, whose tenure premiered on September 28,2015. Under different hosts, the show has been known as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 until 2015. The Daily Show is the program on Comedy Central, and has won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards. Critics chastised Stewart for not conducting sufficiently hard-hitting interviews with his political guests, Stewart and other Daily Show writers responded to such criticism by saying that they do not have any journalistic responsibility and that as comedians their only duty is to provide entertainment. Stewarts appearance on the CNN show Crossfire picked up this debate, each episode begins with announcer Drew Birns announcing the date and the introduction, From Comedy Centrals World News Headquarters in New York, this is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Previously, the introduction was This is The Daily Show, the most important television program, the host then opens the show with a monologue drawing from current news stories and issues. Some episodes will begin with a 1-3 minute intro on a story before fully transitioning into the main story of the night. Their stated areas of expertise vary depending on the story that is being discussed. They typically present absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against the straight man. While correspondents stated to be reporting abroad are usually performing in-studio in front of a background, on rare occasions. For instance, during the week of August 20,2007, in August 2008, Riggle traveled to China for a series of segments titled Rob Riggle, Chasing the Dragon, which focused on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On July 19,2016, Roy Wood Jr. reported live from the Republican National Convention, topics have varied widely, during the early years of the show they tended toward character-driven human interest stories such as Bigfoot enthusiasts. Since Stewart began hosting in 1999, the focus of the show has more political. Under Kilborn and the years of Stewart, most interviewees were either unaware or not entirely aware of the comedic nature of The Daily Show. However, as the show began to gain popularity—particularly following its coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections—most of the subjects now interviewed are aware of the comedic element, some segments have recurred periodically throughout different tenures, such as Back in Black & Your Moment of Zen. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a segment of the show has been dubbed Mess O Potamia, focusing on the United States policies in the Middle East
18.
Late Night with Seth Meyers
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Late Night with Seth Meyers is an American late-night talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24,2014 and is produced by Broadway Video and it is the fourth incarnation of NBCs long-running Late Night franchise. The show also stars bandleader Fred Armisen and the 8-G Band, Late Night is produced by former Saturday Night Live producer Mike Shoemaker and executive-produced by Lorne Michaels. The show records from Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, the program airs Monday through Thursday nights at 12,37 a. m. The show opens with Meyers topical monologue, which he delivers from his desk, the program also contains comedy bits, sketches, interviews with a myriad of guests, and occasionally a musical or comedy performance. A Closer Look is a segment, where Meyers discusses, in-depth, contemporary current events. The show attracts an average of 1.5 million viewers nightly, on January 13,2016, NBC renewed Meyers contract to remain as host through 2021. The series is the incarnation of the Late Night franchise. Meyers was appointed host when Jimmy Fallon was announced to become the next host of The Tonight Show, Meyers first guests were fellow SNL alum and Weekend Update co-anchor Amy Poehler, Vice President Joe Biden, and musical act A Great Big World. The shows house band, The 8G Band, features members of the indie bands Les Savy Fav and Girls Against Boys, every episode features a coffee mug on Meyers desk from a different NBC affiliate. On September 2,2014, the show premiered a redesigned set, Late Night with Seth Meyers originates from NBC Studio 8-G in the Comcast Building at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City. The studio is housed directly above Studio 6B, the home of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the combination created logistical challenges for executives, who were concerned about sound bleed. As a result, The Tonight Show tapes at 5, 00pm, the studio seats nearly 180 individuals, and is housed directly beside Studio 8H, longtime home of Saturday Night Live. Architectural Digest writes that the strikes a Art Deco tone. Seths Late Night has a band, called The 8G Band. He also performs as backing & co-lead vocals, rhythm guitars, bass,8, 30am The staff work on the episodes first act, which usually focuses on politics or other current events. A first draft is written by one of the writers, such as Sal Gentile,11, 00am The staff has a sketch meeting in which it plans non-political and longer lead-in segments, such as the popular recurring sketches Extreme Dog Shaming or Ya Burnt. The staff use this opportunity to make relevant notes on the sketches,12, 00pm Meyers and producer Mike Shoemaker meet with the shows department heads for a production meeting in which graphics, costuming and pre-taping schedules for the episodes segments are discussed
19.
United States Secret Service
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The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the U. S. Department of Homeland Security. Until 2003, the Service was part of the U. S. Department of the Treasury, the Secret Services initial responsibility was to investigate counterfeiting of U. S. currency, which was rampant following the U. S. Civil War. The agency then evolved into the United States first domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency, the Secret Service has two primary missions, investigation of financial crimes and physical protection of designated protectees. After the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley, Congress also directed the Secret Service to protect the President of the United States, Protection remains the other key mission of the United States Secret Service. From 1997 until 2013, legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents, President Barack Obama signed legislation reversing this limit and reinstating lifetime protection on January 10,2013. The Secret Service investigates thousands of incidents a year of individuals threatening the President of the United States, the Director of Secret Service is appointed by the President of the United States. With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time, Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. It was commissioned in Washington, D. C. as the Secret Service Division of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting, the legislation creating the agency was on Abraham Lincolns desk the night he was assassinated. At the time, the other federal law enforcement agencies were the United States Park Police. Post Office Departments Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations, and the U. S. Marshals Service, the Marshals did not have the manpower to investigate all crime under federal jurisdiction, so the Secret Service began to investigate everything from murder to bank robbery to illegal gambling. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested that the Secret Service provide presidential protection, a year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for presidential protection. In 1902, William Craig became the first Secret Service agent to die while serving, the Secret Service was the first U. S. domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency. Domestic intelligence collection and counterintelligence responsibilities were vested in the Federal Bureau of Investigation upon the FBIs creation in 1908, the Secret Service assisted in arresting Japanese American leaders and in the Japanese American internment during World War II. Secret Service is not a part of the U. S, on October 16, the day of the summit, Burnham discovered a man holding a concealed palm pistol standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route. Burnham signaled a Texas Ranger, Private C. R. Moore, in 1950, President Harry S. Truman was residing in Blair House while the White House, across the street, was undergoing renovations. On November 1,1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, approached Blair House with the intent to assassinate President Truman, Collazo and Torresola opened fire on Private Leslie Coffelt and other White House Police officers. Though mortally wounded by three shots from a 9 mm German Luger to his chest and abdomen, Private Coffelt returned fire, as of 2017, Coffelt is the only member of the Secret Service killed while protecting a US president against an assassination attempt. Collazo was also shot, but survived his injuries and served 29 years in prison before returning to Puerto Rico in late 1979, in 1968, as a result of Robert F. Kennedys assassination, Congress authorized protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees
20.
Condoleezza Rice
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Condoleezza Condi Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, the person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush. Rice was the first female African-American Secretary of State, as well as the second African-American Secretary of State, Rice was President Bushs National Security Advisor during his first term, making her the first woman to serve in that position. Before joining the Bush administration, she was a professor of science at Stanford University. Rice also served on the National Security Council as the Soviet and Eastern Europe Affairs Advisor to President George H. W. Bush during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and she has logged more miles traveling than any other Secretary of State. While in the position, she chaired the Millennium Challenge Corporations board of directors, in March 2009, Rice returned to Stanford University as a political science professor and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution. In September 2010, she became a faculty member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a director of its Global Center for Business and her name, Condoleezza, derives from the music-related term con dolcezza, which in Italian means, with sweetness. Rice has roots in the American South going back to the pre-Civil War era, Rice grew up in the Titusville neighborhood of Birmingham, and then Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at a time when the South was racially segregated. Rice began to learn French, music, figure skating and ballet at the age of three, at the age of fifteen, she began piano classes with the goal of becoming a concert pianist. While Rice ultimately did not become a professional pianist, she still practices often and she accompanied cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata in D Minor at Constitution Hall in April 2002 for the National Medal of Arts Awards. In 1967, the moved to Denver, Colorado. She attended St. Marys Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, Rice enrolled at the University of Denver, where her father was then serving as an assistant dean. Rice initially majored in Music, and after her sophomore year, she went to the Aspen Music Festival, There, she later said, she met students of greater talent than herself, and she doubted her career prospects as a pianist. She began to consider an alternative major and she attended an International Politics course taught by Josef Korbel, which sparked her interest in the Soviet Union and international relations. Rice later described Korbel, as a figure in her life. In 1974, at age 19, Rice was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society, while at the University of Denver she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, Gamma Delta chapter. She obtained a degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 1975. She first worked in the State Department in 1977, during the Carter administration and she would also study Russian at Moscow State University in the summer of 1979, and intern with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California
21.
63rd Tony Awards
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The 63rd Annual Tony Awards, which recognized Broadway productions of the 2008-2009 season, were presented on June 7,2009 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The ceremony was broadcast by CBS, with Neil Patrick Harris as host, the cut-off date for eligibility for the awards was April 30,2009. Nominations were announced on May 5,2009 by Cynthia Nixon, among the nominees for Best Revival of a Musical, Hair had the most nominations, with eight. Of the plays, the revivals Mary Stuart and The Norman Conquests tied for the most nominations, all four stars of God of Carnage were nominated, as was the play itself. The Isabelle Stevenson Award, an award named after the late president of the American Theatre Wing, was presented for the first time. Its purpose is to individuals from the theatre community who have volunteered time to one or more humanitarian, social service. The first recipient of this honor was Phyllis Newman and this was the first non-competitive category to be introduced since the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre was established in 1990. The broadcast won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Programs, the telecast also was nominated in the category of Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Music or Nonfiction Programming. The concert was televised on various CBS stations, and in New York City on May 30, newscaster Harry Smith from The Early Show hosted the special. The red-carpet arrivals and pre-Tony telecast awards were webcast on TonyAwards. com, a Creative Arts Awards ceremony, hosted by Laura Benanti and Brian Stokes Mitchell, was held prior to the main ceremony. The CAA presented the awards for orchestrations and scenery, costume, lighting, sang Dancing Queen with fellow cast members. Performers from the nominated Best Plays category presented brief clips of those plays, while exiting the stage, Michaels was struck in the head by a descending set and knocked to the floor. He suffered a nose and a split lip that required three stitches. He subsequently sued the organizers, claiming that the collision led to his 2010 brain hemorrhage. The suit was settled in May 2012 for an undisclosed amount, bebe Neuwirth introduced a special number to honor those who died during the past theatre season. The Broadway Inspirational Voices and orchestra performed What I Did for Love from A Chorus Line, Broadway theatres dimmed their lights in memoriam, as well
22.
Revue
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A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama, though most famous for their visual spectacle, revues frequently satirized contemporary figures, news or literature. Similar to the related subforms of operetta and musical theatre, the art form brings together music, dance. In contrast to these, however, revue does not have an overarching storyline, rather, a general theme serves as the motto for a loosely-related series of acts that alternate between solo performances and dance ensembles. George Lederers The Passing Show is usually held to be the first successful American review, the English spelling was used until 1907 when Florenz Ziegfeld popularized the French spelling. Follies is now employed as an analog for revue, though the term was proprietary to Ziegfeld until his death in 1932. Other popular proprietary revue names included George Whites Scandals and Earl Carrolls Vanities, Revues are most properly understood as having amalgamated several theatrical traditions within the corpus of a single entertainment. Minstrelsys olio section provided a map of popular variety presentation. Theatrical extravaganzas, in particular, moving panoramas, demonstrated a vocabulary of the spectacular, burlesque, itself a bawdy hybrid of various theatrical forms, lent to classic revue an open interest in female sexuality and the masculine gaze. Revues enjoyed great success on Broadway from the World War I years until the Great Depression, the high ticket prices of many revues helped ensure audiences distinct from other live popular entertainments during their height of popularity. In 1914, the Follies charged $5.00 for an opening night ticket, at time, many cinema houses charged from $0.10 to 0.25. Among the many producers of revues, Florenz Ziegfeld played the greatest role in developing the classical revue through his glorification of a new theatrical type. Revues took advantage of their revenue stream to lure away performers from other media. Performers such as Eddie Cantor, Anna Held, W. C, fields, Bert Williams, the Marx Brothers and the Fairbanks Twins found great success on the revue stage. One of Cole Porters early shows was Raymond Hitchcocks revue Hitchy-Koo, composers or lyricists such as Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Irving Berlin, and George M. Cohan also enjoyed a tremendous reception on the part of audiences. Sometimes, an appearance in a revue provided a key early entry into entertainment, largely due to their centralization in New York City and adroit use of publicity, revues proved particularly adept at introducing new talents to the American theatre. Rodgers and Hart, one of the great composer/lyricist teams of the American musical theatre, comedian Fanny Brice, following a brief period in burlesque and amateur variety, bowed to revue audiences in Ziegfelds Follies of 1910. Specialist writers and composers of revues have included Sandy Wilson, Noël Coward, John Stromberg, George Gershwin, Earl Carroll, in Britain predominantly, Tom Arnold also specialised in promoting series of revues and his acts extended to the European continent and South Africa
23.
Liza's at The Palace....
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Was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 3,2008 through January 4,2009. It was produced by John Scher and Metropolitan Talent Presents and it was directed and choreographed by Ron Lewis, with vocal arrangements by Kay Thompson and Billy Stritch. Minnelli performed with four dancer-singers, Cortes Alexander, Jim Caruso, Tiger Martina, the concert contained songs written by Kander and Ebb, among others. The first act included a version of a vaudeville tribute her mother once performed at the Palace. The second act included a re-creation of Thompsons celebrated nightclub act with the four Williams brothers, stephen Holden of The New York Times said, From the moment Ms. There it remains, deliriously spinning until the end of a 2-hour-20-minute show that leaves the star in a state of breathless exaltation. The end of the show on Wednesday found Ms. Minnelli panting, drenched in sweat, her hair matted, as if she had just finished running the New York marathon. I would love to report that Ms. Minnelli’s voice and physical agility have been restored to their former glory. On Wednesday night her voice was in tatters, her diction unsteady, when she belted, her wide vibrato wobbled to the breaking point. Most of her s’s were slurred sh’s, frequently short of breath, she swallowed phrases. Many of her highest notes were dry, piercing caws, but there were still occasional moments of beautifully focused dramatic singing. As for movement, there were no kicks or even half-kicks, although Ms. Minnelli can still strut stealthily, once the show began to soar, though, Ms. Minnelli’s force of will became a triumph of spirit over flesh. As she insisted on doing what she can no longer do, her audacity was inspiring, her message was you do the best you can and she trusted the listener’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Hat makes Minnelli a great entertainer when she’s firing on all cylinders is how hard she works for the audience’s love, and how much she clearly thrives on it. In an age in which so many female performers are overproduced automatons, deigning to be worshipped by their fans. Sure, the voice is frayed and husky, the control wavers, many of the lyrics are slurred, but nobody who would buy a ticket to this show in the first place is going to care a whit. Minnelli’s charisma is undiminished and her vocals still have power, warmth, but her skills as a performer, honed over five decades, and her genuineness and vulnerability make these shortcomings seem relatively unimportant. The show also won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event, the production was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical
24.
Kevin Kline
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Kevin Delaney Kline is an American film and stage actor and singer. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards and is a 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee, Kline began his career on stage in 1972 with The Acting Company. He made his debut the following year, opposite Meryl Streep in Sophies Choice. For his role in the 1988 comedy hit A Fish Called Wanda, in 2003, he starred as Falstaff in the Broadway production of Henry IV, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. He has been nominated for an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. His other films include The Big Chill, Silverado, Cry Freedom, Dave, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Ice Storm, In & Out, The Road to El Dorado, De-Lovely, My Old Lady, and Beauty and the Beast. Since 2011, Kline has had a role on the animated comedy series Bobs Burgers. Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret Agnes Kirk, Kline has described his mother as the dramatic theatrical character in our family. Klines father was Jewish, from a family that had emigrated from Germany, klines mother was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, the daughter of an immigrant from County Louth. Kline was raised in his mothers Catholic faith and he has three siblings, Alex, Christopher, and Kate. He graduated from the Saint Louis Priory School in 1965, in 1997, the school named its new auditorium the Kevin Kline Theater, and Kline did a benefit performance of selections from Shakespeare at the dedication. He attended Indiana University, Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Jonathan Banks and he began studying composing and conducting music, but switched to a theater and speech major for his last two years, graduating in 1970. Kline remembers, When I switched to the Theater Department, all I did was theater. I could barely make it to class because this was my passion, while an undergraduate, he was a co-founder of the Vest Pocket Players, an off-campus theatrical troupe. In 1970, Kline was awarded a scholarship to the newly formed Drama Division at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, he joined with fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers, at Juilliard, he studied singing with Beverley Peck Johnson. In 1976, Kline left The Acting Company and settled in New York City, in 1978, he played the role of Bruce Granit, a matinée idol caricature, in Harold Princes On the Twentieth Century, for which he won his first Tony Award. In 1983, he played the role in a version of the musical, also with Ronstadt, Smith and Angela Lansbury. He also appeared in a Lincoln Center production that combined the two parts of Henry IV on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in 2003 as Falstaff, Kline was nominated for the 2004 Tony Award, Actor in a Play
25.
Phoebe Cates
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Phoebe Cates Kline, better known as Phoebe Cates, is an American retired film actress, model and singer. She is known for her roles in several 1980s films, most notably Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cates was born in New York City, to a family of television and Broadway production insiders. She is the daughter of Lily and Joseph Cates, who was a major Broadway producer and a figure in television. Her late uncle, Gilbert Cates, produced numerous specials, often in partnership with Catess father. Her father and maternal grandmother were Russian Jews, and her grandfather was Chinese-Filipino. Cates mother was born in Shanghai, China, Cates attended the Hewitt School, the Professional Childrens School and the Juilliard School. When she was ten, she wanted to become a dancer and she eventually got a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, but after suffering a serious knee injury at age 15, she gave up her dancing career. She next began a career as a model, which was short-lived. Cates, however, did not like the industry, It was just the same thing, after a while I did it solely for the money. After ending her career, Cates decided to begin acting. Although her father was an actor as well, he was not enthusiastic about his daughters new acting career. Catess acting debut was at age 18 in Paradise, in which she played Sarah and did several full nude scenes in the movie and she also sang the films main theme song, and recorded an album of the same name. In a 1982 interview, she recalled having trouble with the change of career, because as a model, she had to be conscious of the camera, whereas in front of the movie camera, she could not. Cates later regretted being in the movie and said, What I learned was never to do a movie like that again, according to her co-star Willie Aames, She will have nothing to do with the film. She wont do any promotion with me, later in 1982, Cates starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which features what Rolling Stone described as the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history. She was quoted as saying that she had the most fun in filming that movie, Catess later film roles were more modest and largely oriented toward younger audiences, such as the two Gremlins films and the 1991 film Drop Dead Fred. Her face graced the covers of teen magazines such as Seventeen, Tiger Beat, Teen Beat, in 1984, she starred in the TV mini-series Lace, based on a novel which Shirley Conran had written. She played the role of Lili to get away from a sameness in her movie portrayals, during her audition, she so impressed the writer that he wanted to hire her there and then
26.
Edward Norton
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Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, filmmaker and activist. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in the films Primal Fear, American History X and Birdman and he also starred in other roles, such as Everyone Says I Love You, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Fight Club, Red Dragon, 25th Hour, Kingdom of Heaven, The Illusionist, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and he has also directed and co-written films, including his directorial debut, Keeping the Faith. He has done uncredited work on the scripts for The Score, Frida, Norton is president of the American branch of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. He ran in the 2009 New York City Marathon to raise money for the Trust and he also raises money for charity through Crowdrise, a social networking community for volunteers and a micro-donations fundraising platform. In July 2010, Norton was designated as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on July 2,2014, Norton was elected chairman of the board of trustees to Signature Theatre, a not-for-profit theater company in New York. Norton has been on Signatures board since 1996 and served as the co-chair of the Capital Campaign during the building of the Pershing Square Signature Center, Norton was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Columbia, Maryland. His mother, Lydia Robinson Robin, a teacher of English, Norton has two younger siblings, Molly and Jim, with whom he has professionally collaborated. He graduated in 1987 from Columbias Wilde Lake High School, where his classmates included New York City Council member Mark Levine, after graduation, Norton worked in Osaka, Japan, consulting for his grandfathers company, Enterprise Community Partners, and speaks some Japanese. He appeared in an EFL textbook, Only in America, used by Nova and he moved to New York City to star in the Off-Broadway theater, breaking through with his 1993 involvement in Edward Albees Fragments, at the Signature Theatre Company. In his film debut Primal Fear, Norton played Aaron Stampler, a boy charged with the murder of a Roman Catholic Archbishop. The film is an adaptation of William Diehls novel, ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly wrote, Norton gives a performance thats fully the equal of Geres – hes as slyly self-effacing as Gere is slyly ostentatious. Despite the mixed reviews, Norton won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and that same year, Norton played lawyer Alan Isaacman in The People vs. In 1998, he played Derek Vinyard, a reformed neo-Nazi, in the film American History X, David Denby of The New Yorker noted that he gives Derek ambiguous erotic allure, the film received positive reviews and grossed over $23 million worldwide at the box office. His performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, later, Norton starred with Matt Damon in Rounders, which follows two friends who urgently need to earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a huge debt. In David Finchers 1999 film Fight Club, Norton played an unreliable narrator who feels trapped in his white-collar position and it is based on Chuck Palahniuks novel of the same name. To prepare for the role, Norton took lessons in boxing, taekwondo, Fight Club premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival. During promotion for the film, he said, I feel that Fight Club really, probed into the despair and paralysis that people feel in the face of having inherited this value system out of advertising
27.
Adam Levine
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Adam Noah Levine is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist for the pop rock band Maroon 5, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Levine began his musical career in 1994, when he co-founded the alternative rock band Karas Flowers, of which he was the lead vocalist and guitarist. The band split up after their album, The Fourth World. In 2001, the group was reformed – with guitarist James Valentine joining the line-up – and began a new musical chapter, in 2002, the band released their first album, Songs About Jane, which went multi-platinum in the US. Since then, they have released four albums, It Wont Be Soon Before Long, Hands All Over, Overexposed. He also has released two singles Dont Wanna Know and Cold, as part of Maroon 5, Levine has received three Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and a World Music Award. Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBCs reality talent show The Voice, the winners of the first, fifth and ninth seasons, Javier Colon, Tessanne Chin and Jordan Smith, were on his team. In 2012, he made his debut as a recurring character in the horror television show American Horror Story. He also starred in the film Begin Again, as an entrepreneur, Levine launched his own eponymous fragrance line in 2013. The same year, he collaborated with K-Mart and ShopYourWay. com to develop his menswear collection and he also owns a record label,222 Records. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that sources familiar with his business dealings estimated Levine would earn more than $35 million that year. Adam Noah Levine was born in Los Angeles on March 18,1979 to Fred Levine, the founder of retail chain M. Fredric, and Patsy Levine and he has two brothers, Michael and Sam, and two sisters, Liza Levine and Julia Milne Levine. Levines father and maternal grandfather are both Jewish, while his grandmother was a Protestant of Scottish and German descent. Levine considers himself Jewish, though according to an interview with The Jewish Chronicle, he has rejected formal religious practice for a more generalized, spiritual way of life. He chose not to have a Bar Mitzvah as a child, explaining, I just dont think its the most respectful way to deal with God and beliefs and years and years and years of cultural heritage. Levine is a nephew of journalist and author Timothy Noah, television producer and writer Peter Noah and his parents divorced when he was seven. Growing up, Levine spent weekdays with his mother and weekends with his father and he underwent therapy for his parents divorce, but called it a waste of time explaining that his parents could not accept the fact that I might have been OK with it. I cried my eyes out and kicked and screamed and said, Why. a few days later I was fine but I still had to go to therapy
28.
Common (rapper)
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Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, film producer and poet from Chicago, Illinois. Common debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar, and maintained a significant underground following into the late 1990s, after which he gained notable mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. Commons first major-label album, Like Water for Chocolate, received critical acclaim. His first Grammy Award was in 2003, winning Best R&B Song for Love of My Life and its popularity was matched by May 2005s Be, which was nominated for Best Rap Album, at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common was awarded his second Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for Southside and his best-of album, Thisisme Then, The Best of Common, was released on November 27,2007. He also narrated the award-winning documentary Bouncing Cats, about one mans efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop/b-boy culture and he starred as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels. Common was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois and he was raised in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. He is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and they divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his fathers moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Common to be raised by his mother, but his father remained active in his life, while a student at Luther High School South in Chicago, Lynn with his friends, record producer and Corey Crawley formed C. D. R. A rap trio that opened for acts that included N. W. A, Common attended Florida A&M University for two years under a scholarship and majored in business administration. After being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine, Lynn debuted in 1992 with the single Take It EZ, with the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, which extended beyond Chicago natives. The album sold well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative. Resurrection was Commons last album produced almost entirely by his production partner. In 1996, Common appeared on the Red Hot Organizations compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, the CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as a masterpiece by The Source magazine. He would later contribute to the Red Hot Organizations Fela Kuti tribute album. He collaborated with Djelimady Tounkara on a remake of Kutis track, Years of Tears, the song I Used to Love H. E. R. from Resurrection ignited a feud with West Coast rap group Westside Connection. The lyrics of the song criticized the hip hop music was taking and was interpreted by some as directing blame towards the popularity of West Coast Gangsta rap. Westside Connection first responded with the 1995 song Westside Slaughterhouse, with the lyrics Used to love H. E. R, Westside Connection recorded tracks venting their issues with rival East Coast rappers
29.
Serena Williams
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Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player. The Womens Tennis Association has ranked her world No.1 in singles on seven occasions and she became the world No.1 for the first time on July 8,2002, and achieved this ranking for the seventh time on January 30,2017. On the sixth occasion, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, in total, she has been world No.1 for 316 weeks, which ranks her 3rd in the Open Era among female tennis players. Williams accomplishments and success in tennis have led some commentators, players. Williams holds the most major titles in singles, doubles, and her record of 39 major titles puts her third on the all-time list and second in the open era,23 in singles,14 in womens doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have all four major singles titles simultaneously. She is also the most recent player, together with her sister Venus Williams and her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Major wins by a tennis player in the Open Era, and is second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court. She is also the only player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades. She has won a record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hardcourt. Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the Australian Open and she also holds an all-time record for the most singles matches won at the Grand Slams with 316 matches. She has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Venus, as a team, she and Venus have the third most womens doubles grand slam titles, behind the 18 titles of Natasha Zvereva and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. Williams is also a winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles division. Serena has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in womens singles, the arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the womens professional tennis tour. Williams was the highest paid athlete in 2016, earning $28.9 million in prize money. She has won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award 3 times, Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price, and is the youngest of Prices five daughters, half-sisters Yetunde, Lyndrea and Isha Price, and full sister Venus. When the children were young, the moved to Compton, California. Her father, Richard, home-schooled Serena and her sister Venus, Williams family moved from Compton to West Palm Beach, Florida, when she was nine so that she could attend the tennis academy of Rick Macci, who would provide additional coaching. Macci spotted the talents of the sisters
30.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
31.
Toronto Star
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The Toronto Star is a Canadian broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. a division of Star Media Group, the Star was first printed on Toronto World presses, and at its formation The World owned a 51% interest in it as a silent partner. That arrangement only lasted for two months, during time it was rumoured that William Findlay Billy Maclean, the Worlds proprietor, was considering selling the Star to the Riordon family. After an extensive fundraising campaign among the Star staff, Maclean agreed to sell his interest to Hocken, the paper did poorly in its first few years. Hocken sold out within the year, and several owners followed in succession until Sir William Mackenzie bought it in 1896 and its new editors, Edmund E. Sheppard and Frederic Nicholls, moved the entire Star operation into the same building used by the magazine Saturday Night. This would continue until Joseph E, holy Joe Atkinson, backed by funds raised by supporters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, bought the paper. The supporters included Senator George Cox, William Mulock, Peter Charles Larkin, Atkinson was the Stars editor from 1899 until his death in 1948. Its early opposition and criticism of the Nazi regime saw the paper one of the first North American papers to be banned in Germany. He championed many causes that would come to be associated with the welfare state, old age pensions, unemployment insurance. The Government of Canada Digital Collections website describes Atkinson as a radical in the best sense of that term, the Star was unique among North American newspapers in its consistent, ongoing advocacy of the interests of ordinary people. The friendship of Atkinson, the publisher, with Mackenzie King, Atkinson became the controlling shareholder of the Star. The Star was frequently criticized for practising the yellow journalism of its era, for decades, the paper included heavy doses of crime and sensationalism, along with advocating social change. From 1910 to 1973, the Star published a weekend supplement, shortly before his death in 1948, Joseph E. Atkinson transferred ownership of the paper to a charitable organization given the mandate of continuing the papers liberal tradition. In 1949, the Province of Ontario passed the Charitable Gifts Act, barring charitable organizations from owning parts of profit-making businesses. It would continue to supply sponsored content to the CRBCs station CRCT, in 1971, the newspaper was renamed The Toronto Star and moved to a modern office tower at One Yonge Street by Queens Quay. The original Star Building at 80 King Street West was demolished to make room for First Canadian Place, the new building originally housed the papers presses. In 1992, the plant was moved to the Toronto Star Press Centre at the Highway 407 &400 interchange in Vaughan. In September 2002, the logo was changed, and The was dropped from the papers, during the 2003 blackout, the Star printed the paper at a press in Welland, Ontario
32.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
33.
Internet Broadway Database
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The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, the website also has a corresponding app for both the IOS and Android. This comprehensive history of Broadway provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre in the 18th century up to today, details include cast and creative lists for opening night and current day, song lists, awards and other interesting facts about every Broadway production. Other features of IBDB include an archive of photos from past and present Broadway productions, headshots, links to cast recordings on iTunes or Amazon, gross. Its mission was to be an interactive, user-friendly, searchable database for League members, journalists, researchers, the League recently added Broadway Touring shows to the database for ease of tracking shows that play in theatres across the country. It is managed by Karen Hauser, Michael Abourizk, and Mark Smith of the Broadway League, Internet Theatre Database – ITDb Internet Movie Database – IMDb Internet Book Database – IBookDb Lortel Archives – IOBDb The Broadway League Official website Broadway League website
34.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
35.
Governor of Texas
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The Governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texass government and the commander-in-chief of the states military forces. The governor has the power to approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature. The governor may grant pardons in cases other than impeachment or in the case of treason, the current Governor is Greg Abbott. The states first constitution in 1845 established the office of governor, the 1861 secessionist constitution set the term start date at the first Monday in the November following the election. The Reconstruction constitution of 1869 removed the limit on terms, Texas remains one of 14 states with no term limit. The present constitution of 1876 shortened terms back to two years, but a 1972 amendment increased it again to four years, the gubernatorial election is held every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and does not coincide with the presidential elections. Despite the lack of limits, no Texas governor in the 19th or 20th centuries ever served more than seven. Former Governor Rick Perry, who served from 2000 to 2015, has now surpassed both records, becoming the first Texas governor to serve three consecutive terms. When Perry won the election on November 2,2010, he joined Shivers, Price Daniel. In case of a vacancy in the office of governor, the lieutenant governor becomes governor, one governor of Texas won his partys nomination and was elected President of the United States, George W
36.
Texas Rangers (baseball)
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The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington, Texas, located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Rangers franchise is currently a member of the West division of the American League in Major League Baseball, since 1994, the Rangers have played in Globe Life Park in Arlington in Arlington, Texas. The teams name is borrowed from the law enforcement agency of the same name. After the 1971 season, the new Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, in 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas then brought home their first American League pennant after beating the New York Yankees in six games, in the 2010 World Series, the franchises first, the Rangers fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They repeated as American League champions the year, then lost the 2011 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. At the winter meetings that year, it awarded a new team to Los Angeles as well as a new team in the nations capital and this new team adopted the old Senators name, but was considered an expansion team since the Twins retained the old Senators records and history. The Senators and Angels began to fill their rosters with American League players in an expansion draft, the team played the 1961 season at old Griffith Stadium before moving to District of Columbia Stadium. For most of their existence, the new Senators were the definition of futility, the teams struggles led to a twist on a joke about the old Senators--Washington, first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League. Frank Howard, known for his home runs, was the teams most accomplished player. Ownership changed hands several times during the stay in Washington and was often plagued by poor decision-making and planning. Owner Elwood Richard Quesada once wondered why he should have to pay his players because he believed they didnt belong in the majors and he later agreed to a 10-year lease at D. C. Stadium — a move that would back to haunt the Senators. In 1963, Quesada sold his stake in the club and resigned, Washington stockbrokers James Johnston and James Lemon owned the team briefly, suffering massive financial losses. Johnson died in 1967 and Lemon sold the team a year later to hotel and trucking executive Bob Short, Short named himself general manager and hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams as manager. Although Williams had never coached or managed at any level of baseball, Williams kept them in contention for most of the season, their 86–76 record would be their only winning season in Washington. The success though was brief, as Short borrowed most of the $9.4 million he had used to pay for the team, as the Senators general manager, Short was forced to make many questionable trades to lower the debt and acquire amounts of the much-needed revenue. As a result, the team fell back into the American Leagues cellar position
37.
Presidency of George W. Bush
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The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20,2001 at noon Eastern Standard Time, when George W. Bush was inaugurated as President of the United States. Bushs presidency ended on January 20,2009, a Republican, he took office following a very close win in the 2000 presidential election over Democratic nominee Al Gore, the then–incumbent Vice President. Bush, the 43rd United States president, is the son of the 41st president, Bush was re-elected in 2004, defeating his Democratic opponent John Kerry by a slim margin. He was succeeded in office by Democrat Barack Obama, who won the 2008 presidential election, upon taking office, Bush pushed through a $1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act, a major education bill. He also pushed for socially conservative efforts, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and that same month, he signed into law the controversial Patriot Act in order to strengthen security and allow for greater surveillance. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq possessed stockpiles of weapons of destruction in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1441. Later that year, he signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, Bush pushed for Social Security and immigration reform, but both efforts failed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq. The Bush administrations response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U. S. attorneys controversy earned wide coverage, and his second term saw a drop in his approval ratings. The financial crisis of 2007–2008 dominated his last days in office as policymakers looked to avert a major economic disaster, Bushs presidency is frequently ranked by historians as among the worst in American history. W. Vice President Dick Cheney served as Secretary of Defense under George H. W. Bush, Bush placed a high value on personal loyalty and, as a result, his administration had high message discipline. He maintained a style of management. Im confident in my management style, Im a delegator because I trust the people Ive asked to join the team. That makes it easier to be President, he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC in December 2003, critics alleged, however, that Bush was willing to overlook mistakes made by loyal subordinates. There was only one non-Republican in Bushs cabinet, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, Mineta resigned from Bushs cabinet on July 7,2006 to pursue other challenges. Mary Peters, a Republican, was nominated and confirmed to succeed him as Transportation Secretary, at least one other non-Republican was apparently offered a position in the administration but declined. CNN reported that in the transition to his term, Bush offered the positions of Ambassador to the United Nations. In 2006, Bush replaced long-time chief of staff Andrew Card with Joshua Bolten and made major staff, on November 8,2006, Bush announced plans to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with former CIA Director Robert Gates
38.
First inauguration of George W. Bush
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The first inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on January 20,2001. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George W. Bush as President, chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the oath of office at 12,01 p. m. An estimated 300,000 people attended the swearing-in ceremony, on the eve of the inauguration, there was a celebration for U. S. authors hosted by Laura Bush at DAR Constitution Hall. Wayne Newton, Brooks & Dunn, and Ricky Martin performed as the pre-inaugural entertainment, thousands of demonstrators attended the inaugural ceremonies in Washington, D. C. to protest the outcome and controversial circumstances of the 2000 U. S. Four protesters were arrested and Bushs limousine was hit by a tennis ball and an egg thrown from the crowd during the inaugural parade
39.
Second inauguration of George W. Bush
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The second inauguration of George W. Bush as President of the United States took place on Thursday, January 20,2005. The inauguration marked the beginning of the term of George W. Bush as President. Ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the Oath of office for the last time before his death in September 2005, attendance at the inauguration has been reported as being around 100,000,300,000, or 400,000. According to William Safire, Bush had told his speechwriter, Michael Gerson. Americas vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one, from the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nations security, so it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. And later, Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world, All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know, when you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know, America sees you for who you are, combined, the speech used the words free, freedom, and liberty 49 times. During the parade there were some protests along the route, but these were after the address, President Bush and the First Lady, Laura Bush, left their bullet-proof limousine and walked some of the route. As the first presidential inauguration after the September 11 attacks, security was tighter than previous ceremonies, the inaugural parade route as well as other related sites were guarded by 13,000 police and soldiers, in addition to aerial patrols by helicopter and fighter aircraft and rooftop sharpshooters. In downtown Washington, a 100 square block area was closed to traffic, many protested at the ceremonies and five people were arrested during the inauguration ceremony. Protestors worked to block access to the swearing in ceremony. Tickets were given out only by state senators and representatives, ticketholders, who were from all over the country, were advised not to bring backpacks or bags, and were told such items wouldnt be allowed through security. Protestors obtained tickets, and then brought large bags to the event, protesters standing in line cheered the success of their actions, and were quite pleased that they denied people the opportunity to see the ceremony
40.
Bush Doctrine
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The Bush Doctrine refers to various related foreign policy principles of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Charles Krauthammer first used the phrase in June 2001 to describe the Bush Administrations. unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM treaty, different pundits have attributed different meanings to the Bush Doctrine. It was used to specific policy elements, including a strategy of preemptive strikes as a defense against an immediate threat to the security of the United States. This policy principle was applied particularly in the Middle East to counter international terrorist organizations, generally, the Bush Doctrine was used to indicate a willingness to unilaterally pursue U. S. military interests. Some of these policies were codified in a National Security Council text entitled the National Security Strategy of the United States published on September 20,2002, the phrase Bush Doctrine was rarely used by members of the Bush administration. The main elements of the Bush Doctrine were delineated in a document and this document is often cited as the definitive statement of the doctrine. Two main pillars are identified for the doctrine, preemptive strikes against potential enemies, out of the National Security Strategy, four main points are highlighted as the core to the Bush Doctrine, Preemption, Military Primacy, New Multilateralism, and the Spread of Democracy. The document emphasized preemption by stating, America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones, im not going to suggest that its easy, but we have not found the formula as a country. In his 2010 memoir Decision Points, President Bush articulates his discrete concept of the Bush Doctrine, according to the 43rd President, his doctrine consisted of four prongs, three of them practical, and one idealistic. They are the following, Make no distinction between terrorists and the nations that harbor them--and hold both to account, take the fight to the enemy overseas before they can attack us again here at home. Confront threats before they fully materialize, advance liberty and hope as an alternative to the enemys ideology of repression and fear. Unilateral elements were evident in the first months of Bushs presidency, there is some evidence that Bushs willingness for the United States to act unilaterally came even earlier. The attacks presented a policy challenge, since it was not Afghanistan that had initiated the attacks. The first published reference after the 9/11 attacks to the terror-fighting doctrine appeared September 30 in an op-ed by political scientist Neal Coates. This policy was used to justify the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, Bush addressed the cadets at the U. S. Two distinct schools of thought arose in the Bush Administration regarding the question of how to handle such as Iraq, Iran. These policies, developed after the Cold War, sought to establish a consensus for action. This represented a departure from the Cold War policies of deterrence and containment under the Truman Doctrine and post–Cold War philosophies such as the Powell Doctrine, the Bush Doctrine holds that enemies of United States are using terrorism as a war of ideology against the United States
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Patriot Act
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The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26,2001. With its ten-letter abbreviation expanded, the title is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept. Following a lack of Congressional approval, parts of the Patriot Act expired on June 1,2015, with the passage of the USA Freedom Act on June 2,2015, the expired parts were restored and renewed through 2019. However, Section 215 of the law was amended to stop the National Security Agency from continuing its mass phone data collection program, instead, phone companies will retain the data and the NSA can obtain information about targeted individuals with permission from a federal court. From broad concern felt among Americans from both the September 11 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks, Congress rushed to pass legislation to strengthen security controls. On October 23,2001, Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner introduced H. R.3162 incorporating provisions from a previously sponsored House bill, the next day, the Act passed the House 357 to 66, with Democrats comprising the overwhelming portion of dissent. The three Republicans voting no were Robert Ney of Ohio, Butch Otter of Idaho and Ron Paul of Texas, on October 25, the Act passed the Senate by 98 to 1. Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, many provisions of the act were to sunset beginning December 31,2005, approximately four years after its passage. In July 2005, the U. S. Senate passed a bill with substantial changes to several sections of the act. The two bills were reconciled in a conference committee that was criticized by Senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties for ignoring civil liberty concerns. The bill, which removed most of the changes from the Senate version, passed Congress on March 2,2006, Title I authorizes measures to enhance the ability of domestic security services to prevent terrorism. The title established a fund for counter-terrorist activities and increased funding for the Terrorist Screening Center which is administered by the FBI, the military was authorized to provide assistance in some situations that involve weapons of mass destruction when so requested by the Attorney General. The National Electronic Crime Task Force was expanded, along with the Presidents authority and it primarily made amendments to FISA, and the ECPA, and many of the most controversial aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act reside in this title. In particular, the title allows government agencies to gather foreign intelligence information from both U. S. and non-U. S, Citizens, and changed FISA to make gaining foreign intelligence information the significant purpose of FISA-based surveillance, where previously it had been the primary purpose. However, that this wall even existed was found by the Federal Surveillance Court of Review to have actually been a long-held misinterpretation by government agencies, also removed was the statutory requirement that the government prove a surveillance target under FISA is a non-U. S. Citizen and agent of a power, though it did require that any investigations must not be undertaken on citizens who are carrying out activities protected by the First Amendment. The title also expanded the duration of FISA physical search and surveillance orders, the scope and availability of wiretapping and surveillance orders were expanded under Title II. The Act allowed any district judge in the United States to issue such surveillance orders
