Shakira Biography

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, known as Shakira in the popular music culture, is a Colombian singer and songwriter who has earned numerous music awards throughout her creative career. Shakira achieved popularity in the United States in early 2000's with the release of her album "Laundry Service" sung in the English language. s she evidently admits, Shakira named her first English-speaking album "Laundry Service" because when she is in love she feels "clean and fresh". The radio DJ repeatedly mentioned that Shakira was going to be the "next big singer" comparing her to success of Jennifer Lopez.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on Wednesday, February 2, 1977 in the coastal city of Barranquilla, Colombia. he had considered Karime and Katiuska but finally chose Shakira, an arabic name derived from the word "Shukram" which means "Grace". [source: www.shakiraisabel.com]. The literal translation of the Arabic word Shakira is "woman full of Grace", even though Shakira has said she identifies more with its second meaning, "Grateful" or "Thankful".

Shakira has eight half-siblings; five brothers and three sisters, from her father and his former wife. Tonino, one of her younger half brothers is also Shakira's road manager. Shakira is fluent in 5 languages: Portuguese, Italian, English, Spanish and Arabic.

Shakira expressed interest in writing from early age. She was only 4 years old when she wrote her first poem "La Rosa De Cristal". About a question about her career, Shakira modestly replies: "You can laugh, but since I was a child I knew that I was going to be a well-known singer/songwriter; that was something I had no doubts about. It was almost like a prophecy." When Shakira was 8, she wrote her first song "Tus Gafas Oscuras", unfortunatelly inspired by her older brother's death in a motorcycle accident. She started winning local and national talent contests at age 10.

Shakira attended La Ensenanza School in Barranquilla, Colombia. Academically, Shakira was sensible and disciplined, but also inattentive; she did not pay attention in class as she would immerse herself in writing lyrics on the back of her notebooks. When she was 19, Shakira has shown interest in acting. In 1996 she appeared in the Colombian telenovela "El Oasis", as the character of Luisa Maria, a a rich girl destined for ill-fated romance.

Demi Moore Biography

Actress, tabloid fodder, provocative Vanity Fair cover piece: the husky-voiced brunette Demi Moore is nothing if not an unforgettable roadside attraction on the pop culture highway. Rising to prominence with a string of successful films during the '80s and early '90s, Moore became known for both her onscreen and offscreen ability to draw attention for everything from her grin-and-bare-it roles in films like Striptease to her well-publicized marriage to (and divorce from Bruce Willis.

Born Demetria Guynes in Roswell, NM, on November 11, 1962, Moore led a troubled childhood. To call it tumultuous would be something of an understatement: along with her mother, half-brother and stepfather, she moved no less than 30 times before her adolescence, thanks to her stepfather's job as a newspaper ad salesman. The problems that went along with such an itinerant lifestyle were compounded by the dysfunctional, sometimes abusive relationship between Moore's mother and stepfather. The latter committed suicide when Moore was 15, around the time that she discovered that he was not her biological father. She dropped out of school a year later and did some modeling in Europe. When she was 18, Moore married rocker Freddy Moore; the union lasted four years, during which time the actress landed her first role playing Jackie Templeton on the TV daytime drama General Hospital.

Miley Cyrus Biography

Young Miley Cyrus became an overnight sensation in 2006 as the star of the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana, but fortunately her family has had some experience with that sort of thing -- her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, went from obscurity to stardom in a few short months when the song "Achy Breaky Heart" hit the charts in 1992. The success of "Achy Breaky Heart" was hardly the only memorable event for Billy Ray that year -- on November 23, 1992, he and his wife welcomed their daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus into the world. Destiny's cheerful disposition as a child earned her the nickname Smiley, which stuck when it was shortened to Miley. Miley's career as a professional actress began in 2003, when she appeared in an episode of the television series Doc, which starred her father; the same year, she landed a small role in the Tim Burton film Big Fish.

Miley developed an interest in music early on, writing songs and learning to sing while still a preteen, and in 2005 she landed a role that allowed her to put her skills in acting and music to work. Miley was cast in the title role of Hannah Montana, in which she played a teenage girl leading a double life -- by day, she's Miley Stewart, an ordinary kid dealing with school, her friends, her siblings, and all the other foibles of life for a 14-year-old, while at night she dons a wig and becomes Hannah Montana, a multi-platinum pop star whose career is guided by her dad, Robby Stewart, a successful songwriter. However, Miley's friends don't know she's also Hannah, and keeping this a secret is no simple matter. Debuting in March 2006, Hannah Montana became an immediate success with young viewers, and in October, a soundtrack CD was released, featuring Miley singing eight songs from the show along with five related tracks, including a duet between Miley and her father, Billy Ray, on "I Learned from You."

That fall, Miley hit the road, wowing audiences as the opening act for another Disney-spawned pop act, the Cheetah Girls, and in March 2007, the Hannah Montana album was reissued in a special edition featuring a bonus DVD, not long after the show's theme song, "The Best of Both Worlds," was released as a single. A second Hannah Montana album, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus, was released in summer 2007. That fall, Cyrus embarked on the Best of Both Worlds tour, which stretched into early 2008 and was edited into The Best of Both Worlds Concert film, which was released that spring. By then Cyrus was busy recording her first full-fledged album as herself, Breakout, as well as shooting Hannah Montana: The Movie, which was slated for release in 2009. Breakout arrived in summer 2008.

Mayara Tavares

Mayara De Melo Tavares on facebook.com
Brazil

Miss Texas Usa Pageant

Having Miss Texas USA on my resume is pretty interesting. First, it causes people to remember who I am. Second, people forget and when speaking with me, ask me about what it was like to be first runner-up at the pageant or a former Miss Texas USA. If that's the case, there isn't a point to winning the pageant when people won't remember anyway, right? Third, and this is the best part, there is a notion that beauty pageant women, especially those in the world-renowned Miss Texas USA, are gorgeous creatures in the vein of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. It's considered adequate experience for modeling and television and ask yourself, how many people on the street remember Miss Texas USA's name or who won Miss USA three years ago? I would rather rank among Miss Texas USA's famous "ugly losers," like Eva Longoria Parker and Farrah Faucett. Whoever picked on Ms. Longoria at that year's pageant is probably at home barbecuing yesterday's potroast for her 85 children while she landed on Maxim's hottest women list.

I don't know how much longer pageantry will last in this country. You would think by now with Playboy and women in bikinis everywhere that men could care less about watching girls in granny panties-sized swimwear prance across a stage to win a contest that's rigged, predetermined a week in advance, a contest the real people don't even get to vote in. What is the appeal? Miss America has already been reduced to a retirement community worth of viewers on an ever-changing cable network. Really, CMT must have given TLC a load of kickbacks to have it, saying, "Take this trash! We could get more viewers if we played ten year old Shania Twain music videos followed by Hee Haw reruns!" Worse, Miss USA and Miss Universe are "no talent required" competitions -- quite obvious if you ever meet any of the talentless, brainless contestants -- so you can't claim people watch them for the great singing.

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I strongly disagree with the remarks from Ms. Russin. I happened to serve as a judge for the Miss Texas USA Pageant on two occasions. I also have served as the State Director for the Miss Teenage California Scholarship Pageant for 31 years, which incidently has no affiliation with either Miss USA or MIss America, but remains one of the most successful state programs of it's kind in the nation. We however do not have a swimsuit competition. Our contestants are judged on Achievements & Activities, Personality, and Poise and Appearance in Formal Attire. I would suggest that Krystle Russin might be singing a different tune had she actually won Miss Texas USA. IN my 31 years as a State Director and judge of said events I find the contestants to be intelligent and goal oriented. Most seem to be very motivated. I strongly disagree with the assertion that pageant contestants are by any stretch less intelligent than their non-competing counterparts. Perhaps quite the contrary. Ms. Russin their are a slew of allegations that you bring that bare little to do with truth or reality. The two times I have the priviledge of judging the Miss Texas USA Pageant for Al and Gail Clark, I found to be totally positive. They produce a high quality event, offer substantial opportunities to their contestants, and offer an excellent prize package.

Jonas Salk

When Dr. Jonas Salk envisioned the idea of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, it was with the idea of creating a vibrant, intellectual community, dedicated to pursuing the kinds of scientific achievements that had made him an international figure only five years before.

Thus a monument to the conquest of polio faithful to the facts would consist of not one man in a white lab coat but two of them glaring at each other. Both Drs. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin could and did make convincing cases for themselves and pretty good ones against each other too. But since the public usually prefers one hero to two, and since Salk did get there first, he got the monument.

Jonas Salk was born in New York to proud Russian and Jewish immigrant parents. Though the family was materially poor and lacked formal education, they urged their children to work and study hard. Jonas Salk was the first sibling to enter the City College of New York to study Law, but fate intervened and he entered medical school instead of getting a law degree at the New York University.

Scientists, microbiologists worked hard to find an antidote, and finally their efforts and hard work paid off. On April 12, 1955 an official announcement was made that Dr. Jonas Salk has finally developed a vaccine that will once and for all eradicate polio. Dr. Jonas Salk became an overnight sensation not only in the United States but worldwide.

But who is Dr. Jonas Salk?

Jonas Salk, while still in medical school, was invited to do some research on the recently discovered influenza virus. Eager to learn, Salk succeeded in his research by depriving the virus the ability to infect and in so doing giving immunity to the illness as well. Thus in 1938, together with microbiologist Thomas Francis Jr., Salk developed the first vaccine on influenza and was used extensively by the Armed Forces in World War II. This became the foundation of his research on polio later on.

After completing medical school and his internship, he went back to the study of influenza, the flu virus. In 1947, Jonas Salk accepted residency at the Medical School of the University of Pittsburgh and worked with the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. It was here that he devoted 8 years of his life working to develop the polio vaccine. In 1952 his vaccine was developed; he and his family including his staff and volunteers were first inoculated to test its effectiveness.

The vaccine proved successful as everybody who received the test vaccine started producing anti-bodies against the virus so that nobody else became inflicted with polio and no side effect was observed. Jonas Salk published the results in the Journal of the American Medical Association the following year and a nationwide testing was made. It was during this time that worst polio outbreak happened involving 57,628 cases. It was Salk's former mentor Thomas Francis Jr. that helped and directed the mass vaccination of schoolchildren.

The success of the vaccination put Jonas Salk's fame forward and endeared himself to the public when he refused to patent the vaccine and the accompanying financial remuneration. Dr. Jonas Salk in his statement "merely wished to see the vaccine disseminated as widely as possible". The March of Dimes, a non-government organization hoping to boost publicity and raise donation to fund the vaccination programs praised the achievements of Salk to the point of offending his colleagues.

In 1963 he founded the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a center devoted solely for medical and scientific research. His last years were devoted to finding a vaccine against AIDS. Dr. Jonas Salk died on June 23, 1995. He was 80 years old.

Jonas Salk liked to go down to the racetrack on occasion and place a wager or two on the ponies. But, he didn't stop there. According to unconfirmed reports, Jonas Salk like to sneak back into the stables behind the racetrack and actually spank the horses on their behinds. No one knows why he like to do this, but on more than one occasion he was spotted coming back into the stands with a horseshoe imprint upon his forehead.

Sarah Palin

Cynthia Hampton Picture

Picture of Michael Torrey with John and Cynthia Hampton

Hampton Affiliates gives generously to a host of organizations including Portland Opera, Portland Art Museum, Oregon Symphony, Oregon Historical Society, and World Forestry Center, among others. The company was honored at NW/BCA’s "Arts Breakfast of Champions" in 2002 for being the top donor to the arts among medium-size companies. In September 2003 John Hampton was honored nationally with the Business Committee for the Arts "2003 Leadership Award" for his vision, leadership and commitment to the arts.

The Hampton family's commitment to the arts involves board service as well. John Hampton, who passed away in 2006, was a member of the Leadership Council of NW/BCA, was chairman of the Portland Opera Board and Oregon Community Foundation, and was a tireless fundraiser for organizations he believed in, including the Oregon Cultural Trust. Jamey Hampton is past chair of the Pacific Northwest College of Art and of the Northwest Academy, is on the board of Portland Opera, and is the co-founder and artistic director of BodyVox dance company. Cynthia Hampton is on the boards of the Oregon Symphony and PNCA and is a fine art photographer.

source http://www.nwbca.org/content.cfm/MEMBERSHIP/Current-Members/Profile-Hampton-Affiliates

We wanted to celebrate the Lusophone ( Lusophony)Day

We wanted to celebrate the Lusophony Day, as an opportunity to post about the recent launching of the Global Voices website in Portuguese. A quick googling around the keywords brought up the July 17th inspired on CPLP's foundation, but as we kept searching other dates appeared like the May 31st for UNESCO's Portuguese language day, and the November 5th as a new proposal from Brazil. As we could not find common ground in the Lusophone world about the day to celebrate its connectedness, our post about the Lusophony Day turned into a question: what is the meaning of Lusophony across the many Portuguese speaking blogospheres?

Gary Papa of Wayne

Gary Papa is one of the most well-recognized current residents of Wayne. He joined as an anchor of WPVI's Action News on April 15, 1981 and continues as sports anchor to this day.

Papa is also well known locally as being master of ceremonies for various local events, such as the Christmas Tree lighting at Wayne Station. Papa was also a contributor for the Station's restoration in the early 2000s.

Tracy CA Maps

Tracy CA Maps

More source http://getrich2.blogspot.com/2009/05/aahome-top-10-home-based-businesses_26.html

Toni Trucks from the Showtime series 'Barbershop'

Gender: Female
Birthplace: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Birthday: 9-30-1980
Birth Name: Antoinette Lindsay Trucks

Toni Trucks from the Showtime series 'Barbershop', picked up a gift certificate from Xtreme Lashes Event Coordinator, Mike Daoudi.

Source http://www.movietome.com/people/370837/toni-trucks/index.html

Article Search Engine Classified 2

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