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I did, too, Edgar. The novel, Shane, was written in 1949. I don't know when "Hondo" was written.

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors. We may never know about Jack and Louis, but here is something we do know, and it's really too bad.

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin killed 33 minutes ago



BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition. He was 44.



Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when he was stung, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

He collapsed at Batt Reef, near Low Isle and the resort town of Port Douglas, Queensland state police said in a statement. Port Douglas is about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, the state capital.

A rescue helicopter rushed to the scene but Irwin had died, the statement said.

Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef and said cause of death appeared to be a "stingray strike to the chest."

I didn't realize that a stingray could have that effect, did you?

Hondo was written in 1953. Just happened to have it eyeballing me on the bookshelf.

Hey, hawkman. I just found out that I have read The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour. Really weird book, as I recall.

Song for the morning:

What I Am
Artist EDIE BRICKELL

Album: The Ultimate Collection (2002)


I'm not aware of too many things,
but I know what I know if you know what I mean.
Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.
Religion is the smile on a dog.
I'm not aware of too many things,
but I know what I know if you know what I mean.
Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep.
What I am is what I am.
Are you what you are - or what?
I'm not aware of too many things,
but I know what I know if you know what I mean.
Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks.
Religion is a light in the fog.
I'm not aware of too many things,
but I know what I know if you know what I mean.
Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep.
What I am is what I am.
Are you what you are - or what?
Don't let me get too deep.

Nigel Bruce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Nigel Ernle Bruce (February 4, 1895 - October 8, 1953), usually credited as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor, best known as Dr. Watson in a series of films and a radioseries starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes.

The son of a baronet, he was born in Ensenada, Mexico on February 4, 1895, while his parents were on vacation.

He was severely wounded in World War I and spent most of the war in a wheelchair.

In 1920 he began his career on stage and eight years later started working in silent films. In 1934 he moved to Hollywood. During his career he worked on 78 movies, including Treasure Island, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lassie Come Home, The Corn is Green, and Bwana Devil. He also appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion.

He typically played buffoonish, fuzzy-minded gentlemen and his signature role was that of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series beginning in 1939 with his good friend Basil Rathbone. Holmes purists objected that Watson in the books was an intelligent and capable person (although not an outstanding detective), and that the Bruce portrayal made him seem dimmer and more bumbling than his literary counterpart. A nickname resulting from this portrayal was Boobus Britannicus. For millions of fans, however, Bruce was the definitive Watson. He starred in 14 films and over 200 radio programs as Dr. Watson. Although Watson often appears to be the elder of the two main characters, Bruce was actually three years younger than his co-star Rathbone.

Bruce, known as Willy to his friends, was a leading member of the British movie colony in Los Angeles. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he never renounced his British citizenship despite his long residence in the United States.

Bruce died from a heart attack in Santa Monica, California in 1953, aged 58. He was cremated, and his ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

He wrote an autobiography called Games, Gossip, and Greasepaint which has never been published. Excerpts can be read online, however [1].

His last movie, World for Ransom, was released posthumously in 1954.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Bruce"

Mary Renault
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Renault (4 September 1905 - 13 December 1983) born Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander.



Life and Works

She was born in London and educated at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-women's college, receiving a degree in English in 1928. In 1933 she began training as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary. During her training, she met Julie Mullard, a fellow nurse with whom she established a life-long romantic relationship.

She worked as a nurse while beginning a writing career, treating Dunkirk evacuees at the Winford Emergency Hospital in Bristol, and working in Radcliffe Infirmary's brain surgery ward until 1945. She published her first novel, Purposes of Love, in 1939; it had a contemporary setting, like her other early novels, which novelist Linda Proud described as "a strange combination of Platonism and hospital romance".[1]

In 1948, after her novel North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, according to Proud, they found a community of gay expatriates who had "escaped the repressive attitudes towards homosexuality in Britain for the comparatively liberal atmosphere of Durban.... Mary and Julie found themselves able to set up home together in this new land without causing the outrage they had sometimes provoked at home."[2] (Renault and Mullard were critical of the less liberal aspects of their new home, participating in the Black Sash movement against apartheid in the 1950s.)

It was in South Africa that Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time ?- in her last contemporary novel, The Charioteer, published in 1953, and then in her first historical novel, 1956's The Last of the Wine, the story of two young Athenians who study under Socrates and fight against Sparta. Both these books had male protagonists, as did all her later works that included homosexual themes; her sympathetic treatment of love between men would win Renault a wide gay readership.

Her subsequent historical novels were all set in ancient Greece, including a pair of novels about the mythological hero Theseus, and a trilogy about the career of Alexander the Great. Although not a classicist by training, she was admired in her day for her scrupulous recreations of the Greek world. Some of the history presented in her fiction (and in her nonfiction work, The Nature of Alexander) has been called into question: Her novels about Theseus rely on the controversial theories of Robert Graves, and her portrait of Alexander has been criticized as uncritical and romanticized. [3] Renault often defends her interpretation of the available sources in author's notes attached to her books, and even her critics generally credit her with providing a vivid portrait of life in ancient Greece.

On April 18th, 2006, UK, BBC 4 aired a one hour documentary, Mary Renault - Love and War in Ancient Greece, with this description:

A profile of the novelist whose books on ancient Greece convincingly brought the world of Plato and Socrates back to life. Sue MacGregor and Oliver Stone are among the contributors to this film examining how Mary Renault's popular novels set in ancient Greece inspired a new generation of readers in the 1950s.

Dick York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Date of birth: September 4, 1928
Birth location: Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Height: 6'1"
Date of death: February 20, 1992
Death location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Birth name: Richard Allen York

Dick York (4 September 1928 - 20 February 1992) was an American actor in radio, Broadway stage, and television.

Born Richard Allen York in Fort Wayne, Indiana, York grew up in Chicago, where a Catholic nun first recognized his vocal promise. He began his career at age 15 as the star of the CBS radio program That Brewster Boy. He also appeared in hundreds of other radio shows and instructional films before heading to New York City, where he acted on Broadway in Tea and Sympathy and Bus Stop. He performed with stars including Paul Muni and Joanne Woodward in live television broadcasts and with Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, and Gary Cooper in movies, including My Sister Eileen, Cowboy, and They Came to Cordura. He played the role of Bertram Cates, the young teacher charged with teaching the theory of evolution, in the 1960 classic Inherit the Wind starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly. He went on to star with Kelly in the television comedy/drama Going My Way and to appear in dozens of episodes of now-classic TV shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, and Route 66.





York is best known as the first actor to play Darrin Stephens in the 1960s sitcom Bewitched. The show was a huge success and York was nominated for an Emmy in 1968, but a debilitating back injury he had suffered on the set of They Came to Cordura caused him increasing pain, and led or contributed to his misuse of pain-alleviating drugs. During the fifth season on the sitcom, he collapsed on the Bewitched set and was rushed to the hospital. From his hospital bed he resigned from the show to devote himself to drug rehabilitation and recovery. For the 1969-70 season, he was replaced in the TV series by actor Dick Sargent, who held the role until the series ended in 1972.


York with Bewitched co-star Elizabeth Montgomery (1964).As he battled his back pain, York gained 150 pounds and lost most of his teeth. He and wife Joan supported themselves by cleaning an apartment house they owned until they fell on further hard times and lost the building. As York related in his posthumously-published memoir, The Seesaw Girl and Me, it took him many more years to regain an interest in acting and to try to revive his career. He lost the weight he had gained, and appeared on several prime-time TV shows including Simon and Simon and Fantasy Island.

York spent his final years battling emphysema. Ultimately bedridden in a small home in Rockford, Michigan he founded Acting for Life, a private fundraising effort to help the homeless. Using his telephone as his pulpit, York motivated politicians, business people, and regular folk to contribute supplies and money. York is buried in Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan

Mitzi Gaynor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born 4 September 1931
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Mitzi Gaynor (born September 4, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois, although some sources indicate 1930) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.

Her birth name was either Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber, while other sources cite Francesca Marlene de Charney von Gerber as her birth name.

She trained as a ballerina as a child and began her career as a chorus dancer. She sang, acted and danced in a number of film musicals, often paired with some of the biggest male musical stars.

Notable early roles included There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) which featured Irving Berlin's music and also starred Ethel Merman, Dan Dailey, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor, and Johnnie Ray.

Les Girls (1957, directed by George Cukor) with Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall, and Anything Goes (1956), co-starring Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, and Zizi Jeanmaire; with screen-play written by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse.

Gaynor's biggest international fame came from her starring role in the film version of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's South Pacific, one of the most successful musicals of all time.

For her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best actress. She made films with many other well-known stars, including Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, David Niven, Dan Dailey, Betty Grable and Oscar Levant.

She made her last film in the early 1960s; one of her last films was the United Kingdom production Surprise Package (1960), a musical comedy thriller directed by Stanley Donen. Her co-stars were Yul Brynner and Noel Coward and the film had a theme song by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn.

After her retirement from films, Gaynor remained a popular favorite; she often performed songs at Academy Awards ceremonies, starred in a series of high-rated TV specials, had a This Is Your Life special dedicated to her, and often appeared on television and in local theater.

For several years, Mitzi Gaynor was a top Las Vegas attraction. She also successfully battled cancer. During the 1990's, Gaynor also became a featured columnist for the influential newsmagazine The Hollywood Reporter.

Damon Wayans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damon Kyle Wayans (born September 4, 1960 in New York City, New York), one of the Wayans brothers, is a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor who began his career as a stand-up comic in 1982. His earliest film appearance was a brief cameo as an effeminate hotel employee in the 1984 Eddie Murphy film Beverly Hills Cop. He was briefly on Saturday Night Live as a featured performer, before getting fired for playing his character as a flamboyant gay cop instead of a straight cop. In the SNL book "Live From New York", it was stated that Wayans did this largely due to growing frustrations that his sketches were not being considered for the show.

He went on to do the TV-show In Living Color from 1990 to 1992, part of a team that was nominated for Emmy Awards all three years.

In 1996, he produced Waynehead, a cartoon for the WB, loosely based on his own childhood growing up in a large family, starring a poor boy with a clubfoot. It only lasted a season due to poor ratings.

From 1997 to 1998, he was the executive producer of 413 Hope St., a short-lived drama on the FOX network starring Richard Roundtree and Jesse L. Martin.

From 2001 until 2005, Wayans starred in the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids. [1] Before that, he starred in the films The Last Boy Scout, Major Payne and The Great White Hype, he also wrote and starred in the film Blankman.

In 1999 his New York Times bestselling book Bootleg was published; it is a humorous compilation of his observations about family, children, marriage, and politics.


Success

Through My Wife and Kids Damon Wayans became a household name throughout the US. The show was also popular in countries such as UK, India and Brazil. His character called Michael Kyle is a father of three and the show is famous for his sarcastic form of comedy.

Trivia

His parents are Howell and Elvira Wayans
He is the brother of Keenen Ivory Wayans, Kim Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Dwayne Wayans and Marlon Wayans.
He married Lisa Thorner. They divorced in 2000.
He is the father of Damon Wayans, Jr., Michael Wayans, Cara Mia Wayans, and Kyla Wayans.
He is 6' 3" (1.91 m) tall.
He is a close friend of NBA legend Michael Jordan.
He is in Janet Jackson's video "The Best Things in Life Are Free"
Was considered for the role of The Riddler in Batman Forever.
Hosted the 2006 BET Awards which was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on June 27.
Uncle of Damien Dante Wayans.
Cousin of Craig Wayans.
He had a clubbed foot as a child.

Beyoncé
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
Born September 4, 1981
Origin Houston, Texas

Website BeyonceOnline.com
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981) is a popular American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, and fashion designer. Beyoncé rose to stardom as a founding member of R&B group Destiny's Child. After a series of commercially successful records with the group, she released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which spawned the highly successful song "Crazy in Love" and topped both the R&B and Billboard 200 charts in the U.S. and the main album charts in Canada and the United Kingdom. Beyoncé has won nine Grammy Awards ?- six for her solo work, and three as a member of Destiny's Child. She has a successful film career and co-starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember, one of the highest-grossing films of 2002.

Beyoncé is scheduled to release her second solo album, B'Day, on September 4, 2006 around the world and September 5, 2006 in the United States, to coincide with the celebration of her twenty-fifth birthday.

Early life

Beyoncé is the elder of two daughters born to Mathew Knowles and Tina Beyince in Houston, Texas. Her father is African American and her mother is and African American of Creole descent . Her maternal grandparents, Lumis Beyince and Agnes Dereon (a seamstress), were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles.[2] Her parents decided on her first name as a tribute to her mother's surname. Her sister is Solange Knowles, an actress and a singer. By age seven, she was attending dance school and was a soloist in her church choir. Her dance instructor took an interest in Knowles and took her star student to various competitions. Knowles went on to win over 30 local singing and dancing competitions.

Beyoncé and her former best friend LaTavia Roberson met Kelly Rowland and LeToya Luckett. They formed a quartet that would perform in their backyards and in Tina Knowles' hair salon. After singing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search [3]. The group, then named "Girl's Tyme" [4], were heartbroken after losing the competition. Matthew Knowles, Beyoncé's father and Rowland's legal guardian, decided to help the girls reach their dreams of becoming singers. He quit his six figure salary job as a multi-million dollar equipment salesman at Xerox to manage the group [5]. This decision by Mathew eventually affected the whole family. Their income had been cut in half, causing the family to move into two different apartments. When the group was signed to Columbia in 1996, it gave the entire family a second chance at making things work.

As a teenager, Beyoncé attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, where she showed her musical talents. She later went to Alief Elsik High School, also in Houston.

Destiny's Child

Main article: Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child were originally signed by Elektra in 1995 but were dropped before they could release their debut album. The quartet was signed to Columbia Records the following year, and their career took off. Destiny's Child rose to fame in 1998 with the Billboard top ten hit, "No, No, No Part 2". Even after much-publicized turmoil involving new and exiting group members, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio of Michelle Williams and original members Knowles and Rowland) became one of the most successful R&B/pop acts of the late 1990s/early 2000s, charting four number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, several top-ten hits, and two number-one albums. The group also earned number ones on various other Billboard and non-Billboard charts.


Destiny's Child's self-titled debut album (1998) (Knowles on the far right)Their 1998 platinum-selling debut album was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the platinum-selling, number-one Hot 100 single "No, No, No". The group's second album, The Writing's on the Wall, released in 1999, featured two number-one hits in "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". "Bug A Boo" and "Jumpin', Jumpin'" were also popular singles from the album. "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song, the latter of which was awarded to the songwriters, which included Knowles.

Their next album, Survivor, proved to be another big success, going to number one on both the American Billboard 200 and R&B Albums charts, as well as the Canadian and the UK album chart. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women Part 1" and "Bootylicious", with the album's title track reaching number two. In the United Kingdom, the first two tracks released reached number one consecutively. "Independent Women Part 1" had been the theme song for the film Charlie's Angels in late 2000, before the album's 2001 release. The title track, "Survivor", would win the group their third Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album's fourth single, "Emotion", was a cover of the Bee Gees hit of the same name; it continued the group's impressive string of top ten hits.

In 2001, Beyoncé won the Songwriter of the Year award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Pop Music Awards.


After the three year hiatus that involved concentration on individual solo projects, Beyoncé rejoined Rowland and Williams for Destiny's Child's fourth (and so far final) studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, released November 2004. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the hits "Lose My Breath", "Soldier", "Girl" and "Cater 2 U". The album title itself was a hint that Destiny Fulfilled may in fact be the last Destiny's Child album and so far that has been the case.

In 2005, Destiny's Child embarked on a world tour sponsored by McDonald's titled, Destiny Fulfilled and Lovin' It, visiting over 70 cities throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and North America from April to September. On June 13, 2005 it was announced that the group would disband after their world tour ended in September 2005.[6]

In October 2005, the group released their final album, entitled #1's, including all of Destiny's Child's number-one hits and most of their well-known songs. The Greatest Hits collection also includes three new tracks, including "Stand Up for Love". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and number six on the UK Top 75 chart.

In 2005 at the World Music Awards, Destiny's Child were given the award for the biggest-selling girl group of all time with record sales of over 50 million. When Houston hosted the 55th NBA All-Star weekend in 2006, Destiny's Child peformed a version of Starred Spangled Banner as one of their last performances together.

Solo career

During the autumn of 2002, Beyoncé was the featured vocalist on rapper Jay-Z's hit single, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". In the spring of 2003, Beyoncé remade a duet with the late Luther Vandross, "The Closer I Get to You", originally made famous by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. In this version, the vocal parts are switched, with Vandross taking Flack's part and Knowles taking Hathaway's. The song was included on both her solo debut album and on Vandross's Dance with My Father album, and the two shared the Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals that same year.

Dangerously in Love

Beyoncé on her solo debut Dangerously In Love (2003)In 2003, Beyoncé released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. The album entered the Billboard 200 at No.1 selling 317,000 copies in its first week. It was certified Platinum just one month later on July 29, 2003. Its first single, "Crazy in Love", featured a propulsive riff and a guest rap from Jay-Z, rapidly becoming one of the biggest hits of that summer, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for eight weeks. "Dangerously in Love" went to the top of the album charts in the UK and Canada, and peaked on both the American Billboard pop (Billboard 200) and R&B charts. The album has sold over four million copies in U.S. and over eleven million copies worldwide [7]. When her single and album simultaneously topped the pop charts in both the U.S. and the UK, she became the first act to achieve this feat since Men at Work in 1983 and The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Rod Stewart in the 1960s and 1970s - thus becoming the first and so far, the only female artist to do so. Beyoncé was consequently one of the biggest-selling artists of 2003. [8]


Knowles in her 2003 music video "Crazy in Love"Towards the end of the summer, "Baby Boy", Dangerously in Love's second single, which featured Sean Paul, began to climb the charts. It went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2003, dominating radio airplay in the autumn of 2003, and spending nine weeks at number one ?- one week longer than "Crazy in Love".

Fresh from the success of "Baby Boy",Beyoncé released her third solo single, "Me, Myself and I" towards the end of 2003; Dangerously in Love's fourth single, "Naughty Girl", came out in mid-2004. The songs peaked at number four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.

At the 2004 Grammy Awards ceremony, Beyoncé won a record-tying five Grammy awards for her solo effort. These awards included Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2", and Best Contemporary R&B Album. Three other female artists hold this record: Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones. She also won a Brit Award in 2004 for Best International Female Solo Artist in United Kingdom which made her the first female solo artist to have won prominent awards both domestically and internationally in the same year.

In December 2005, Beyoncé released "Check on It", featuring Slim Thug and (in the official remix) Bun B. The song was from the Destiny's Child compilation, #1's and the The Pink Panther soundtrack and it was Knowles' sixth top five hit and third number one.

At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the song "So Amazing", a duet with Stevie Wonder from the Luther Vandross tribute album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.




B'Day

Beyoncé's sophmore albumB'Day is scheduled to be released worldwide on September 4, 2006 and on September 5, 2006 in the U.S. to celebrate Beyoncé's twenty-fifth birthday. Beyoncé's sophomore studio album includes all new music co-produced, written, and arranged by Beyoncé.[1] "Deja Vu", the album's first single, features Jay-Z with co-production by Rodney Jerkins. Other co-producers on B'Day include Rich Harrison, The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz.Beyoncé finished work on her second studio album in two weeks and has said the album's tracks came to her in a dream.[2]

The first single "Deja Vu" was a top 5 hit in the U.S., a #1 hit on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at #1 in the UK.

The second single "Ring the Alarm",was leaked on the internet August 8, 2006. The video for "Ring the Alarm" was released on August 16, 2006 on Yahoo.com.

On August 27, 2006, Beyoncé spawned her second UK number one single with "Deja Vu" climbing 20 spots to take the top spot over Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie". Counting her career with Destiny's Child, this becomes her fourth number one single in the UK. She made chart history again when "Deja Vu" became the eighth single to climb to the top position from outside the Top 20 - Also, the second single from outside the Top 10 (ie. from #21 to #1 for "Deja Vu") [9]. Earlier artists to achieve this climb include The Beatles, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. After the download sales integration in 2005, she effectively becomes the first artist (and the first song) to top the chart from outside the Top 20 and the Top 10, as well as being the highest climber to number one.

MTV's Sway Calloway conducted an in depth TV interview titled All Eyes on Beyoncé. B'Day, the upcoming movie Dreamgirls, and Beyoncé's future career plans as a solo artist were topics discussed. The special aired on MTV on August 16, 2006.

Beyoncé won the MTV Video Music Awards for best R&B video for "Check On It". She also performed the single "Ring the Alarm" at the show with a performance very identical to that of Britney Spears' performance at the 2004 American Music Awards, in which Spears came down from the ceiling and wore an outfit very similar to that of Knowles outfit and danced on a circular platform.

Film career

In 2001, Beyoncé turned to acting, starring alongside actor Mekhi Phifer in the MTV television movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera.

In the summer of 2002, Beyoncé co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers and Michael Caine. The film is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Highest-Grossing Box Office Film Comedy. Beyoncé also recorded the song "Work It Out" for the film's soundtrack. "Work It Out" was a top-ten hit in the UK and a top-forty hit in the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, despite being Beyoncé's biggest commercial disappointment to date in the U.S., where radio stations barely played the song and the video received very minor exposure, playing only on digital video channels, MTV Jams and VH1 Soul.

In 2003, Beyoncé starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation", featuring Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free. Unlike Knowles' own singles, the song did not become a hit, although the film was a moderate success at the box office.

Beyoncé co-starred in the film The Pink Panther, playing the role of Xania!, an international pop singer, opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film was released on February 10, 2006 and was #1 at the box office on its opening weekend [10]. With Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Pink Panther, Knowles now has starred in two films that opened at #1 at the box office; her films have grossed over $481,364,728 worldwide.

Beyoncé has completed filming the movie Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the hit 1981 Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group loosely based on The Supremes, as the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. The film is scheduled for release on December 22, 2006.[11]

Recently, movie sites have started a possible rumor of Beyoncé returning to the Austin Powers franchise to reprise her role as Foxxy Cleopatra.

Philanthropy

Beyoncé, music producer David Foster, and his daughter, Amy Foster Gillies, wrote Destiny's Child's single "Stand Up for Love" for World Children's Day, an event which takes place annually around the world on November 20 to raise awareness and funds for children's causes worldwide. Destiny's Child lent their voices and support as global ambassadors for the 2005 World Children's Day program.

Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, along with Matthew Knowles, Tina Knowles, and sister Solange Knowles recently announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for Hurricane Katrina victims and storm evacuees in the Houston, Texas area. The Survivor Foundation extends the philanthropic mission of the "Knowles-Rowland Center For Youth", a multi-purpose community outreach facility in downtown Houston.[12].

Controversy

Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have voiced concern over Beyoncé wearing and using fur in her clothing line, House of Dereon.[13] After winning an online eBay auction, offered by VH1 for the Save the Music Foundation, to dine with Knowles in June 2006, two PETA members confronted the singer at the restaurant in New York City about her use of fur. [14] Knowles did not respond, and the PETA members were escorted out. [15]
On August 25, 2006, PETA wrote a letter of concern to Beyoncé, about the actions made to baby alligator's in a photoshoot. Knowles spoke to Arena magazine about the photoshoot, for Ring the Alarm, where a baby alligator's mouth shut. She told Arena, "There was a shot where I held an alligator. (It) had (it's) mouth taped -- that was my bright idea." Knowles added, ""He was really cute, but since his mouth was taped, he didn't have any way to defend himself. He was upset, so he peed on me. That was an experience." PETA thought it was a bad experience for the alligators. The organization contacted one of the world's leading biologists, who wrote a lettet to Beyoncé. "As a specialist in reptile biology and welfare, I'm concerned about your posing with a terrified baby alligator for your new album cover." He added, "Humans and alligators are not natural bedfellows, and the two should not mix at events such as photo shoots. In my view, doing so is arguably abusive to an animal." [16]
Beyoncé and Matthew Knowles have each released statements in which they said that the upcoming release and pre-sale date for Knowles's new album were not set in response to the upcoming release of an album by LeToya Luckett, a former member of the now-defunct Destiny's Child. "I have enormous respect and admiration for LeToya as an artist and a business woman and I wish her incredible success with her debut CD and her career," Beyoncé said. "LeToya and I have known each other since childhood and, because of all we've been through, I know that we both really care -- and want what's best -- for each other." Beyoncé added that she is pleased that LeToya has included House of Deréon (Beyoncé's clothing label) in her new boutique and it "makes me sad that people are trying to stir up a controversy where there is none." Her father and business manager Matthew Knowles seconded his daughter's remarks. [17]

As a paralegal, I worked for a bar association that was having
difficulty collecting some members' annual dues. The new
administrative assistant was told to advise them by letter that their
membership would be canceled unless they paid up. Soon, however, we
began receiving telephone calls wondering if perhaps the association
was taking too drastic a step. The officers then read the letter
their assistant had sent out: "Unless dues are paid by March 1, you
will be dismembered." (Lori Fogarty)

That made me laugh, Bob!

Cathy's Clown
The Everly Brothers

[Written by Don and Phil Everly]

Don't want your love any more
Don't want your kisses that's for sure
I die each time I hear the sound
Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown

I gotta stand tall
You know a man can't crawl
For when he knows he's telling lies
And he lets them pass on by
He's not a man at all

Don't want your love any more
Don't want your kisses that's for sure
I die each time I hear the sound
Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown

When you see me shed a tear
And when you know that it's sincere
Don't you think it's kind of sad
That you're treating me so bad
Or don't you even care

Don't want your love any more
Don't want your kisses that's for sure
I die each time I hear the sound
Here he comes, that's Cathy's clown


Originally written as Catherine's Clown by Don Everly
(supposedly about a high school friend Catherine Coe)

Well, folks, we know that BioBob has finished with his celebs when he leaves us with a lawyer joke. Funny, Bob, and thanks once again for the celebs. We will wait for our Raggedy to do her picture bit before commenting, however.

Welcome back, Francis, even though you're only here for a laugh. <smile>

Hey, edgar. I recall that song, buddy. Thanks, Texas for the memory.

Speaking of funny, listen to this one by Sir Elton:

Goodbye Marlon Brando


Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Available on the album Reg Strikes Back



Say goodbye to loneliness, say goodbye to Marlon Brando
Say goodbye to latitudes and the confusion that surrounds you
Say goodbye to misery, say goodbye to the morning news
Say goodbye to prime time and the fools that choose to view
Say goodbye to Wendy, say goodbye to Rhonda
Say goodbye to the Beach Boys from the Palisades to Kona

Say goodbye to Glasnost, say goodbye to Malathion
Say goodbye to the clowns in congress and the belt around Orion
Say goodbye to the tabloids, say goodbye to diet soda
Say goodbye to new age music from the Capa to the Coda
Say goodbye to gridlock, goodbye to Dolly's chest
Goodbye to the ozone layer if there's any of it left

Don't it make you wanna crawl back to the womb
Find a sanitarium rent yourself a room
This overload is edging me further out to sea
I need to put some distance between overkill and me, me

Say goodbye to Jackie Collins, say goodbye to illiterate fools
Goodbye to evangelists and geeks with power tools
Goodbye to statuettes, say goodbye to lists
Say goodbye to articles on who the senator kissed
Say goodbye to hair styles, goodbye to heaven's gate
Goodbye to Rocky Five, Six, Seven and Eight

Love it!

Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons on the same theme as the Everlys:

Oh, how you tried to cut me down to size
Tellin' dirty lies to my friends
But my own father said "Give her up, don't bother
The world isn't comin' to an end"
(He said)

Walk like a man, talk like a man
Walk like a man my son
No woman's worth crawlin' on the earth
So walk like a man, my son

Bye bye baby, I don't-a mean maybe
Gonna get along somehow
Soon you'll be cryin' on account of all your lyin'
Oh yeah, just look who's laughin' now
(I'm gonna)

Walk like a man, fast as I can
Walk like a man from you
I'll tell the world "forget about it, girl"
And walk like a man from you

Fabian
Like a Tiger

Hey. lumpa sugar, you look kinda sweet
Cuter than a baby walkin' down the street
When I look into your eyes, I wanna leap
I can't conceal that you make me feel
Like a tiger, ooh, ooh, ooh, like a tiger
Ooh, ooh, ooh, just to see you smile nearly drives me wild
I wanna growl wow!

I'm feelin' stronger than a grizzly bear
Soarin' like an eagle flyin' through the air
When I get you in my arms, you'd better beware
I go insane 'cause I can't be tamed
Like a tiger, ooh, ooh, ooh, like a tiger
Ooh, ooh, ooh, just to see you smile nearly drives me wild
I wanna growl wow!

You keep my heart jumpin' like a kangaroo
Floatin' like an onion in a bowl of stew
Baby, ev'ry time you come in view
I run like an antelope to get to you
I'm your tiger and you're my mate
Hurry up, buttercup, and don't be late
I might get mad if I have to wait
Come right now 'cause I'm on the prowl
Like a tiger, ooh, ooh, ooh, like a tiger
Ooh, ooh, ooh, just to see you smile nearly drives me wild
I wanna growl wow!

You keep my heart jumpin' like a kangaroo
Floatin' like an onion in a bowl of stew
Baby, ev'ry time you come in view
I run like an antelope to get to you
I'm your tiger and you're my mate
Hurry up, buttercup, and don't be late
I might get mad if I have to wait
Come right now 'cause I'm on the prowl
Like a tiger, ooh, ooh, ooh, like a tiger
Ooh, ooh, ooh, just to see you smile nearly drives me wild
I wanna growl wow!

Hey, Mr. Turtle. Welcome back and whatever a man walks and talks like, I think Frankie has it straight, buddy.

My word, edgar, Fabian? Trying to remember that tiger. Can't hold Tiger Wood, though. <smile>

So, folks, we back to the animals, are we?

Love this one:


SURVIVOR - EYE OF THE TIGER
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
Chorus:
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger
Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive
chorus
Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive
chorus
The eye of the tiger (repeats out)...

Good afternoon. Thanks for the info on Hondo, Bob, and the funny letter


Today's picture gallery:






P.S. : Edgar will never convince me that "Hondo" was "Shane".

One more Fabian

Turn Me Loose

Turn me loose, turn me loose I say
This is the first time I have felt this way
Gonna get a thousand kicks or kiss a thousand chicks
So turn me loose

Turn me loose, turn me loose I say
Gonna rock'n'roll long as the band's gonna play
Gonna holler, gonna shout, gonna knock myself right out
So turn me loose (turn me loose, ooh-ahh)

I've got some change in my pocket and I'm rarin' to go
Takin' some chick-a to the picture show
And when I see her home and we kiss goodnight
Well, turn me loose, turn me loose, turn me loose, turn me loose

Turn me loose, turn me loose I say
Yes, today is gonna, is gonna be the day
I want you all to understand, now I am a man
So turn me loose (turn me loose, ooh-ahh)

I've got some change in my pocket and I'm rarin' to go
Takin' some chick-a to the picture show
And when I see her home and we kiss goodnight
Well, turn me loose, turn me loose, turn me loose, turn me loose

Turn me loose, turn me loose I say
Yes, today is gonna, is gonna be the day
I want you all to understand, now I am a man
So turn me loose (turn me loose, ooh-ahh)


Fabian had no true vocal skills, but I liked the songs anyway.

Now, now. I backtracked on the Shane/Hondo thing before the discussion got going good. I do think it truly amazing the writers came up with stories so similar, though.