When It Rains, It Really Pours
You know what it takes, You've got it, baby. You are the only one I chose. Don't leave me here with all these heartaches, Only you and heaven knows About my troubles troubles troubles. When it rains, it really pours... You shouldn't have took away my loving You know you thrill me from head to toe. I got a feeling for you baby And you're the only one who knows About my troubles, troubles, troubles. When it rains, it really pours... You know what you did to make me love you You really opened up my nose. You got what you wanted, now you left me. That's the way the story goes. Well, I got troubles, troubles, troubles. When it rains, it really pours.
....today?
Thanks, Raggedy. It took me some time to find The Animal That Drank up Sound.
Hope the hawkman is ok, and soars in with his famous folks.
I found this by Shakespeare, and it certainly does NOT sound like the Bard.
Ariel's Songs
by William Shakespeare
Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Curtsied when you have, and kissed
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
Hark, hark!
Bow, wow
The watch-dogs bark,
Bow, wow,
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting Chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange:
Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Ding-dong!
Hark! now I hear them,
Ding-dong, bell!
Where the bee sucks, there suck I,
In a cowslip's bell I lie,
There I couch when owls do cry,
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily, shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough
and as "way leads to way", Raggedy. I just found out that there is a band called Raven Moon introduced by Garrison Keillor, but I could not find one song by this "new" grass band.
Well, why not continue with Poe then.
This says it rather well for many of our listeners. <smile>
An Enigma
"Seldom we find," says Solomon Don Dunce,
"Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet.
Through all the flimsy things we see at once
As easily as through a Naples bonnet-
Trash of all trash!- how can a lady don it?
Yet heavier far than your Petrarchan stuff-
Owl-downy nonsense that the faintest puff
Twirls into trunk-paper the while you con it."
And, veritably, Sol is right enough.
The general tuckermanities are arrant
Bubbles- ephemeral and so transparent-
But this is, now- you may depend upon it-
Stable, opaque, immortal- all by dint
Of the dear names that he concealed within 't.
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert Shaw
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born August 9, 1927
Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, UK
Died August 28, 1978 (aged 51)
Tourmakeady, County Mayo, Ireland
Spouse(s) Virginia Jansen (m. 1976 - Aug. 28 1978) (his death)
Mary Ure (m. 1963 - Apr. 3 1975) (her death) 4 children
Jennifer Bourke (m. 1952 div. 196?) 4 daughters
Robert Shaw (August 9, 1927 - August 28, 1978) was an English stage and film actor and writer.
Life
Robert Shaw was born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, in 1927, to Thomas (a doctor) and Doreen Shaw. He had three sisters and one brother. At the age of seven, the family moved to Stromness, Orkney, Scotland. When Robert was 12, his father died (apparently due to alcoholism), and the family moved to Cornwall, where he went to school in Truro. Shaw was a teacher in Saltburn, Yorkshire for a brief period, then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Marriage and Children
Shaw was married three times and had nine children--
Jennifer Bourke (1952-1963) -- four daughters;
Mary Ure (1963-1975) -- four children;
Virginia Jansen (1976-1978) -- one child.
One of his sons, Ian Shaw, is also an actor.
Death
On August 28, 1978 Shaw died suddenly of a heart attack in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, Ireland at the age of 51, during the production of his final film Avalanche Express which came out in 1979. A Wetherspoon's Pub has been named after him in his home town.
Acting career
Shaw's best-known film performances include a turn as the dangerous enemy secret agent Red Grant in the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963); the relentless panzer officer Colonel Hessler in Battle of the Bulge (1965); a young Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (1966); Lord Randolph Churchill, in Young Winston (1972); the ruthless mobster Doyle Lonnegan in The Sting (1973); the tightly wound, but coolly efficient heist mastermind/former mercenary soldier Bernard Ryder aka "Mr. Blue" in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), and the bombastic, shark-obsessed fisherman Quint in Jaws (1975).
Shaw was nominated for the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Man for All Seasons.
He performed on stage as well, both in England and on Broadway.
Writing career
In addition to his acting career, Shaw was also an accomplished writer of novels, plays and screenplays. His first novel, The Hiding Place, published in 1960, met with positive reviews. His next, The Sun Doctor, published the following year, was awarded the Hawthornden Prize in 1962.
Shaw then embarked on a trilogy of novels - The Flag (1965), The Man in the Glass Booth (1967) and A Card from Morocco (1969); it was his adaptation for the stage of The Man in the Glass Booth which gained for Shaw's writing the most attention. The book and play present a complex and morally ambiguous tale of a man who, at various times in the story, is either a Jewish businessman pretending to be a Nazi war criminal, or a Nazi war criminal pretending to be a Jewish businessman. The play was quite controversial when performed in the US and the UK, some critics praising Shaw's sly, deft, and complex examination of the moral issues of nationality and identity, others sharply criticizing Shaw's treatment of such a sensitive subject. The Man in the Glass Booth was further developed for the screen, but Shaw disapproved of the resulting film and had his name removed from the credits.
Shaw also adapted The Hiding Place into a screenplay for the film Situation Hopeless ... but not Serious starring Alec Guinness. His play Cato Street, about the 1820 Cato Street Conspiracy, was produced for the first time in 1971 in London.
Sam Elliott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Samuel Pack Elliott
Born August 9, 1944 (1944-08-09) (age 63)
Sacramento, California
Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American film and television actor. He is usually recognized by his tall, thin, rough-hewn physique, a thick handlebar moustache and a gruff speaking voice.
Biography
Early life
Elliott was born in Sacramento, California. He moved from California to Oregon with his family during his teenage years, where he graduated from David Douglas High School. Elliott is a member of the college fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon and worked in construction while studying acting in Los Angeles. Elliott lived for a short while in Princeton, West Virginia.
Career
Elliott began his career as a character actor, but his appearance naturally suited to Westerns.
During 1970-71, Elliott starred as Doug Robert in the hit TV series Mission: Impossible and later played wife killers in the miniseries Murder in Texas (1981) and A Death in California (1986). He has made guest appearances on shows such as Felony Squad, Gunsmoke, Lancer and Hawaii Five-O and has featured in many TV movies, for instance as Wild Bill Hickock in Buffalo Girls (1995). The young Elliott was often cast for his masculine appeal. In his early movies?-The Games, Frogs, Molly and Lawless John?-he performed a number of scenes without his shirt. Later, in Lifeguard, he appeared in much of the movie wearing nothing more than a pair of swim trunks. Next, in The Legacy, he shed all his clothes for a nude scene. As late as 2003, when he was in his late 50s, Elliott still managed to strip to the waist for a scene in Off the Map. He has been married to actress Katharine Ross since 1984. In 1998, Elliot was named the parade marshal of the Calgary Stampede parade and rode in it in front of 300,000 spectators.
Some of his more well-known film roles include:
Pickett Smith in Frogs (1972)
Sam Damon in Once an Eagle (1976) (television mini-series)
Rick Carlson in Lifeguard (1976)
Gar in Mask (1985)
Wade Garrett in the cult film Road House (1989)
Virgil Earp, in Tombstone (1993)
General John Buford in Gettysburg (1993)
The Stranger in The Big Lebowski (1998)
Oklahoma Lawman Bill Tilghman in You Know My Name (1999)
Sergeant-Major Basil L. Plumley in We Were Soldiers (2002)
General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in Hulk (2003)
The Marlboro Man in Thank You for Smoking (2006)
Carter Slade / The Caretaker in Ghost Rider (2007)
Lee Scoresby in The Golden Compass (2007)
He also had a small but memorable role as "The Stranger" in the Coen Brothers' film The Big Lebowski (1998), in which he narrated the movie. In 2006, he starred in the TNT TV movie Avenger.
Elliott's voice can be heard in as the voiceover narration for commercials from time to time. In the past he has lent his voice to campaigns for Chevy, IBM, Union Pacific, and, most notably, took over as the voice of the American Beef Council after Robert Mitchum. In 2007, Toyota hired Elliott to perform voice-overs for the new Toyota Tundra truck commercials, playing on the rich and gravelly delivery of his voice. [1]
Melanie Griffith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Melanie Richards Griffith
Born August 9, 1957 (1957-08-09) (age 50)
New York City, New York, United States
Spouse(s) Don Johnson (1976-1976, 1989-1996)
Steven Bauer (1981-1987)
Antonio Banderas (1997-present)
[show]Awards
Academy Awards
Nominated: Best Actress
1988 Working Girl
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1988 Working Girl
Melanie Griffith (born August 9, 1957 in New York City) is an Academy Award-nominated American film actress. She is married to actor/director, Antonio Banderas.
Biography
She is the only child of actress Tippi Hedren who is of Swedish, German and Norwegian descent and eldest child of Peter Griffith of English descent.[citation needed] Her parents divorced when she was four years old, and her father would remarry and have two children: actress, Tracy Griffith and set designer, Clay Griffith.
Griffith began work at just 9 months old in a commercial and later became an extra on Smith! (1969) and The Harrad Experiment (1973). Her first major role was in Arthur Penn's Night Moves (1975), which got her attention and typecast her as a sexy nymphet. Substance abuse problems derailed her career for nearly a decade. Her comeback started with Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984). It also led to her starring role in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild (1986). That led to her playing the title role in Mike Nichols' Working Girl (1988) which became a hit. She earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress and won the Golden Globe award as Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The films that followed were Brian De Palma's The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Milk Money (1994), John Waters' Cecil B. DeMented (2000), and Two Much (1995), where she met her husband Antonio Banderas.
Griffith has been married four times. She was briefly married to Don Johnson in 1976. She was married to Steven Bauer from 1980 to 1987. She remarried Johnson in 1989. The couple divorced again in 1996 and Griffith married her current husband Antonio Banderas that same year. Griffith has three children by three husbands: Alexander Griffith Bauer (born in 1985); Dakota Mayi Johnson (born in 1989); and Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (born in 1996). Dakota followed in her mother's footsteps and served as Miss Golden Globe at the 2006 Golden Globes award ceremony. Griffith was Miss Golden Globe in 1975.
Griffith's television work includes playing actress Marion Davies in HBO television movie RKO 281 (1999) for which she received an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actress. She was also seen on The WB sitcom Twins (2005-2006), in which she played Lee, the mother of the show's main characters played by Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton.
Late in her career, Griffith made her stage debut at the Old Vic in London, England, where she acted with Cate Blanchett in the Vagina Monologues in February, 1999[1]. Four years later, she made her Broadway debut, playing Roxie in the musical "Chicago" in 2003. An untrained performer in song and dance, she still managed to get a rave review from "The New York Times" theatre critic Ben Brantley who wrote: "Ms. Griffith is a sensational Roxie, possibly the most convincing I have seen," and the "vultures who were expecting to see Ms. Griffith stumble... will have to look elsewhere".[2]. Griffith's celebratory reviews made it a box office success.[3] Her husband Antonio Banderas was appearing across the street in another musical "Nine," at the same time.
Whitney Houston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Birth name Whitney Elizabeth Houston
Born August 9, 1963 (1963-08-09) (age 44)
Newark, New Jersey, United States
Genre(s) R&B, Pop, Adult Contemporary, Soul, Gospel, Dance
Occupation(s) Singer
Actress
Film producer
Model
Instrument(s) Singing
Piano
Years active 1977-present
Label(s) Arista
Website Official website of Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American pop and R&B singer, actress, film producer, and former model. She has sold approximately 170 million albums and singles [1], and is ranked as the best selling female R&B artist ever according to the Guiness Book of World Records. She is well known for her vocal power, control, range and soprano voice. Houston was one of a handful of black artists to receive heavy rotation on MTV in the mid-1980s. She became the first and, to date, only artist to have a record seven consecutive Billboard Hot 100 number one hit singles.[2] In addition to performing, Houston has become an accredited actress, producer, and philanthropist.
Early life
Whitney Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, and is the third and youngest child of to John and Cissy Houston. She was raised a Baptist, but was also exposed to the Pentecostal church. As a teenager, she attended a Roman Catholic single-sex high school, Mount Saint Dominic Academy. Houston's mother Cissy, her first cousin (Dionne Warwick), and godmother (Aretha Franklin) are all notable figures in the gospel music, rhythm and blues and soul music genres. At the age of eleven, Houston began to follow in their footsteps and started performing as a soloist in the junior gospel choir at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark.
Music career
The fledgling years: 1977-1984
In 1977, at age fourteen, Houston was featured as the lead vocalist on the Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party." Zager subsequently offered to help obtain a recording contract for her, but Cissy declined?-wanting her daughter to focus more on school, and honing her craft. In 1979, Houston sang background vocals with her mother on Chaka Khan's hit single "Papillon (A.K.A. Hot Butterfly)." In the early-1980s, Houston began working as a fashion model; later featured on the cover of Seventeen magazine, and in a Canada Dry commercial. While modeling, she continued to pursue a singing career; working with producers: Michael Bienhorn, Bill Laswell and Martin Bisi on an album they were spearheading called One Down, which was credited to the group Material. For that project, Houston contributed the ballad "Memories" (composed by Hugh Hopper, lyrics by Robert Wyatt), which received favorable reviews from The Village Voice when the album was released.
Houston had been offered several recordings contracts (from Michael Zager in 1980, and Elektra Records in 1981) when, in 1983, an A&R representative from Arista Records saw her performing with her mother in a New York City night club. Clive Davis, Arista's label head, later saw her perform and offered her a worldwide contract, which Houston signed. Later in the year, Whitney made her national televised debut alongside Davis on the The Merv Griffin Show.
1985-1986: Whitney Houston
While recording her debut album, Houston recorded a duet with Teddy Pendergrass entitled "Hold Me," which appeared on his album, Love Language. The single peaked in the top fifty on the U.S. pop chart and became a top five R&B hit, and would later be featured on her debut album as well.
Released in February 1985, Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album initially sold modestly, until the success of its first single "You Give Good Love," which peaked in the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up singles: "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All" all peaked at number one on the pop chart. In 1986, the Whitney Houston album topped the Billboard 200 album chart, and went onto sell over thirteen million copies in the United States?-making it the best-selling debut album by a female artist. To date, the album has sold approximately 25 million copies worldwide.[3] The same year, Houston launched her first headlining tour called The Greatest Love Tour, and won a Grammy award for ?'Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female' for "Saving All My Love For You"; two American Music Awards for ?'Favorite Soul/ R&B Video' and ?'Favorite Soul/ R&B Single' for "Saving All My Love" and "You Give Good Love" respectively; and a MTV Video Music Award for ?'Best Female Video of the Year' ("How Will I Know")
1987-1988: Whitney
Houston's second album, Whitney, was released in June 1987, and became the first album in history by a female to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, it topped the charts in the UK as well. The albums first four singles: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" all peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?-which brought her a total of seven consecutive Hot 100 number-one hits; breaking the record of six previously shared by The Beatles and The Bee Gees. The albums fifth, and final single, "Love Will Save the Day" peaked at number nine on the Hot 100. The Whitney album was certified nine times platinum in the America, and sold approximately 20 million worldwide.
Houston won her second Grammy in 1988, for ?'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance' ("I Wanna Dance With Somebody") and embarked on the worldwide The Moment of Truth tour. The same year, she recorded a song for NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics, "One Moment in Time," which peaked at number five in the U.S., while reaching number one in the UK.
1990-1991: I'm Your Baby Tonight
I'm Your Baby Tonight, Houston's third studio album, was released in November 1990. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to be certified four times platinum in the US, selling ten million worldwide. The first two singles, "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "All the Man That I Need" each hit number one on both the pop and R&B singles charts respectively. The third and fourth singles: "Miracle," and "My Name Is Not Susan" peaked at numbers nine and twenty?-the fifth and final single, "I Belong To You", peaked in the top 10 on the R&B charts.
Whitney performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991. Her recording on the song was released as a commercial single, reaching the top twenty on the U.S. Hot 100; making her the only artist to turn the national anthem into a chart hit (ten years later, the song was re-released after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this time peaking at number six.) Houston donated her share of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. This performance of the national anthem was named number one in the NFL?'s 2003 list of Top 25 greatest moments in NFL history.[citation needed]
In 1991, Houston embarked I'm Your Baby Tonight Tour, which Rolling Stone poll voters voted "Worst Tour of the Year."[4]
1992-1994: The Bodyguard
In November 1992, Houston made her big screen debut, opposite Kevin Costner, in The Bodyguard, which garnered over $120 million at the US box office [5]. Whitney performed six songs on the films adjoining soundtrack album, which was certified 17x platinum in the United States[6] (with worldwide sales of 42 million[7], according to Whitney's official site) and went onto become the best-selling soundtrack album ever, Houston's recording of "I Will Always Love You" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks. Follow-up singles: "I'm Every Woman" and "I Have Nothing" also peaked in the top five. The album won Album of the Year and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Following the success of the film, Houston embarked on an expansive worldwide tour in 1993, which concluded in 1994 with a televised concert in South Africa. During this time, Whitney also recorded "Something in Common," a duet with new husband Bobby Brown.
1995-1996: Waiting to Exhale
In December 1995, Houston starred in her second film Waiting to Exhale, which earned approximately $60 million at the box office. Whitney contributed three songs to the soundtrack album: "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and "Count on Me" peaked at number one and eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively; the third, "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" peaked at number twenty-six. The album, which in addition to Houston featured a bevy of contemporary R&B female recording artists, was certified seven times platinum in America, and sold thirteen million worldwide[8], according to Whitney's official site.
1996-1997: The Preacher's Wife
In late 1996, Whitney returned to the silver screen in the Penny Marshall-directed The Preacher's Wife, alongside Denzel Washington. Whitney performed all but one of the of the tracks of the gospel/holiday music-influenced motion picture soundtrack album; scoring a top five pop hit with "I Believe in You and Me," as well as the top twenty hit "Step by Step." The soundtrack became the largest selling contemporary gospel album of all time.
1998-2000: My Love Is Your Love
After spending much of the 1990s working on films, with their adjacent soundtrack albums as primarily the only outlet to issue new Houston music, Arista Records released Houston's fourth album My Love Is Your Love in November 1998. Though originally slated to be a greatest hits album with a handful of new songs, recording sessions produced enough new material for a full-length studio album. Recorded and mixed in only six weeks, and working with such producers as: Rodney Jerkins, Wyclef Jean and Missy Elliot, the album was more R&B and hip hop-driven than any previous Houston title. The albums first three singles: "Heartbreak Hotel" (which featured Faith Evans and Kelly Price), "It's Not Right but It's Okay" (which won Houston her sixth Grammy award), and "My Love Is Your Love" all reached the U.S. pop top five. Also featured on the album was the Academy Award-winning "When You Believe," a duet with Mariah Carey, recorded for the soundtrack to 1998s The Prince of Egypt, which also became a top twenty hit. The albums final single, "I Learned from the Best," peaked inside the top forty, at number twenty-seven. My Love Is Your Love went on to be certified four times platinum in the US, with worldwide sales of ten million. In 1999, Houston participated in VH-1's Divas' Live ?'99, alongside Mary J. Blige, Tina Turner, Cher, Brandy and Chaka Khan. The same year, Whitney hit the road with her My Love Is Your Love tour.
In April 2000, Arista Records released Whitney: The Greatest Hits. The double disc set peaked at number five on the Billboard Top 200, and spent two weeks at number one on the UK chart. While the ballads were left unchanged, the album is notable for featuring house/club remixes of Houston's past uptempo songs, in place of their original version. Also included on the album were four new songs: "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (a duet with Enrique Iglesias), "Same Script, Different Cast" (a duet with Deborah Cox), "If I Told You That" (a duet with George Michael), and "Fine." Along with the album, an accompanying DVD was also released of the music videos to Houston's greatest hits. The album was certified triple platinum, with worldwide sales of ten million. The same year, Houston performed on the televised special commemorating Arista Records twenty-fifth anniversary.
In August 2001, Houston signed the biggest record deal in history with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract (worth $100 million) to deliver six new albums on which she would also earn royalties.[citation needed] Three months later, Whitney performed on the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special. Members of the studio audience, as well as the press, commented on how shockingly gaunt she looked during the performance, which only served to fuel the growing allegations of a drug problem. The same year, Love, Whitney (a 16-track compilation of the singers previous ballad hits) was released in the UK.
2002-2004: Just Whitney
In December 2002, Arista Records released Houston's fifth studio album, Just Whitney. The album featured collaborations with then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott, and received mixed reviews upon its release[9]. Despite debuting at number nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart (with the highest opening week sales of any album she had ever released prior), all of the singles: "Whatchulookinat," "One of Those Days," and "Try It on My Own" failed to reach the top forty on the Hot 100. Though certified platinum in the US, Just Whitney ultimately became Houston's lowest selling studio album. Just two years after topping the UK charts with the compilation album Whitney: The Greatest Hits, Just Whitney remarkably failed to chart inside the Official UK Top 75, peaking at number seventy-six amid an absence of promotion. Whatchulookinat was the only single to be released in the UK, peaking at number thirteen and spent just two weeks inside the Top 40. Subsequent singles were shelved. The album has cumulative worldwide sales of just over three million. One Wish: The Holiday Album, a holiday album of traditional Christmas songs, was released in late 2003. It too sold poorly, shifting approximately 348,000 copies in North America; becoming the first album in Houston's recorded career to not achieve at least gold-status.
In 2004, Whitney embarked on an international tour, the Soul Divas tour with Natalie Cole and cousin Dionne Warwick in Europe, before embarking on solo dates in the Middle East, Russia, and Asia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards, in tribute to long time friend and mentor Clive Davis. Houston received a thunderous standing ovation for her performance.
2006-present: Current career activity
Whitney Houston attended the Carousel of Hope Ball in October 2006, where Katharine McPhee dedicated a performance of Houston's "I Have Nothing" to her. There, Clive Davis confirmed that he and Houston were again collaborating on the singers next album. In 2007, Houston recorded "Family First," a song for the soundtrack of the film Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls. The song also featured Houston's mother Cissy, her cousin Dionne Warwick, and daughter Bobbi Kristina.
Recently, it has been reported that Houston is currently in the studio recording her seventh studio album. Rumored collaborators for the forthcoming disc include: Akon, Ray J, R. Kelly, Johnta Austin, Ne-Yo, David Foster, Diane Warren, and John Legend. Arista head, Clive Davis, has made it clear that this will be a classic Whitney Houston album; focusing on her, and less on "flavor of the moment" sounds.
Film and television career
During the early-mid 1980s, as Houston was working on launching a music career, she auditioned for acting roles; including the part of Sondra Huxtable on The Cosby Show. In 1984, Houston appeared on an episode of Gimme a Break, and an episode of Silver Spoons in 1985.
Houston's first film role was in The Bodyguard, released in 1992 and co-starring Kevin Costner. The film was successful at the box office, grossing more than $121 million in the U.S. and $410 million worldwide. Reviews, however, were mixed, and Houston received two Razzie Award nominations.
In 1995, Houston starred alongside Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon in the film Waiting to Exhale, about four African-American women struggling with relationships. The film grossed $67 million in the U.S. and $82 million worldwide.[citation needed]
In 1996, she Houston co-starred in the holiday comedy The Preacher's Wife, Houston with Denzel Washington, which earned approximately fifty million in the US.
In 1997, Houston co-produced and starred in (along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters) a made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein?'s Cinderella.
In 2003, Houston appeared in an episode of Boston Public, where she performed her song "Try It on My Own."
In 2005, Houston made featured appearances on her then-husband's reality TV program Being Bobby Brown, which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household.
Of late, Houston has served as executive producer of the Disney films The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Houston also served as one of the producers on the Disney made-for-television films The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain.
Personal life
As her career was blossoming in the mid-1980s, Houston was reportedly romantically linked to Jermaine Jackson, Eddie Murphy, and Arsenio Hall. In the time since her divorce from Bobby Brown, Houston has been recurrently spotted with R&B singer Ray-J; fueling rumors of an alleged affair, which neither have confirmed nor denied.
Marriage to Bobby Brown
Houston met R&B singer Bobby Brown at the 1989 Soul Train Music Awards. After a three year courtship, the two were married on July 18, 1992. On March 4, 1993 she gave birth to their child, daughter Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown. During the course of their marriage, rumors of Brown's infidelity and allegations of domestic violence became consistent tabloid fodder. Though the two vehemently denied both charges, in December 2003 Brown was arrested and charged with battery after an altercation with Whitney. [10]
In September 2006, the couple legally separated. The following month, on October 16, 2006, Houston filed for divorce from Brown.[11] On February 1, 2007 Whitney asked the court to fast track their divorce.[12] The divorce became finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston granted custody of the couples daughter.
On April 26, 2007, Brown filed court papers with the Orange County Superior Court to set aside the divorce judgment that ended his marriage to Houston. In the filing, he claims the marriage was ended under false pretenses and sought child support, possible spousal support, and a change in the judgment that gave full custody of their daughter to Whitney. The papers also claim that Brown was essentially homeless at one point and severely depressed during that time. A court hearing has been set for June 2007.[13]
Drug and health issues
On January 11, 2000, airport security discovered marijuana in the luggage of both Houston's and husband Bobby Brown's luggage at a Hawaiian airport. Despite being detained for questioning, the two boarded the plane and departed before the authorities could arrive. Though charges were later dropped against her and Brown, rumors of drug usage ran rampant; with the media and public speculating the cause of Houston's sometimes erratic behavior. In late 2002, Houston was interviewed by Diane Sawyer during a prime time special. Throughout the discussion, the singer spoke of various allegations; from rumored drug abuse to her tumultuous marriage to Brown. Houston entered drug rehabilitation facilities in March 2004 and again in March 2005.
In 2006, Bobby Brown's sister, Tina Brown, took a photo of what she claimed was Houston's bathroom and sold it to The National Enquirer. It displayed images of drug paraphernalia. In the interview, Ms. Brown (herself a known drug abuser) claimed that Houston spent days locked in her bedroom doing drugs.[14]
In addition to the allegations about drug abuse, Houston's appearance has led to speculation that she was anorexic, had an eating disorder, or experienced weight loss in conjunction with the drug usage. Notably, Houston's appearance at the 30th anniversary concert for singer Michael Jackson elicited a strong response [citation needed] .
John Houston dispute
In 2002, Houston became involved in a legal dispute with her father, and one-time manager, John Houston. Houston sued his daughter for $100 million (but lost); stating that she owed his company previously unpaid compensation for helping to guide her career, as well as for helping to manage the various controversies that had surrounded it in recent years.[15] Both of them appeared on television and disputed the other's claims.[16] John Houston died in February 2003. The lawsuit was dismissed on April 5, 2004, after Kevin Skinner, the man who claimed to own John Houston Entertainment, failed to participate in pre-trial discovery.[17]
Financial problems
On January 3, 2007, the New York Post reported that "in an embarrassing financial scare last year, Houston nearly lost her spectacular $6 million, 10-acre estate in Morris County, New Jersey because she owed tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes."[18] The article then went on to detail how Houston was selling hundreds of her famous stage outfits and accessories at an auction, including intimate undergarments, in "an event that it could earn her hundreds of thousands of dollars in welcome cash." The Toronto Star newspaper reported on January 4, 2007, that the items were being sold "in an effort to cover unpaid storage fees."[19] Reuters reported on that same date that Houston was "being forced to sell off clothes, instruments and sound equipment to pay a debt to a warehouse storing the items" and that the sale "has been ordered by the New Jersey Superior Court."[20]
On November 16, 2006, the Associated Press reported that Houston's mansion in Mendham, New Jersey, currently assessed at $5.6 million, was due to be sold at a sheriff's sale. Her attorney, however, later claimed that Houston owns the house free and clear. [21]
Currently, Houston has her Atlanta home up for sale at $1.3 million, which if sold, would not make a profit. [22]
Houston also currently owns a home in Laguna Beach, California.
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING?
"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right.
(Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
(I'll bet you're going to check this out.)
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
(Are you doubting this?)
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.
(Now, you KNOW you're going to try this out for accuracy, right?)
The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).
(Yep, I knew you were going to "do" this one.)
There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
(You're not doubting this, are you?)
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
(Yes, admit it, you are going to say ... a e i o u.)
TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
(All you typists are going to test this out.)
All 50 states are listed across the top of the
Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
(Some days that's about what my memory span is)
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
(I know some people that could do this, too.)
Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for
each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
(Good thing he did that.)
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls
froze completely solid.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Now you know everything
Hey, Bio Bob, welcome back. Great celeb info today, Boston, and that list of facts is mind boggling. One little correction. A student of mine pronounced "orange" ORange, thus "door-hinge" did rhyme. I told him that he had just out ogdened Nash.
Well, listeners, we know our Raggedy is hanging out in our studio, so we will await her portraits of those famous folks before commenting further.
In the interim, let's hear a song by Melanie from the broadway musical, Chicago.
Roxie
Sometimes I'm right
Sometimes I'm wrong
But he doesn't care
He'll string along
He loves me so
That funny honey of mine
Sometimes I'm down
Sometimes I'm up
But he follows 'round
Like some droopy-eyed pup
He loves me so
That funny honey of mine
He ain't no sheik
That's no great physique
Lord knows, he ain't got the smarts
But look at that soul
I tell you that whole
Is a whole lot greater
Than the sum of his parts
And if you knew him like me
I know you'd agree
What if the world
Slandered my name?
Why, he'd be right there
Taking the blame
He loves me so
And it all suits me fine
That funny, sunny, honey
Hubby of mine!
(dialog)
He loves me so
That funny honey of mine!
(dialog)
He loves me so
That funny honey , of mine!!
(dialog)
Lord knows
He ain't got the smarts
(dialog)
Now he's shot of his trap
I can't stand that
Sap
Look at him go
rattin' on me
With just one more
Brain
What a half-wit
He'd be
If they string me
Up
I'll know who
Brought the
Twine
That scummy,
Crummy
Dummy hubby of
Mine
I recall that song, Bob. Love it. Incidentally it's all right to be erratic and erotic, Boston. Know why?
Psychology segment of our programming.
Women feel safer with married men.
Dr. Gail Saltz
TODAY Contributor
Q. I am curious as to why more women are interested in talking to me now that I am married and wearing a wedding band, as opposed to when I was single. What makes women talk to married men more than they talk to bachelors?
A. There are many reasons. Part of it might be your perception, but there are plenty of men who agree that, after they are married, more women want to talk to them.
Some single women are nervous when they interact with single guys. If both are available, there is always the possibility (however remote) that one or the other is thinking about a potential relationship. If she isn't interested, she could be worrying he will ask her out. If she is interested, she could be worrying he won't!
With a married man, there is none of the game-playing. Both of you know you can talk, banter, even flirt, and the relationship will remain as it is. So the comfort level is greater with a guy who is clearly off-limits. There is no real possibility of risking involvement, rejection and all those complicated things that come with a relationship. (Of course, married men sometimes do cross the line and enter into affairs or emotional affairs, but that is emphatically NOT what we are talking about here.)
Men themselves, after they are married, are often more comfortable around women, so they project a whole different personality.
I have often thought that to be true.
Me, too, Raggedy, if I can find one.
Great quartet today, PA, and is there one person listening that doesn't recall Robert Shaw in Jaws? I can hear that song about Spanish Ladies in my head. Where's M.D. I always claimed that Jaws was a poor man's Moby Dick.
I really like Sam Elliott, and I hated to hear the info about Whitney Houston, cause I thought she was great in The Body Guard and I like the song from that as well.
Here's another funny car song by the Beach Boys
It's the little old lady
From Pasadena.
The little old lady
From Pasadena
Has a pretty little flower bed
Of white gardenias,
But parked in a rickety old garage
Is a brand new, shiny, red super stock Dodge
And everybody's sayin'
That there's nobody meaner
Than the little old lady
From Pasadena.
She drives real fast and she drives real hard.
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard.
It's the little old lady
From Pasadena.
You can see her on the streets just gettin' her kicks now,
With a four speed stick and a four-twenty six now,
She's gonna get a ticket now sooner or later,
Because she can't keep her foot of the accelerator.
And everybody's sayin'
That there's nobody meaner
Than the little old lady
From Pasadena.
She drives real fast and she drives real hard.
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard.
It's the little old lady
From Pasadena.
And everybody's sayin'
That there's nobody meaner
Than the little old lady
From Pasadena.
She drives real fast and she drives real hard.
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard.
It's the little old lady
From Pasadena.
If you see her on the street,
Don't try to choose her.
You might have a goer,
But you'll never lose her.
The guys come to race her from miles around,
But she'll them a leg, then she'll shut 'em down.
And everybody's sayin'
That there's nobody meaner
Than the little old lady
From Pasadena.
She drives real fast and she drives real hard.
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard.
It's the little old lady
From Pasadena.
Granny, go.
Granny, go.
Granny, go.
Granny, go
