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Beyoncé Knowles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Background information
Birth name Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
Born September 4, 1981 (1981-09-04) (age 26)
Houston, Texas, United States
Genre(s) R&B, soul, funk
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, fashion designer, philanthropist
Years active 1997-present
Label(s) Columbia, Sony Urban Music
Associated
acts Destiny's Child, Jay-Z
Influences Karen Clark-Sheard[1], The Chi-Lites, En Vogue, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, TLC, Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige
Website www.beyonceonline.com

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (IPA pronunciation: [bi.jɔn.ˈseɪ][2]) (born September 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, and fashion designer. Knowles rose to fame as the creative force and lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child, the world's best-selling female group of all time.[3][4][5]

After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. The album became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year, topping the album charts in the U.S. and the UK. It also spawned the number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy" and earned Knowles five Grammy Awards in a single night in 2004. Knowles' second album, B'Day, which was released worldwide on September 4, 2006?-coinciding with her twenty-fifth birthday?-, continued her success. The album spawned the UK number-one singles "Déjà Vu" and "Beautiful Liar", as well as the worldwide number-one hit "Irreplaceable". It also earned Knowles her seventh solo Grammy Award (she has won ten in total). huh punk?




Early life

Knowles is the elder of two daughters born to Mathew Knowles and Tina Beyincé in Houston, Texas. Her parents decided on her first name as a tribute to her mother's maiden name.[6] Her maternal grandparents, Lumis Beyincé and Agnéz Deréon (a seamstress), were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles.[6] She is the older sister of Solange Knowles, cousin to Angela Beyincé (her personal assistant and song co-writer), and aunt to Solange's son Daniel Julez Smith, Jr. Her dance instructor took an interest in Knowles and took her star student to various competitions. Knowles went on to win over thirty local singing and dancing competitions.

Knowles and her childhood best friends LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland along with LeToya Luckett formed a quartet that would perform in their backyards and at Tina Knowles' hair salon. After singing at local events, they got their break when they entered Star Search.[7] The group, then named "Girl's Tyme",[8] were disappointed after losing the competition. Mathew Knowles, Knowles' 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.[9] 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 Records in 1996, it gave the entire family a second chance at making things work.

As a teenager, Knowles 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, in the Alief neighborhood of Houston.


Destiny's Child

Destiny's Child rose to fame in 1998 with the Billboard Hot 100 top five, R&B number-one single "No, No, No Part 2". Even after much-publicized turmoil involving the departure of LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, Destiny's Child (eventually a trio) became one of the most successful R&B/pop acts of the early 2000s, charting four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, several top ten hits, and two number-one albums.

Their 1998 Platinum-selling debut album Destiny's Child was produced by Wyclef Jean and Jermaine Dupri and featured the double Platinum number-one single "No, No, No Part 2". The group's second album, The Writing's on the Wall, released in 1999, featured two number-one hits: "Bills, Bills, Bills" and "Say My Name". "Bug a Boo" and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" were also popular singles from the album. It went on to sell eight million in the U.S. and twelve million copies worldwide. Furthermore, "Say My Name" won two awards at the 2001 Grammy Awards: "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" and "Best R&B Song".

Their following album, Survivor, proved to be another big success, going to number one on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, as well as the Canadian and the UK Albums Charts. Two singles from the album went to the top of the Hot 100: "Independent Women Part I" and "Bootylicious", while "Survivor", the album's title track, reached number two and "Nasty Girl", the final single, didn't even chart there. In the United Kingdom, the first two tracks released reached number one consecutively. "Independent Women Part I" had been the theme song for the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, before the album's release. The title track, "Survivor", earned the group their third Grammy Award, "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals". The album has sold over ten million copies worldwide.

In 2001, Knowles won the "Songwriter of the Year" award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Pop Music Awards. She is the first African-American female and second overall female songwriter of all time to accomplish this.

After the three-year journey that involved concentration on individual solo projects, Knowles rejoined Rowland and Williams for Destiny's Child's fourth (and so far final) studio album, Destiny Fulfilled, released in November 2004. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the hits "Lose My Breath", "Soldier", "Girl", and "Cater 2 U". It has sold seven million copies worldwide.

In 2005, Destiny's Child embarked on a world tour sponsored by McDonald's titled Destiny Fulfilled ... And Lovin' It, visiting over seventy 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. 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 and number seven on the UK Albums Chart. #1's went on to sell three million copies worldwide.


Solo career

During the autumn of 2002, Knowles was the featured vocalist on rapper Jay-Z's hit single, "'03 Bonnie & Clyde". In the spring of 2003, Knowles remade a duet with 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 Award for "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" that same year. She has collaborated with Jay-Z on his eight studio album, Kingdom Come, providing the vocals and the hook for the track entitled "Hollywood".


Dangerously in Love (2003)

In 2003, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number one selling 317,000 copies in its first week. It was certified Platinum just three weeks later on June 22, 2003. Its first single, the funky "Crazy in Love", was a track constructed around a propulsive riff sampled from The Chi-Lites' 1970 "Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)" and featured a guest rap from Jay-Z. It rapidly became one of the biggest hits of that summer, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. Dangerously in Love went to the top of the album charts in the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, and the Philippines, and peaked on both the U.S. Billboard 200 and the R&B chart. The album has sold over four million copies in the U.S. and over eight million copies worldwide.[10] When her single and album simultaneously topped the main 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; she is the first and so far the only female artist to do this. Knowles was consequently one of the biggest-selling artists of 2003.

Towards the end of the summer, "Baby Boy", the second single from Dangerously in Love, which featured dancehall artist 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". Afterwards, Knowles released her third solo single, "Me, Myself and I"; Dangerously in Love's fourth and final single, "Naughty Girl", came out in mid-2004.


At the 2004 Grammy Awards ceremony, Knowles won five Grammy Awards for her solo effort, which included "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for "Dangerously in Love 2", "Best R&B Song" for "Crazy in Love", and "Best Contemporary R&B Album". Three other female artists hold this record: Lauryn Hill (1999), Alicia Keys (2002), and Norah Jones (2003). She also won a BRIT Award in 2004 for "International Female Solo Artist".

In December 2005, Knowles released "Check on It", featuring rappers Slim Thug and (on the official remix) Bun B. The song was from the Destiny's Child's greatest hits compilation, #1's, and the soundtrack to the 2006 film The Pink Panther. It was Knowles' sixth top five hit and third number one in the U.S.

At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Knowles 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 (2006)

Knowles' second studio album, B'Day, was released worldwide on September 4, 2006 and on September 5, 2006 in the U.S. to coincide with the celebration of Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. In its first week, the album sold more than 541,000 copies in the U.S., immediately coming in at number one, making it her highest first-week sales as a solo artist. This is also the highest first-week sales of any solo female artist in 2006, a record which used to be held by pop singer Christina Aguilera whose album Back to Basics sold 346,000 copies in its first week. In the UK, it debuted at number three with sales of 35,000 copies, and, with combined sales with the deluxe edition, has sold 130,000 copies. "Déjà Vu", the album's first single, features Jay-Z and co-production by Rodney Jerkins. Other co-producers on B'Day included Rich Harrison, The Neptunes, and Swizz Beatz. Currently, the album has been certified triple Platinum in the U.S. for shipments of over three million copies. The album has had worldwide success selling 5.2 million copies worldwide.[11]

The album's lead single "Déjà Vu" became a top five hit in the United States and a number-one hit on the U.S. R&B chart and the UK chart, making it Knowles' second UK number-one single, when it climbed twenty spots to take the top spot over Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean's "Hips Don't Lie" in the week of August 27, 2006.




Outside North America, "Irreplaceable" was released as the album's second international single in October 2006. The single debuted at number eighty-seven on the Hot 100?-where it would later spend ten consecutive weeks at number one?-and number forty-two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Australian Singles Chart. It also took over on the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at number one in its second week. "Irreplaceable" is her fourth number one and her eighth top ten hit as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as her fourth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. In December 2006, a Spanish-language version of "Irreplaceable", called "Imprescindible", was released.

On December 6, the nominations for the 2007 Grammy Awards were announced, and Knowles received five, of which she won "Best Contemporary R&B Album".

On February 28, "Beautiful Liar", a duet with Latin superstar Shakira, and "Upgrade U", Knowles' fifth collaboration with Jay-Z, were released as the latest singles from B'Day. To promote the new releases, Knowles premiered music videos for both singles on MTV's Total Request Live and BET's 106 & Park on February 28, 2007, respectively.


Deluxe edition and B'Day Anthology Video Album

Knowles re-released B'Day as a deluxe edition on April 3, 2007. It features new tracks?-including "Beautiful Liar", which made Billboard history when it jumped from number ninety-four to number three on the Hot 100 in one week on April 7, 2007, and "Amor Gitano", a duet with Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández used as the theme song for the Mexican telenovela Zorro: La Espada y la Rosa. Also included are Spanish-language versions of "Irreplaceable", "Listen", and "Beautiful Liar".

On April 2, full-length videos for "Get Me Bodied", "Green Light", and "Suga Mama" premiered on BET to promote B'Day Anthology Video Album released on the following day. A fifty-seven-second preview of "Kitty Kat" was included also, appearing as a intro in the video for "Green Light". Sony BMG has released all of the videos (with the exception of "Still in Love (Kissing You)") from the DVD to their official music video website, Musicbox.[12]

In Australia, the deluxe edition of B'Day was released on April 16, 2007. Unlike the U.S. release, the Australian edition comes packaged in a CD/DVD combo featuring nineteen tracks on the CD and twelve music videos on the DVD. The Australian release does not feature the track "Still in Love (Kissing You)" on either the CD or DVD. However, the CD does feature the tracks "If" and "Check on It", which are not featured on the U.S. release. Additionally, "World Wide Woman" appears as a hidden track on the U.S. release while it is an officially-listed track on the Australian disc. Finally, apart from the track "Amor Gitano", the Australian disc does not feature any of the Spanish tracks. The European and the Asian edition of B'Day are the same as the Australian release.

On the week of April 22, the deluxe edition of B'Day and the B'Day Anthology Video Album that include the song "Still in Love (Kissing You)" were pulled from distribution due to a lawsuit filed by English singer Des'ree. The lawsuit is over Knowles' cover of Des'ree's 1998 "I'm Kissing You" which was granted permission?-within certain limits. For one thing, they would allow use of the song, but not in video form. They would also allow use of the song only if the title was not changed. Despite follow-ups, they didn't hear back from Knowles' camp. On March 27, according to the complaint, they discovered that Knowles and her record label planned to proceed with their plans to include the song on the re-release anyway which they changed the title to the song and made a video from which they didn't follow copyrighted laws. In a letter they wrote to Knowles' lawyer and her distribution group Sony, the Royalty Network called the move "completely unacceptable. Des'ree is apparently seeking $150,000 in damages".[13]

More singles have been released from the deluxe edition of B'Day. "Amor Gitano" was released as a CD single in South America and other countries such as Mexico; "Get Me Bodied" has been released in North America; and "Green Light" is set to be released as the fifth UK single.



Knowles has recently embarked on her lengthy The Beyoncé Experience concert tour which has sold out various shows worldwide. She is expected to have Katy Shotter (UK and U.S. and Canada only),[14]Robin Thicke (U.S. only),[15] Lemar (Europe only),[16] and Chris Brown (Australia only)[17] as her opening acts. She is touring from the beginning of the spring of 2007 to the end of the summer/fall autumn of 2007.The tour is now Extended to November,12,07

On July 25, 2007, it was reported that Knowles had reportedly tripped down twelve stairs while performing "Ring the Alarm" on tour in Orlando, Florida on July 24. Home video shot at the night of the concert captured her stepping on her trench coat and then tumbling head-first down twelve steps at the Amway Arena. At the conclusion of the concert, Knowles requested that her fans not put the video up on YouTube and other Internet video sharing websites. However, a woman who did not want to be identified offered the video to WKMG-TV. "We saw that she was pumping her hair around and really into [it] with her trench coat and high heels and as she proceeded to come down the stairs, she tripped on her coat and it seems like she fell on her collarbone and face, sliding down about 12 stairs", the woman said.[18] Another fan told entertainment site MediaTakeOut.com that the singer was bleeding after the fall. Video showed the singer getting up after the fall and continuing her performance. Despite the reported bleeding after the fall, Knowles was not seriously injured. There were some videos posted on YouTube. However, they were taken down due to a copyright claim by Sony BMG. Some videos still remain on the video site. The AOL Video Blog also has posted the video and (as of late) is still available for viewing.[19]

During Knowles' concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on August 15, the shirt she had on while performing "Deja Vu" flew up her chest and revealed her "breasts", although it turned out to not actually expose anything as she was wearing a skin-colored bra. Her publicist released this statement: "She's wearing a flesh-tone bra! Do you really think Beyoncé would go onstage like that?... Tina Knowles is the quality control officer ensuring no wardrobe malfunctions occur onstage".




Worldwide (2008)

In an interview, Knowles stated that she's going to studio in December to begin work on her third album. It is rumored that the the album will be titled Worldwide. It is set for a summer 2008 release.[20]


Film career

In 2001, Knowles turned to acting, starring alongside actor Mekhi Phifer in the MTV made-for-television film Carmen: A Hip Hopera.

In the summer of 2002, Knowles co-starred in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember, playing Foxxy Cleopatra opposite Mike Myers and Michael Caine. Knowles 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 Knowles' 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, Knowles starred opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the film The Fighting Temptations, and recorded a song for it called "Fighting Temptation", alongside female rappers 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.

Knowles co-starred in the film The Pink Panther, playing the role of Xania, an international pop star, opposite Steve Martin, who plays Inspector Clouseau. The film was released on February 10, 2006, and was number one at the box office on its opening weekend.[21] With Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Pink Panther, Knowles appeared in two films that opened at number one at the box office; the two films have grossed over $481,364,728 worldwide.

Knowles' latest film work is Dreamgirls, the film adaptation of the 1981 hit Broadway musical about a 1960s singing group loosely based on Motown all-female group The Supremes, as the Diana Ross-based character Deena Jones. The film received a limited release on December 15, 2006 and a wider release on December 25, 2006. On December 14, 2006, Knowles was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for the film Dreamgirls?-"Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" and "Best Original Song" for "Listen".[22] The film opened at number three at the box office with an eight-million-dollar opening weekend. Knowles was quoted to say this was her first real acting film. Dreamgirls was nominated for eight 2007 Academy Awards?-including "Best Original Song" for "Listen"?-, of which it won two.[23] The film has passed the $100 million dollar gross mark in the United States.

She is currently in talks with the Walt Disney company to star in the upcoming film adaption of the Broadway musical "Aida"


Philanthropy

Knowles, 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.

Knowles and Kelly Rowland, along with Mathew Knowles, Tina Knowles, and sister Solange Knowles announced the formation of the Survivor Foundation, a charitable entity set up for the purpose of providing transitional housing for 2005 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.


Controversy

Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have voiced concern over Knowles wearing and using fur in her clothing line, House of Deréon.[24] 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 her at a restaurant in New York City about her use of fur.[25] Knowles did not respond, and the PETA members were escorted out.[26] PETA also wrote a letter of concern to Knowles about the treatment of baby alligators in a photoshoot for B'Day.[27]

How's Business?

Here are some likely responses by various tradesmen.

Said the sailor, "Knot bad."

Said the coffee salesman, "It's a grind."

Said the drummer, "It's hard to beat."

Said the astronomer, "Things are looking up."

Said the dressmaker, "Just sew-sew."

Said the street cleaner, "Things are picking up."

Said the pianist, "Right on key."

Said the botanist, "Everything' s coming up roses."

Said the floor polisher, "Going smoothly."

Said the deep-sea diver, "I'm about to go under."

Good morning WA2K.

Dick York, Mitiz Gaynor (I liked Mitzi in South Pacific) and Beyonce Knowles




Having some problems getting in here today. Anybody else?

Hey, hawkman. How's business? Well, Boston, I think you just made a few observations about it in a pun sorta way. Thanks, buddy, for the bio's.

And, folks, there's our Raggedy with her fabulous faces. Great trio today, PA, and yes, MSN keepss highjacking our little radio station. I don't recall Mitizi in South Pacific but I did see where she sang, "I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right out of my Hair". Good song along with "Sam and Janet" evening. (groan)

Well, here's one by Beyonce pointing to the signs of the times, and I don't think it has to do with astrology, but we'll play along with the girl just for the fun of it.

"Signs"


In December every sign has it's own mode
I was in love with a Sagittarius
See the emotions he put me through
From Capricorns to Aquarius
They all got their different minds
The affection of a Virgo
Which sign matches good with mine

I was in love with a Sagittarius he blew my mind
He also had a flip side too much like a Gemini
He was freaky like a Taurus the way he handled me yeah
Flirtatious like and Aries
Which sign is best for me?

Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all
Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all

I wish he was a Virgo, the same sign as me
And know how to show me love, cause I've been hurt by a Pisces
REWIND
I wish he was a Virgo, the same sign as me
And know how to show me love, cause I've been hurt by a Pisces
I want him sexy like a Scorpio
The way he holds me close yeah
Sensitive as a Cancer
Every sign from coast to coast

Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all
Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all

I can't explain why I love him
Bossy like Leo's do
Got game like an Aquarius
Switch moves after he's been with you
Fun like a Libra
He stays on my mind
He's so unpredictable
He reminds me of every sign

Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all
Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius
I love all y'all

Every sign from the first to the last
Everyday of the month has its good and its bad
I love you all, all12 signs

Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!
Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer oh!

Every one of these signs you know you blowing me away
No matter when you're born for sure with me you okay
I love every one of y'all no matter what sign you are
January to December here's my open arms

I was in love with a Sagittarius [repeat out]

we can definetely feel autumn coming in eastern ontario .
it's still nice and warm - 20 C rising to about 28 this weekend but some of the maples are turning red , birds are lining up on hydro and phone wires preparing for the flight south - some as far away as central and south-america .
some monarch butterflies are still hanging around - but they've likely missed the exodus over the labour-day weekend and won't make it to mexico - they PROCRASTINATED ! smelling the flowers a little too long !
nature can be cruel !
hbg

Well, hbg, There is no autumn in Florida, but I love your song, Canada.

I thought the monarch butterfly had long vanished, so I am happy to know that you still have those beautifully colored winged ones.

I wish that I could find the poem that described how the leaves fall from the trees. The poet did the most beautiful direct metaphor, describing their descent as "one by one...golden birds with broken wings."

A nice memory for me, folks, before I play an autumn song. A stanza of the poem that my sister and I wrote together:

I said hello to autumn in the glade,
When first I saw the leaves come tumbling down.
Her garments were from changing leaves all made
And golden rod her bright and shining crown.

She made a hazy sky with just one look,
And turned the thistles to a whirling mass,
The ripened apples fell in every nook,
And grapes turned purple
Even as she passed.

Now for the REAL writers of music and done in a minor key

Autumn Leaves

(french lyrics by jacques prevert,
English lyrics by johnny mercer,
Music by joseph kosma)

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon Ill hear old winters song
But I miss you most of all my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

Cest une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu maimais et je taimais
Nous vivions tous, les deux ensemble
Toi que maimais moi qui taimais

Mais la vie spare ceux qui saiment
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants dsunis

Oh, yes, folks. Here's one for all of us PROCRASTINATORS"




I Meant To Do My Work Today
by Richard LeGallienne

I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand,
So what could I do but laugh and go?

And That Reminds Me
Della Reese

I hear the sound of music
Your favorite kind of music
And that reminds me dear of you
I see the summer roses
Your favorite shade of roses
And that reminds me to of you, dear

If I could hear no music
If there should be no roses
No summer nights to make me dream as I do
Perhaps, I might forget you
But in my heart I know
That I need no reminder to miss you so

I hear the sound of music
Your favorite kind of music
And that reminds me dear of you
I see the summer roses
Your favorite shade of roses
And that reminds me to of you, dear

If I could hear no music
If there should be no roses
No summer nights to make me dream as I do
Perhaps, I might forget you
But in my heart I know
That I need no reminder to miss you so


This was #9 in 1957
First charted 1 week after Della's version did
By Kay Starr as "My Heart Reminds Me" and #45 in 1969
By the Four Seasons as "And That Reminds Me (My Heart Reminds Me)"
She was born Delloreese Patricia Early
Backing vocals by the Honey Dreamers
It is the lyric version of the Italian instrumental "Autumn Concerto"

Good September Morn, WA2K folks.

My word, I had forgotten that painting, but I recall that we discussed it many September's ago on our wee cyber station.

edgar, thanks for that song and the info behind Della. I recall the melody, and here's one by Willie Nelson.

Willie Nelson - September Song

Oh it's a long long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game
Oh the days dwindle down to a precious few
September November and these few precious days I'll spend with you
These precious days I'll spend with you

Jesse James
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Born September 5, 1847(1847-09-05)
Clay County, Missouri, USA
Died April 3, 1882 (aged 34)
St. Joseph, Missouri, USA

Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 - April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw and the most famous member of the James-Younger gang. He became a figure of folklore after his death. He was a notable gunfighter, who carried on the tradition of pistoleering he acquired as a Missouri teenager riding with the Missouri Bushwhackers, William Clark Quantrill and William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson.





Early life

Jesse Woodson James was born in Clay County, Missouri, near the site of present day Kearney. As an adult Jesse was of medium height, of slender but solid build, with a bearded, narrow face, and prominent blue eyes. Until his later years, when he became abnormally suspicious and moody, he was good-natured and jocular, though quick-tempered. He always justified his outlawry on the alleged ground that he had been driven into it by persecution.[1] Doubtless, given the treatment of former Confederate soldiers by Unionists in the post-war Reconstruction period, Jesse's claim was not completely imaginary. In fact, corrupt, post-war Republican administrations pushed other young men into outlawry, notably William Bonney, otherwise known as 'Billy the Kid'.(Jacobsen, 1997)

His father, Robert James, was a farmer and Baptist minister from Kentucky who helped found William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Robert James traveled to California to prospect for gold and died there when Jesse was three years old. After his father's death, his mother Zerelda (nicknamed Zee) remarried, first to Benjamin Simms, and then to a doctor named Reuben Samuel. After their marriage in 1855, Samuel moved into the James home.

In the tumultuous years leading up to the American Civil War, Zerelda and Reuben acquired a total of seven slaves and had them grow tobacco on their well-appointed farm. In addition to Jesse's older brother, Alexander Franklin "Frank" James and younger sister Susan Lavenia James, Jesse gained four half-siblings: Sarah Louisa Samuel (sometimes Sarah Ellen), John Thomas Samuel, Fannie Quantrill Samuel, and Archie Peyton Samuel. Sarah later married a man named John C. Harmon.

The James farm was visited in 1863 by Federal troops looking for information regarding Confederate guerrilla groups. The soldiers beat young Jesse and hanged his stepfather (who survived). Shortly after that, in 1864, Jesse joined a guerrilla unit led by Bloody Bill Anderson, who led the Centralia Massacre. Jesse joined at about the same time Anderson's group split from Quantrill's Raiders, so there is some uncertainty regarding whether Jesse James ever served under Quantrill.


After the Civil War


The end of the Civil War left Missouri in shambles. The pro-Union Republicans took control of the state government keeping the Democrats from voting or holding public office. Jesse James was shot in cold blood by Union militia when he attempted to surrender a month after the war's end, leaving him badly wounded. His first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms (named after her mother), nursed him back to health, and he started a nine-year courtship with her. She eventually became his wife. Meanwhile, some of Jesse's old war comrades, led by Archie Clement, another of the bushwhacker leaders once allied with Quantrill, refused to return to a peaceful life.

In 1866, this group conducted the first armed robbery of a US bank in post-Civil War times, holding up the Clay County Savings Association in the town of Liberty. During this raid, Jesse deliberately shot a bystanding student of William Jewell College. (see Wellman, 1961) The gang staged several more robberies over the next few years, though state authorities (and local lynch mobs) had decimated the ranks of the older bushwhackers.

In 1868, Frank and Jesse James joined Cole Younger in robbing a bank at Russellville, Kentucky. Jesse did not become famous, however, until December 1869, when he and Frank (most likely) robbed the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri. The robbery netted little, but James (it appears) shot and killed the cashier, mistakenly believing the man to be Samuel P. Cox, the militia officer who killed "Bloody Bill" Anderson during the Civil War. James's self-proclaimed attempt at revenge, and the daring escape he and Frank made through the middle of a posse shortly afterward, put his name in the newspapers for the first time.

The robbery marked James's emergence as the most famous of the former guerrillas turned outlaw, and it started an alliance with John Newman Edwards, a Kansas City Times editor who was campaigning to return the old Confederates to power in Missouri. Edwards published Jesse's letters and made him into a symbol of Rebel defiance of Reconstruction through his elaborate editorials and praiseful reporting. Jesse James's own role in creating his rising public profile is debated by historians and biographers, though politics certainly surrounded his outlaw career and enhanced his notoriety.

Meanwhile, the James brothers, along with Cole Younger and his brothers, Bob and Jim, Clell Miller and other former Confederates?-now constituting the James-Younger Gang?-continued a remarkable string of robberies from Iowa to Texas, and from Kansas to West Virginia. They robbed banks, stagecoaches and a fair in Kansas City, often in front of large crowds, even hamming it up for the bystanders. In 1873, they turned to train robbery, derailing the Rock Island train in Adair, Iowa. Their later train robberies had a lighter touch?-in fact only twice in all of Jesse James's train hold-ups did he rob passengers, because he typically limited himself to the express safe in the baggage car. Such techniques fostered the Robin Hood image that Edwards was creating in his newspapers. Jesse James is thought to have shot 15 people during his bandit career.


Pinkertons engaged

Express companies turned to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in 1874 to stop the James-Younger Gang. The Chicago-based agency worked primarily against urban professional criminals as well as targeting unions and breaking strikes. The former guerrillas, supported by many old Confederates in Missouri, proved to be too much for them. One agent (Joseph Whicher) was dispatched to infiltrate Zerelda Samuel's farm and turned up dead shortly afterward, with all but his hands eaten by the hogs that freely roamed the area. Two others (Louis J. Lull and John Boyle) were sent after the Youngers; Lull was killed by two of the Youngers in a roadside gunfight on March 17, 1874, though he killed John Younger before he died (an event depicted in the film, The Long Riders (1980).

Allan Pinkerton, the agency's founder and leader, took on the case as a personal vendetta. Working with old Unionists around Jesse James's family's farm, he staged a raid on the homestead on the night of January 25, 1875. An incendiary device thrown inside by the detectives exploded, killing James's young half-brother and blowing off one of James's mother's arms. Afterward, Pinkerton denied that the raid's intent was to burn the house down.

However, a 1994 book written by Robert Dyer entitled Jesse James and the Civil War in Missouri (ISBN-13: 978-0826209597) contains the following:

"In early 1991, a Jesse James researcher named Ted Yeatman found an interesting letter among the papers of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The letter was written by Allan Pinkerton to a lawyer working for him in Liberty, Missouri, named Samuel Hardwicke. In the letter Pinkerton tells Hardwicke that when the men go to the James home to look for Jesse they should find some way to 'burn the house down.' He suggests they use some type of firebomb."

This letter illustrates just how far Pinkerton was willing to go in his vendetta against the James brothers, but the move backfired. The bloody fiasco did more than all of Edwards's columns to turn Jesse James into a sympathetic figure for much of the public. A bill that lavishly praised the James and Younger brothers and offered them amnesty was only narrowly defeated in the state legislature. Former Confederates, allowed to vote and hold office again, voted a limit on reward offers the governor could make for fugitives.


Downfall of the gang

Jesse and his first cousin, Zerelda "Zee" Mimms married on April 24, 1874, and had four children: Jesse James, Jr. (b. 1875), Gould James (b. 1878), Montgomery James (b. 1878), and Mary Susan James (b. 1879). Twins Gould and Montgomery died in infancy. His surviving son was raised by his mother to become a lawyer, and he spent his career as a respected member of the Kansas City, Missouri, bar (above).

On September 7, 1876, the James-Younger gang attempted their most daring raid to date, on the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota. Cole and Bob Younger later stated that they selected the bank because of its connection to two Union generals and Radical Republican politicians: Adelbert Ames, the governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, and Benjamin Butler, Ames's father-in-law and the stern Union commander in occupied New Orleans. However, the gang had been casing other locations in the area as well.

The robbery was thwarted when Assistant Cashier Joseph Lee Heywood, left in charge while the bank officers attended the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, refused to open the safe, falsely claiming that it was secured by a time lock even as they held a bowie knife to his throat and cracked his skull with a pistol butt. Unbeknownst to the gang, the vault was unprotected at the time of the robbery, the inner door closed but unlocked. Meanwhile, the citizens of Northfield had taken notice of the robbery and were arriving with guns. Before leaving the bank, Frank James shot the unarmed Heywood in the head. When the bandits exited the bank, they found the rest of their gang dead or wounded amid a hail of gunfire. Suspicious townsmen had confronted the bandits, ran to get their arms, and fired from under the cover of windows and the corners of buildings. The gang barely escaped, leaving two of their number and two unarmed townspeople (Heywood and a Swedish immigrant) dead in Northfield. A massive manhunt ensued. The James brothers eventually split from the others and escaped to Missouri. The Youngers and one other bandit, Charlie Pitts, were soon discovered. A brisk gunfight left Pitts dead and the Youngers all prisoners. Except for Frank and Jesse James, the James-Younger Gang was destroyed.

Jesse and Frank went to the Nashville, Tennessee area, where they went by the names of Thomas Howard and B. J. Woodson, respectively. Frank seemed to settle down, but Jesse remained restless. He recruited a new gang in 1879 and returned to crime, holding up a train at Glendale, Missouri, on October 8, 1879. The robbery began a spree of crimes, including the hold-up of the federal paymaster of a canal project in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and two more train robberies. But the new gang did not consist of old, battle-hardened guerrillas; they soon turned against each other or were captured, while James grew paranoid, killing one gang member and frightening away another. The authorities grew suspicious, and by 1881 the brothers were forced to return to Missouri. In December, Jesse rented a house in Saint Joseph, Missouri, not far from where he had been born and raised. Frank, however, decided to move to safer territory, heading east to Virginia.


Murder/Assassination

With his gang depleted by arrests, deaths, and defections, Jesse thought he had only two men left whom he could trust: brothers Bob and Charley Ford. Charley had been out on raids with Jesse before, but Bob was an eager new recruit. To better protect himself, Jesse asked the Ford brothers to move in with him and his family. Little did he know that Bob Ford had been conducting secret negotiations with Thomas T. Crittenden, the Missouri governor, to bring in Jesse James. Crittenden had made the capture of the James brothers his top priority; in his inaugural address he declared that no political motives could be allowed to keep them from justice. Barred by law from offering a sufficiently large reward, he had turned to the railroad and express corporations to put up a $10,000 bounty for each of them.

On April 3, 1882, as James prepared for another robbery, he climbed a chair to dust a picture. It was a rare moment. He had his guns off, having removed them earlier when the unusual heat forced him to remove his coat. As he moved in and out of the house, he feared the pistols would attract attention from the passers-by. Seizing the opportunity, the Ford brothers drew their pistols. Bob was the fastest, firing a shot into the back of Jesse's head, killing him instantly.

The assassination proved a national sensation. The Fords made no attempt to hide their role. As crowds pressed into the little house in St. Joseph to see the dead bandit, they surrendered to the authorities, pleaded guilty, were sentenced to hang. However, they were promptly pardoned by the governor. Indeed, the governor's quick pardon suggested that he was well aware that the brothers intended to kill, rather than capture, Jesse James. (The Ford brothers, like many who knew James, never believed it was practical to try to capture such a dangerous man.) The implication that the chief executive of Missouri conspired to kill a private citizen startled the public and helped create a new legend in James.

The Fords received a portion of the reward (some of it also went to law enforcement officials active in the plan) and fled Missouri. Zerelda, Jesse's mother, appeared at the coroner's inquest, deeply anguished, and loudly denounced Dick Liddil, a former gang member who was cooperating with state authorities. Charley Ford committed suicide in May 1884. Bob Ford was later killed by a shotgun blast to the throat in his tent saloon in Creede, Colorado, on June 8, 1892. His killer, Edward Capehart O'Kelley, was sentenced to life in prison. Because of health problems, his sentence was commuted, and O'Kelley was released on October 3, 1902.[2]

Jesse James's epitaph, selected by his mother, reads: In Loving Memory of my Beloved Son, Murdered by a Traitor and Coward Whose Name is not Worthy to Appear Here.


Rumors of survival

Rumors of Jesse James's survival proliferated almost as soon as the newspapers announced his death. Some said that Ford did not kill James but someone else, in an elaborate plot to allow him to escape justice. Some stories say he lived in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as late as 1948, and a man named J. Frank Dalton, who claimed to be Jesse James, died in Granbury, Texas, in 1951 at age 103. Some stories claim the real recipient of Ford's bullet was a man named Charles Bigelow, reported to have been living with James's wife at the time. Generally speaking, however, these tales received little credence, then or now; Jesse's wife, Zee, died alone and in poverty. The body buried in Missouri as Jesse James was exhumed in 1995 and, according to a report by Anne C. Stone, Ph.D.; James E. Starrs, L.L.M.; and Mark Stoneking, Ph.D. titled Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of the Presumptive Remains of Jesse James, does appear to be the remains of Jesse James. A court order was granted in 2000 to exhume and test Dalton's body, but the wrong body was exhumed. [citation needed] Some people believed that Jesse James hid in the attic of a two story house in Dublin, Texas while he was hiding from the law.


Legacy

During his lifetime, Jesse James was largely celebrated by former Confederates, to whom he appealed directly in his letters to the press. Indeed, some historians credit him with contributing to the rise of Confederates to dominance in Missouri politics (by the 1880s, for example, both U.S. Senators from the state had been identified with the Confederate cause). His return to crime after the fall of Reconstruction, however, was devoid of political overtones, but it helped cement his place in American memory as a simple but remarkably effective bandit. During the Populist and Progressive eras, he emerged as America's Robin Hood, standing up against corporations in defense of the small farmer (a role he never played during his lifetime[citation needed]). This image is still seen in films, as well as songs and folklore. Although he remains a controversial symbol in the cultural battles over the place of the Civil War in American history, he is regarded as a hero by the neo-Confederate movement.

Irish-American Lucchese Family associate Jimmy Burke named his two sons, Frank James Burke and Jesse James Burke, after the James brothers.


Popular culture


Festivals

The Defeat of Jesse James Days are celebrated every year in Northfield, Minnesota during the first weekend of September to honor its victory over the Jesse James Gang. The festival is among the largest outdoor celebrations in Minnesota. Thousands of visitors witness reenactments of the robbery, watch championship rodeo, enjoy a carnival, watch the parade, explore arts and crafts expositions, and attend musical performances.

During the Jersey County (Illinois) Victorian Festival [1] that centers around the 1866 Col. William H. Fulkerson estate "Hazel Dell", Jesse James history is brought to life through reenactments of stagecoach holdups and by storytelling. Over the three day event, thousands of spectators learn of the documented James Gang stopping point at Hazel Dell and of the connection between ex-Confederates Fulkerson and Jesse James. Historical Civil War reenactments, arts and crafts, and music all compose this family-oriented event, one of the largest historical festivals in the Midwest, held every Labor Day Weekend in Jerseyville, Illinois.

Jesse's birthplace, boyhood home, and final resting place, Kearney, Missouri, also celebrate the life of their most famous resident. Each year, during the 3rd weekend in September, the Jesse James Festival is in full swing at the Jesse James Festival Grounds. A carnival, parade, rodeo, historic re-enactments, a Teen Dance, and a Barbecue Cook-off are all part of the festival. www.jessejamesfestival.com


The 1866 Fulkerson Mansion at Hazel Dell estate, Jerseyville, Illinois: A Documented Jesse James Gang Stopping Point and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bob Newhart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birth name George Robert Newhart
Born September 5, 1929 (1929-09-05) (age 78)
Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Medium stand-up, film, television
Nationality American
Years active 1960-present
Genres Sketch comedy, Satire
Subject(s) American culture
Influences Robert Benchley, H. Allen Smith, James Thurber, Max Shulman
Influenced Conan O'Brien, Ellen DeGeneres, Lewis Black
Spouse Virginia Quinn (1964 - present) (4 children)
Notable works and roles The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart
Dr. Robert Hartley in The Bob Newhart Show
Dick Loudon in Newhart
Website www.bobnewhart.com
Golden Globe Awards
Best TV Star - Male 1962
Grammy Awards
Album of the Year
1961 The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart
Best New Artist 1961
Best Comedy Performance
1961 The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!

George Robert "Bob" Newhart (born September 5, 1929 in Oak Park, Illinois) is a Golden Globe Award-winning, Grammy Award-winning American stand-up comedian and actor.





Early life

Bob Newhart was born in Oak Park, Illinois to George David Newhart and Julia Pauline Burns, both of whom were devout Catholics. A sister, M. Joan Newhart, is a Roman Catholic nun. Newhart is of Irish and German descent.

Newhart attended St. Ignatius College Prep and graduated in 1952 from Loyola University Chicago with a business degree. He was drafted in the U.S. Army, and served stateside during the Korean War until discharged in 1954.


Early career

After the war he got a job as an accountant for United States Gypsum. He later claimed that his motto, "That's close enough," shows he didn't have the temperament to be an accountant. He also claimed to have been a clerk in the unemployment office who made $60 a week but who quit upon learning weekly unemployment benefits were $55 a week and "they only had to come in to the office one day a week to collect it." In 1958 he became an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles, a major independent film and television producer in Chicago. It was at the company that he and a coworker would entertain each other in long telephone calls which they would record then send to a radio station as audition tapes. When his coworker ended his participation, Newhart continued the recordings alone, developing the shtick which was to serve him well for decades. In addition to his various standup bits, he incorporated that shtick into his television series at appropriate times.


Stand-up comedy albums

The auditions led to his break-through recording contract. A disc jockey at the radio station -- Dan Sorkin, who later became the announcer-sidekick on his NBC series -- introduced Newhart to the head of talent at Warner Bros. Records, which signed him only a year after the label was formed, based solely on those recordings. He expanded his material into a stand-up routine which he began to perform at nightclubs.

Newhart became famous mostly on the strength of his audio releases, in which he became the world's first solo "straight man." This is a seeming contradiction in terms--by definition, a straight man is the counterpart of a more loony comedic partner. Newhart's routine, however, was simply to portray one end of a phone call, playing the straightest of comedic straight men and implying what he was hearing on the other end of the phone.

Newhart told a 2005 interviewer for PBS's American Experience that his favorite standup routine is "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue," in which a slick promoter has to deal with the reluctance of the eccentric President to agree to efforts to boost his image. The routine was suggested to Newhart by a Chicago TV director and future comedian -- Bill Daily, who would be Newhart's castmate on the 1970s Bob Newhart Show for CBS.

Newhart was known for using an intentional stammer, in service of his unique combination of politeness and disbelief at what he was supposedly hearing.

His 1960 comedy album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, went straight to number one on the charts, beating Elvis Presley and the cast album of The Sound of Music. Button Down Mind received the 1961 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Newhart also won Best New Artist, and his quickly-released follow-on album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back, won Best Comedy Performance - Spoken Word that same year.

Subsequent comedy albums include Behind the Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (1961), The Button-Down Mind on TV (1962), Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newhart (1964), The Windmills Are Weakening (1965), This Is It (1967), Best of Bob Newhart (1971), and Very Funny Bob Newhart (1973).

Years later he released Bob Newhart Off the Record (1992), The Button-Down Concert (1997) and Something Like This (2001), an anthology of his 1960s Warner Bros. albums.


Television

Newhart's success in stand-up led to his own NBC variety show in 1961, The Bob Newhart Show. The show lasted a single season, yet earned Newhart an Emmy Award nomination and a Peabody Award. The Peabody Board cited him as:

a person whose gentle satire and wry and irreverent wit waft a breath of fresh and bracing air through the stale and stuffy electronic corridors. A merry marauder, who looks less like St. George than a choirboy, Newhart has wounded, if not slain, many of the dragons that stalk our society. In a troubled and apprehensive world, Newhart has proved once again that laughter is the best medicine.
In the mid-1960s, Newhart appeared on The Dean Martin Show 24 times, and The Ed Sullivan Show eight times. He appeared in a 1963 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Newhart guest hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 87 times, and hosted Saturday Night Live twice, in 1980 and again in 1995.


Sitcoms

Newhart's most notable exposure on television came from two long running programs centering around him. From 1972 to 1978, Newhart starred in the popular Bob Newhart Show on CBS in which he played a Chicago psychologist and husband of Emily, played by co-star Suzanne Pleshette. In 1982, Newhart returned to primetime with a new sitcom, Newhart, on CBS, co-starring Mary Frann.

The two shows have a connection: when Newhart went off the air in 1990, it ended with a scene (met by screams of laughter from the studio audience) in which Newhart wakes up in bed with his wife from "The Bob Newhart Show". He realizes (in a satire of a famous plot element in the TV series Dallas a few years earlier) that the entire Newhart series was a nightmare provoked by "eating too much Japanese food before going to bed," as the final Newhart episode had him selling his country inn to Japanese investors. Recalling Mary Frann's buxom figure and her choice of clothing, Bob closes the segment and the series by telling Emily, "You should really wear more sweaters." before the typical closing notes of the old Bob Newhart Show theme played over the fadeout.

In 1992, Newhart returned to television with a series called Bob, about a cartoonist. An ensemble cast included a pre-Friends Lisa Kudrow, but the show did not develop a strong audience and was cancelled shortly after the start of its second season.

In 1997, Newhart returned again with George and Leo on CBS with Judd Hirsch and Jason Bateman; the show was canceled during its first season.


Other appearances

In 2001, Bob made an appearance on MAD TV (Season 6), playing a psychiatrist who yells "Stop it!" in a very memorable skit.

His other television work includes:

The Entertainers (regular performer in 1964)
Thursday's Game (1974)
Marathon (1980)
Ladies and Gentlemen... Bob Newhart (1980)
Ladies and Gentlemen... Bob Newhart Part II (1981)
The Entertainers (1991)
The Simpsons (1996)
In and Out (1997)
The Sports Pages (2001)
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)
The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)

He guest-starred on ER in a rare dramatic role that earned him an Emmy Award nomination, his first in nearly 20 years. In 2005 he began a recurring role in Desperate Housewives as Morty, the on-again/off-again boyfriend of Sophie (Lesley Ann Warren), Susan Mayer's (Teri Hatcher) mother.

His most recent appearance was on the 2006 Emmys hosted by Conan O'Brien. He was a part of a gag in which he was placed in an air tight glass prison that contained 3 hours of air. If the Emmys went over the time of 3 hours, he would die. This gag was an acknowledgment of the common frustration that award shows usually run on past their allotted time (which is usually three hours).


Newhart as author

On September 20, 2006, Hyperion Books released Newhart's first book, I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This. The book is primarily a memoir, but features comic bits by Newhart as well. As comedian David Hyde Pierce notes, "The only difference between Bob Newhart on stage and Bob Newhart offstage - is that there is no stage." [1]



Persona

Newhart is known for his deadpan delivery and a slight stammer which early on he incorporated into the persona around which he built a successful career. On his TV shows, although he got his share of funny lines, often he worked in the Jack Benny tradition of being the "straight man" while the sometimes somewhat bizarre cast members surrounding him got the laughs.

Several of his funniest bits involve hearing one half of a conversation as he spoke to someone over the phone. For example, in a routine called King Kong, a rookie security guard at the Empire State Building seeks guidance as to how to deal with an ape who is "18 to 19 stories high, depending on whether we have a 13th floor or not". He assures his boss he has looked in the guards manual "under 'ape' and 'ape's toes'". Other famous routines include "The Driving Instructor," "The Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline (and Storm Door Company)", "Introducing Tobacco To Civilization", and "Abe Lincoln's Press Secretary".

Honors

In addition to his Peabody Award and several Emmy nominations, Newhart's recognitions include the following:

Three Grammy awards in 1961: Best New Artist, Best Comedy Performance (Spoken Word) and Album of the Year for The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.
In 1993 Newhart was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
In 1998, Billboard magazine recognized Newhart's first album as #20 on their list of most popular albums of the past 40 years, and the only comedy album on the list.
On January 6, 1999 Newhart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2002 he won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
In 2004, Newhart was #14 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
On July 27, 2004, the American cable television network TV Land unveiled a statue of Newhart on the Magnificent Mile in his native Chicago, depicting Dr. Robert Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show. The statues depict Dr. Hartley sitting in his therapy practice chair with a pencil held between his hands, and a patients' sofa next to him. The bronze set is now located in the small park in front of the entrance of Navy Pier.

Personal life

Newhart was introduced by Buddy Hackett to Virginia "Ginnie" Quinn, the daughter of late character actor Bill Quinn. She became his wife on January 12, 1963. The couple have four children (Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and Courtney), and several grandchildren. His son Rob (who portrayed his father in 1993's Heart & Souls, with Robert Downey Jr.) maintains his father's official website.

Newhart and his wife are good friends with comedian Don Rickles and Rickles' wife, Barbara, and the couples often vacation together. Newhart and Rickles appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many guest appearances on Carson's show.


Trivia

The final scene of the final episode of Newhart introduced a technique that is sometimes known as "breaking the fifth wall" ?- an analogy with breaking the fourth wall in which the fifth wall becomes the convention that two television characters could not be the same person. The idea for that scene came from Newhart's wife. This technique occurred again, briefly, in an episode of Married... with Children when the character of Jefferson D'Arcy (played by Ted McGinley, who had previous portrayed supporting characters on Happy Days and The Love Boat) initially responded to Married... with Children lead character Al Bundy as "Fonzie", then "Captain Stubing", before correctly addressing him as "Al".
During Newhart's television career he repeatedly resisted playing a father. When presented with a script of The Bob Newhart Show in which his character's wife was revealed to be pregnant, Newhart's response to the writers about the script was "Suzanne and I love the script, but who are you going to get to play Bob?"
His stand up comedy routines are famous for being one-sided conversations, in which he has a conversation with someone, but only his side of the conversation is heard by the audience.
Whenever Newhart was asked whom he admired the most as a comedian, he never hesitated with his somewhat surprising answer: Richard Pryor. Upon Pryor's death in 2005, Newhart paid tribute by calling him "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years."
Like Bill Cosby, Newhart seldom uses profanity for humorous effect. The closest Newhart comes is in his bit "The Driving Instructor," where he makes an attempt at a joke with an angry pedestrian, and then merely echoes the unseen/unheard pedestrian by saying, "No, I don't suppose it is so damn funny." Another time, in "Hangover" he alluded to a cuss word. His hung over character asks what his wife's cooking for dinner. After a pause, he retches and replies "Honey, will you call it creamed chipped beef on toast, please?" (suggesting his wife said "**** on a shingle").
During the 70s, teenagers and college kids would play a drinking game while watching the Bob Newhart Show. Everytime someone said, "Hi Bob," people were required to take a drink.

Carol Lawrence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carol Lawrence (born as Carol Maria LaRaia on September 5, 1932, Melrose Park, Illinois) is a musical theater actress, who has also made many appearances on film and television (including Murder She Wrote, Saved by the Bell as well as the soap opera General Hospital).

Lawrence made her Broadway debut in 1952, and achieved outstanding success when she created the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of West Side Story in 1957. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for this role. She played the role for two years, and after an appearance in the show Saratoga returned to West Side Story for its 1960 season. Among her other Broadway successes was Kiss of the Spider Woman from 1993 until 1995.

She has played several roles at The Muny in St. Louis which is the oldest and largest outdoor theater in the USA, including Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1975), Charity in Sweet Charity (1977), and Lucille Early in No, No, Nanette (1990).

Lawrence won the Harvard Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award in 1960.

She was married and divorced three times, most prominently to actor/singer Robert Goulet (from 1963 until 1981), by whom she has two children.

Raquel Welch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Birth name Jo Raquel Tejada
Born September 5, 1940 (1940-09-05) (age 67)
Chicago, Illinois,
United States
Spouse(s) James Westley Welch (1959-1964)
Patrick Curtis (1967-1972)
Andre Weinfeld (1980-1990)
Richard Palmer (1990-present)
[show]Awards
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1975 The Three Musketeers

Jo Raquel Tejada (born September 5, 1940), best known by her stage name Raquel Welch, is an American actress who reached fame during the 1960s.




Early life

Welch was born in Chicago, Illinois, the oldest of three children born to Armando Carlos Tejada Urquizo and Josephine Sarah Hall. Her father, who immigrated from La Paz, Bolivia, was an aerospace engineer of Castilian Spanish descent; her mother was an Irish-American.[1]

In 1942, Armando Tejada was transferred to San Diego, California. The family moved to the suburb of La Jolla, where Welch grew up. She took dancing lessons as a child, and was winning beauty pageants by the time she was a teenager. Among her titles were "Miss Photogenic," "Miss La Jolla," "Miss Contour," and "Miss San Diego." In 1957, she was named "Miss Fairest of the Fair" at the San Diego County Fair. After attending La Jolla High School, she entered San Diego State College on a theater arts scholarship. The following year she married a high school sweetheart, James Welch.


Career

In 1959, Welch played the title role in the famous Ramona Pageant, a yearly outdoor play at Hemet, California, which is based on the novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson.


She became a weather forecaster at KFMB, a local San Diego television station. Because of her heavy schedule, she decided to leave college. Her marriage broke up and she moved with her two children to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman Marcus and worked as a cocktail hostess, intending to move on to New York City from there.

Instead, Welch moved back to California. She found a place in Los Angeles and started making the rounds of the movie studios. She was cast in bit parts in two films and in the television shows Bewitched, McHale's Navy, The Hollywood Palace, and The Virginian. She auditioned for the part of "Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island but lost out to Dawn Wells.[citation needed]

Welch's first featured role was in A Swingin' Summer, which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox. She was then cast in the Sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage (1966), which finally made her a star.

On loan out to Hammer Studios in Britain, Welch starred in the remake of One Million Years B.C.. After her appearance as Lust incarnate in the hitBedazzled, she returned to the United States and appeared in a Western with James Stewart and Dean Martin titled Bandolero!, which was followed by Lady in Cement with Frank Sinatra.


Welch's first real starring role was in Myra Breckinridge with Mae West. She took the role as the film's transsexual heroine in an attempt to be taken seriously as an actress, but the movie turned out to be a dismal failure.

Welch became one of the leading sex symbols of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most memorable publicity still, where she was clad in a furry animal-skin bikini for One Million Years B.C., became a bestselling poster. Playboy called her the "Most Desired Woman" of the 1970s. Ironically, despite her iconic sex symbol status, having acted in numerous films and been subject of countless magazine layouts, including Playboy, Welch has never appeared or posed nude.

Welch was due to star in the 1982 adaptation of Cannery Row, but was fired by the producers only a few days into production (allegedly, she was taking too long to get ready each day). She was replaced with Debra Winger. Welch successfully sued, collecting a multi-million dollar award, but this effectively ended her film acting career until the mid-1990s. Her television appearances include the series The Hollywood Palace, the made for TV movies The Legend of Walks Far Woman and Right to Die, in which she turned in a stirring performance as a woman with Lou Gehrig's disease, and in the PBS series American Family, about a Mexican American family in East Los Angeles. She has also appeared in the night time soap opera Central Park West and made infomercials and exercise videos. While she never appeared on the show, her name was frequently used as an all-purpose answer on the game show Match Game. In 1987, she flirted with a pop singing career, releasing the dance single This Girl's Back In Town.


She has also performed in a nightclub act in Las Vegas and has starred on Broadway in Woman of the Year and in Victor/Victoria, replacing Julie Andrews.

In a 1997 episode of the comedy series Seinfeld entitled "The Summer of George" Welch played a highly temperamental version of herself, assaulting series stars Kramer and Elaine, the former because he fired her from an acting job and the latter because Welch mistakenly thought that Elaine was mocking her.

On July 18, 2007 Liz Smith reported that Welch has been invited to play Eva Longoria's sexy aunt on Desperate Housewives.[2]


Beauty business career

"The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program" was published in 1984. The book, written by Welch herself includes a Hatha Yoga fitness program, her views on healthy living/nutrition, as well as beauty and personal style.

As a businesswoman Welch has experienced great success with her signature line of wigs. She also began a jewelry and skincare line although neither of those ventures compared to the success of her wig collection.

In January 2007 she was revealed as the newest face of MAC Cosmetics Beauty Icon series. Her line features several limited edition makeup shades in glossy black and tiger print packaging.


Latin American status

Her professional name, Raquel Welch, served as protection against discrimination in Hollywood.[citation needed] Many other stars did the same in times prior to the 1990s. The names included people like Rita Hayworth. With the recent attention and acceptance by the American public of people of Latin descent, she has been coming out and reminding people of her Hispanic heritage.[citation needed]

On July 18, 2007 Liz Smith reported that Welch is proud of her Bolivian roots.[2]


Personal life

She has been married to James Welch (1959-1962), publicist and agent; Patrick Curtis (1967-1972), director/producer Andre Weinfeld (1980-1990); and Richard Palmer (1999).
She is the mother of Damon Welch (b.November 6,1959) and actress Tahnee Welch(b.December 26,1961).
She is a fan of Chelsea FC, or was "in the '70s".[3]
During the 70s, she attempted to date shock rocker Alice Cooper. He attempted to avoid her since he was dating a dancer that would become his wife

Achievements and awards

In 1974, Raquel Welch won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the TV drama Right to Die (1987).

She was also the recipient of the Golden Turkey Award for worst actress.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.


Trivia



Raquel Welch is a relative of the only female president of Bolivia, Lydia Gueiler Tejada.
Raquel Welch's son, Damon Welch, married Rebecca Trueman, the daughter of cricketing legend Fred Trueman, a union of the acting and sporting worlds but the marriage was short-lived. Raquel Welch arrived at the wedding after the bride, completely upstaging her. She claimed at the time that her lateness was because she had been giving an interview and lost track of the time, but later she admitted that she had done it on purpose, knowing that the press would write about her, so she planned to give them something to write about. When the couple announced they were splitting up in Hello!, they emphatically denied that the split was anything to do with Welch.
Raquel Welch's daughter, Tahnee Welch followed her mother's December 1979 example and appeared on the cover of Playboy, the November 1995 issue.
Raquel's publicity poster for the movie One Million Years B.C. played an integral role in the film The Shawshank Redemption, by serving to hide the tunnel Andy Dufresne was digging to escape from Shawshank.

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and
help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to
get it started." Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when
it's finished?" The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets
him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then .." He sighed........

"Let's put all the Frosted Flakes back in the box......."

Aaah. Walter Huston's Knickerbocker Holiday song. Love it.

And remember this one?

The leaves of brown, came tumbling down, remember
That september, in the rain
The sun went out just like a dying ember
That september, in the rain

To every word of love I've heard you whisper
All the raindrops seem to play a sweet refrain
Though spring is here, to me it's still september
That september, in the rain

The leaves of brown, came tumbling down, remember
That september, in the rain
The sun went out just like a dying ember
That september, in the rain

To every word of love I've heard you whisper
All the raindrops seem to play a sweet refrain
Though spring is here, to me it's still september
That september, in the rain
That september, in the rain

Ooooh. Just saw Bob. I'll be back.

Well, hawkman, Tony the tiger will never seem the same again. Love it, Boston and thanks for the bio's.

Hey, puppy. Scamper back in to our studio when ready, PA, and I love the song that you just played.

Until our photographer is ready, here is the romantic version of Jesse James by none other than Van Morrison. We love to love the bad boys, right?



The Ballad of Jesse James
Artist(Band):Van Morrison

(Traditional)

Jesse James was a man
And he killed many men
He robbed the Glendale train
And he took from the richer
And he gave that to the poorer
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain

Oh Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid Jesse James in his grave

(Instrumental)

On Wednesday night
When the moon was shining bright
They robbed that Glendale train
And the folks from miles about (yeah they can)
They all said without a doubt
It was done by her Frankie and Jesse James (yes it was)

Oh Jessie had a wife, to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid (poor) Jesse James in his grave

(Instrumental)

Well the people held their breath
When they heard about Jesse's death (yeah)
And they wondered how poor Jesse came to die (how did he die?)
It was one of his guys, called Little Robert Ford
And he shot Jessie James on the sly

Oh Jessie had a wife to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid Jesse James in his grave
Has laid poor Jesse in his grave

Our Raggedy is having problems accessing our cyber studio, so no collage today, folks. I have, however, paged our M.D. to be a substitute but we will have to wait and see if he's involved with "chess" surgery.

This song by Bob Dylan is supposed to be about a failed romance with Raquel Welch from his album Time Out of Minds, so let's listen until we see what happens.

Hmmm, it's rather lengthy, listeners.

Well my heart's in the Highlands gentle and fair
Honeysuckle blooming in the wildwood air
Bluebelles blazing, where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I'm gonna go there when I feel good enough to go

Windows were shakin' all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page
Same ol' rat race
Life in the same ol' cage.

I don't want nothing from anyone, ain't that much to take
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me

Well my heart's in the Highlands wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind, it whispers to the buckeyed trees in rhyme
Well my heart's in the Highland,
I can only get there one step at a time.

I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yelling turn it down
Feel like I'm drifting
Drifting from scene the scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?

Insanity is smashing up against my soul
You can say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway
Maybe take it to the pawn shop

My heart's in the Highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the Black Swan
Big white clouds, like chariots that swing down low
Well my heart's in the Highlands
Only place left to go

I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Well, maybe I do but I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over
Nobody in the place but me and her

It must be a holiday, there's nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face and long white shiny legs
I said "tell me what I want"
She says, "You probably want, hard boiled eggs?"

I say "That's right, bring me some"
She says "We aint got any, you picked the wrong time to come"
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me!"
I say, "I would if I could, but,
I don't do sketches from memory."

"Well", she says, "I'm right here in front of you, or haven't you looked?"
I say," all right, I know, but I don't have my drawing book!"
She gives me a napkin, she says, "you can do it on that"
I say, "yes I could but,
I don't know where my pencil is at!"

She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says "all right now, go ahead, draw me, I'm standing right here"
I make a few lines, and I show it for her to see
Well she takes a napkin and throws it back
And says "that don't look a thing like me!"

I said, "Oh, kind miss, it most certainly does"
She says, "you must be jokin.'" I say, "I wish I was!"
Then she says, "you don't read women authors, do you?"
Least that's what I think I hear her say,
"Well", I say, "how would you know and what would it matter anyway?"

"Well", she says, "you just don't seem like you do!"
I said, "you're way wrong."
She says, "which ones have you read then?" I say, "I read Erica Jong!"
She goes away for a minute and I slide up out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street, but nobody's going anywhere

Well my heart's in the Highlands, with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country, far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and a snap of the bow
My heart's in the Highlands
Can't see any other way to go

Every day is the same thing out the door
Feel further away then ever before
Some things in life, it gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere
I must have made a few bad turns

I see people in the park forgetting their troubles and woes
They're drinking and dancing, wearing bright colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could

I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talking to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat
Somebody just asked me
If I registered to vote

The sun is beginning to shine on me
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over, and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes
Everything looks far away

Well, my heart's in the Highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there, and I'll figure it out somehow
But I'm already there in my mind
And that's good enough for now

Pavarotti apparently is at death's door. Sorry it has to happen.

Good morning, WA2K radio folks.

edgar, I just read where Pavarotti has died. One of the three tenors has now departed. He will be greatly missed.

Dedicated to him from our station, a perfect aria by Joe Green.


Celeste Aida, forma divina,
Mistico serto di luce e fior,
Del mio pensiero tu sei regina,
Tu di mia vita sei lo splendor.
Il tuo bel cielo vorrei ridarti,
Le dolci breeze del patrio suol;
Un regal serto sul crin posarti,
Ergerti un trono vicino al sol, ah!


ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Heavenly Aida, goddess of beauty,
garland of flowers and of bright light.
You are the ruler of all of my thoughts,
you are the splendor of my whole life.
I'll bring you back, yes, to your lovely skies
to the soft breezes of your native land.
I'll place a royal wreath upon your crown,

Our M.D. is about to embark upon a teaching experience, so could not sub for the pup. Hope things work out today in PA.

Written by: neil diamond and gilbert becaud

Stay for just a while
Stay, and let me look at you
Its been so long, I hardly knew you
Standing in the door
Stay with me a while
I only want to talk to you
Weve traveled halfway round the world
To find ourselves again

September morn
We danced until the night became a brand new day
Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play
September morning still can make me feel this way

Look at what youve done
Why, youve become a grown-up girl
I still can hear you cryin
In the corner of your room
And look how far weve come
So far from where we used to be
But not so far that weve forgotten
How it was before

September morn
Do you remember how we danced that night away
Two lovers playing scenes from some romantic play
September morning still can make me feel this way