James Spader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name James Todd Spader
Born February 7, 1960 (1960-02-07) (age 48)
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Years active 1978-present
Spouse(s) Victoria Spader (1987-2004)
[show]Awards
Emmy Awards
Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series
2004 The Practice
2005, 2007 Boston Legal
James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960), who is known to prefer being called "Jimmy",[1] is a three-time Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated[2] American actor. He is perhaps best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as sex, lies, and videotape (for which he won the Best Actor award Cannes Film Festival),[2] Stargate, and Secretary, and the television series Boston Legal and The Practice. Known for playing smarmy, sexually deviant yuppies, Spader got his start in Pretty in Pink.
Biography
Early life
Spader was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of teachers Jean and Todd Spader.[3] He attended The Pike School (where his mother taught art) and Brooks School (where his father taught) in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Spader family lived on the Brooks School campus.[4] Spader later attended Phillips Academy. Spader dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to pursue acting at the Michael Chekhov School in New York City.[4] Before becoming a full-time actor, Spader did a variety of jobs including being a yoga instructor, busboy, truck driver, stable boy, and railroad-car loader.[4]
Career
Spader stars as the popular lead character Alan Shore in the TV series Boston Legal, where he has reprised his role from the TV series The Practice. Spader won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Award for his portrayal of Alan Shore in 2004 on The Practice and won it again in 2005 for Boston Legal.[2] Spader has become one of the few actors to win consecutive Emmy Awards for playing the same character on two different series (another being co-star William Shatner as Denny Crane). Spader won the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for Boston Legal in 2006 and took home his third Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2007.[2]
In October 2006, Spader narrated China Revealed, the first episode of Discovery Channel's documentary series Discovery Atlas. He has also done the voice-over in several television commercials for Acura.[5]
Personal life
Spader met his wife, Victoria Kheel, a decorator, while working in a yoga studio after he moved to New York in the early 1980s. They married in 1987 and had two sons, Sebastian and Elijah. Spader and Kheel divorced in 2004. James Spader currently has plans to marry his girlfriend, Leslie Stefanson.[6]
Spader loves to cook, has very poor eyesight, and usually points out that even though his characters can be sleazy at times, he is actually a nice, friendly guy in real life.[1]
Garth Brooks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background information
Birth name Troyal Garth Brooks
Born February 7, 1962 (1962-02-07) (age 46)
Origin Yukon, Oklahoma, USA
Genre(s) Country
Occupation(s) singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar (primary instruments)
Saxophone
Years active 1989-2001
2007-present
Label(s) Capitol Records
Associated
acts Trisha Yearwood, Chris Gaines, Ty England
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Successfully integrating rock elements into his recordings and live performances, Brooks soon began to dominate the country singles and country album charts and quickly crossed over into the mainstream pop arena, exposing country music to a larger audience than previously thought possible.[1]
Brooks has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, with over 70 hit singles and 15 charted albums to his credit and over 123 million albums sold in the United States alone.[2] Throughout the 1990s he broke records for both sales and concert attendance. In 1999, looking to expand his career boundaries, Brooks began a project that was intended to forshadow a movie that followed the life of a rock star by the name of Chris Gaines. The album left most people scratching their heads due to the fact that the movie was never released and the album was left to stand alone, in which case it did not do so well. However, dedicated fans bought the CD anyway.
Troubled by conflicts between career and family, in 2001 Brooks officially retired from recording and performing.[1] During this time he has sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart and has sporadically released new singles.[3][4]
Early life and songs
Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962, the youngest of six children in Yukon, Oklahoma.[5]father, Troyal Brooks, worked as a draftsman for an oil company, while his mother, Colleen Carroll, was a country music singer on the Capitol Records label in the 1950's and also a regular on the Red Foley Show.[5][6][7] Even as a child, Brooks was interested in music, often singing in casual family settings, but his primary interest was athletics. In high school he played football and baseball and ran track. After graduation from high school, he attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater on a track scholarship as a javelin thrower and defensive end.[7][8] While at OSU, he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. Despite discontinuing his participation in the sport, he still graduated in 1984 with a degree in advertising.[8]
Later that year, Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, particularly the Tumbleweed in Stillwater. After a failed 1985 24-hour trip to Nashville to gain a record contract, Brooks returned to Oklahoma and in 1986, married Sandy Mahl of Owasso, Oklahoma, whom he had met while working as a bouncer. The couple later had three daughters: Taylor Mayne Pearl (b. 1992), August Anna (b. 1994) and Allie Colleen (b. 1996). The following year, the couple moved to Nashville, and Brooks was able to begin making contacts in the music industry.[7][8]
The success begins
Garth Brooks' eponymous first album, Garth Brooks, was released in 1989 and was a critical and chart success. It peaked at #2 in the US country album chart and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart. Most of the album was traditionalist country, influenced in part by George Strait.[6] The first single, "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)," was a country top 10 success. It was followed by his first country #1, "If Tomorrow Never Comes." "Not Counting You" reached #2, and then "The Dance" put him at #1 again; this song's theme of people dying in the course of doing something they believe in resonated strongly and together with a popular music video gave Brooks his first push towards a broader audience. Brooks has claimed that of all the songs he has recorded, "The Dance" is his favorite.[6]
His follow-up album, No Fences, was released in 1990 and spent 23 weeks as #1 on the Billboard country music chart.[9] The album also reached #3 on the pop chart, and eventually became Brooks's highest-selling album, with domestic sales of over 16 million records.[10] It contained what would become Brooks' signature song, the blue collar anthem "Friends in Low Places", as well as two other Brooks classics, the dramatic and controversial "The Thunder Rolls" and the philosophically ironic "Unanswered Prayers". Each of these songs, as well as the affectionate "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House," reached #1 on the country chart.[6][9] While Brooks' musical style placed him squarely within the boundaries of country music, he was strongly influenced by the 1970s singer-songwriter movement, especially the works of James Taylor (whom he idolized and named his first child after) and Dan Fogelberg.[11][12] Similarly, Brooks was influenced by the operatic rock of the 1970s-era Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen. In his highly successful live shows, Brooks used a wireless headset microphone to free himself to run about the stage, adding energy and arena rock theatrics to spice up the normally staid country music approach to concerts. This was also one of his earliest grade school musical influences of the hard rock band KISS, as his shows often reflected this. Brooks said that the style of his show was inspired mostly by Chris LeDoux.[13]
Career
United States
Brooks' third album, Ropin' the Wind, released in September 1991, had advance orders of 4 million copies and entered the pop album charts at #1, a first for a country act.[5] Ropin' the Wind's music was a melange of pop country and honky-tonk; hits included Billy Joel's "Shameless", "What She's Doing Now", and "The River". All told, it became his second-best selling album after No Fences. The success of this album further propelled the sales of his first two albums, enabling Brooks to become the first country artist with three albums listed in the pop top 20 in one week.[14]
After spending time in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots, Brooks co-wrote the gospel-country-rock hybrid "We Shall Be Free" to express his desire for tolerance. The song became the first single off his fourth album The Chase. With its message of support for cultural tolerance, the song met with resistance from country radio stations and from the culturally conservative country audience and only reached #12 on the country chart, his first song in three years to fail to make the top ten.[15][16] Nevertheless, the song often received standing ovations when performed in concert, went to #22 in the Christian charts through a marketing deal with Rick Hendrix Company, and earned Brooks a 1993 GLAAD Media Award.[17][18]
Awards
Brooks won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1992 for the album Ropin' the Wind. He was awarded the Academy of Country Music award for Entertainer of the Year for 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993, and the award for Top Male Vocalist for 1990 and 1991. As a performer and artist he has been compared to fellow country and pop/rock legends, such as the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, George Strait, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and the Eagles.
Stardom
In 1993, Garth Brooks, who had criticized music stores which sold used CDs since it led to a loss in royalty payments, persuaded Capitol Records not to ship his August 1993 album In Pieces to stores which engaged in such practices. This led to several anti-trust lawsuits against the record label and ended with Capitol shipping the CDs to the stores after all.[19]
Despite the delay in shipping the album to certain stores, In Pieces was another instant number 1 success, selling a total of about 10 million copies world-wide. Some of his fans were upset, however, that the album was not released simultaneously around the world. In the United Kingdom, one of Brooks' most committed fan bases outside the United States, country music disc jockeys, such as Martin Campbell and John Wellington, noted that many fans were buying the album on import; making it the first album to debut in the top 10 of the UK Country album charts before its official release date. Once officially released there, in 1994, the album reached the top spot on the UK Country chart and number two on the UK pop albums chart. That same year "The Red Strokes" became Brooks' first single to make the pop top 40 in the UK, reaching a high of number 13; it was followed by "Standing Outside The Fire", which reached number 23. Previous albums No Fences, Ropin' The Wind and The Chase also remained in the top 30 in the UK.
To support the album, Brooks embarked on a 1994 UK tour, selling out venues such as Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre and London's Wembley Arena. He opened the London radio station, Country 1035 and made a number of general television and radio appearances, where he was often mocked by the presenters. On ITV's regional news show London Tonight, Brooks was described as "a top-selling, rooting tooting, cotton picking, Country and Western star, yeeha!" The nationwide Big Breakfast show's presenters Chris Evans and Paula Yates, commented that "He's selling more records than anyone in the world, but none of us have ever heard of him." Yates then told Brooks that, "Country singers always seem to be weeping over the dead dog and things," and also remarked, "I thought you'd come in here and twiddle your pistol around and be impressed." Although Brooks remained polite, he did observe that Yates was obviously unfamiliar with modern country music. Scores of Brooks fans later wrote to complain about his treatment on the show. Sometime after this, Dwight Yoakam appeared on the same show and after Yates told him, "You seem different from other Country singers we've had on the show," Yoakam replied, "What? All two of us?"
Despite the disdain of the British media, Brooks's overall popularity in the country was evident, with a top disc jockey, Nick Barraclough, referring to Brooks as Garth Vader (a play on Darth Vader) for his "invasion" of the charts and his success as an icon of the country genre. Unlike Alan Jackson, who refused to return to the UK after being treated in a similar manner by the press, Brooks returned in 1996 for more sold-out concerts, although this time his media appearances were mostly restricted to country radio and interviews with magazines.
Elsewhere in the world Brooks was also considered a star, and he enjoyed hit records and sell-out tours in countries including Brazil, throughout Europe, the Far East, New Zealand, and Australia.[20]
Hard rock
In 1994 Brooks paid homage to one of his musical influences when he appeared on the hard rock compilation Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved, a collection of Kiss cover songs by popular artists from all genres. As the only country performer to participate, some worried that Brooks would turn his cover of the song originally sung by drummer Peter Criss, "Hard Luck Woman", into a country song. Brooks instead insisted on remaining true to the song, and requested that the members of Kiss perform the music on the track, the only song on the album that the band musically contributed. The unlikely collaboration performed the song live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in promotion of Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved , and, despite its hard-rock appeal, Brooks' version did appear on the country charts.
Setting records
One of the later peaks in Brooks' fame came on August 7, 1997, when he gave a free concert in New York City's Central Park, drawing hundreds of thousands of people in a city that many would say is far removed from the country music world. Estimates of the actual crowd size varied considerably, from 250,000 to 750,000 or even higher, primarily because many people were enjoying the show from outside the full-to-capacity venue.[21] Brooks himself has estimated the crowd at close to 900,000.[22] An additional 14.6 million viewers watched the performance live on HBO.[23] Billy Joel and Don McLean made guest appearances.[21]
After showing that he still had the ability to draw such a large crowd, it was not surprising that Brooks won the award for the ACM Entertainer of the Year in 1998.
The following year the Recording Industry Association of America announced that Garth Brooks was the best-selling solo artist of the 20th century in America.[24] This conclusion drew criticism from the press and many music fans who were convinced that Elvis Presley had sold more records, but had been short-changed in the rankings due to faulty RIAA certification methods during his lifetime.[25][26] Brooks, while proud of his sales accomplishments, deferred to "The King" and stated that he too believed that Presley must have sold more.[25]
The RIAA has since reexamined their methods for counting certifications. Under their revised methods, Presley became the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history, making Brooks the number two solo artist, ranking third overall, as The Beatles have sold more albums than either he or Presley.[27] The revision brought more criticism of the accuracy of the RIAA's figures, this time from Brooks' followers.
On November 5, 2007, Brooks was again named the best selling solo artist in US history, surpassing Presley (but still #2 after the Beatles) after audited sales of 123 million were announced.
Chris Gaines
In 1999 Brooks and his production company Red Strokes Entertainment, with Paramount Pictures, began to develop a movie in which Brooks would star. The Lamb was to have revolved around Chris Gaines, a fictional rock singer and his emotionally conflicted life as a musician in the public eye. To create buzz for the project, Brooks took on the identity of Gaines in the October 1999 album Garth Brooks in ... The Life of Chris Gaines, which was intended as a 'pre-soundtrack' to the film.[28] Brooks also subsequently appeared as Gaines in a television mockumentary for the VH1 series Behind The Music and as the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live which he hosted as himself.
Brooks' endless promotion of the album and the film did not seem to stir much excitement and the success of the Chris Gaines experiment became fairly evident mere weeks after the album was released. Although critics admired Brooks for taking a musical risk, the majority of the American public was either totally bewildered, or completely unreceptive to the idea of Garth Brooks as anything but a pop-country singer.[29] Many of his fans also felt that by supporting the Gaines project they would lose the real Garth Brooks.[30] Sales of the album were unspectacular and although it made it to #2 on the pop album chart, expectations had been higher and retail stores began heavily discounting their oversupply.[31] Poor sales of the album and lack of interest in the film brought the film production to an indefinite hiatus in February 2001 and Gaines quickly and quietly faded into obscurity.[32]
Despite the failure of the Chris Gaines project, Brooks gained his first - and only - US Top 40 pop single in "Lost in You", the first single from the album.
Retirement
Official retirement
As his career flourished, Brooks seemed frustrated by the conflicts between career and family. He talked of retiring from performing in 1992[15] and 1995, but each time returned to touring. In 1999, possibly also spurred by falling record sales, Brooks appeared on The Nashville Network's Crook & Chase program and again mentioned retirement.[33]
In 1999, Brooks and his wife separated, announcing their plans to divorce on October 9, 2000.[34][35] The divorce became final in 2001.[34]
Two weeks later, on October 26, 2000, Brooks officially announced his retirement from recording and performing.[36] Later that evening, Capitol Records saluted his achievement of selling 100 million albums in the US with a lavish party at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center.[35]
Brooks's final album, Scarecrow, was released on November 13, 2001. The album did not match the sales levels of Brooks's heyday, but still sold comfortably well, reaching #1 on both the pop and country charts. Although he staged a few performances for promotional purposes, Brooks stated that he would be retired from recording and performing at least until his youngest daughter, Allie, turned 18. Despite ceasing to record new material between 2002 and (most of) 2005, Brooks continued to chart with previously recorded material, including a top 30 placing for "Why Ain't I Running" in 2003 .
Second marriage
In the mid-1990s, many tabloids reported throughout the decade that he was actually having an affair with longtime friend and collaborator Trisha Yearwood. The two have continually denied having had an affair.[37] Following Brooks's divorce, however, the pair did begin dating, and the couple wed on December 10, 2005, at their home in Oklahoma, marking the second marriage for Brooks and the third for Yearwood.
Partial comeback
In 2005 Brooks insisted that he was not touring and did not plan to record any new studio material until 2015. However, in August 2005 it was announced that Brooks had signed a deal with Wal-Mart, leasing them the rights to his back catalog following his split with Capitol.[38][39] Three months later, Brooks and Wal-Mart issued The Limited Series, a six-CD box set containing past material and a Lost Sessions disc with eleven previously unissued recordings. This set marked the first time in history that a musician had signed an exclusive music distribution deal with a single retailer.[38] The set sold more than 500,000 physical copies on its issue date, proving that Brooks still had a large fan base, and by the first week in December 2005 had sold over 1 million physical copies.[3]
Brooks took a brief break from retirement late in 2005 to perform for several charity causes. With Yearwood, he sang John Fogerty's "Who'll Stop the Rain" on the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast nationwide telethon for Hurricane Katrina relief.[40] He also released a new single, "Good Ride Cowboy", as a tribute to his late friend, rodeo star and country singer, Chris LeDoux.[4]
In early 2006 Wal-Mart issued The Lost Sessions as a single CD apart from the boxed set, with extra tracks including a top 25 duet with Yearwood, "Love Will Always Win".[41] The couple were later nominated for a "Best Country Collaboration With Vocals" Grammy Award for the song.
On August 18, 2007, Brooks announced plans for a new boxed set called The Ultimate Hits. The new set features two discs containing 30 hits, a DVD featuring some new music videos and three new songs, and a bonus track. The album's first single, "More Than a Memory", was released to radio on August 27, 2007.[42] "More Than a Memory" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the highest-debuting single in the chart's history. The previous record had been set only one week earlier, when Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink" debuted at #16.[43]
Charitable activities
In 1999, Garth Brooks began the Teammates for Kids Foundation[44] which provides financial aid to charities for children. The organization breaks down into three categories spanning three different sports.
Touch 'Em All Foundation - Baseball Division
Top Shelf - Hockey Division
Touchdown - Football Division
The foundation enlists players to donate a predetermined sum of money depending on their game performance. Brooks has participated in spring training for the San Diego Padres in 1998 and 1999, the New York Mets in 2000, and most recently with the Kansas City Royals in 2004 to promote his foundation.
Brooks is also a fundraiser for various other charities, including a number of children's charities and famine relief. He has also donated at least $1 million to wildlife causes. It was announced that Garth would perform a charity concert on January 25 and 26, 2008 at the Staples Center for the victims of the recent California Wildfires. On December 1st, tickets went on sale and sold out within minutes, prompting them to announce 3 more shows. All 5 L.A. shows sold out in 59 minutes. CBS aired the first of these concerts (January 25th at 9 pm) live, giving viewers a chance to donate to the Firefighters Relief efforts.[45]
Ashton Kutcher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birth name Christopher Ashton Kutcher
Born February 7, 1978 (1978-02-07) (age 30)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States
Spouse(s) Demi Moore (2005 - present)
Christopher Ashton Kutcher (born February 7, 1978) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show. He was the creator, executive producer, and host of the MTV celebrity prank show Punk'd. He is known for his roles in films such as Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect , and The Guardian. He is currently married to actress Demi Moore.
Biography
Early life
Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of factory workers Diane and Larry Kutcher.[1] He has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who has cerebral palsy. Michael had an emergency heart transplant at the age of thirteen[2] that was necessitated by cardiomyopathy, a virus-induced illness that weakened and perforated his heart muscle.[3] Kutcher's childhood was that of a rugged, outdoorsy Midwesterner, and he had various odd jobs, including carpentry, hay-baling and livestock castration.[3] Kutcher attended Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for about a year when his family moved to Tiffin, Iowa where he attended the Clear Creek-Amana High School. In addition to being a student, he played on the football team as wide receiver and appeared in school plays.[2] Meanwhile, his home life was stressful. He has stated that "I didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept myself so busy that I didn't allow myself to feel."[4] Kutcher stated that as a teen, he contemplated committing suicide. At thirteen, he attempted to jump from a hospital balcony, but his father intervened at the last minute.[5] At around this time, his parents divorced. During his senior year, he broke into the high school at night with his cousin in an attempt to steal money; he was caught leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. Kutcher stated that though the experience "straightened him out," he lost his girlfriend and anticipated college scholarships, and he was ostracized at school and in his community.[2]
Kutcher attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in biochemical engineering (but did not complete), motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment. At the University of Iowa, Kutcher was kicked out of his apartment for being too "noisy" and "wild." [3] Kutcher stated, "I thought I knew everything but I didn't have a clue. I was smoking a lot of weed and partying, and I woke up many mornings not knowing what I had done the night before. I played way too hard. I am amazed I am not dead."[6] He was also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. To make ends meet, Kutcher worked as a floor sweeper for a General Mills plant, and sometimes donated blood for money.[7] During his time at the University he was approached by a scout at a bar called The Airliner in Iowa City, Iowa, he was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition, and after placing first he won a trip to New York City to the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. After his stay in New York City Ashton returned home to Cedar Rapids, Iowa before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career.[3]
Career
After participating as a modelling contestant in an IMTA competition (losing to Josh Duhamel) in 1997, Kutcher signed with the Next modeling agency in New York, appeared in ads for Calvin Klein, modeled in Paris and Milan, and appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial.
After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition, was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and ended in 2006. Kutcher was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001)[8], he starred in several comedy films that performed well at the box office, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). In addition, he appeared in the family film Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man who fell in love with a girl called Kayleigh; the film received very mixed reviews, but was a box-office success.[2]
In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series on MTV's Punk'd. The series involves various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television show Beauty and the Geek, which debuted in 2005, and will produce a reality show based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia,[2] as well as another reality series entitled The Real Wedding Crashers.[9] Kutcher's most recent film role is in The Guardian, a film which opened on September 29, 2006. The film co-stars Kevin Costner and Kutcher as United States Coast Guard rescue swimmers. The studio behind the film, Touchstone Pictures, initially hesitated in casting Kutcher in an action film because of his public image as a comic actor. In order to be there for filming, Ashton was forced not to renew his contract for the eighth and final season of That 70s Show, though he did appear in the first four episodes of it (credited as a special-guest star) and returned for the show's series finale.[2] Kutcher also voiced a leading character in the animated film Open Season, which opened on the same date as The Guardian.
Personal life
Kutcher has dated actresses January Jones (from 1998 to 2001), Ashley Scott (from 2001 to 2002), Monet Mazur (2002), and Brittany Murphy (from 2002 to 2003). Following his break-up with Murphy in early 2003, Kutcher began dating Demi Moore; reports in the media frequently commented on the fifteen-year age difference between the two.[9] Moore and Kutcher married on September 24, 2005 in a private ceremony conducted by a rabbi of the Kabbalah Centre; the wedding was attended by about 100 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband. Kutcher has described the marriage as an "illogical decision".[10] He also says, "Bruce and I have a friendship of our own."
Both Kutcher and Moore are followers of the Kabbalah Centre, a controversial California-based organization which alleges that it teaches Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. As part of his involvement in the religion, Kutcher has toured Israel with Demi Moore, as well as taken time off to observe traditional Jewish High Holy Days,[11] and celebrated the Jewish holiday Purim.[12] Kutcher also usually wears the traditional Kabbalah Red string.[13]
Kutcher is best friends with his former That '70s Show co-stars Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama, as well as actor Seann William Scott whom he co-starred with in Dude, Where's My Car. Kutcher has also invested in an Italian restaurant named Dolce[2] (other owners include Masterson and Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House located in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Kutcher is a big Chicago Bears supporter.
Strange Facts
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
Coca-Cola was originally green.
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.
Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.
Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.
City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong
State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33
Cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
The youngest pope was 11 years old.
First novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Clubs - Alexander the Great,
Hearts-Charlemagne, and
Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League all-stars Game.
Raggedy, love The Dance by Garth, and Bob, your facts are stranger than fiction. <smile> Thanks PA and Boston.
hbg, loved that little slogan in poetry. Ten inches of snow? My Gawd! Enough is enough, Canada. Errol is really a great jazz man, and I loved his choice of songs. Amazing that the man could not read one note of music. That is probably due to the fact that he had too good an ear and didn't HAVE to read.
Two sets of lyrics, folks. One in honor of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities by Shakira, and the other to match Errol's spring thing.
It was the best of times and the worst of times,
that we ever knew
I was standing by the stream holding back the dream,
all because of you
Well, I was only old enough to walk your
condencending way, a winner of the memories inside of me,
but what about the price we payed?
Payed to fly, every hour, every month, every day
Cause I'm in power and it feels devine
Lets set the world on fire, make it the best of times
Today I found the keys to my memories
of the times with you
Opened up the tiny room to avoid the doom
of the things we do
Well, living is a travesty, and to walk on by
is hard for me
I know you only love the game,
so you wish to play
But what about the price we payed?
Payed to fly, every hour, every month, every day
Cause I'm in power and it feels devine
Lets set the world on fire, and I'll make you mine
But if you walk out on me,
my life would be a sorrowful sight to see
But if my heart's in power, it's the best of times
The things I used to like, I don't like any more,
I want a lot of other things I've never had before,
It's just like my mamma says, I sit around and mourn
Pretending that I am so wonderful and knowing I'm adored
I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm,
I'm as jumpy as a puppet on a string,
I'd say that I had spring fever,
But I know it isn't spring.
I'm as starry eyed and gravely discontented,
Like a nightingale without a song to sing.
Oh, why should I have spring fever,
When it isn't even spring?
I keep wishing I were somewhere else,
Walking down a strange new street,
Hearing words I have never never heard,
From a man I've yet to meet.
I'm as busy as a spider spinning daydreams,
I'm as giddy as a baby on a swing,
I haven't seen a crocus or a rosebud,
Or a robin or a bluebird on the wing,
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way,
That it might as well be spring,
It might as well be, might as well be,
It might as well be spring.
Back later with something by Shakira on YouTube. Couldn't find The Best of Times.
Is this what you're looking for?
Styx
The Best Of Times lyrics
Tonight's the night we'll make history, honey, you and I
And I'll take any risk to tie back the hands of time
And stay with you here tonight
I know you feel these are the worst of times
I do believe it's true
When people lock their doors and hide inside
Rumor has it it's the end of Paradise
But I know, if the world just passed us by
Baby I know, you wouldn't have to cry
The best of times are when I'm alone with you
Some rain some shine, we'll make this a world for two
Our memories of yesterday will last a lifetime
We'll take the best, forget the rest
And someday we'll find these are the best of times
These are the best of times
The headlines read 'these are the worst of times'
I do believe it's true
I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide
I wish the summer winds could bring back Paradise
But I know, if the world turned upside down
Baby, I know you'd always be around
The best of times are when I'm alone with you
Some rain some shine, we'll make this a world for two
Our memories of yesterday will last a lifetime
We'll take the best, forget the rest
And someday we'll find these are the best of times
These are the best of times
And
So my friends we'll say goodnight For time has claimed it's prize
But tonight will always last
As long as we keep alive memories of Paradise...
letty wrote :
Quote:I love the way Germans say shhtool for stool. I had to learn that from Willie Paff
if one is from hamburg - or northern germany - one usually says "stool" - it's "stuhl" in german .
people from the south or west of germany usually put a "sh" into those words - even though it's not spelled that way :wink:
was willie from southern germany ?
a german inside joke is to ask people from differnt regions of the country to say : "stolpert ueber'n spitzen stein" (tripping over a sharp stone) .
people from southern germany will usually say : "sHtolpert ueber'n sHpitzen sHtein" .
Quote:er, what did you mean when you said "no comment needed?"
i simply meant that even without translation many people know the liechtensteiner polka - notice the "st" in liechtensteiner ?
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here is just a little taste of the "hamburg dialekt" (low-german) .
the "singer" :wink: seems to enjoy his beer . it must be the sight of all that water - the ELBE river - that's making him thirsty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZvnvMnuTa0
Well, hbg, I should have recognized that accent.
Actually, Canada, I believe that Walter demonstrated that English was a descendant of low German. In order to have her dissertation accepted and get her PhD in Anthropology , my sister had to teach herself German. It was a requirement.
I think that Willie and Wilfred, our German friends with whom we camped, were from Berlin, but I'm not certain.
Here's one by a Mr. King. It's really the only phrase that I say say, I'm afraid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZ_2DKjESw
:wink:
