January 4
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. Formed in 2001,
the group signed to Reprise Records the same year and
rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. They
followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, in September
2004 and their third album, Lies for the Liars, in
May 2007. Shallow Believer, an EP that featured most of the band's B-sides, was released in February 2008. They
spent 2008 working on their fourth studio album, Artwork, which was
released on August 31, 2009. A fifth album, titled Vulnerable, was
released in March 2012 through the independent label Hopeless Records. Albums by the
used have achieved gold and
platinum statuses in more than six countries worldwide. By 2008, they had sold over 3 million
records worldwide.
Patty
Loveless
is an American country music singer. Since her emergence on the
country music scene in late 1986 with her first (self-titled) album, Loveless
has been one of the most popular female singers of the Neotraditional country movement, although she
has also recorded albums in the Country pop and Bluegrass genres. Loveless was
born in Pikeville, Kentucky, and was raised in Elkhorn City, Kentucky and Louisville, Kentucky and rose to stardom
thanks to her blend of honky tonk and country-rock, not to mention a plaintive,
emotional ballad style. Her late-1980s records were generally quite popular,
earning her comparisons to Patsy Cline, but most critics agreed that she
truly came into her own as an artist in the early 1990s. To date, Loveless has
charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including five Number
Ones. In addition, she has recorded fourteen studio albums (not counting
compilations); in the United
States, four of these albums have been
certified platinum, while two have been certified gold. She
has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1988. Loveless is also a
distant cousin of Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle. She has been married
twice, first to Terry Lovelace (1976–1986), from whom her professional name
"Loveless" is derived, and to Emory Gordy, Jr. (1989–present), who is also her
producer.
Grace Bumbry an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her
generation, as well as a major soprano for many years. She was a member of a
pioneering generation of singers who followed Marian Anderson
(including Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett and Reri Grist) in the world of classical music and paved the way
for future African American opera and
classical singers. Bumbry's voice was rich and sizable, possessing a wide
range, and was capable of producing a very distinctive plangent tone. In her
prime, she also possessed good agility and bel canto technique (see
for example her renditions of the 'Veil Song' from Verdi's Don Carlo in the 1970s and
1980s, as well as her Ernani from
the Chicago Lyric Opera in
1984). She was particularly noted for her fiery temperament and dramatic
intensity on stage. More recently, she has also become known as a recitalist
and interpreter of lieder, and as a teacher. From the late 1980s on, she seemed
to concentrate her career in Europe, rather than in the US. A longtime
resident of Switzerland, she
now makes her home in Salzburg, Austria
Donald
Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach. He is best known as
coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National
Football League's only perfect
season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. He currently holds the
NFL record for most career wins with 347. Shula only had two losing seasons in
his 36-year career of coaching in the NFL. He has been head coach for a record
six Super Bowls. In his first, he set the record for the longest
period to be shut out (not scoring until 3:19 remaining). His next Super Bowl he set the record for
the lowest points by any team (with only one field goal). The very next year he turned that all
around during his perfect season, breaking his record of longest
period with a shut out, this time with him on the winning side (not giving up
any points until 2:07 remaining). As of 2012, Shula's perfect NFL season
remains unmatched, and his three Super Bowl records and total NFL wins remain
unbroken.
William Egan
Colby
spent a career in intelligence for the United States, culminating in
holding the post of Director of
Central Intelligence (DCI) from September 1973 to January 1976. During World War II Colby served with the Office of
Strategic Services. After the war he joined the newly created Central
Intelligence Agency. Before and during the Vietnam War, Colby served as Chief of Station
in Saigon, Chief of the CIA's Far East Division, and head of the Civil Operations
and Rural Development effort, as well as overseeing the Phoenix Program. After Vietnam, Colby
became Director of Central Intelligence and during his tenure, under intense
pressure from the US Congress and the media, adopted a policy of
relative openness about U.S. intelligence activities to the Senate Church Committee and House Pike Committee. Colby served as DCI
under President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford and was replaced by
future President George H. W. Bush on January 30, 1976.
Charity Rahmer (born January 4, 1979 in Maui, Hawaii) is an American actress. She is best known for her short lived run on the soap opera Days of our Lives in 2004. Although she was hired to replace Kirsten Storms in the role of Belle Black and signed a contract, she only portrayed Belle Black for sixteen episodes. She had to wear a blonde wig during her final taping of Days of our Lives because her replacement, Martha Madison, had longer hair.
ReplyDeletePrior to working on Days she appeared in several B movies, two of which were directed by David DeCoteau and co-starred former One Life to Live actor Matthew Twining.
Grace Bumbry
ReplyDeleteRecordings and honors
Of her recorded legacy, there's much from her mezzo period, including at least two Carmens and three Amnerises (possibly her most frequently performed role onstage and most frequently recorded), Venus (with Anja Silja as Elisabeth, at the 1962 Bayreuth Festival), Eboli and Orfeo. There are no commercially released complete studio opera recordings with her in a soprano role, but there are recordings of live performances of Le Cid (with the Opera Orchestra of New York), Jenůfa (at La Scala) and Norma (Martina Franca), in addition to some commercial compilations that include arias in the soprano repertoire. Interestingly enough, many of these were recorded in her "mezzo period", in the 1960s (including excerpts of La forza del destino in German, with Bumbry as Leonora and Nicolai Gedda as Alvaro). She also recorded music for the musical Carmen Jones, based on the Bizet opera; as well as operetta (Johan Strauss II's Der Zigeunerbaron), oratorio (Handel's Israel in Egypt and Judas Maccabeus), and an album of pop songs.
Bumbry has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Among other honors, she was bestowed the UNESCO Award, the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Academy of Music of the West, Italy's Premio Giuseppe Verdi, and was named Commandeur des Arts et Lettres by the French government. On December 6, 2009, she was among those honored with the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors, for her contribution to the performing arts.
National Trivia Day is also celebrated on January 4 in the United States. The origins of the holiday are unknown. Many observe the holiday by playing Trivial Pursuit or other games of knowledge and by sending an email or making a phone call to impart a quick little-known fact to friends and family.
ReplyDeleteMatthew "Matt" Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is a Canadian American stage, TV and film actor.[1] Acting since 1983, he is known for portraying the 1980s icon Max Headroom[2] and the retired villain Moloch in the film adaptation of Watchmen
ReplyDelete