Friday 4 January 2013

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.

4 comments:

  1. 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.

    Prior 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.

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  2. Grace Bumbry
    Recordings 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. Matthew "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

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