“The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.” John Lennon
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Danny Trejo, an American actor
Monday, November 20, 2023
Adele, an English singer-songwriter
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Robert Zemeckis, an American filmmaker
Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy Romancing the Stone (1984), the science-fiction comedy Back to the Future film trilogy (1985–1990), and the live-action/animated comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). He subsequently directed the satirical black comedy Death Becomes Her (1992) and then diversified into more dramatic fare, including Forrest Gump (1994), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director. The film also won the Best Picture. He has directed films across a wide variety of genres, for both adults and families.
Zemeckis is regarded as an innovator in visual effects. His exploration of state-of-the-art special effects includes the pioneering performance capture techniques seen in The Polar Express (2004), Monster House (2006), Beowulf (2007), A Christmas Carol (2009), and Welcome to Marwen (2018). He is also known for his collaboration with composer Alan Silvestri, with whom he has worked on many of his films. Though interest in Zemeckis has at times been solely limited to his work with special effects, his work has been praised by several film critics, including David Thomson, who wrote that "no other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose."
Friday, November 3, 2023
Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor and musician
Keanu Charles Reeves born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, he made his acting debut in the Canadian television series Hangin In (1984), before making his feature film debut in Youngblood (1986). He had his breakthrough role in the science fiction comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), and he reprised his role in its sequels. He gained praise for playing a hustler in the independent drama My Own Private Idaho (1991) and established himself as an action hero with leading roles in Point Break (1991) and Speed (1994).
Following several box office failures, Reeves's performance in the horror film The Devil's Advocate (1997) was well received. Greater stardom came for playing Neo in the science fiction series The Matrix, beginning in 1999. He played John Constantine in Constantine (2005) and starred in the romantic drama The Lake House (2006), the science fiction thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), and the crime thriller Street Kings (2008). Following another commercially down period, Reeves made a successful comeback by playing the titular assassin in the John Wick film series, beginning in 2014. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Steve Buscemi, an American actor
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Robert H. Jackson, an American photographer awarded with the Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his photograph of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby
Robert "Bob" Hill Jackson (born April 8, 1934) is an American photographer. In 1964, Jackson, then of the Dallas Times-Herald, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Photography for his photograph of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby.
Friday, October 6, 2023
Bono, is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist
Friday, September 29, 2023
Willie Nelson, an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist, and actor
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist, and actor. He was one of the main figures of the progressive and outlaw country subgenres that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. The critical success of his album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.
Friday, September 15, 2023
Gari Kasparov, a former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Gregory Porter, an American singer, songwriter and actor that has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Jim Davis, an American cartoonist. Best known as the creator of the comic strips Garfield, one of the world's most widely syndicated comic strips
Davis wrote or co-wrote all of the Garfield TV specials for CBS, originally broadcast between 1982 and 1991. He also produced the Garfield & Friends Saturday Morning series, which aired on the channel from 1988 to 1994. Davis was the writer and executive producer for a series of CGI direct-to-video feature films about Garfield, as well as an executive producer for the CGI animated TV series The Garfield Show.
Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for an advertising agency, and in 1969, he began assisting Tom Ryan's comic strip, Tumbleweeds. He then created a comic strip, Gnorm Gnat, that ran for three years (1973–1975) in The Pendleton Times, a newspaper in Pendleton, Indiana.[8] When Davis attempted to sell it to a national comic strip syndicate, an editor told him: "Your art is good, your gags are great, but bugs—nobody can relate to bugs!"[9] He then began studying the comic strips; still firmly believing that animals were funny, he took note of how Snoopy was not only a scene stealer in the Peanuts comic strips, but that he was far more of a marketing success than his owner Charlie Brown. Deciding that the comic market was oversaturated with dogs, he decided to create a cat character as the lead of his next strip instead.[10]
From 1976 to early 1978, Davis then published a strip titled Jon in The Pendleton Times which would later become Garfield, starting syndication in 41 newspapers on June 19, 1978.[8] Today it is syndicated in 2,580 newspapers and is read by approximately 300 million readers every day.[11]
In the 1980s, Davis created the barnyard slapstick comic strip U.S. Acres. Outside the U.S., the strip was known as Orson's Farm. Davis, along with Brett Koth, also made a 2000–03 strip based on the Mr. Potato Head toy.
Davis founded the Professor Garfield Foundation to support children's literacy.[12]
His influences include Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon and Johnny Hart's B.C
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Ben Stiller, an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as the Frat Pack. His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film.[2] Throughout his career, he has received various awards and honors, including an Emmy Award, multiple MTV Movie Awards, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Vin Diesel, an American actor and film producer
Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and film producer. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Diesel began his career in 1990, but faced difficulty achieving recognition until he wrote, directed and starred in the short film Multi-Facial (1995) and his debut feature Strays (1997); the films prompted Steven Spielberg to cast Diesel in the war epic Saving Private Ryan (1998). Diesel subsequently voiced the titular character in The Iron Giant (1999) and then gained a reputation as an action star after headlining the Fast & Furious, XXX, and The Chronicles of Riddick franchises.
Thursday, August 12, 2021
Garry Kimovich Kasparov, a World Champion chess grandmaster
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Friday, March 26, 2021
Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000)
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Garry Kimovich Kasparov, a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Garry Kimovich Kasparov, a chess grandmaster
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories and Chess Oscars
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Tony Adams, an English football manager and former Arsenal player. With Arsenal, he won four top flight division titles, uniquely captaining a title-winning team in three different decades, three FA Cups, two Football League Cups, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three FA Community Shields
Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal.[1] He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans [2] and was included in the Football League 100 Legends. With Arsenal, he won four top flight division titles, uniquely captaining a title-winning team in three different decades, three FA Cups, two Football League Cups, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three FA Community Shields. A statue honouring Adams was unveiled at Emirates stadium on 9 December 2011, along with statues of Thierry Henry and Herbert Chapman.
When his playing career finished Adams went into football management, spending periods in charge of Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth and Azerbaijan side Gabala.
When England manager Glenn Hoddle took the Captain's armband from Adams and gave it to Alan Shearer it was a bitter pill for Adams to swallow. Speaking at a fans' forum in 2008 Adams remarked "I have some resentment over the way Glenn Hoddle gave the captaincy to Alan Shearer instead of me but I can let that go. I reacted positively. I disagreed with him [Hoddle] and he thought Alan could get more penalties being a centre forward. People know my reaction to that".
Adams continued to play for the national side, however and he finally appeared in a World Cup finals in 1998. His international swansong was England's largely unsuccessful Euro 2000 campaign. With Shearer retiring from international football after the tournament, Adams regained the captaincy. However, within months, England lost a World Cup qualifier to Germany in October 2000, the match being the last to be staged at Wembley Stadium before the stadium was torn down for rebuilding. That match was Adams's 60th Wembley appearance, a record. With Sven-Göran Eriksson eventually taking the helm and under increasing pressure for his place from the emerging and improving Rio Ferdinand, Adams retired from international football before Eriksson picked his first squad. He was the last England player to score at the old Wembley Stadium when he scored England's second goal in a 2–0 friendly win over Ukraine on 31 May 2000. This was also his first goal since he scored in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in November 1988, thus making the record for the longest gap between goals for England.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Matthias Sammer, a retired German footballer and coach who is now working as sporting director of FC Bayern Munich. He was named German Footballer of the Year in both 1995 and 1996 and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1996, making him the first defender to win the Ballon d'Or since Franz Beckenbauer in 1972
With Borussia Dortmund as a player, Sammer won the Bundesliga and DFL-Supercup in 1995, the Bundesliga, DFL-Supercup, and European Footballer of the Year in 1996, and the UEFA Champions League and Intercontinental Cup in 1997. With Germany as a player, Sammer won the UEFA Euro 1996. Sammer retired with 74 total caps, 23 for East Germany and 51 for the unified side.
With Borussia Dortmund as a manager, Sammer won the Bundesliga in 2002.
In the winter break of the 1992–93 season, Sammer signed for Borussia Dortmund. He made 17 Bundesliga appearances in the second half of the season, scoring ten times.
The following season, Sammer was moved from midfield into the libero position by Dortmund coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. This move proved to be successful as Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 1994–95 and 1995–96, followed by the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, with Sammer lifting the European Cup as captain after beating Juventus 3–1 in the final at Munich's Olympiastadion.
Soon after winning the Champions League, Sammer's career was cut short by injury. He made only three further Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund before suffering a serious knee injury which he failed to recover from and retired in 1998.
In addition to the two Bundesliga titles and one Champions League, Sammer also led Dortmund to two DFB-Supercups, in 1995 and 1996. Sammer himself was named German Footballer of the Year in both 1995 and 1996 and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1996, making him the first defender to win the Ballon d'Or since Franz Beckenbauer in 1972.
On 19 December 1990, Sammer debuted for the newly formed unified Germany national football team, which was mostly made up of the West Germany team that had won the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at his home stadium in Stuttgart and Germany ran out 4–0 winners against Switzerland.
Sammer was a member of the German squad for UEFA Euro 1992, where the team was beaten in the final by Denmark. He was also selected for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, as Germany was surprisingly knocked out by the underdog Bulgaria at the quarter final stage.
In UEFA Euro 1996, Sammer played in the libero role he had been converted to at Borussia Dortmund. He scored the opening goal in Germany's second group match against Russia and the winning goal against Croatia in the quarter-final. After Germany defeated the Czech Republic in the final, Sammer was named Player of the Tournament.
On 7 June 1997, Sammer played his final match for Germany in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in Kyiv.