KELLY BROOK – BRITISH MODEL
05 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in MODELS, MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, MOVIE STARS Tags: actress, ads, advertising, ann parsons, ascii, beautiful, beauty contest, big breakfast, bikini, billboard, bra, bravissimo, britain's channel 4, british, celebrity love island, commercials, company, cosmopolitan, coverpage, dailt star, dancing, denise van outen, England, fhm, girl, gq, grazia magazine, italia conti, jason statham, kelly brook, kms, lingerie, loaded magazine, london, magazine, miss marple, model, modeling, movie star, mtv, naomi campbell, nicky with the ticky, nude, physique, pictures, piz buin, porn films, presenter, renault megane, school for seduction, sexiest, singing, sky, sure deodarant, swimwear, tatler, the face, triumph flaunt, tv, tv shows, uk, underwear, united kingdom, walkers, wallpapers, women, zane
Kelly Brook ( full name Kelly Ann Parsons) was born on November 23, 1979. She is an English model, television presenter, and movie & TV actress. After leaving school in Rochester, Kelly Brook studied at the Italia Conti stage school in London for three years before becoming a professional model. Kelly Brook’s early work was in a range of advertising campaigns, including for the new “Bravissimo” company that specializes in bras and lingerie for full-figured women, and for Foster’s beer. Kelly Brook is 5’8″ tall, and her figure is very well suited for Bravissimo. Her figure caught the eye of the editorial team of the Daily Star who began featuring her as a page 3 girl. Kelly Brook’s picture soon began appearing in other lad mags such as FHM (and repe atedly landing in its list of the “100 Sexiest Women of the Year”) and Loaded.
Kelly Brook’s talent can be traced back to when she attended the prestigious Italia Conte stage school, where Naomi Campbell and Louise Nurding also studied. After 3 years of training in dance, singing, and acting, Kelly was ready to start her career. Kelly Brook’s mum entered her in a beauty contest, which of course she won, and led to her interest in modeling. After some small modeling jobs at local firms, including the flooring company KMS, Kelly Brook was gracing the cover of GQ, FHM, Sky, Cosmopolitan, Tatler, The Face, and Company by the age of 16.
Kelly Brook’s gorgeous physique also slipped into Lee jeans, as part of its advertising campaign, and she was known for playing the game show hostess ”Nicky with the Ticky” for a Sure deodorant TV ad. Kelly Brook was finally making a larger salary, as compared to her waitressing job at a tea shop. More modeling jobs came Kelly Brook’s way, such as print campaigns for Renault Megane, Walkers, Piz Buin, and the Triumph Flaunt underwear and bra line. The latter featured Kelly Brook on a billboard in London, said to be the largest billboard in the world – all the more to see Kelly.
Although Kelly Brook was appearing in ads all over the UK, she hit the big time when she won the position of Big Breakfast presenter on Britain’s Channel 4. It was Kelly Brook’s dream come true, since she was more interested in being a presenter than acting or singing. Rumor has it that Kelly Brook quit Big Breakfast after the tabloids published that the show was going to fire her for being ”too dumb.” Well, she beat them to it by resigning. After Big Breakfast, Kelly Brook was busy hosting MTV’s Select. It was the perfect move for her, as she wanted to be involved with presenting hip music to young fans, because of her interest in dance. Kelly Brook topped the 2005 FHM list, which was said to have polled 15 million people. In a poll over 5000 women in April 2005 for Grazia magazine she was considered to have the best British female body. Kelly Brook has also done a large amount of commercial swimwear, sportswear, and hosiery modeling, and a limited amount of nude & semi-nude modeling.
Kelly Brook is currently engaged to actor Billy Zane, having previously dated actor Jason Statham. Her big break into mainstream presenting came in January 1999 when she was chosen to replace Denise van Outen as the female half of The Big Breakfast presenting team, alongside Johnny Vaughan. Kelly Brook remained for half a year and then parted company with the show in July 1999 under unclear circumstances. Initial reports suggested that she had resigned, but later it was suggested that in fact Brook had been sacked, and only learned about it while vacationing. In either case, most television reviewers said that Kelly Brook was too inexperienced for the role, and cited a leaked memo from the production staff to the show’s writers, recommending that they avoid giving her “difficult words” in her scripts. Vaughan, in an interview with Heat, condemned these attacks as inaccurate and vindictive, especially towards a young presenter. Kelly Brook appeared presenting again on national TV in 2005 in “Celebrity Love Island”, with Irish comedian Patrick Kielty, and her hosting abilities were slated once again by TV critics.
Kelly Brook also stars in School for Seduction, a 2004 film. Kelly Brook recently starred in a Miss Marple drama on ITV. Her forthcoming film Three, in which she co-starred with fiance Zane, caused some minor controversy when Brook and Zane requested her nude scenes be excised from the final cut, which the producers refused to do. Kelly Brook recently confessed that she was a naughty babysitter during her younger years. One of her clients owned a huge collection of porn films and she just couldn’t help taking advantage of it. “When I was younger, I used to babysit for a couple who had a huge collection of naughty videos,” she told Loaded magazine.” My friends would all come round and we’d sit and watch them.”
Checkout the ASCII Art, Wallpapers and Pictures of Kelly Brook in the below link. Extract the Files from WinRAR Archive. Please use Lucida Console font to view the ascii art in Notepad. Before that in Notepad go to Format and Uncheck the Word Warp and then Go to Font and Reduce the Font Size to 3 to 4 pt. Use only Lucida Console Font.
CONFUCIUS – THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CHINESE PHILOSOPHER
09 Aug 2010 2 Comments
in HUMANITARIAN, LEADERS, PHILOSOPHERS, POETS & AUTHORS Tags: adventurer, analects, aristocratic, ascii art, behavior, being kind, benevolence, biography, books, ceremony, chen, chi clan, china, chinese, chou, chun tzu, confucianism, confucius, confucius ascii art, confucius biography, confucius philosophy, confucius pictures, confucius quotes, culture, disciples, dynasty, family of rulers, fortunes, gentleman, government, great master kung, han dynasty, historian, history, humaneness, humanist, humanitarian, idea, ideology, influential, instructions, jen, ju, kung chiu, kung chung ni, kung fu tzu, lao tzu, legend, li, life history, lu, lu granery, lun yu, lun yu jen, manuscript, moral, music, nature of philosophy, northeastern china, occasional ruler, officials, people, philosopher, pictures, poetry, political affairs, political philosophy, politics, propriety, qufu, quotes, ritual, royal house of shang, rulers, scholars, shang dynasty, shantung, shih, shih chi, skills, social needs, ssu ma chien, statue, students, sung, teacher, teachers, teachings, theories, theory, thinker, tuo, wei, writings, yang hu, yen clan, yi
The Chinese teacher and philosopher Confucius was the founder of the school of philosophy known as the Ju or Confucianism, which is still very influential in China. He was born on 551 B.C.E in Tuo, China.
INFO OF HIS LIFE
Confucius is the Latinized name of K’ung Fu-tzu (Great Master K’ung). His original name was K’ung Ch’iu; he is also known as K’ung Chung-ni. The most detailed traditional account of Confucius’s life is contained in the Records of the Historian (Shih chi) by Ssu-ma Ch’ien, who lived from 145 B.C.E. to 86 B.C.E. Many modern scholars have dismissed this biography as only legend. Nevertheless, from this manuscript one can reconstruct a satisfactory outline of the philosopher’s life and influence.
According to the Records of the Historian, Confucius was a descendant of a branch of the royal house of Shang, the dynasty (a family of rulers) that ruled China prior to the Chou, and a dynasty which ruled China from around 1122 B.C.E. to 221 B.C.E. His family, the K’ung, moved to the small state of Lu, located in the modern province of Shantung in northeastern China.
It was believed that Confucius’s father divorced his first wife at an advanced age, because she had borne him only daughters and one disfigured son. He then married a fifteen-year-old girl from the Yen clan, who gave birth to Confucius. Ssu-ma Ch’ien refers to the relationship as a “wild union,” which very possibly indicates that Confucius was an illegitimate child, or a child born out of wedlock.
In the Analects, Confucius’s book of teachings, he writes that during his youth he was poor and was forced to acquire many different skills. It is clear that even though the fortunes of his family had declined, he was no commoner. Confucius unquestionably belonged to the aristocratic (ruling) class known as the shih. In the time of Confucius most shih served as court officials, scholars, and teachers. Confucius’s first occupation appears to have been as keeper of the Lu granary. Later he worked as supervisor of the fields. Both were low positions but consistent with his shih status.
CAREER AS A TEACHER
It is not known exactly when Confucius began his teaching career, but it does not appear to have been much before the age of thirty. In 518 B.C.E. he is said to have met the famous teacher Lao Tzu (sixth century B.C.E. ), who reportedly bluntly criticized Confucius for his stuffiness and arrogance. Confucius eventually returned to Lu around 515 B.C.E. For several years after his return he does not appear to have accepted a governmental position. Instead it appears he spent most of his time studying and teaching, gathering a large number of students around him. Although one can only guess about the school’s exact course work, it undoubtedly included instruction in ritual, music, history, and poetry.
Around 498 B.C.E. , Confucius decided to leave his home in Lu and embark on a long journey throughout eastern China. He was accompanied by several of his disciples (followers). They wandered throughout the eastern states of Wei, Sung, and Ch’en and at various times had their lives threatened. Confucius was almost assassinated (killed) in Sung. On another occasion he was mistaken for the adventurer Yang Hu and was arrested and held until his true identity became known.
Confucius was received with great respect by the rulers of the states he visited, and he even seems to have received occasional payments. He spent much of his time developing his ideas on the art of government, as well as continuing his teaching. He acquired a large following, and the solidification of the Confucian school probably occurred during these years. Not all of his disciples followed him on his travels. Several of them actually returned to Lu and assumed positions with the Chi clan. It may have been through their influence that in 484 B.C.E. Confucius was invited back to Lu.
FINAL YEARS
Confucius was warmly received in Lu, but there is no indication that he was given a responsible position. Little is known about his last years, although this would have been a logical time for him to work on the many texts and documents he supposedly gathered on his journey. Much of his time was devoted to teaching, and he seems to have remained more or less distant from political affairs. This was an unhappy period for Confucius. His only son died about this time; his favorite disciple, Yen Hui, died the very year of his return to Lu; and in 480 B.C.E. another disciple, Tzu-lu, was killed in battle. Confucius felt all of these losses deeply, and his sadness and frustration must have been intensified by the realization that his political ideas had found no support among the rulers of his own state. Confucius died in 479 B.C.E in Qufu, China. His disciples conducted his funeral and observed a mourning period for him.
CONFUCIUS’S TEACHINGS
Although we cannot be certain that Confucius wrote any of the works he is credited with, it is still possible to know something about the general nature of his philosophy. Shortly after his death his disciples compiled a work known as the Lun yü, commonly translated as the Analects but more accurately rendered as the Edited Conversations. This work consists of conversations between Confucius, his students, and an occasional ruler. The primary emphasis of the Lun yü is on political philosophy. Confucius taught that the primary task of the ruler was to achieve the welfare (well-being) and happiness of the people of his state. To accomplish this aim, the ruler first had to set a moral (good character) example by his own conduct. This example would in turn influence the people’s behavior.
Confucius is the first Chinese thinker to introduce concepts that became fundamental not only to Confucian philosophy but to Chinese philosophy in general. The most important of these are jen (benevolence), yi (propriety, or being proper), and li (ritual, or ceremony). Confucius believed that the chün-tzu, or “gentleman,” must set the moral example for others in society to follow. In the Lun yü jen, what has been translated as humaneness or benevolence (being kind) is a quality a chün-tzu should develop and attempt to encourage in others. Li is considered the rules and ritual that are observed in religious and nonreligious ceremonies and, as applied to the chün-tzu, composed rules of behavior. Yi represents what is right and proper in a given situation. The chün-tzu, by observing the ritual and because of his good nature, always knows what is right.
Confucius was basically a humanist and one of the greatest teachers in Chinese history. His influence on his immediate disciples was deep. His students continued to explain his theories until, in the first Han dynasty (206 B.C.E. –8 C. E.), the theories became the basis of the state ideology, the body of ideas reflecting the social needs of a culture.
DEEPIKA PADUKONE – BOLLYWOOD BEAUTY
08 Aug 2010 1 Comment
in DANCERS, MODELS, MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, MOVIE STARS Tags: aap ka suroor, actress, ads, advertisement, aishwarya, awards, bachna ae haseeno, bikini, billu barber, bio, bollywood, brand ambassador, break ke baad, calendar, chandni chowk to china, close-up toothpaste, commercials, deepika, deepika padukone, deepika padukone biography, deepika padukone pictures, deepika padukone wallpapers, delhi 6, desimartini, fashion, fashion awards, films, fresh face of the year, ftv, glamorous, himesh reshammiya, hindustan times, house full, housefull, ht city, idea zee fashion f awards, indian model, international, kannada film, kantri mogudu, karnataka, kartik calling kartik, khelein hum jee jaan se, kingfisher, kingfisher airlines, lafangey parindey, levi strauss, lifestyle, limca, liril, love aaj kal, mangalore, maybelline, model, model of the year, modeling, movies, musical video, naam hai tera, om shanti om, pictures, pirate, prakash padukone, sexy, showbiz, style, supermodel, svelte model, swimsuit, tissot sa, ujjala padukone, wallpapers, writer
Deepika Padukone was born in Mangalore, Karnataka in the year 1986. She is the most celebrated Indian model and an actress. Daughter of a former World badminton Champion Prakash Padukone and mother Ujjala Padukone, Deepika grew up into a sultry model with dreams in her eyes to make it big in showbiz industry. Though she played badminton during her school days and reached to the level of a State player, she did not take her game to the national level as she had set her sights on the glamorous world of showbiz.
Pursuing her dreams, Deepika Padukone quickly became a model endorsing leading brands like Liril soap, Limca, Close-Up toothpaste, Kingfisher and several other products, which include international cosmetics giant Maybelline. The pretty svelte model won numerous awards for her modeling style. Her sensuous photographs appearing on the 2006 Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar has virtually proved that she is indeed a supermodel in her own right. She was chosen as the ‘Model of the Year’ by Kingfisher at its Fashion Awards; and further was awarded the ‘Female Model of the Year’ award in commercial assignments category and ‘Fresh Face of the Year’ at Idea Zee Fashion F Awards. Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA. In addition, she appeared in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya’s song Naam Hai Tera.
Deepika Padukone entered film industry with a Kannada film, “Aishwarya” in 2006 starring opposite Kannada hero, Upendra. The following year she bagged three Bollywood films, “Om Shanti Om”, “Pirate” and “Delhi 6″. She has also appeared in a musical video, “Aap Ka Suroor” by Himesh Reshammiya. In 2009, Deepika started writing weekly columns for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of Hindustan Times. These columns appear online on social network, Desimartini.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Break Ke Baad (2010)
- Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se (2010)
- Lafangey Parindey (2010)
- House Full (2010)
- Kantri Mogudu (2010)
- Kartik Calling Kartik (2010)
- Love Aaj Kal (2009)
- Billu Barber (2009)
- Chandni Chowk To China (2009)
- Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008)
- Om Shanti Om (2007)
Checkout the ASCII Art, Wallpapers and Pictures of Deepika Padukone in the below link. Extract the Files from WinRAR Archive. Please use Lucida Console font to view the art in Notepad. Before that in Notepad go to Format and Uncheck the Word Warp and then Go to Font and Reduce the Font Size to 3 to 4 pt. Use only Lucida Console Font.
GISELE BUNDCHEN – THE BRAZILIAN MODEL
06 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in DANCERS, MODELS, MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, MOVIE STARS Tags: 2001, actress, ads, advertisement, advertising, art, ascii art, beauty, belly button, benjamin, bikini, boyfriend, brasil, brazil, bridget moynahan, bundchen, california, celeb, celebrity, child, chloe, coax magazine, commercials, costa rica, coverpage, devil wears prada, dubbed, elite, elite look modeling competition, fashhion, fashion tv, female, fhm, forbes, giant, gisele, gisele bundchen, gisele bundchen pictures, gisele bundchen wallpapers, gisele bundchen widescreen wallpapers, globe, gorgeous, gq, happy, harpers bazaar, hawaii, heidi klum, herald, heroin chic, hollywood, horizontina, jimmy fallon, just married, kate moss, kelly slater, leonardo dicaprio, lingerie, los angeles, magazine covers, magazines, magical experience, marie claire, mario testino, married, mc donalds, millionaire, model, model of the year, modeling, modelling, mom, most beautiful, most beautiful girl in the world, movie star, movies, multi million dollar contract, new england patriots, newly wed, newyork, newyorks daily news, nick name, nude, olive oil, pamela, people, pictures, pierced, playboy, popeye, pregnant, private life, queen latifah, ralph lauren, relationship, retirement, return of the sexy model, rio grande de sul, rolling stone, runway models, salary, sao paulo, sexy, son, sports illustrated, star, steven meisel, supermodel, swimsuit, tatoo, taxi, teen, teenager, time magazine, tom brady, Tyra Banks, us dollars, valentino, vanity fair, versace, vh1, victorias secret, vogue, vogue magazine, waikiki beach, wallpapers, widescreen wallpapers, world richest model
Born July 20th, 1980, in Horizontina, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil. Gisele is a supermodel beauty. Gisele, raised in Horizontina, a small town of less then 20,000 people located in the southern part of Brazil. With six daughters in the family, her five other sisters are all natural phenomenons. Raquel, Graziela, Gabriela, Patricia, and Rafaela are all aspiring models.
As a school girl, she was taunted with the nickname Olive Oil, the waif thin girl friend of Popeye the Sailor in cartoons.Bündchen, 14, is spotted by an Elite Modeling agent in a São Paulo McDonald’s. “They asked if I wanted to be a model, and I was like, ‘Forget it,’” she tells New York’s Daily News in 2004. “But in Brazil, people struggle, so I thought, ‘You know what? I should try this.’” She moves to New York in 1997, where she catches the eye of top photographers Mario Testino and Steven Meisel, who coax magazines and designers to take a chance on the teenager. “I was mesmerized by her,” Testino tells PEOPLE. While grabbing a Big Mac in a shopping mall, she was seen by a modeling agent who approached her and asked if she had any interest in becoming a model. Despite her father’s lack of approval of the career choice, he allowed her to move to Sao Paulo and she entered the Elite Look Modeling Competition, and her career took off.
Bündchen single-handedly ends the “heroin chic” era brought in by Kate Moss when fashion industry’s bible, Vogue, puts her on its cover. The magazine declares the “Return of the Sexy Model.” The Brazilian import is named Vogue/VH1 Model of the Year and by 2001, graces nine Vogue covers. Bündchen follows the likes of Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum when she signs with lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret. “I think guys like me because they like girls in lingerie,” she tells Time about her Victoria’s Secret work. “They like any girl in lingerie.”
Gisele has modeled for all the major fashion houses such as Ralph Lauren, Versace, Valentino and Chloe. She also has appeared on several magazine covers such as Vogue, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and Rolling Stone. Bündchen frolics on the shores of Malibu with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The two remain coy about their relationship. “I don’t talk about my private life,” she tells New York’s Daily News. “The only thing I have to say is that I so appreciate [Leo].” They endure a rocky, nearly six-year, on-again, off-again relationship before calling it quits (for good) in November 2005. It may not be Vogue, but Bündchen graces the cover of Rolling Stone in a bikini. The magazine dubs the 20-year-old, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.” Time magazine says she’s “one of the few runway models whom straight men can name.”
Bündchen makes her acting debut opposite Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon in the box office disappointment Taxi. “It’s not Shakespeare, I’m not telling everyone I’m a serious actress, because that’s not who I am. I’m a model!” she tells New York’s Daily News of her role as Vanessa, a leader of a group of gorgeous bank robbers. After her split from DiCaprio, Bündchen is photographed surfing and cuddling with Pamela Anderson’s ex Kelly Slater on the sands of Hawaii’s Waikiki beach. The two tanned stunners are reportedly more than beach buddies. Bündchen appears in the film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada despite reports that anyone involved would be banned from the pages of Vogue. She plays an editor opposite Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt.
Bündchen expresses her admiration for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, 29, telling the Herald, “Definitely not too shabby. He’s pretty cute. All-American, that’s a good way to describe him.” The following month, Brady, who recently ended a three-year relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan – who later discovers she’s pregnant – begins dating the 26-year-old supermodel. After seven years as a Victoria’s Secret model, Bündchen, 26, parts ways with the lingerie giant. New York Post’s Page Six reports that Bündchen split with the company because it wouldn’t raise her $5 million-a-year salary and many speculate that she’s heading towards retirement. In 2004, she told Vanity Fair, “I would never want to be one of those girls who is 30, and modeling is all they know how to do. I want to do my best, and then I want to close the chapter on this job so I can look back and say this is what I did from 14 to 26, and then have another chapter.”
Bündchen tops Forbes’ list of the World’s Richest Models and earns $33 million in the past year. Kate Moss and Heidi Klum take second and third place respectively. “Some people start modeling because they want to be models and they want the parties and the recognition, and then there are people like me,” she tells Vanity Fair. “I come from a simple family, and for me getting into modeling was a chance to make money and create a business.” Dubbed “the globe’s reigning symbol of female perfection” by GQ, Bündchen appears on the magazine’s cover, where she discusses meeting boyfriend Tom Brady. “We met through a friend who knew us both for a long time,” she says. “Our friend knew that we would like each other. And we did. So I guess he was right.” Formerly with DiCaprio, the supermodel admits: “I’ve had my heart broken.” But of Brady, she says, “He really, genuinely doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.”
Gisele has recently signed a multimillion-dollar contract with North American lingerie firm, Victoria’s Secret. As a result, the Brazilian beauty will appear in several of their lingerie, beauty and hosiery campaigns for television and print, as well as in their point-of-sale materials. According to rumors that circulated amongst the fashion crowd during New York Fashion Week, Gisele will receive a cool 20 million US dollars for the job. Gisele currently lives in Los Angeles, an apartment in New York and a house out in the country in up-state New York. She has had her belly-button pierced and has a tattoo of a star drawn on the inside of her left wrist. It is nice to see that Gisele, albeit a young, rich and famous model, still maintains her naturalness and a down-to-earth personality.
Bündchen, 28, and Brady, 31, tie the knot in a small, private ceremony in Santa Monica. The couple exchange vows again at Bündchen’s Costa Rica home that April. Then in December, the newlyweds welcome their son Benjamin. “To be a mother is a magical experience,” she says. “It really is the miracle of life. I am really happy!”
Checkout the ASCII Art and Wallpapers of Gisele Bundchen in the below link. Please use Lucida Console font to view the art in Notepad. Before that in Notepad go to Format and Uncheck the Word Warp and then Go to Font and Reduce the Font Size to 3 to 4 pt. Use only Lucida Console Font.
http://www.4shared.com/file/prIZia78/Gisele_Bundchen.html
EVA MENDES – SEXY CUBAN-AMERICAN STAR
31 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in MODELS, MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, MOVIE STARS Tags: 2 fast 2 furious, 20 century fox, 3 & 3, a night at the roxbury, acting, actress, all about the benjamins, american, ascii art, california, california state university, career, celebrity, children of the corn 5, cleaner, cuban, dramatic roles, ER, eva mendes, eva mendes pictures, eva mendes wallpapers, exit wounds, fhm, fields of terror, filmography, films, final cut, florida, ghost rider, girlfriend, glendale, hitch, hollywood, hoover high school, ivana chubbuck, live, maxim, mgm feature, Miami, model, modeling, mortal combat conquest, moviegoers, movies, my brother the pig, northridge, once upon a time in mexico, out of time, peruvian, pictures, queen of the south, revlon, series, stuck on you, television, the disciples, the spirit, the wendell baker story, the women, training day, trust the man, tv shows, urban legends, VIP, wallpaper, we own the night
Eva Mendes was born on March 5, 1974 in Miami, Florida, U.S. She is an American actress who became famous after playing in movies like 2 Fast 2 Furious, Hitch, Training Day, Ghost Rider and We Own the Night. She was born in Miami, Florida (although many sources incorrectly state her birthplace is Houston, Texas) to Cuban parents, and was raised in Los Angeles. Eva Mendes went to Hoover High School in Glendale, California. Eva Mendes later attended California State University, Northridge but dropped out to seek an acting career.
She captured the attention of moviegoers in a small, but pivotal role in the critically acclaimed film, “Training Day”. Since then, Mendes has proved she is adept in both comedic and dramatic roles. In a very short time, she has had the fortunate and unique opportunity to work with such esteemed directors as Carl Franklin, Robert Rodriguez, Antoine Fuqua, the Farrelly Bros. and John Singleton, therefore earning the reputation as a serious actress who is committed to her craft.
Eva Mendes’ first serious role came when she was cast as Denzel Washington’s girlfriend in the box office success, “Training Day,” for director Antoine Fuqua. Her portrayal led to the celebrated director, Carl Franklin, hiring Eva Mendes for the MGM feature “Out of Time,” once more starring opposite Denzel Washington. In the same year, Eva Mendes appeared in “Once Upon A Time in Mexico” opposite Johnny Depp. She has also starred in the action blockbuster “2 Fast 2 Furious as well as the comedy feature film, “All About the Benjamins” starring opposite Ice Cube. Eva Mendes most recently starred opposite Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear in the Farrelly Bros. comedy, “Stuck on You.”
She is also an international spokesperson for Revlon Cosmetics. Following in the elite footsteps of such beautiful women as Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford and Julianne Moore, Mendes currently appears in Revlon’s print and television advertising campaigns. Eva Mendes is also an active participant and ardent supporter in Revlon’s commitment in the fight against breast cancer. Eva Mendes, who is Cuban-American, was born in Miami and raised in Los Angeles. It was while Mendes was in college that she began her acting career.
Eva Mendes began to study with the respected acting coach Ivana Chubbuck and soon thereafter, Eva Mendes’ desire to appear on the big screen, became a reality. As she continues to grow as an actress, Eva Mendes strives to develop her skills by learning from legendary filmmakers such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni and contemporaries like Pedro Almodovar, Spike Jonze and Steven Soderbergh. She has been in a long-term relationship with Peruvian filmmaker George Gargurevich. Eva Mendes has denied press reports linking her other actors, including Joaquin Phoenix and Stuck On You co-star Matt Damon.
FILMOGRAPHY
- Queen of the South (2009)
- The Spirit (2009)
- The Women (2008)
- Cleaner (2007)
- Live! (2007)
- We Own the Night (2007)
- Ghost Rider (2007)
- 3 & 3 (2005)
- Trust the Man (2005)
- The Wendell Baker Story (2005)
- Hitch (2005/I)
- Stuck On You (2003)
- Out of Time (2003/I)
- Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
- 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
- All About the Benjamins (2002)
- Training Day (2001) (as Eva Mendez)
- Exit Wounds (2001)
- Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
- The Disciples (2000) (TV)
- “V.I.P.” (1999)
- My Brother the Pig (1999)
- “Mortal Kombat: Conquest” (1998)
- A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
- Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) (V)
- “ER” (1998)
Checkout the ASCII Art, Pictures and Wallpapers of Eva Mendes in the below link. Please use Lucida Console font to view the art in Notepad. Before that in Notepad go to Format and Uncheck the Word Warp and then Go to Font and Reduce the Font Size to 3 to 4 pt. Use only Lucida Console Font.
MARILYN MONROE – HOLLYWOOD’S MOST FAMOUS BLONDE
30 Jul 2010 2 Comments
in DANCERS, MODELS, MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, OTHERS Tags: actor, actress, alcohol, ascii art, beautiful, best, bio, biography, blonde, california, career, death, depression, drug, fame, famous, filmography, films, foster system, gorgeous, hollywood, insomnia, james dougherty, life history, los angeles, magazines, marilyn monroe, marilyn monroe pictures, marilyn monroe wallpaper, model, movies, norman jean baker, nude, paint sprayer, parachute inspector, photographeer, pictures, pills, pretty, self-doubt, sex symbol, sexy, skills, sleeping pills, suicide, top, topless, us merchant marine, van nuys high school, wallpapers, world war 2
Marilyn Monroe, whose name was Norma Jean Baker in childhood, was born to Gladys Mortenson, a film technician, whose husband, Edward Mortenson, deserted the family. Norma Jean’s natural father may have actually been another studio employee, C. Stanley Gifford. Gladys’ mental illness surfaced shortly after her daughter’s birth, and she was institutionalized much of Norma Jean’s growing years. Norma Jean was placed in a series of twelve foster homes, and once in an orphanage. She attended Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, California.
At sixteen, Norma Jean escaped the foster system by marrying 20-year-old James Dougherty. A year later, in 1943, he joined the U.S. Merchant Marine. Norma Jean took a job in an airline plant, part of the World War II factory effort, and worked first as a parachute inspector, then as a paint sprayer. When the government came through to take promotional photographs of the women working in the plant, the brunette Norma Jean learned that she photographed well, took a modeling course, and began working part-time as a photographer’s model.
Success as a photographer’s model led her to her dream of becoming an actress. In 1946, she divorced Dougherty and bleached her hair to become a blond. She signed a one-year, $125/month contract with Twentieth Century-Fox on August 26, 1946. Ben Lyon, casting director, suggested that she take the name Marilyn, and she added her grandmother’s last name, Monroe.
Marilyn Monroe played one bit part that year, all of which ended up on the cutting room floor. The next year, she signed another one-year contract, this time with Columbia. The results weren’t any better. In 1950, Marilyn Monroe posed for full-length nude shots, which the photographer Tom Kelley sold for a calendar. That same year, she appeared in a bit part in The Asphalt Jungle, and though her name wasn’t even mentioned in the credits, her appearance generated a huge amount of fan mail. Her reputation as a blond bombshell had begun to be established.
So Twentieth Century-Fox signed Marilyn Monroe to a new contract — this time, for seven years. She appeared in All About Eve. In 1946, she had her first starring role, in Niagara. In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes she sang, and for the first time, she had her own dressing room. In January, 1954, Marilyn Monroe married the famous baseball player, Joe Di Maggio. The marriage was short-lived; they divorced in October. For the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe appeared in the famous photographic stunt, in a white halter dress, with her skirt blown up by a draft from a sidewalk grate, leaning down to catch her dress so that her cleavage showed. The photograph was used to advertise the film, and has become one of the iconic images of Marilyn Monroe.
But after filming The Seven Year Itch, in which she plays a prototypical “dumb blond,” Marilyn Monroe decided to work more seriously on her acting skills, to the skepticism of many critics. She broke her movie contract, and moved to New York to study at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg for a year. In 1955, she founded her own company with Milton Greene, Marilyn Monroe Productions, and signed a new contract with Twentieth Century-Fox. She made the 1956 movie Bus Stop which wowed the critics, but she’d begun to lose herself to self-doubt, depression, drugs, and alcohol. Marilyn Monroe, whose mother and maternal grandparents had all struggled with mental illness and institutionalization, began taking sleeping pills for her insomnia. She regularly consulted psychiatrists. She drank heavily, and began a habit of arriving late to work, and sometimes not being able to work at all.
She married Arthur Miller, the playwright, shortly after Bus Stop was released, and for the marriage converted to Judaism. She lived quietly for two years with her new husband. During that time, Miller was fighting his conviction for contempt-of-Congress for refusing to answer two questions before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The marriage, and several miscarriages, added to her self-doubt and depression, and to her use of drugs and alcohol. Marilyn Monroe’s next movie, The Prince and the Showgirl, brought mixed reviews. That was followed by Let’s Make Love, and an unhappy romantic liaison with co-star Yves Montand.
The Misfits was written for Marilyn Monroe by her husband, Arthur Miller. She performed well in the final product, though during its filming, she was often under the influence of alcohol and pills, and she was notoriously late to the set. Marilyn was affected by the death, two months after the film was completed, by co-star Clark Gable. In early 1961, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller divorced. During this period, she was also bothered by many rumors of affairs, including with the President, John F. Kennedy, and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy. Filming her next project, ironically titled Something’s Got to Give, Marilyn’s lateness and addictions led to her dismissal after a month. She was briefly committed to a mental hospital. She was approved to return to the film, but never resumed filming.
Two months later, in her home in Los Angeles, Marilyn Monroe was found by her housekeeper, dead, with an empty bottle of sleeping pills next to her body. The coroner found the death was caused by an overdose of barbiturates, and pronounced it a possible suicide. No evidence of foul play was presented to the coroner. Marilyn Monroe’s funeral was planned by Joe Di Maggio; Lee Strasburg delivered the eulogy.
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MATT DILLON – AN AMERICAN ACTOR
28 Jul 2010 2 Comments
in MOST BEAUTIFUL MEN, MOVIE STARS Tags: actor, ascii art, hollywood, matt dillon, movies, pictures, wallpaper
Born on February 18, 1964, in New Rochelle, New York. A veteran performer, Matt Dillon has tackled a variety of roles in both dramatic and comedic films. He got his first break when he was fourteen years old. A talent scout spotted him hanging out in a hallway at his junior high school. Dillon was cutting class at the time. Soon after this fateful encounter, he landed his first film role. Making his debut in Over the Edge (1979), Dillon played a teenager who lives with his family to a planned community outside of Denver. His character—like the other teens in community—had little to do and nowhere to go. In response, he acts out in all sorts of ways with some dire consequences. Critics hailed the mostly teenage cast’s realistic portrayal of youthful angst and frustration. Unfortunately, the film received little promotion and quickly disappeared from movie theaters.
With his next role, Dillon quickly became one of the most popular teenage heartthrobs of the 1980s, joining the ranks of Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, and others. He appeared in Little Darlings (1980) with Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol. As part of a bet, the two young women try to become the first to lose their virginity while at summer camp. McNichol ends up accomplishing this task with Dillon’s character. That same year, Dillon co-starred in My Bodyguard (1980) with Chris Makepeace as a high school bully. The tough guy role wasn’t too far from his real life at the time, according to Dillon. He told People magazine that “I used to get in a lot of fights.” The same article went on to explain how the teenage Dillon was receiving as much as 200 fan letters a day and had a 5,000-strong fan club at the time.
Dillon played the title character in Tex (1982), an adaptation of a popular young adult novel by S. E. Hinton. In this family drama, Tex and his brother Mason are two teenagers who basically left to fend for themselves since their rodeo cowboy father is practically never home. Meg Tilly played Tex’s girlfriend and Emilio Estevez appeared as her brother. For his work in the film, Dillon earned many positive reviews, with critic Robert Ebert calling his performance “complicated and convincing.” Working with director Francis Ford Coppola, Dillon starred in two other film adaptations of S. E. Hinton novels. He co-starred with many up-and-coming stars, such as Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, and C. Thomas Howell in The Outsiders (1983). In this film, set in 1950s Nebraska, he played Dallas Winston, the leading member of a gang of poor teens known as the Greasers. The Greasers’ main rivals are a group of rich kids known as the Soches. When a Greaser kills one of the Soches (played by Leif Garrett), the conflict between the two groups escalates.Released that same year, Dillon played Rusty James, a young thug, in Rumble Fish (1983). Part of his character’s struggle in the film was to live up to the reputation of his older brother, the Motorcycle Boy, played by Mickey Rourke. Diane Lane appeared in the film as Rusty’s girlfriend and Dennis Hopper played his father. While critics had mixed opinions about both of Coppola’s adaptations, the films proved popular with movie-goers. The Flamingo Kid (1984) was also a big hit for Dillon. In this dramatic comedy, he played a recent high school grad who takes a summer job as a cabana boy at an affluent beach club. Critics were wowed by his subtle portrayal of a young man trying to figure out his future as he pushed and pulled by two very different examples—the wealthy, but morally suspect car dealer (Richard Crenna) and his own humble, hard-working father (Hector Elizondo).
Dillon seemed to disappear off the pop culture radar for a time, but, in fact, he was working a very personal project. For several years, he worked on the crime thriller City of Ghosts (2002), which he wrote, directed, and starred in. The independent film failed to garner much attention, but Dillon told People magazine that the project was worth all of the effort he put into it. “I wish more people saw it and appreciated it but, hey, I have nothing but great memories of that experience.” In 2004, Dillon returned to the spotlight for his critically acclaimed turn as a bitter, bigoted cop in Paul Haggis’s Crash. The film explored several intersecting storylines set in Los Angeles and the drama unfolds over the course of a few days. For the first time in his career, Dillon netted an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the film. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for his complex portrayal of the prejudiced police officer. All of the lead actors on Crash won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
After Crash, Dillon continued to make toward some unusual choices in films. He played the fictional alter ego of writer Charles Bukowski in Factotum (2006). Tackling much lighter fare, Dillon played a rival race car driver in the family comedy Herbie Fully Loaded (2005) with Lindsay Lohan and a husband caught between his wife and his deadbeat friend in You, Me and Dupree (2006) with Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson. Dillon is expected to appear in several upcoming films, including the legal drama Nothing But the Truth with Kate Beckinsale and the comedy Old Dogs with John Travolta and Robin Williams. One of six children, Dillon is not the only member of his family in the entertainment business. Younger brother Kevin Dillon currently appears in the hit HBO comedy series Entourage.
FILM APPEARANCES
- Richie, Over the Edge, Warner Bros., 1979
- Randy, Little Darlings, Paramount, 1980
- Melvin Moody, My Bodyguard, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1980
- Jack Duncan, Liar’s Moon, Crown, 1982
- Tex McCormick, Tex, Buena Vista, 1982
- Host, Wild Rides, 1982
- Dallas “Dally” Winston, The Outsiders, Warner Bros., 1983
- Rusty James, Rumble Fish, Universal, 1983
- Jeffrey Willis, The Flamingo Kid, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1984
- Title role, Rebel, Vestron, 1985
- Chris Lloyd, Target, Warner Bros., 1985
- Jan Florek, Native Son, Cinecom, 1986
- J. C. Cullen, The Big Town (also known as The Arm), Columbia, 1987
- Doyle Kennedy, Kansas, Trans World, 1988
- Regret, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Columbia, 1989
- Bob Hughes, Drugstore Cowboy, Avenue R Films, 1989
- Jonathan Corliss, A Kiss before Dying, Universal, 1991
- Narrator, Prufrock, 1991
- (Uncredited) Madonna: Truth or Dare (also known as In Bed with Madonna and Truth or Dare), 1991
- Cliff Poncier, Singles, Warner Bros., 1992
- Gus DeMarco, Mr. Wonderful, Warner Bros., 1993
- Matthew, The Saint of Fort Washington, Warner Bros., 1993
- Kevin Walker, Golden Gate, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1994
- Larry Maretto, To Die For, Columbia, 1995
- Terry Klout, Frankie Starlight, Fine Line, 1995
- Tommy “Birdman” Rowland, Beautiful Girls, Miramax, 1996
- Jay Phillips, Grace of My Heart, Gramercy/Universal, 1996
- Dova, Albino Alligator, Miramax, 1996
- Himself, Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s (documentary), Northern Arts Entertainment, 1996
- Cameron Drake, In and Out, Paramount, 1997
- Himself, Pitch, 1997
- Sam Lombardo, Wild Things (also known as Sex Crimes and wildthings), Columbia, 1998
- Pat Healy, There’s Something about Mary, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998
- Himself, Rockets Redglare! (documentary), Big Plate Pictures, 2000
- Randy, One Night at McCool’s, USA Films, 2001
- Fritzy Zennetti, Deuces Wild (also known as Deuces Wild–Wild in den Strassen), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 2002
- Jimmy Cremming, City of Ghosts, United Artists, 2003
- Interviewee, Breakfast with Hunter, 2003
- David Wells, Employee of the Month, Bull’s Eye Entertainment, 2004
FILM WORK
- Producer and director, City of Ghosts, United Artists, 2003
TV APPEARANCES
SERIES
- Fishing with John, Independent Film Channel and Bravo, 1991
MOVIES
- When He’s Not a Stranger, CBS, 1989
- Eddie Megeffin, “Return to Kansas City,” Women & Men II (broadcast as a segment of HBO Showcase; also known as A Domestic Dilemma and Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules), HBO, 1991
SPECIALS
- Young Ralph, “The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters,” American Playhouse, PBS, 1982
- The Boy Who Loved Trolls, PBS, 1984
- Night of 100 Stars II, ABC, 1985
- Voice of Mike, Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (also knownas Dear America), HBO, 1987
- Marsalis on Music, PBS, 1995
- AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Stars, CBS, 1999
AWARDS & PRESENTATIONS
- Presenter, The 55th Annual Academy Awards, 1983
- The 67th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1995
- The 70th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1998
- Presenter, The 1998 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 1998
EPISODIC
- Late Show with David Letterman, multiple appearances, 1993-1998
- Inside the Actors Studio, Bravo, 1994
- The Entertainment Business, Bravo, 1998
- Contest Searchlight, Comedy Central, 2002
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 2003
- The View, 2003
STAGE APPEARANCES
- Night of 100 Stars II, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 1985
- (Broadway debut) Monsoon, Boys of Winter, Biltmore Theatre, 1985
TV DIRECTOR – EPISODIC
- “Napoleon’s Boney Parts,” Oz, HBO, 1999
RECORDINGS
VIDEOS
- Cop, “Bad Girl,” Madonna: The Video Collection 93:99, Warner Reprise Video, 1999
- Appeared as a cop in the music video “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues.
AUDIO BOOKS
- Narrator, On the Road, by Jack Kerouac, Caedmon Audio, 2000
WRITINGS
- Screenplays – (With Barry Gifford) City of Ghosts, United Artists, 2003
Checkout the ASCII Art, Pictures and Wallpapers of Matt Dillon in the below link. Please use Lucida Console font to view the art in Notepad. Before that in Notepad go to Format and Uncheck the Word Warp and then Go to Font and Reduce the Font Size to 3 to 4 pt. Use only Lucida Console Font.
Dr.NAMPERUMALSAMY – THE VISIONARY OF THE BLINDS
26 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in BUSINESS PERSONALITIES, DOCTORS, HUMANITARIAN, LEADERS, OTHERS, SCIENTISTS Tags: aravind, aravind eye hospital, aravind health care, art, ascii, ascii art, award, awards, blind, books, cataract, child, children, clinic, club, conrad hilton, conrad n hilton, doctor, eye, eye care, eye surgery, eyes, eyesight, healthcare, help, helping mind, hero, honors, honours, hospital, humanitarian, humanitarian prize, humanity, indian, influential, iris, link, magazine, mbbs, mission, ms, namperumalsamy, operation, opthalmologist, p namperumalsamy, padma awards, padmabushan, perumalsamy, pictures, poor, publications, pupil, retina, rotarian, rotary, sight, slums, social work, surgery, tamil, tamilnadu, time 100, vision
Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy is an Indian ophthalmologist who specializes in diabetic retinopathy. He is also a a retina-vitreous expert. Namperumalsamy is currently the chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. He is known for bringing assembly-line efficiency to eye surgery. In 2010, TIME magazine named Namperumalsamy one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Under the chairmanship of Namperumalsamy, Aravind Eye Hospital, received the 2010 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, which is awarded annually to an organization that does extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering.
A postgraduate fellow of the University of Illinois, Chicago, Namperumalsamy started the India’s first Low Vision Aid Centre at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai in 1971. He is currently the chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital. Namperumalsamy is a reciepient of Padma Shri Award from the Government of India.
AWARDS & HONORS
- “RUSTOM RANJI ORATION GOLD MEDAL” by Andhra State Ophthalmic Conference “CLOSED VITRECTOMY”, October 1982.
- Dr. P. SIVA REDDY ORATION GOLD MEDAL, RECENT CONCEPTS on AETIOLOGY and MANAGEMENT in EALES DISEASE All India Ophthalmological Conference Kanpur in 1986.
- Dr.JOSEPH GNANADICKAM MEMORIAL GOLD MEDAL ORATION RHEGMATOGENOUS RETINAL DETACHMENT MANAGEMENT Madras State Ophthalmic Association Conference Pondicherry 1986.
- “PARASNATH SINHA GOLD MEDAL ORATION” on PRESENT STATUSof PARS PLANA SURGERY at Bihar Ophthalmological Society and Third Eastern Zone Ophthalmological Conference, Patna 1987.
- “C.S. RESHMI AWARD” for BEST VIDEO FILM PRESENTATION at the 46th All India Ophthalmological Conference, Bombay 1988.
- PADMABHUSHAN DR.P.SIVA REDDYS ENDOWNMENT BEST TEACHER AWARD on 12th September 1998 at Hyderabad by the Andhra Pradesh Academic Sciences.
- MOST OUTSTANDING RETINAL SURGEON OF THE MILLENNIUM presented by the Executive Committee of “Eye Advance 2000″, Bombay, September 2000.
- INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES of PROCTOR FOUNDATION – recognized by Proctor Foundation, USA.
- Award for DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO HUMANITY – by Tamilnadu Senior Citizens & Pensioners Welfare Association II State Conference, Coimbatore, May 2002.
- DR.R.V.RAJAM ORATION AWARD – on “DIABETIC RETINOPATHY- AN EMERGING PROBLEM IN INDIA” at the 43rd Annual Conference of National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) at Jaipur, April 2004.
In less time than it takes to read this magazine, a simple surgery can give a blind person her eyesight back.
A miracle? Absolutely. But Dr. Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy, 70, and his army of cataract fixers at India’s Aravind Eye Care Hospitals make it look easy. The surgery has been around for decades, but the chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital which was founded in 1976 with the goal of bringing assembly-line efficiency to health care, figured out how to replace cataracts safely and quickly: 3.6 million surgeries to date, a new one every 15 minutes.
Equally brilliant is the business model: the 30% of patients who can afford to pay subsidize free or low-cost care for the 70% who are poor. “All people have a right to sight,” Namperumalsamy says. As I write these words after a long day spent in the slums in India, I cannot tell you how much admiration I have for him and his team. I’ll say he is the right person to give sight for the blind.
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DEBORAH GIST – THE COMMISSIONER OF RIDE
25 Jul 2010 2 Comments
in LEADERS, OTHERS, POETS & AUTHORS Tags: academic excellence, ascii art, broad academy for superintendents, commissioner, community service, DC, deborah, deborah gist, department of education, discovery creek children museum, district of columbia, education, education law, educators, elementary education, encourage, florida, Ft.Worth, harvard university, hillsborough reads, innovator, kennedy school of government, leader, leaders, leadership, littauer fellowship, mayor, mentors, mentors inc, pictures, public administration, public manager, rhode island, schools, secondary education, state superintendent of education, summer food service program, talented teachers, tampa, teacher, teacher of the year, texas, thinker, time 100, tuition assistance grant program, university of oklahoma, university of south florida, urban education, us, usa, volunteer, washington
Deborah A. Gist, who taught and served directly in schools for more than a decade early in her career, began her service as the Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 1, 2009.Previously, she served as State Superintendent of Education in the District of Columbia, beginning in June 2007. As the first state superintendent of education in the District, she was responsible for transitioning all state-level education functions to the newly formed office of the state superintendent of education and for putting into effect the accountability systems of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.
As state superintendent of education, Gist created new, progressive educator-certification polices for teachers and school administrators, allowing school districts and nonprofit organizations to apply to certify educators, and she enacted new standards for teacher-preparation programs to improve quality, expand opportunity, and encourage innovation. Gist worked with the first state board of education in the District to transition its role to that of a policy-setting body during its first year of existence, and she developed many important state-level education policies, including standards for health and physical education, world languages, arts education, and early-childhood learning.
Before taking on the role as State Superintendent, Gist served for three years as the state education officer in the District. In that role, she restored the confidence of Congress in the Tuition Assistance Grants program, resulting in a federal funding increase of more than 100 percent for a program that now serves more than 5,000 college students in the District each year. She also oversaw dramatic improvements in much-maligned child-nutrition programs in the District, including the Summer Food Service program, which was subsequently named the best-performing summer-food program in America for four consecutive years.
Gist began her career in education 21 years ago, as a teacher in the Ft. Worth, Texas, elementary schools, where she focused on literacy education and applied learning. She later taught in Tampa, Florida, where she founded and directed a center on environmental education and later conceived, designed, and initiated Hillsborough Reads, which served families in 108 elementary schools in Hillsborough County. She won “Teacher of the Year” honors at her schools in both Ft. Worth and Tampa.
In addition to spending 10 years serving directly in schools, Gist was a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Education. She advised the secretary and deputy secretary on top issues, analyzed proposed policy initiatives, and conducted research and feasibility studies. Gist also served as the marketing and development director of the Discovery Creek Children’s Museum, in Washington, and she later worked for the Office of the Mayor, in Washington, as the executive director of the office on volunteerism and service programs, Serve DC. While in Washington, Gist served as a volunteer mentor and a board member for Mentors, Inc.
Gist earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where she was also selected as a Kennedy Fellow and received the Littauer Fellowship for academic excellence and community service. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in early-childhood education from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Arts in elementary education, with an emphasis in curriculum, from the University of South Florida. Gist became a certified public manager, following successful completion of a joint program with the District of Columbia government and the George Washington University. In 2008, she completed a fellowship with the Broad Academy for Superintendents, which prepares talented leaders to take on executive leadership roles in urban education.
Checkout the Collection of ASCII Art and Pictures of Deborah.A.Gist from the below link. Download the file and extract it to your PC. To view the ASCII Art that has been stored in the Notepad Text File, Open the text file in Notepad. Then Go to Format and Uncheck WordWrap, then In Format Go to Font and Change the Font to Lucida Console and Set the Font Size to 3 or 4 Pt. Now you could be able to see the ASCII Art. Maximize the window to view in full extent. ENJOY ! !
WILL ALLEN – URBAN FARM INNOVATOR
25 Jul 2010 4 Comments
in LEADERS, OTHERS, SCIENTISTS, SPORTS PERSON Tags: american, art, ascii art, baltimore bullets, basket ball, basketball, bees, bloom, chicago, chickens, community food center, cynthia, ducks, erika, farmer, fish, food production, ford foundation leadership grant, genius grant, goats, grow, growing power, hurricanes, innovator, kellogg foundation, legend, marketing, marvel, merton, Miami, milwaukee, oak creek, oxymoron, pictures, player, procter and gamble, rabbits, rockville, south carolina, sports, the floridans, thrive, university of miami, urban farm, urban farmer, urban farming, usa, will allen
Will Allen (born February 8, 1949) is an urban farmer based in Milwaukee and a retired American basketball player. Will Allen was a high school state champion in basketball, playing the forward position. Allen played collegiately for the Miami Hurricanes at the University of Miami, where he was on basketball scholarship. He was the first African-American to play basketball for the University of Miami. After college Allen was selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the 4th round (60th pick overall) of the 1971 NBA Draft. He never played in the NBA, but appeared in seven games with The Floridians of the ABA during the 1971–72 season. He also played professionally in Belgium. Allen retired from basketball in 1977, when he was 28. Upon retirement, Allen moved to Milwaukee, his wife Cynthia’s hometown.
Will Allen’s parents were sharecroppers in South Carolina until they bought the small vegetable farm in Rockville, Maryland, where Allen grew up. Finishing a career in marketing, Allen left a job at Procter & Gamble in 1993 and purchased Growing Power, a derelict plant nursery that was in foreclosure, located on the north side of Milwaukee. Around this time, Allen also purchased a 100-acre farm in Oak Creek, previously owned by his wife’s parents. Allen currently serves as director of Growing Power, a now mature urban farming project in Milwaukee, with a 40-acre acre farm west of Milwaukee in the town of Merton and an off-shoot project in Chicago run by Allen’s daughter, Erika.
In 2005, Allen was awarded a Ford Foundation leadership grant on behalf of his urban farming work. In 2008, he was awarded the MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” for his work on urban farming and sustainable food production. Most recently, in 2009, the Kellogg Foundation gave Allen a grant to create jobs in urban agriculture. Will Allen appears in the documentary film, Fresh. The film refers to Allen as “one of the most influential leaders of the food security and urban farming movement.”
At one time, the term urban farm sounded like an oxymoron. No longer. A new movement is sprouting up in America’s low-income neighborhoods. Some urban residents, sick of fast food and the scarcity of grocery stores, have decided to grow good food for themselves. One of the movement’s (literally) towering icons is Will Allen, 62, of Milwaukee’s Growing Power Inc. His main 2-acre Community Food Center is no larger than a small supermarket. But it houses 20,000 plants and vegetables, thousands of fish, plus chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits and bees.
People come from around the world to marvel — and to learn. Says Allen: “Everybody, regardless of their economic means, should have access to the same healthy, safe, affordable food that is grown naturally.” The movement’s aim is not just healthier people but a healthier planet. Food grown in cities is trucked shorter distances. Translation: more greenhouses in the ‘hood equals less greenhouse gas in the air. Just as important, farm projects grow communities and nourish hope. The best ones will produce more leaders like Allen, with his credo “Grow. Bloom. Thrive.”
Checkout the Collection of ASCII Art and Pictures of Will Allen from the below link. Download the file and extract it to your PC. To view the ASCII Art that has been stored in the Notepad Text File, Open the text file in Notepad. Then Go to Format and Uncheck WordWrap, then In Format Go to Font and Change the Font to Lucida Console and Set the Font Size to 3 or 4 Pt. Now you could be able to see the ASCII Art. Maximize the window to view in full extent. ENJOY ! !
