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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Korn - KoЯn

Korn (sometimes typed KoЯn to imitate the band's logo) is a heavy metal/alternative metal band from Bakersfield, California, currently signed to EMI/Virgin Records. They are often credited with creating the nu metal genre and inspiring a wave of nu metal, alternative metal, and rap metal bands in the mid 1990s and early 2000s, assisting, in particular, Limp Bizkit (who were discovered by Korn themselves).



Korn History

The first incarnation of Korn was a band known as LAPD. At first LAPD stood for 'Love and Peace Dude'; however they later changed the name to 'Laughing As People Die' in order to be taken more seriously as a band. The group consisted of James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, David Silveria and lead singer Richard Morales, who later left the band, and the remaining members changed their name to Creep, adding guitarist Brian Welch. After adding singer Jonathan Davis (former frontman of Sexart) in 1993, they began calling themselves KoRn, styling their name with a distinctive backwards letter "Я". The band released their debut album, Korn, through Epic/Immortal Records in October, 1994. Korn is arguably the album most responsible for the rise of nu metal and influencing later nu metal bands such as Limp Bizkit, Coal Chamber, Static-X, Adema and Slipknot.

In 1999 KoRn performed at Woodstock '99 in front of thousands of fans. The band cites its performance as one of its most memorable moments.

On 13 March 2006, KoRn released their second single from their album See You On The Other Side entitled "Coming Undone." The video filmed in what appears to be remote desert area shows a simple performance until the sky around them begins to crumble and fall apart from day to night (and that night is a pure galactic night associated with the purest starlight), and then cracks away again giving new meaning to the term - the crack of dawn; and then to complete nothingness. Towards the end of the video the band themselves begin to come unraveled and try holding themselves together until the end of the song, however they still "come undone" and float away into nothingness.

The band followed up their debut album with their second album, Life Is Peachy, in October, 1996. The album was more successful than their first, debuting at No.3 on The Billboard 200. It spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in the song "No Place to Hide." The album's release featured the first live internet broadcast by the band. KoRn performed songs from the new album and took calls from internet fans watching at home. The event was hosted by longtime KoRn friend, Adam Carolla, known best for his hosting of Loveline. The online performance was one of the first of its kind and helped launch KoRn's internet presence which soon became a predominant part of their marketing and availability to fans.



KoRn have also recently announced the resurrection of their "Family Values Tour", which will kick off on July 27 in Virginia Beach, VA. The Family Values Tour will feature KoRn, Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, Dir en grey, and other yet-to-be announced bands. This is also the first Family Values Tour that will have a second stage and is in outdoor-pavilions. Tickets for lawn seating will be $9.99.


Korn Members

* Jonathan Houseman "HIV" Davis - vocals
* Reginald Quincy "Fieldy" Arvizu - bass
* David Randall "Wally Balljacker" Silveria - drums, percussion
* James Christian "Munky" Shaffer - guitar, backing vocals

Previous members
* Brian "Head" Welch - guitar, backing vocals (1993-2005)


Friday, April 07, 2006

Paris Hilton

Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is a celebrity from the United States and an heir to the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as her father's real estate fortune. In addition to being a famous socialite, she has also done modeling and acting. She has been described as a "celebutante," a portmanteau of "celebrity" and "debutante.


Paris Hilton Background

Hilton was born in New York City, the eldest of four children of Richard Hilton and Kathy Richards. Her younger sister is Nicky Hilton, and her younger brothers are Barron Hilton II and Conrad Hilton II.

On the maternal side of her family, Hilton is a niece of two popular child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards, who appeared in the motion picture Escape to Witch Mountain and TV shows like Nanny and the Professor, Little House on the Prairie, and later, ER. By marriage, she also is related to Zsa Zsa Gabor (the Hungarian-born actress who married Paris Hilton's great-grandfather Conrad Hilton) as well as Elizabeth Taylor (the actress's first husband was Paris Hilton's great-uncle, Conrad Nicholson Hilton Jr.).

Her paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley, and her paternal great-grandparents were Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendants. Barron Hilton contested this decision and won in 1988. According to Forbes magazine in 2005, the net worth of Barron Hilton is estimated at just over US $1 billion, of which Paris is expected to inherit a little over US $50 million.

Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. Currently, her parents own a $30.5 million mansion in Bel Air, a $12.3 million estate in the Hamptons, as well as $10 million house in the Hollywood Hills in which she and her sister stay to give them privacy and easy access to clubs in Los Angeles.

After attending high school at the Dwight School in New York, but dropping out and eventually earning a GED, Hilton decided not to attend a university. Hilton worked as a fashion model for Catherine Malandrino and Marc Bouwer, and on an ad campaign for Italian label Iceberg. She appeared in cameo roles in Zoolander (2001), The Cat in the Hat (2003) and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004).


Hilton shot to prominence when a sex video of her with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the Internet shortly after The Simple Life debuted, causing a sensation. On June 9, 2004 it was released as a DVD titled 1 Night in Paris which was presented by Salomon. Hilton sued Salomon for releasing the tape, but the suit was settled. Hilton received US $400,000 and a percentage of the profits, which were donated to charity.

Hilton is often seen with her Chihuahua, Tinkerbell. She has been voted the worst dog owner ever in an online poll by New York Dog and Hollywood Dog, while Joss Stone was named as the best dog owner.

Hilton was engaged to Tommy Hilfiger model Jason Shaw from mid-2002 to early 2003. On May 29, 2005, she announced her engagement to Paris Latsis, a Greek shipping heir. However, on October 1, 2005, Hilton announced that the five month engagement had been called off.



Pari Hilton Model, actress, entrepreneur

Hilton first came into the public eye as one of the more famous New York socialites and heirs. Along with her sister, she would make countless appearance in the party section of New York society magazines. In recent years Hilton has gained recognition by appearing in television, movies, commercials, and modeling photographs. According to Forbes magazine, in 2003-2004 she earned approximately US$7.5 million for her television and movie roles, but in 2004-2005 her earnings from television, movies, modeling, and personal appearances have earned her an additional $15.5 million. During this period Forbes Magazine has ranked Hilton as one of the top 100 celebrities in the world.

She also appeared in the short subjects QIK2JDG and L.A. Knights, as well as minor and supporting roles in the feature movies House of Wax, The Hillz, Wonderland, Uptown Girls, Raising Helen and Nine Lives. Hilton won the 2005 Worst Supporting Actress Razzie for House of Wax. She landed her first lead role in a theatrical release with National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2005).

Hilton and Nicole Richie (daughter of Lionel) starred in the 2003 FOX hit reality series The Simple Life, in which they lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. Highlights of the show included the girls performing poorly at various jobs, making out with the local boys, and numerous instances of them shown as "fish out of water." It was followed by two more seasons: The Simple Life 2: Road Trip and The Simple Life 3: Interns. In April 2005, Hilton announced that she severed both personal and professional ties with Richie. Neither party fully commented on the reason why, but it's rumored that the feud started when Richie played a copy of the "One night in Paris" sex tape at a party (Richie denied this). Both had been friends since childhood. Kimberly Stewart and Bethany Carkhuff were raised as potential Simple Life replacements for Richie, but FOX eventually dropped the series saying they didn't see a place for it in their schedule. A month later, cable network E! picked up the fourth season with both Hilton and Richie as participants, though both would do tasks separately and not be seen together on screen.

Hilton also guest starred in episodes of teen drama The OC and noir detective show Veronica Mars.

On top of her acting career, she has also helped to design purses for Samantha Thavasa and Toys for Tots, and has created her own jewelry line for Amazon.com. Currently, her design work earns around US$250,000 per year.

In November 2004, Hilton participated in Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Vote or Die campaign, to encourage youths to vote in the Presidential election. She drew criticism when it was revealed she did not vote, nor had she even registered to do so.

She is the founder of Heiress Records, a label on which she plans to release her debut album in 2006, tentatively titled Paris is Burning. Her planned first single entitled 'Screwed' was leaked to the Internet and has been remixed by Alex G. Her producers for the album include Jane Wiedlin from The Go-Go's and Scott Storch. She will be covering Blondie's hit "Heart of Glass" for her album. She describes the album as pop, rock and hip hop, she says it sounds like Blondie and Madonna. Hilton has announced in some interviews that her album is due in April 2006. Paris also has a single out "Caught Up In The Rapture" with Wong-G and Gizelle.

In early May of 2004, Parlux Fragrances (who have made fragrances for Guess, Perry Ellis, XOXO) announced that they would be releasing a fragrance line created by Hilton. The perfume would be aptly named "Paris Hilton". The scent was described as "a brilliant flirtatious charm, this head-turning fragrance can be dressed up or down for both day and evening wear." The scent consists of "an ethereal halo with delicious notes of frozen Apple and juicy Peach Nectar wrapped with sparkling Muguet and a splash of wet Ozone. A luminous bouquet of sensual floralcy is at the heart of this fragrance. Delicate Mimosa Blossoms are entwined with sheer Freesia and Night-Blooming Jasmine petals, while heady, rich Tuberose provides depth and texture."

The perfume launch was a success. Originally set to be a small release, demand became popular and they had a wide release before Christmas of 2004. The launch was a big part of the Parlux stock increasing 30%. Ilia Lekach, a CEO at Parlux, said "I am delighted with our record performance and I'm optimistic regarding results through the end of our fiscal year. We have recently commenced shipments of our Paris Hilton fragrance which has surpassed our expectations."

After the success of Hilton's perfume, Parlux Fragrances had her create Paris Hilton for Men, a cologne that has a "sensual aura." The packaging states: "Paris Hilton knows how she likes a man to smell, so she has created a scent to share with her male admirers around the world." The cologne is available at Lazarus-Macy's. Sales reports are not available. Hilton's latest perfume is called Just Me by Paris Hilton. She claims there will be more to follow.

On February 16, 2006, the Internet site IMDb reported:

* "Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play a young version of celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's early life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton."


Paris Hilton Celebrity and sex symbol

Hilton and her sister, Nicky, are known for their jet-set lifestyles. Paris in particular has been trying to build herself into a marketable brand much like Donald Trump, claiming she must be regarded as a role model.

She has been widely discussed by tabloids. In 2000, the National Enquirer reported a casual friendship with Leonardo DiCaprio as something far more intimate. She has also been linked with other young celebrities, including actor Edward Furlong, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, model Jason Shaw, Chicago Bears football player Brian Urlacher, and singers Rob Mills, Deryck Whibley, and Backstreet Boy Nick Carter.

In the fall of 2004, Hilton released a book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, which brings full color photographs of her and gives her tips on the dos and don'ts of living as an heiress. Hilton was reportedly given a $100,000 advanced payment for this book. Some in the media panned the writing as amateurish, and the book was parodied by Robert Mundell on The Late Show with David Letterman. Still, it became a New York Times bestseller.

In the March 2005 issue of Playboy, she was named the "Sex Star of the Year" in their list of the 25 Sexiest Celebrities. Someone appearing to be her was on the cover of the issue, but she did not pose for it; she says she does not know where Playboy got that picture.

Hilton has also received some gossip attention for a variety of other incidents, mainly party antics. She has been said to have cut in front of others in line for a public bathroom, saying she only wanted to look at herself in the mirror. She has reportedly danced on bar tops, worn shirts reading "Got Blow?," Her most famous quote is probably "That's hot!" as she has used it in many situations.

Hilton received an offer from the U.S. version of the reality TV show "Big Brother" to participate in their show. Rumors said she has been offered more than US$1.8 million. If she will agree to be in the reality-show, "she will join a bizarre band of ex-strippers, beauty queens, a married couple and a virgin, who are living under 24 hour scrutiny on the set".

Hilton has also been featured in several television commercials including a T-Mobile commercial for which she was paid $250,000 and her Carl's Jr. commercial (see more below) for which she was paid $400,000 according to Forbes Magazine. She has also been a spokeswoman for the products of GUESS clothing.

Jesica Alba

Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles in Dark Angel, Honey, Sin City and the Fantastic Four.

Jesica Alba Early life
Alba was born in Pomona, California to Mark Alba and Cathy Jensen. Her father is a Mexican American, while her maternal grandfather was of Danish descent and her Canadian maternal grandmother was of French, English and Italian descent. Alba was raised in an Air Force family, living with her heavily Catholic parents, her brother Joshua, and her grandparents until she was sixteen. She grew up a sports fanatic. Her father's Air Force career took the family to Biloxi, Mississippi, and Del Rio, Texas, before they settled back in California when she was nine. Alba's early life had been marked by a multitude of physical maladies, as she suffered collapsed lungs twice, had pneumonia 4-5 times a year, proteinuria, a burst appendix, a cyst on her tonsils, and asthma. This served to isolate her from other children at school because, as she claims, she was in the hospital so often that no one knew her well enough to befriend her. She also revealed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. Her health improved, however, when her family moved to California.

Alba had expressed interest in acting since the age of five. She took her first acting class at age twelve, and she was signed by an acting agent nine months later.


Jesica Alba Personal life

Alba suffered anorexia and a kidney infection in 2001.

Alba was engaged to her Dark Angel co-star Michael Weatherly for a year, but it was called off when they had a falling out. In January 2005 she began dating Cash Warren, a director's assistant on Fantastic Four, whom she met when filming that movie.

Regarding children, Alba has stated:

"I'm really girly when it comes to kids. I've been surrounded by kids my whole life because I'm the oldest of 15 cousins — I've been changing diapers since I was six. I want to have a couple, for sure."

Alba announced on the UK teen Web site "Teen Today" in 2005, prior to the birth of her brother's child, that she was beginning a children's clothing line:

"About four of my girlfriends have babies so they have no time for me. I figure if I can do baby clothes maybe they'll have more time to hang out!"

She is a self-professed animal lover (although she dislikes reptiles, rodents). She also revealed that she "hates cats" in an interview with Conan O'Brien in 2001.


Jesica Alba Religion

During an interview with GQ magazine, Alba said that in her teen years she became a born-again Christian in a rebellion against her parents, but told Access Hollywood that she abandoned this because "a lot of people gave me a lot of grief for just being a woman and made me feel ashamed for having a body because it 'tempted men.'"

As the daughter of conservative parents, Alba, whose grandparents did not even allow her to wear a bathing suit around the house, maintains a no-nudity clause in her contract, though she has claimed she had been willing to be nude in Sin City. She remarked of a GQ shoot in which she was scantily-clad:

"They didn't want me to wear the granny panties but I said, 'If I'm gonna be topless I need to wear granny panties."



Jessica Alba Trivia

* Nominated as "Worst Actress" for both Fantastic Four and Into the Blue for the 26th annual Razzie Awards.
* On E's "101 Sexiest Bodies", Alba was placed at 3rd, behind Brad Pitt in 2nd, and Angelina Jolie in 1st.
* Alba's image was used in the Need for Speed: Most Wanted computer and video game.
* Her brother Joshua appeared with her in "And Jesus Brought a Casserole," the first season finale of Dark Angel, in which he played Krit, one of her X-5 brothers who wanted to help destroy Manticore.
* She has a tattoo of a daisy with a ladybird on it on the back of her neck, one of a butterfly just above her lower back and a recently made one in her wrist, a Sanskrit symbol meaning "padma", the Sanskrit word for lotus flower.
* According to an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, her measurements are 34-25-34.
* Alba revealed that she envisions a much older man as her ideal partner, having stated, "Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Michael Caine. I have this thing for older men. They've been around and know so much."
* Playboy magazine named Alba among its 25 Sexiest Celebrities, and the Sex Star of the Year in its March 2006 issue, on whose cover she appeared. Alba was involved in a litigation against Playboy for its use of her image (from a promotional shot for Into the Blue) without her consent, which she contends gave the appearance that she was featured in the issue in a "nude or semi-nude pictorial." However she later dropped the lawsuit after receiving a personal apology from Playboy owner Hugh Hefner, who also agreed to make a donations to two charities that Alba's supported.