Passage 1:Henry KrauseHenry J. "Red" Krause, Jr. (August 28, 1913 – February 20, 1987) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Washington Redskins.  He played college football at St. Louis University.Passage 2:Carlo I Cybo-MalaspinaCarlo I Cybo-Malaspina (18 November 1581 - 13 February 1662) was an Italian nobleman, who was prince of Massa and marquis of Carrara from 1623 until his death.Born in Ferrara, he was the son of Alderano Cybo-Malaspina and Marfisa d'Este. He was also Duke of Ferentillo and held other patrician positions in several of the numerous Italian states of the time. In 1605, he married the Genoese noblewoman Brigida Spinola, from whom he had numerous children.The eldest of them, Alberico, succeeded him after his death in 1662.Passage 3:Abd al-MuttalibShayba ibn Hāshim (Arabic:   ; c. 497–578), better known as Abd al-Mualib, (Arabic:  , lit. 'Servant of Muttalib') was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation. He was the grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Early lifeHis father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,: 81 the progenitor of the distinguished Banu Hashim, a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. They claimed descent from Ismā'īl and Ibrāhīm. His mother was Salma bint Amr, from the Banu Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj tribe in Yathrib (later called Madinah). Hashim died while doing business in Gaza, before Abd al-Muttalib was born.: 81 His real name was "Shaiba" meaning 'the ancient one' or 'white-haired' because of the streak of white through his jet-black hair, and is sometimes also called Shaybah al-amd ("The white streak of praise").: 81–82 After his father's death he was raised in Yathrib with his mother and her family until about the age of eight, when his uncle Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf went to see him and asked his mother Salmah to entrust Shaybah to his care. Salmah was unwilling to let her son go and Shaiba refused to leave his mother without her consent. Mualib then pointed out that the possibilities Yathrib had to offer were incomparable to Mecca. Salmah was impressed with his arguments, so she agreed to let him go. Upon first arriving in Mecca, the people assumed the unknown child was Muttalib's servant and started calling him 'Abd al-Muttalib ("servant of Muttalib").: 85–86Chieftain of Hashim clanWhen Mualib died, Shaiba succeeded him as the chief of the Hāshim clan. Following his uncle Al-Mualib, he took over the duties of providing the pilgrims with food and water, and carried on the practices of his forefathers with his people. He attained such eminence as none of his forefathers enjoyed; his people loved him and his reputation was great among them.: 61 'Umar ibn Al-Khaāb's grandfather Nufayl ibn Abdul Uzza arbitrated in a dispute between 'Abdul-Mualib and arb ibn Umayyah, Abu Sufyan's father, over the custodianship of the Kaaba. Nufayl gave his verdict in favour of 'Abdul-Mualib. Addressing arb ibn Umayyah, he said:Why do you pick a quarrel with a person who is taller than you in stature; more imposing than you in appearance; more refined than you in intellect; whose progeny outnumbers yours and whose generosity outshines yours in lustre? Do not, however, construe this into any disparagement of your good qualities which I highly appreciate. You are as gentle as a lamb, you are renowned throughout Arabia for the stentorian tones of your voice, and you are an asset to your tribe.Discovery of Zam Zam Well'Abdul-Mualib said that while sleeping in the sacred enclosure, he had dreamed he was ordered to dig at the worship place of the Quraysh between the two deities Isāf and Nā'ila. There he would find the Zamzam Well, which the Jurhum tribe had filled in when they left Mecca. The Quraysh tried to stop him digging in that spot, but his son Al-ārith stood guard until they gave up their protests. After three days of digging, 'Abdul-Mualib found traces of an ancient religious well and exclaimed, "Allahuakbar!" Some of the Quraysh disputed his claim to sole rights over water, then one of them suggested that they go to a female shaman who lived afar. It was said that she could summon jinns and that she could help them decide who was the owner of the well. So, 11 people from the 11 tribes went on the expedition. They had to cross the desert to meet the priestess but then they got lost. There was a lack of food and water and people started to lose hope of ever getting out. One of them suggested that they dig their own graves and if they died, the last person standing would bury the others. So all began digging their own graves and just as Abdul-Mualib started digging, water spewed out from the hole he dug and everyone became overjoyed. It was then and there decided that Abdul-Muttalib was the owner of the Zam Zam well. Thereafter he supplied pilgrims to the Kaaba with Zam Zam water, which soon eclipsed all the other wells in Mecca because it was considered sacred.: 86–89 : 62–65The Year of the ElephantAccording to Muslim tradition, the Ethiopian governor of Yemen, Abrahah al-Ashram, envied the Kaaba's reverence among the Arabs and, being a Christian, he built a cathedral on Sana'a and ordered pilgrimage be made there.: 21 The order was ignored and someone desecrated (some saying in the form of defecation: 696 note 35 ) the cathedral. Abrahah decided to avenge this act by demolishing the Kaaba and he advanced with an army towards Mecca.: 22–23 There were thirteen elephants in Abrahah's army: 99 : 26 and the year came to be known as 'Ām al-Fīl (the Year of the Elephant), beginning a trend for reckoning the years in Arabia which was used until 'Umar ibn Al-Khaāb replaced it with the Islamic Calendar in 638 CE (17 AH), with the first year of the Islamic Calendar being 622 CE.When news of the advance of Abrahah's army came, the Arab tribes of Quraysh, Kinānah, Khuzā'ah and Hudhayl united in defence of the Kaaba. A man from the imyar tribe was sent by Abrahah to advise them that he only wished to demolish the Kaaba and if they resisted, they would be crushed. "Abdul-Mualib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the nearest high hills while he, with some leading members of Quraysh, remained within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abrahah sent a dispatch inviting 'Abdul-Mualib to meet him and discuss matters. When 'Abdul-Mualib left the meeting he was heard saying, "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure He will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonour the servants of His House.": 24–26 It is recorded that when Abrahah's forces neared the Kaaba, Allah commanded small birds (abābīl) to destroy Abrahah's army, raining down pebbles on it from their beaks. Abrahah was seriously wounded and retreated towards Yemen but died on the way.: 26–27 This event is referred to in the following Qur'anic chapter:Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant?Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray?And He sent against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of baked clay, so He rendered them like straw eaten up.Most Islamic sources place the event around the year that Muhammad was born, 570 CE, though other scholars place it one or two decades earlier. A tradition attributed to Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri in the musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanani places it before the birth of Muhammad's father.Sacrificing his son AbdullahAl-Harith was 'Abdul-Mualib's only son at the time he dug the Zamzam Well.: 64 When the Quraysh tried to help him in the digging, he vowed that if he were to have ten sons to protect him, he would sacrifice one of them to Allah at the Kaaba. Later, after nine more sons had been born to him, he told them he must keep the vow. The divination arrows fell upon his favourite son Abdullah. The Quraysh protested 'Abdul-Mualib's intention to sacrifice his son and demanded that he sacrifice something else instead. 'Abdul-Mualib agreed to consult a "sorceress with a familiar spirit". She told him to cast lots between Abdullah and ten camels. If Abdullah were chosen, he had to add ten more camels, and keep on doing the same until his Lord accepted the camels in Abdullah's place. When the number of camels reached 100, the lot fell on the camels. 'Abdul-Mualib confirmed this by repeating the test three times. Then the camels were sacrificed, and Abdullah was spared.: 66–68FamilyWivesAbd al-Muttalib had six known wives.Sumra bint Jundab of the Hawazin tribe.Lubnā bint Hājar of the Khuza'a tribe.Fatima bint Amr of the Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe.Halah bint Wuhayb of the Zuhrah clan of the Quraysh tribe.Natīla bint Janab of the Namir tribe.Mumanna'a bint Amr of the Khuza'a tribe.ChildrenAccording to Ibn Hisham, Abd al-Mualib had ten sons and six daughters.: 707–708 note 97 However, Ibn Sa'd lists twelve sons.: 99–101 By Sumra bint Jundab:Al-ārith.: 708 He was the firstborn and he died before his father.: 99 Quthum.: 100 He is not listed by Ibn Hisham.By Fatima bint Amr:Al-Zubayr.: 707 He was a poet and a chief; his father made a will in his favour.: 99 He died before Islam, leaving two sons and daughters.: 101 : 34–35 Abu Talib, born as Abd Manaf,: 99 : 707 father of the future Caliph Ali. He later became chief of the Hashim clan.Abdullah, the father of Muhammad.: 99 : 707 Umm Hakim al-Bayda,: 100 : 707 the maternal grandmother of the third Caliph Uthman.: 32 Barra,: 100 : 707 the mother of Abu Salama.: 33 Arwa.: 100 : 707 Atika,: 100 : 707 a wife of Abu Umayya ibn al-Mughira.: 31 Umayma,: 100 : 707 the mother of Zaynab bint Jahsh and Abd Allah ibn Jahsh.: 33 By Lubnā bint Hājar:Abd al-'Uzzā, better known as Abū Lahab.: 100 : 708 By Halah bint Wuhayb:amza,: 707 the first big leader of Islam. He killed many leaders of the kufar and was considered as the strongest man of the quraysh. He was martyred at Uhud.: 100 afīyya.: 100 : 707 Al-Muqawwim.: 707 He married Qilaba bint Amr ibn Ju'ana ibn Sa'd al-Sahmia, and had children named Abd Allah, Bakr, Hind, Arwa, and Umm Amr (Qutayla or Amra).Hajl.: 707 He married Umm Murra bint Abi Qays ibn Abd Wud, and had two sons, named Abd Allah, Ubayd Allah, and three daughters named Murra, Rabi'a, and Fakhita.By Natīlah bint Khubāb:al-'Abbas,: 100 : 707 ancestor of the Abbasid caliphs.irār,: 707 who died before Islam.: 100 Jahl, died before IslamImran, died before IslamBy Mumanna'a bint 'Amr:Mus'ab, who, according to Ibn Saad, was the one known as al-Ghaydāq.: 100 He is not listed by Ibn Hisham.Al-Ghaydaq, died before Islam.Abd al-Ka'ba, died before Islam.: 100 Al-Mughira,: 100 who had the byname al-Ghaydaq.The family tree and some of his important descendantsDeathAbdul Muttalib's son 'Abdullāh died four months before Muammad's birth, after which Abdul Muttalib took care of his daughter-in-law Āminah. One day Muhammad's mother, Amina, wanted to go to Yathrib, where her husband, Abdullah, died. So, Muhammad, Amina, Abd al-Muttalib and their caretaker, Umm Ayman started their journey to Medina, which is around 500 kilometres away from Makkah. They stayed there for three weeks, then, started their journey back to Mecca. But, when they reached halfway, at Al-Abwa', Amina became very sick and died six years after her husband's death. She was buried over there. From then, Muhammad became an orphan. Abd al-Muttalib became very sad for Muhammad because he loved him so much. Abd al-Muttalib took care of Muhammad. But when Muhammad was eight years old, the very old Abd al-Muttalib became very sick and died at age 81-82 in 578-579 CE.Shaybah ibn Hāshim's grave can be found in the Jannat al-Mu'allā cemetery in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.See alsoFamily tree of MuhammadFamily tree of Shaiba ibn HashimSahabaPassage 4:John WestleyRev. John Wesley (1636–78) was an English nonconformist minister. He was the grandfather of John Wesley (founder of Methodism).LifeJohn Wesly (his own spelling), Westley, or Wesley was probably born at Bridport, Dorset, although some authorities claim he was born in Devon, the son of the Rev. Bartholomew Westley and Ann Colley, daughter of Sir Henry Colley of Carbery Castle in County Kildare, Ireland. He was educated at Dorchester Grammar School and as a student of New Inn Hall, Oxford, where he matriculated on 23 April 1651, and graduated B.A. on 23 January 1655, and M.A. on 4 July 1657. After his appointment as an evangelist, he preached at Melcombe Regis, Radipole, and other areas in Dorset. Never episcopally ordained, he was approved by Oliver Cromwell's Commission of Triers in 1658 and appointed Vicar of Winterborne Whitechurch.The report of his interview in 1661 with Gilbert Ironside the elder, his diocesan, according to Alexander Gordon writing in the Dictionary of National Biography, shows him to have been an Independent. He was imprisoned for not using the Book of Common Prayer, imprisoned again and ejected in 1662. After the Conventicle Act 1664 he continued to preach in small gatherings at Preston and then Poole, until his death at Preston in 1678.FamilyHe married a daughter of John White, who was related also to Thomas Fuller. White, the "Patriarch of Dorchester", married a sister of Cornelius Burges. Westley's eldest son was Timothy (born 1659). Their second son was Rev. Samuel Wesley, a High Church Anglican vicar and the father of John and Charles Wesley. A younger son, Matthew Wesley, remained a nonconformist, became a London apothecary, and died on 10 June 1737, leaving a son, Matthew, in India; he provided for some of his brother Samuel's daughters.NotesAdditional sourcesMatthews, A. G., "Calamy Revised", Oxford University Press, 1934, page 521. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Wesley, Samuel (1662-1735)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.Passage 5:Fred Le DeuxFrederick David Le Deux (born 4 December 1934) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He is the grandfather of Tom Hawkins.Early lifeLe Deux grew up in Nagambie and attended Assumption College, after which he went to Bendigo to study teaching.FootballWhile a student at Bendigo Teachers' Training College, Le Deux played for the Sandhurst Football Club. He then moved to Ocean Grove to take up a teaching position and in 1956 joined Geelong.A follower and defender, Le Deux made 18 appearances for Geelong over three seasons, from 1956 to 1958 He was troubled by a back injury in 1958, which kept him out of the entire 1959 VFL season.In 1960 he joined Victorian Football Association club Mordialloc, as he had transferred to a local technical school.FamilyLe Deux's daughter Jennifer was married to former Geelong player Jack Hawkins. Jennifer died in 2015. Their son, Tom Hawkins, currently plays for Geelong.Passage 6:Lyon CohenLyon Cohen (born Yehuda Leib Cohen; May 11, 1868 – August 17, 1937) was a Polish-born Canadian businessman and a philanthropist. He was the grandfather of singer/poet Leonard Cohen.BiographyCohen was born in Congress Poland, part of the Russian Empire, to a Jewish family on May 11, 1868. He immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1871. He was educated at the McGill Model School and the Catholic Commercial Academy in Montreal. In 1888, he entered the firm of Lee & Cohen in Montreal; later became partner with his father in the firm of L. Cohen & Son; in 1895, he established W. R. Cuthbert & Co; in 1900, he organized the Canadian Improvement Co., a dredging contractor; in 1906, he founded The Freedman Co. in Montreal; and in May 1919, he organized and became President of Canadian Export Clothiers, Ltd.  The Freedman Company went on to become one of Montreal’s largest clothing companies.In 1897, Cohen and Samuel William Jacobs founded the Canadian Jewish Times, the first English-language Jewish newspaper in Canada. The newspaper promoted the Canadianization of recent East European Jewish immigrants and encouraged their acceptance of Canadian customs as Cohen felt that the old world customs of immigrant Jews were one of the main causes of anti-Semitism. In 1914, the paper was purchased by Hirsch Wolofsky, owner of the Yiddish-language Keneder Adler, who transformed it into the Canadian Jewish Chronicle.He died on August 17, 1937, at the age of 69.PhilanthropyCohen was elected the first president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1919 and organized the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Canada. Cohen was also a leader of the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Society (later the Baron de Hirsch Institute) and the United Talmud Torahs, a Jewish day school in Montreal. He also served as president of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim and president of the Jewish Colonization Association in Canada.Personal lifeCohen married Rachel Friedman of Montreal on February 17, 1891. She was the founder and President of Jewish Endeavour Sewing School. They had three sons and one daughter:Nathan Bernard Cohen, who served as a lieutenant in the World War; he married Lithuanian Jewish immigrant Masha Klonitsky and they had one daughter and one son:Esther Cohen andsinger/poet Leonard Cohen.Horace Rives Cohen, who was a captain and quartermaster of his battalion in World War I;Lawrence Zebulun Cohen, student at McGill University, andSylvia Lillian Cohen.Passage 7:Camillo CyboCamillo Cybo Malaspina (April 25, 1681 in Massa Carrara – January 12, 1743 in Rome) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church.Early lifeBorn into the aristocratic Cybo Malaspina family, he was the son of Carlo II Cybo, duke of Massa, who was a descendant of Pope Innocent VIII and Teresa Pamfili. Cybo was great grand nephew of Pope Innocent X, and nephew of Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili.Ecclesiastical career1705 — Ordained as Priest1718 — Appointed as Titular Patriarch of Constantinople. He was ordained Bishop that same year, and named Auditor general of the Apostolic Chamber.1729 — Elevated to Cardinal Santo Stefano al Monte Celio in the Consistory of March 23, under Benedict XIII.1731 — Appointed Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria del Popolo1741 — Appointed Protector of Santa Maria degli AngeliPatronage of the artsAs many important figures of the time, Cybo was a patron of the arts. One of his proteges was Pietro Locatelli, who dedicated his Concerti Grossi Op 1 to him in 1721.Passage 8:Zhao ShoushanZhao Shoushan (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhào Shòushān; 12 November 1894 – 20 June 1965) was a KMT general and later Chinese Communist Party politician. He is the grandfather of Zhao Leji.CareerZhao Shoushan was born in Hu County, Shaanxi in 1894. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China, Zhao was the CCP Chairman of Qinghai and Governor of Shaanxi.External links(in Chinese) Biography of Zhao Shoushan, Shaanxi Daily July 9, 2006.Passage 9:Marfisa d'EsteMarfisa d'Este (c.1554 in Ferrara – 16 October 1608 in Ferrara) was a Ferrarese noblewoman. She was the illegitimate daughter of Francesco d'Este and Maria Folch de Cardona. She and her sister Bradamante (born 1559) were legitimised by both pope Gregory XIII and Alfonso II d'Este. She was also notable as a patron of the arts and the protector of Torquato Tasso.On 5 May 1578 she married her cousin Alfonsino di Montecchio, son of Alfonso di Montecchio, who died just under four months after the wedding. She was also left a palace that year by her father, who began building it in 1559; it was called after her Palazzina Marfisa d'Este and was slowly abandoned after her death. She also inherited the San Silvestro building and Palazzo Schifanoia from him.On 30 January 1580, she married Alderano Cybo-Malaspina, heir apparent of the Principality of Massa and Carrara. After the Duchy of Ferrara's devolution to the Papal States in 1598, due to the absence of legitimate male heirs of the House of Este, Marfisa refused to join her family in Modena, and remained in Ferrara with her husband in the palace she inherited from her father.IssueAlderano and Marfisa had eight children:Carlo (1581-1662), his father's heir. Married Brigida Spinola, with issue;Francesco (1584-1616);Odoardo (1585-1612), colonel in the Spanish army;Cesare (1587-1588), died in infancy;Vittoria (1588-1635), married Ercole Pepoli, count of Castiglione;Ferdinando (1590-1623), canon of San Lorenzo in Genoa;Alessandro (1594-1639), knight of the Order of Malta;Alfonso (1596).== Note ==Passage 10:Kaya AlpKaya Alp (Ottoman Turkish:  , lit. 'Brave Rock') was, according to Ottoman tradition, the son of Kızıl Buğa or Basuk and the father of Suleyman Shah. He was the


Passage 1:The Brave ArcherThe Brave Archer, also known as Kungfu Warlord, is a 1977 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The film was produced by the Shaw BrothersStudio and directed by Chang Cheh, starring Alexander Fu Sheng and Tien Niu in the lead roles. The film is the first part of a trilogy and was followed by The Brave Archer 2 (1978) and The Brave Archer 3 (1981). Thetrilogy has two unofficial sequels, The Brave Archer and His Mate (1982) and Little Dragon Maiden (1983).PlotGuo Jing and Yang Kang are the sons of two rebels. The rebels are killed by imperial soldiers, and then, theboys are rescued by six skilled pugilists. The pugilists agree to separate the two boys, tutor them separately in martial arts, and let them meet again when they have grown up, to determine whose abilities are better.Guo becomes the student of the "Seven Freaks of Jiangnan" while Yang Kang becomes the foster son of a Jurchen prince inadvertently.When he reaches adulthood, Guo Jing travels to a local town, where he meets andbefriends a beggar named Huang Rong, who is actually the daughter of Huang Yaoshi, master of Peach Blossom Island. He also meets Yang Kang, without knowing Yang's true identity, during a contest to win thehand-in-marriage of Mu Nianci, the adopted daughter of Yang's father. Yang's father is actually still alive. Yang Kang is tempted by the wealth and fame of being a noble, and he refuses to acknowledge and betrays hisfather, while his mother commits suicide.Huang Rong reveals to Guo Jing later that she is actually a woman and they go on adventure together. Guo Jing learns the "Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms" from the"Nine-fingered Beggar" Hong Qigong, while Huang Rong is groomed by Hong to become his successor as chief of the Beggars' Sect. Guo and Huang travel to Peach Blossom Island later to meet Huang's father. HuangYaoshi is does not approve of his daughter's marriage to Guo Jing. While exploring the island, Guo Jing meets a strange man called Zhou Botong who teaches him special martial arts techniques and forces him to read amanual, which is later revealed to be written by Huang Rong's late mother.Ouyang Feng visits Peach Blossom Island with his nephew Ouyang Ke, and he proposes a marriage between his nephew and Huang Rong. Justthen, Hong Qigong also arrives and he strongly supports Guo Jing to marry Huang Rong. Eventually, Huang Yaoshi arranges for a contest between Guo Jing and Ouyang Ke to determine who is worthy of his daughter'shand-in-marriage. The last part of the contest involves both of them having to read a manual and recite it from memory later. As Guo had already read the manual earlier, he recites it easily and wins the contest. HuangYaoshi agrees to his daughter's marriage to Guo Jing. However, Ouyang Feng realizes that the manual is actually the fabled Nine Yin Manual and he wants it for himself.CastExternal linksThe Brave Archer at IMDbTheBrave Archer at the Hong Kong Movie DataBasePassage 2:Little Dragon MaidenLittle Dragon Maiden, also known as The Brave Archer 5, is a 1983 Hong Kong film adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Return of theCondor Heroes. Little Dragon Maiden is seen as an unofficial sequel to the The Brave Archer, The Brave Archer 2, The Brave Archer 3, and The Brave Archer and His Mate.CastExternal linksLittle Dragon Maiden atIMDbLittle Dragon Maiden at the Hong Kong Movie DataBasePassage 3:Robert RossenRobert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film careerspanned almost three decades.His 1949 film All the King's Men won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, while Rossen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He won theGolden Globe for Best Director and the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In 1961, he directed The Hustler, which was nominated for nine Oscars and won two.After directing and writing for the stage inNew York, Rossen moved to Hollywood in 1937. From there, he worked as a screenwriter for Warner Bros. until 1941, and then interrupted his career to serve until 1944 as the chairman of the Hollywood WritersMobilization, a body to organize writers for the effort in World War II. In 1945, he joined a picket line against Warner Bros. After making one film for Hal B. Wallis's newly formed production company, Rossen made onefor Columbia Pictures, another for Wallis and most of his later films for his own companies, usually in collaboration with Columbia.Rossen was a member of the American Communist Party from 1937 to about 1947, andbelieved the Party was "dedicated to social causes of the sort that we as poor Jews from New York were interested in."He ended all relations with the Party in 1949. Rossen was twice called before the HouseUn-American Activities Committee (HUAC), in 1951 and in 1953. He exercised his Fifth Amendment rights at his first appearance, refusing to state whether he had ever been a Communist. As a result, he found himselfblacklisted by Hollywood studios as well as unable to renew his passport. At his second appearance he named 57 people as current or former Communists and his blacklisting ended. In order to repair finances heproduced his next film, Mambo, in Italy in 1954. While The Hustler in 1961 was a great success, conflicts on the set of  Lilith in 1964 so disillusioned him that it was his last film before his death two yearslater.BiographyEarly life and careerRobert Rosen was born on March 16, 1908, and raised on the Lower East Side of New York City. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants and his father, Philip Rosen, was a housepainter. As a youth, he attended New York University, hustled pool and fought some prizefights - the latter two providing crucial background for his two greatest films, The Hustler and Body and Soul, respectively. Hechanged his name from "Rosen" to "Rossen" in 1931.He started his theatrical career as a stage manager and director in stock and off-Broadway productions, mainly in the social and radical theaters that flourished inNew York in the early and mid-1930s, as did John Huston, Elia Kazan and Joseph Losey. In 1932 Rossen directed John Wexley's Steel, about labor agitation, and Richard Maibaum's The Tree, about a lynching. A yearlater Rossen directed Birthright, in which Maibaum attacked Nazism, which had just triumphed in Germany with the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler in 1933.In 1935, Rossen wrote and directed his first play, The BodyBeautiful, a comedy about a naive burlesque dancer. Although the play closed after four performances, Warner Bros. director Mervyn LeRoy was so impressed that he signed Rossen to a personal screenwritingcontract.MarriageIn 1936, Rossen married Susan Siegal; the couple had three children: Carol, Stephen and Ellen.Work in HollywoodFor his first credit in Hollywood, in 1937 Rossen co-wrote with Abem Finkel a scriptbased on the prosecution of crime lord Lucky Luciano and eventually titled Marked Woman. Although some of Warner Bros. management saw Rossen as an unknown quantity, the result won praise from both Jack L.Warner and the Daily Worker. Rossen's first solo script was for They Won't Forget (1937), a fictionalized account of the lynching of Leo Frank, featuring Lana Turner in her debut performance.Dust Be My Destiny,co-written in 1939 by Rossen, is the story of a fugitive from justice who is eventually acquitted with help from an attorney and a journalist, the latter arguing that "a million boys all over the country" were in a similarplight. Warner Bros. then ordered producer Lou Edelman to cut the script, adding that "This is the story of two people – not a group. It is an individual problem – not a national one." Rossen was one of three writers onthe gangster melodrama The Roaring Twenties, released in 1939. A remake of the 1932 play and film Life Begins was written in 1939 by Rossen and released in 1940 as A Child Is Born. The plot recounted theexperiences of six expectant mothers, and there was little scope to modify the original.The Sea Wolf, released in 1941, was based on Jack London's novel. Although the film had a strong cast and production, Rossen'sre-draft of the script may be the greatest influence on the film. While the character of Captain Larsen remained both victim and oppressed in a capitalist hierarchy, he became a symbol of fascism. He split the novel'sidealist hero into an intellectual bosun and a rebellious seaman. Warner Bros. cut many political points during production.Blues in the Night, written by Rossen and two colleagues and released in 1941, shows a group ofjazz musicians traveling in the Depression. Their informal methods represent working-class culture rather than the commercialized music of the big bands. However, The New York Times' reviewer thought thesoundtrack was "about all the film has to offer", and Warner was disappointed with the sales.After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Screen Writers Guild set up on December 8, 1941, the HollywoodWriters Mobilization, a body to organize writers for the war effort. Rossen served as the body's chairman until 1944 and advocated the opening of a Second Front to support West European resistance against the Nazis.His earnings were much greater than in 1937. However, his work for Hollywood Writers Mobilization and for the Communist Party forced him to abandon some partly developed film projects, including The Treasure ofthe Sierra Madre, which John Huston eventually directed in 1948.In 1945 Rossen joined a picket line against Warner Bros, making an enemy of Jack Warner. Rossen signed a contract with an independent productioncompany formed by Hal Wallis, who had previously been Warner Bros.' head of production. However Rossen wrote only two full scripts for this company, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers in 1946 and Desert Fury in1947. In The Strange Love of Martha Ivers Rossen used a short story by John Patrick to introduce the main plot, which was set 15 years later and which Rossen wrote. The relationship between Rossen and Wallis brokedown when Rossen received offers from other production companies.Dick Powell had been a crooner but was making a new career as a dramatic actor. When Columbia Pictures agreed to make Johnny O'Clock for him in1947, Powell successfully campaigned for Rossen to direct, and this became Rossen's debut in directing. As this crime melodrama proved a modest success, Roberts Productions signed Rossen to direct AbrahamPolonsky's script of Body and Soul, described by Bob Thomas as "possibly the best prizefight film ever made." Rossen preferred an ending in which the hero wins a boxing match and then is killed by a gangster, butPolonsky insisted on his own ending, in which the hero escapes into obscurity before the fight. Following the success of Body and Soul, Rossen formed his own production company and signed with Columbia Pictures acontract that gave him wide autonomy over every second film that he made at the studio.All the King's Men (1949) was based on the novel of the same name by Robert Penn Warren, which in turn was based on thecareer of politician Huey Long. Rossen introduced a new concept, that the defenders of the ordinary people can in turn become the new exploiters. As a requirement for his participation in the film, Rossen had to write toColumbia's Harry Cohn saying that he was no longer a Communist Party member. Cohn's critiques of the draft of Rossen's script included scrapping a framing structure that was difficult for audiences to follow andseveral improvements in the relationships and motivations of characters. A meeting of the Communist Party in Los Angeles severely criticized the film, and Rossen severed all relations with the Party. All the King's Menwon the Academy Award for Best Picture, Broderick Crawford won the award for Best Actor and Mercedes McCambridge was honored as Best Supporting Actress. Rossen was nominated for the Academy Award for BestDirector but lost to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives. Rossen won the Golden Globe for Best Director and the film won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. His next film, The Brave Bulls, was directed in1950 and released in 1951. This was Rossen's last work before the studios blacklisted him. New York Times critic Bosley Crowther called this "the best film on bull-fighting yet."Examinations by HUACAfter the end ofWorld War II in 1945, the spread of Coummunism became the major concern in the United States. In 1946, the Republicans gained an overwhelming majority in the Congressional elections. and used this power toinvestigate Communist elements in the media. The Communist victory of China in 1949 and the start of the Korean War in 1950 reinforced the anti-communist concerns present at the time.During hearings in 1947, JackWarner included Rossen among the many openly leftist writers whom his studio Warner Bros. had hired as the earliest and most openly anti-Nazi studio in Hollywood. (Warner Bros. had made Confessions of a Nazi Spy[1939] and was criticized by the Republicans for their leftist writers at the time.) Warner reportedly accused Rossen of incorporating communist propaganda in scripts and fired him as a result, though some believe hewas also unhappy with the writers’ union activities.Rossen was one of 19 "unfriendly witnesses" subpoenaed in October 1947 by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during the second Red Scare butwas one of eight not called to testify. In 1951, Rossen was named as a Communist by several HUAC witnesses and he appeared before HUAC for the first time in June 1951. He exercised his rights under the FifthAmendment against self-incrimination, taking what came to be known as the "augmented Fifth".  He testified that he was not a member of the Communist Party and that he disagreed with the aims of the party, butwhen asked to state whether he had ever been a member of the party, Rossen refused to answer. He was placed on the unofficial blacklist by the Hollywood studios, and Columbia broke its production contract withhim.In a widespread practice during HUAC investigations, the U.S. State Department refused to renew Rossen's passport. This, and his inability to find work, brought Rossen, like his friend, ex-Communist Elia Kazan,back to the committee in May 1953, where he identified 57 people as Communists.  He explained to the committee why he chose to testify: "I don't think, after two years of thinking, that any one individual can indulgehimself in the luxury of personal morality or pit it against what I feel today very strongly is the security and safety of this nation." Stephen Rossen later shed light on his father's decision:It killed him not to work. He wastorn between his desire to work and his desire not to talk, and he didn't know what to do. What I think he wanted to know was, what would I think of him if he talked? He didn't say it in that way, though. Then heexplained to me the politics of it—how the studios were in on it, and there was never any chance of his working. He was under pressure, he was sick, his diabetes was bad, and he was drinking. By this time I understoodthat he had refused to talk before and had done his time, from my point of view. What could any kid say at that point? You say, 'I love you and I'm behind you.' Like Elia Kazan's testimony, Rossen's HUAC admissionsdestroyed many lifelong friendships, along with impacting the careers of many of Rossen's colleagues. Kazan's career flourished and Rossen's career also quickly regained the productivity he had enjoyed prior to theblacklist.  He produced, directed and co-wrote The Hustler, in 1961, and he was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Academy Awards,sharing the nomination with his co-writer Sidney Carroll.Return to filmmakingFrom 1952 to 1953, Rossen wrote Mambo, trying to repair his finances after almost two years without work following the 1951 HUAChearing. He had to produce the film in Italy, and it was premiered in Italy in 1954 and the USA in 1955. Rossen later said "Mambo was to be for fun only," but he "took it seriously, and it didn't come off." Criticsdismissed the film. However, in 2001, Dorothea Fischer-Hornung concluded that the film achieved more than Rossen and contemporary critics realized. The female lead resolves her own conflicts by devoting herself todance. Katherine Dunham's choreography highlights this process; and innovative cinematography intensifies the dance scenes.Rossen hoped Alexander the Great (1956) would be a blockbuster, but the majority of thereviews criticized the film for failing to keep the audience's interest. However, the review from The New York Times wrote that "its moments of boredom are rare...an overlong but thoughtful and spectacularentertainment."In 1961, Rossen co-wrote, produced and directed The Hustler. Drawing upon his own experiences as a pool hustler, he teamed with Sidney Carroll to adapt the novel of the same name for the screen.The Hustler was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two. Rossen was nominated as Best Director, and with Carroll for Best Adapted Screenplay, but did not win either award. He was named Best Director bythe New York Film Critics Circle and shared with Carroll the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama. The Hustler was an enormous popular success and is credited with sparking a resurgence in thepopularity of pool in the United States, which had been on the decline for decades.Rossen was already ill when he started on his final film, Lilith (1964), and it was poorly received in the United States. After it Rossenlost interest in directing, reportedly because of conflicts with the film's star, Warren Beatty. The filmmaker said, "It isn't worth that kind of grief. I won't take it any more. I have nothing to say on the screen right now.Even if I never make another picture, I've got The Hustler on my record. I'm content to let that one stand for me." However, at the time of his death Rossen was planning Cocoa Beach, a script he conceived in 1962,showing the hopes and struggles of transients in a local community and contrasting this with nearby Cape Canaveral, which Leftist writer Brian Neve described as a "symbol of America's imperial [sic]reach".DeathRossen died in New York City at age 57 on February 18, 1966, following a series of illnesses and is interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. His grandchild, Daniel Rossen, isthe guitarist/vocalist of alternative bands Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles.ReceptionRossen was one of the directors who developed film gris (French for "grey film"). In his films for Warner Brothers between 1937and 1944, consistent themes were the conditions of working people, the portrayal of gangsters and racketeers, and opposition to fascism. After Dust Be My Destiny, written by Rossen and released in 1939, FrankNugent, who regularly reviewed for The New York Times, complained about Warner Brothers' long line of melodramas about boys from poor neighborhoods. Unlike filmmakers such as John Ford and Howard Hawks,Rossen was willing to explain his aims as a director: "The element common to many of my films is the desire for success, ambition, which is an important element in American life. It is an important element, and hasbecome increasingly more important in what is known as Western Civilization." Polonsky commented that "Rossen's talent is force applied everywhere without let-up." Neve acknowledged that social concerns werecentral in most of Rossen's works, but commented that Lilith was different from Rossen's earlier films as it emphasized mood rather than narrative and examined through pictures and silences the nature ofmaladjustment and madness.Farber noted the strong female characters of the 1930s and 1940s, and laments the replacement of them by all-male relationships from the 1950s onward. For the earlier pattern Farbercited Rossen's 1946 script The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, which was over melodramatic but portrayed a woman consumed by power, money and success. Lilith created one of the few strong women in the 1960s.Rossen generally destroyed the main character.All of Rossen's playscripts were adaptations except Marked Woman, Racket Buster and Alexander the Great, based on real events. Before he was blacklisted in 1951, onlytwo of Rossen's adaptions were of serious novels, and Rossen's early drafts of the script for All the King's Men received serious criticisms within Columbia.While head of production at Warner, Hal Wallis considered thatsome of his best films – including The Roaring Twenties, Marked Woman and The Sea Wolf – were written by Rossen. Wallis was very pleased with Rossen's script in 1946 for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, which


Passage 1:Vera MiletićVera Miletić (Serbian Cyrillic: Вера Милетић; 8 March 1920 – 7 September 1944) was a Serbian student and soldier. She was notable for being the mother of Mira Marković, posthumously makingher the mother-in-law of Serbian president Slobodan Milošević.Personal lifeHer cousin was Davorjanka Paunović who was the personal secretary of Communist Party of Yugoslavia leader Josip Broz Tito.Passage2:Beatrice of ProvenceBeatrice of Provence (c. 1229 – 23 September 1267), was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily andNaples by marriage to Charles I of Naples.She was the fourth and youngest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Forcalquier by his wife Beatrice, in turn daughter of Count Thomas I of Savoy andMargaret of Geneva.LifeInheritance of Provence and ForcalquierBeatrice, like her sisters, mother and grandmother was known for her beauty. A description of Beatrice said she"set men's hearts thumping and the fingersof troubadours to fevered twanging of lyres. Two of the balladists at the Provencal court were temporarily deprived of reason for love of the entrancing Beatrice"All Ramon Berenguer IV's three older daughters marriedto titles of status: The eldest, Margaret, was Queen of France by marriage to Louis IX; the second, Eleanor, was Queen of England by marriage to Henry III, and the third, Sanchia, was titular Queen of Germany bymarriage to Henry's brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall. King Louis IX's marriage to Margaret had been arranged by his mother, Blanche of Castile, with the hopes that he would inherit Provence and Forcalquier when herfather died.In his will signed on 20 June 1238 at Sisteron, Ramon Berenguer IV unexpectedly left the Counties of Provence and Forcalquier to his youngest and still unmarried daughter, Beatrice.Countess of Provenceand ForcalquierRamon Berenguer IV died on 19 August 1245 at Aix-en-Provence, and according to his will, Beatrice became Countess of Provence and Forcalquier in her own right, with the provision that the DowagerCountess could retain the usufruct of the County of Provence for her lifetime.Now, Beatrice became one of the most attractive heiresses in medieval Europe, and soon several suitors appeared for her hand. Firstly, theneighboring rulers of her domains began their claims: the twice-divorced Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse and King James I of Aragon, who, despite being married to Violant of Hungary, invaded Provence and seized theresidence of the countess. In addition, the thrice-widowed Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, dispatched the imperial navy to Provence to ensure Beatrice could marry one of his sons or even himself.In such a difficultsituation, the Dowager Countess decided to act quickly, placing herself and Beatrice in a safe fortress in Aix, secured the trust of its people and then asked Pope Innocent IV for his protection. In Cluny during December1245, a secret meeting between Pope Innocent IV, Louis IX of France, his mother Blanche of Castile, and his youngest brother Charles took place. It was decided that in return for Louis IX supporting the Pope militarilyagainst Frederick II, the Pope would allow that Charles marry Beatrice. Mother and daughter were satisfied with this selection,  but under the terms of the treaty, Provence was to never go to France outright throughCharles. It was agreed that if Charles and Beatrice had children, the Counties would go to them; if there was no issue, then the Provence and Forcalquier would go to Sanchia of Provence, and if she died without heirs,the Counties would go to the King of Aragon. Henry III of England protested these terms, arguing that he had not yet received the full dowry for his wife Eleanor nor his brother for Sanchia. He also still had the castlesin Provence against the loan he had made to the late Count.Charles, along with Philip of Savoy and five hundred knights, rode from Lyon to Provence. On their way, they ran into Raymond VII of Toulouse, who also hadan army on the way to Provence. Raymond VII had been deceived by knights in favour of Charles and for that reason he had brought fewer men, and Charles and his army were quicker. When Charles got toAix-en-Provence, James I of Aragon, who had been there all along but was not allowed to see Beatrice, had his soldiers surrounding the castle in which the young Beatrice and her mother were. There was a briefstruggle, but the King of Aragon retreated with dignity.To the young Beatrice, Charles (who was described as "an admirable young man") was a satisfactory resolution to her problems. Their marriage took place on 31January 1246 at Aix-en-Provence. They had soldiers on guard and the bride was escorted down the aisle by her uncle, Thomas, Count of Flanders.The inheritance of Beatrice also caused conflicts with her older sisters,who hoped that once their father had died, his domains would be divided between the four; Charles refused to share the Counties with his sisters-in-law. In consequence, the relationship of Charles and Beatrice with thethree sisters, who felt cheated by their father's will, remained always tense.As soon as Charles became Count of Provence, he brought in his own team of French lawyers and accountants. He excluded his mother-in-lawfrom the running of the county and began taking castles, power and fees away from the nobles who had previously enjoyed a certain degree of independence in the running of their cities. Charles made himself veryunpopular. The Dowager Countess moved herself to Forcalquier in protest, and in Marseille, Charles's officials were thrown out of the city. In the family conflict, Beatrice sided with her husband.Seventh CrusadeIn May1247, Charles and Beatrice were recorded as being in Melun, where Charles was knighted by his brother Louis. Beatrice accompanied Charles on the Seventh Crusade in 1248. Led by Louis IX, the crusaders made anextended procession through France. Before they left, Charles and Beatrice met with the Dowager Countess in Beaucaire to try to come to some terms of agreement concerning Provence. Whilst the more importantmatters were left until Charles and Beatrice returned, it was decided that Beatrice of Savoy would give up the rights to "the castle at Aix in exchange for a percentage of the county's revenue."In Nicosia, Beatrice gavebirth to her first child, "a very elegant and wellformed son", as her brother-in-law Robert of Artois wrote home to his mother the Queen; the child lived only a few days. Beatrice stayed with her sister Margaret inDamietta, when they lost contact with the King and his army; here Beatrice gave birth to her second child, while her sister Margaret too gave birth. Later in 1250, they were reunited with the rest of the crusade at Acre,where the King's ransom was paid. Charles and Beatrice, along with several other nobles, left soon after and journeyed to the court of Emperor Frederick II, to ask him to send the King of France more men for hiscrusade. The Emperor, who had been excommunicated, needed his army to fight the Pope, and refused.Beatrice and Charles returned to Provence in 1251, where some riots erupted at Arles and Avignon, instigated byBeatrice's mother, who felt Charles had failed to respect her claims in Provence. By July 1252 Charles had managed to defeat the revolt and was in the process of exercising his power as Count of Provence. In Novemberof the same year, Blanche of Castile, regent of France while her son Louis IX was on crusade, died. Charles and Beatrice had to go to Paris, where Charles became co-regent of France with his brother, Alphonse. ThePope offered Charles the Kingdom of Sicily in 1252, but Charles had to turn the offer down, as he was preoccupied with other affairs and he also did not have sufficient funds.The crusaders returned in 1254. Charles andBeatrice spent Christmas in Paris that year, where all of Beatrice's sisters and their mother were present; it was noted that the other four women treated the younger Beatrice coldly, due to Raymond Berenguer'swill.Queen of SicilyBeatrice's sister Margaret, the new Queen of France, publicly offended her in 1259, by not seating her at the family table; she claimed because Beatrice was not a queen like her sisters, she could notsit with them. Margaret had hoped to provoke her sister in treacherous behaviour so she would have a valid reason to invade Provence. Beatrice "with great grief", went to Charles and he reportedly told her:"Be atpeace, for I will shortly make thee a greater Queen than them".When the newly elected Pope Clement IV granted Charles the Kingdom of Sicily, he had to defeat King Manfred, who had fallen out of papal favour.Another contender to win the throne of Sicily was Beatrice's nephew, Edmund Crouchback, but it soon became clear that Charles was the more promising candidate. In order to achieve his goal, Charles needed an armyand Beatrice helped her husband raise one. She called on all her knights as well as the young men of France, and according to the later historian Angelo di Costanzo she pledged all her jewels, to make sure they joinedher husband's army:Beatrice, to aid [Charles] in the gratification of her ambition, sold all her jewels and personal ornaments, and expended her private treasure in collecting round her standard, not only her ownvassals, but the chivalric youth of France, who were attracted to her service not less by her personal solicitations than by her rich gifts.In 1265 Charles of Anjou, with a small contingent, embarked and by sea arrived inRome, where, on 28 June, he was invested as King of Sicily by the Pope. According to the storia di Manfredi, re di Sicilia e di Puglia of Giuseppe di Cesare who followed the narrative of the storia di Saba Malaspina,Beatrice followed her husband with the remaining army by sea, arriving to Italy only four months later. In November of that year, the army of Charles, composed by 5,000 soldiers and 25,000 infantrymen entered Italyand arrived in Rome in January 1266, where on 6 January both Charles and Beatrice were crowned King and Queen of Sicily by five cardinals sent by the Pope (who was sheltering in Perugia). As soon as the coronationfestivities had ended, Beatrice stayed in Rome with a small force to hold the city, whilst Charles rode out to the battle of Benevento. After her husband's victory, she chose the castle of Melfi as theirresidence.DeathBeatrice died on 23 September 1267, a little over a year after becoming queen in either the Castello del Parco at Nocera Inferiore or in Naples (according to the storia di Saba Malaspina). The cause ofher death was not recorded, although it is believed that complications following a pregnancy could be the reason. She was initially buried at Cathedral of San Gennaro in Naples, but in 1277 her husband transferred herremains to Aix-en-Provence at the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Malta.Beatrice was the last ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from the House of Barcelona; on her death, she left her Counties to her husbandCharles.IssueCharles and Beatrice had the following children:Blanche (1250 – bef. 10 January 1270), married in 1265 Robert of Flanders, Lord of Béthune and Dendermonde (he became Count Robert III in 1305, longafter Blanche's death), by whom she had one son, Charles, who died young.Beatrice (1252 – 17 November/12 December 1275), married in 1273 Philip of Courtenay, titular emperor of Constantinople, by whom she hadone daughter, Catherine I of Courtenay, titular Empress of Constantinople.Charles II (1254 – 6 May 1309), Count of Anjou and Provence, King of Naples, married Maria of Hungary, by whom he had issue.Philippe (1256– 1 January 1277), titular King of Thessalonica from 1274 and Prince of Achaïea, married in 1271 Isabella of Villehardouin, Princess of Achaïea and Morea.Robert (1258 – bef. 9 May 1265).Isabelle (1261 – October1303), married to Ladislaus IV of Hungary. Their marriage was childless.AncestryNotesPassage 3:Priscilla PointerPriscilla Marie Pointer (born May 18, 1924) is an American retired actress. She began her career in thetheater in the late 1940s, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood and making appearances on television in the early 1950s. She didn't however become a regular screen actress until the1970s.She is the mother of actress and singer Amy Irving, (whom she often appeared alongside as her mother or mother-in-law) therefore making her the former mother-in-law of filmmakers Steven Spielberg andBruno Barreto and the mother-in-law of documentary filmmaker Kenneth Bowser, Jr.Personal lifePointer was born on May 18, 1924, in New York City. Her mother Augusta Leonora (née Davis) was an artist and anillustrator, and her father Kenneth Keith Pointer was an artist. One of her maternal great-grandfathers, Jacob Barrett Cohen, was from a Jewish family that had lived in the United States since the 1700s.Marriages andfamilyPointer was previously married to film and stage director Jules Irving, former artistic director of Lincoln Center, from 1947 until his death in 1979; they are the parents of Katie Irving, director David Irving, andactress Amy Irving. In 1980, she married actor/director/producer Robert Symonds, who had been Jules Irving's producing partner at Lincoln Center. She appeared several times in stage productions with Symonds, andthey remained married until the latter's death in 2007. Her granddaughter is artist and photographer Austin IrvingCareerEarly careerPointer has been a performer since thee late 1940s starting her career in theatre andappearing on Broadway, and she featured in the TV series China Smith  (The New Adventures of China Smith) in 1954. After a long hiatus, she seemed to have caught the acting bug again, in the early 1970s and hasbeen a regular performer ever since.Pointer' first major starring role was on the TV soap opera Where the Heart Is as Adrienne Harris Rainey from 1972 and 1973FilmsPointer has appeared in many films, includingCarrie (1976), in which she played the onscreen mother of Amy Irving's character; The Onion Field (1979); Mommie Dearest (1981); Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors(1987); David Lynch's Blue Velvet; and Coyote Moon (1999). In addition to Carrie, she has played the onscreen mother to Amy Irving in Honeysuckle Rose (1980) and Carried Away (1996). They were both in the filmsThe Competition in 1980 and Micki & Maude in 1984.Pointer appeared in three films that her son David Irving directed: Rumpelstiltskin (a 1987 musical version, which starred her daughter), Good-bye, Cruel World, andC.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.TelevisionShe has made many guest appearances on television, including Adam-12, L.A. Law, The A-Team, Judging Amy, The Rockford Files, and Cold Case.From 1981 to 1983, Pointer hada recurring role on the soap opera Dallas as Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, the mother of Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval), Pamela Barnes Ewing (Victoria Principal), and Katherine Wentworth (MorganBrittany).FilmographyFilmPartial Television CreditsPassage 4:Eldon HowardEldon Howard was a British screenwriter. She was the mother-in-law of Edward J. Danziger and wrote a number of the screenplays for films byhis company Danziger Productions.Selected filmographyA Woman of Mystery (1958)Three Crooked Men (1958)Moment of Indiscretion (1958) (with Brian Clemens)Innocent Meeting (1959)An Honourable Murder(1960)The Spider's Web (1960)The Tell-Tale Heart (1960)Highway to Battle (1961)Three Spare Wives (1962)Passage 5:Charles I of AnjouCharles I (early 1226/1227 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles ofAnjou or Charles d'Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–1285) and Forcalquier (1246–1248, 1256–1285) in the HolyRoman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–1285) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–1285) and Prince of Achaea (1278–1285). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania, and in 1277 he purchased aclaim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.The youngest son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, Charles was destined for a Church career until the early 1240s. He acquired Provence and Forcalquier through hismarriage to their heiress, Beatrice. His attempts to restore central authority brought him into conflict with his mother-in-law, Beatrice of Savoy, and the nobility. Charles received Anjou and Maine from his brother, LouisIX of France, in appanage. He accompanied Louis during the Seventh Crusade to Egypt. Shortly after he returned to Provence in 1250, Charles forced three wealthy autonomous cities—Marseilles, Arles and Avignon—toacknowledge his suzerainty.Charles supported Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, against her eldest son, John, in exchange for Hainaut in 1253. Two years later Louis IX persuaded him to renounce thecounty, but compensated him by instructing Margaret to pay him 160,000 marks. Charles forced the rebellious Provençal nobles and towns into submission and expanded his suzerainty over a dozen towns and lordshipsin the Kingdom of Arles. In 1263, after years of negotiations, he accepted the offer of the Holy See to seize the Kingdom of Sicily from the Hohenstaufens. This kingdom included, in addition to the island of Sicily,southern Italy to well north of Naples and was known as the Regno. Pope Urban IV declared a crusade against the incumbent Manfred of Sicily and assisted Charles in raising funds for the military campaign.Charles wascrowned king in Rome on 5 January 1266. He annihilated Manfred's army and occupied the Regno almost without resistance. His victory over Manfred's young nephew, Conradin, at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268strengthened his rule. In 1270 he took part in the Eighth Crusade organised by Louis IX, and forced the Hafsid Caliph of Tunis to pay a yearly tribute to him. Charles's victories secured his undisputed leadership amongthe Papacy's Italian partisans (known as Guelphs), but his influence on papal elections and his strong military presence in Italy disturbed the popes. They tried to channel his ambitions towards other territories andassisted him in acquiring claims to Achaea, Jerusalem and Arles through treaties. In 1281 Pope Martin IV authorised Charles to launch a crusade against the Byzantine Empire. Charles's ships were gathering at Messina,ready to begin the campaign when the Sicilian Vespers rebellion broke out on 30 March 1282 which put an end to Charles's rule on the island of Sicily. He was able to defend the mainland territories (or the Kingdom ofNaples) with the support of France and the Holy See. Charles died while making preparations for an invasion of Sicily.Early lifeChildhoodCharles was the youngest child of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile.The date of his birth has not survived, but he was probably born posthumously in early 1227. Charles was Louis' only surviving son to be "born in the purple" (after his father's coronation), a fact he often emphasised inhis youth, as the contemporaneous chronicler Matthew Paris noted in his Chronica Majora. He was the first Capetian to be named for Charlemagne.Louis VIII died in November 1226 and his eldest son, Louis IX,succeeded him. The late King willed that his youngest sons were to be prepared for a career in the Roman Catholic Church. The details of Charles's tuition are unknown, but he received a good education. He understoodthe principal Catholic doctrines and could identify errors in Latin texts. His passion for poetry, medical sciences, and law is well documented.Charles later said that his mother had a strong impact on her children'seducation; in reality, Blanche was fully engaged in state administration, and could likely spare little time for her youngest children. Charles lived at the court of a brother, Robert I, Count of Artois, from 1237. About fouryears later he was put into the care of his youngest brother, Alphonse, Count of Poitiers. His participation in his brothers' military campaign against Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, in 1242 showed that he wasno longer destined for a Church career.Provence and AnjouRaymond Berengar V of Provence died in August 1245, bequeathing Provence and Forcalquier to his youngest daughter, Beatrice, allegedly because he hadgiven generous dowries to her three sisters. The dowries were actually not fully discharged, causing two of her sisters, Margaret (Louis IX's wife) and Eleanor (the wife of Henry III of England), to believe that they hadbeen unlawfully disinherited. Their mother, Beatrice of Savoy, claimed that Raymond Berengar had willed the usufruct of Provence to her.The Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II (whom Pope Innocent IV had recentlyexcommunicated for his alleged "crimes against the Church"), Count Raymond VII of Toulouse and other neighbouring rulers proposed themselves or their sons as husbands for the young Countess. Her mother put her


Passage 1:Pablo AlboránPablo Moreno de Alborán Ferrándiz (born 31 May 1989), popularly known as Pablo Alborán, is a Spanish musician and singer-songwriter. Throughout his career, Alborán has released five studioalbums, two live albums, and various musical collaborations. His records are distributed by Warner Music Spain which he was signed to in 2013. That year he released "Solamente Tú", the lead single from his 2011self-titled debut album. The track topped the charts in his home country for two consecutive weeks. The album peaked at number one in its first week of sales, making Alborán the first solo artist to sign a completedebut album to rank to the top since 1998 in Spain. Alborán was nominated for Best New Artist at the 12th Latin Grammy Awards.Alborán's sophomore record Tanto (2012) spawned the number one singles "Quién" and"El Beso". It received a Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. His third studio album Terral (2014) spawned the chart-topping singles "Por Fin" and "Pasos de Cero" and received a Grammy Award nomination forBest Latin Pop Album. Alborán embarked on a huge concert tour Tour Terral, which visited Europe, North, and South America. Its respective live album Tres Noches en Las Ventas marked Alborán's second Album of theYear nomination. In 2017, Alborán released his fourth studio album Prometo to critical and commercial success. It spawned the singles "Saturno" and "No Vaya a Ser", among others. He released his fifth album Vértigoin 2020, followed by his sixth album La Cuarta Hoja in 2022.Throughout his career, Alborán has won a Goya Award for Best Original Song, nine LOS40 Music Awards, two Gaviota de Oro and two Premios Dial, amongothers. Throughout the years, Alborán has been nominated for three Grammy Awards as well as twenty-three Latin Grammy Awards.Music careerFrom a very young age, he was interested in learning to play variousmusical instruments such as piano, classical guitar, flamenco guitar, and acoustic guitar, and attended singing lessons with professional artists in Málaga and Madrid. In 2002, at the age of 12, he composed his firstsongs, "Amor de Barrio" (Neighbourhood Love) and "Desencuentro" (Disagreement) which would be featured 10 years later on his debut album. In Málaga he performed for the first time with a Flamenco band in arestaurant, and he was nicknamed El Blanco Moreno (The White Moreno), because he "was very pale-skinned and Moreno was my family name", as he stated in an interview in early 2011. Later, Pablo met producerManuel Illán and recorded a demo, which included a cover of "Deja de Volverme Loca" (Stop Driving Me Crazy) by Diana Navarro. Upon hearing this recording, Navarro expressed great interest in Alborán and becamehis musical mentor.In preparation for his first album, Alborán composed a total of 40 songs from which the playlist would be selected. During the recording of this studio album, Pablo Alborán, he uploaded a few songson YouTube, which gained the attention of many, including singer Kelly Rowland who was amazed by his voice, as far as saying "I'm in love with Pablo Alboran!". His videos have since received millions ofviews."Solamente Tú" (Only You) was digitally released in Spain in October 2010 as the first single of his debut album, which was released in February 2011. Both the single and the album were a huge success,managing to top the Spanish music charts for several consecutive weeks. The album won multiple awards, including RTVE's Album of the Year for 2011, and became Spain's best-selling album of that year.Alborán beganhis first world tour on 27 May 2011 in Madrid at the Palacio Vistalegre, and has since performed in many Latin American countries, among which are Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Following his success, he released hisfirst live album, En Acústico, in November of the same year. It included acoustic versions of most of the tracks in his debut album, as well as two new songs and four bonus tracks. The song "Perdóname" (Forgive Me)was re-recorded featuring Portuguese singer Carminho, and was released as the first single of the album, peaking at number one on the Spanish singles chart on 13 November 2011, thus helping En Acústico to debutalso at number one on the albums chart one week later, on 20 November 2011, and to top the Portuguese Albums Chart in January 2012.On 19 December 2011, Alborán received the 2011 Best New Act award in LosPremios 40 Principales. Both his albums Pablo Alborán and En Acústico were featured in Spain's official list of top-selling albums of 2011, at number 1 and number 6, respectively, and singles "Solamente Tú" and"Perdóname" were the respective third and nineteenth best-selling songs in Spain in 2011.In January 2012, Alborán collaborated on the charity single, "Cuestión de Prioridades por el Cuerno de África" (A matter ofpriorities for the horn of Africa).In September 2012, Alborán released the lead single "Tanto" from his forthcoming album Tanto which was released in November 2012. The album was certified 10× Platinum in Spain andwas the highest selling album in Spain in 2012 and 2013. The album included two number one singles in Spain, "El Beso" (The Kiss) and "Quién" (Who). The album received Latin Grammy Awards.Alborán released histhird studio album Terral in November 2014. The album became his fourth straight number 1 album in Spain and has been certified 8× Platinum. It was the highest selling album in Spain in 2014.In April 2016, "SePuede Amar" was released, which is the first single of the forthcoming fourth studio album. Throughout 2016, Alborán toured Central America. In August, Alboran re-released "Dónde está el Amor" with Brazilian singerTiê. It was included in the telenovela soundtrack Haja Coração.On 8 September 2017, after a two-year break, Alborán announced on his social networks that he was finishing preparing what would be his fourth studioalbum, Prometo. He released two singles ("Saturno" and "No Vaya a Ser") on the same day. "Saturno" is a ballad, reminiscent of his beginnings as a singer, while "No Vaya a Ser" is a different style flirting withelectronics and African rhythms. Prometo was released on 17 November 2017 and debuted at number 1 in Spain.Personal lifeAlborán is the son of Spanish architect Salvador Moreno de Alborán Peralta and ElenaFerrándiz Martínez. From a father from Malaga and a French mother, the daughter of Spaniards born in Casablanca during the French protectorate of Morocco.In June 2020, Alborán came out as gay. As of December2020, Alborán resides in Málaga.DiscographyStudio albumsLive albumsSinglesAs main artistAs featured artistOther charting songsAwardsGrammy AwardsThe Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the NationalAcademy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States. Alborán has received three nominations.Latin Grammy AwardsThe Latin Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts &Sciences in the United States. Alborán has received twenty-four nominations.TVyNovelas AwardsThe TVyNovelas Awards are presented annually by Televisa and the magazine TVyNovelas to honor the best Mexicantelevision productions, including telenovelas.Goya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are awarded annually by the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España(Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science) in Spain. Alborán has received one award.NotesPassage 2:Kristian LeontiouKristian Leontiou (born February 1982) is an English singer. Formerly a solo artist, he is thelead singer of indie rock band One eskimO.Early lifeKristian Leontiou was born in London, England and is of Greek Cypriot descent. He went to Hatch End High School in Harrow and worked several jobs in and aroundLondon whilst concentrating on music when he had any free time.  In 2003 he signed a major record deal with Polydor. At the time, Leontiou was dubbed "the new Dido" by some media outlets. His debut single "Storyof My Life" was released in June 2004 and reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart. His second single "Shining" peaked at #13 whilst the album Some Day Soon was certified gold selling in excess of 150,000 copies.Leontioutoured the album in November 2004 taking him to the US to work with L.A Reid, Chairman of the Island Def Jam music group.  Unhappy with the direction his career was going, on a flight back from the US in 2004 hedecided to take his music in a new direction.  Splitting from his label in late 2005, he went on to collaborate with Faithless on the song "Hope & Glory" for their album ‘'To All New Arrivals'’.  It was this release that sawhim unleash the One eskimO moniker.  It was through working with Rollo Armstrong on the Faithless album, that Rollo got to hear an early demo of "Astronauts" from the One eskimO project. Being more thanimpressed by what he heard, Rollo opened both his arms and studio doors to Leontiou and they began to co-produce the ‘'All Balloons’' album.It was at this time that he paired up with good friend Adam Falkner, adrummer/musician, to introduce a live acoustic sound to the album. They recorded the album with engineer Phill Brown (engineer for Bob Marley and Robert Plant) at Ark studios in St John's Wood where they recordedlive then headed back to Rollo's studio to add the cinematic electro touches that are prominent on the album.Shortly after its completion, One eskimO's "Hometime" was used on a Toyota Prius advert in the USA. Thefunds from the advert were then used to develop the visual aspect of One eskimO. He teamed up with friend Nathan Erasmus (Gravy Media Productions) along with animation team Smuggling Peanuts (Matt Latchfordand Lucy Sullivan) who together began to develop the One eskimO world, the first animation produced was for the track ‘Hometime’ which went on to win a British animation award in 2008.In 2008 Leontiou started anew management venture with ATC Music. By mid-2008 Time Warner came on board to develop all 10 One eskimO animations which were produced the highly regarded Passion Pictures in London.  Now with allanimation complete and a debut album, One eskimO prepare to unveil themselves fully to the world in summer 2009.Leontiou released a cover version of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", which was originally released as asingle in 2005. Leontiou's version was unable to chart, however, due to there being no simultaneous physical release alongside the download single, a UK chart rule that was in place at the time. On 24 April 2011, thesong entered the singles chart at number 88 due to Britain's Got Talent contestant Michael Collings covering the track on the show on 16 April 2011.DiscographyAlbumsSinglesNotesA  - Originally released as a single inApril 2005, Leontiou's version of "Fast Car" did not chart until 2011 in the UK.Also featured onNow That's What I Call Music! 58 (Story of My Life)Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! OST, Love Love Songs - The Ultimate LoveCollection (Shining)Summerland OST (The Crying)Passage 3:Billy MilanoBilly Milano (born June 3, 1964) is an American heavy metal and hardcore punk musician. He is the singer and occasionally guitarist and bassist ofcrossover thrash band M.O.D., and was the singer of its predecessor, Stormtroopers of Death. Prior to these bands, Milano played in early New York hardcore band the Psychos, which also launched the career of futureAgnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret. Milano was also the singer of United Forces, which included his Stormtroopers of Death bandmate Dan Lilker. Milano managed a number of bands, including Agnostic Front, for whomhe also co-produced the 1997 Epitaph Records release Something's Gotta Give and roadie for Anthrax.DiscographyStormtroopers of Death albumsStormtroopers of Death videosMethod of Destruction(M.O.D.)MasteryPassage 4:O Valencia!"O Valencia!" is the fifth single by the indie rock band The Decemberists, and the first released from their fourth studio album, The Crane Wife.The music was written by TheDecemberists and the lyrics by Colin Meloy. It tells a story of two star-crossed lovers. The singer falls in love with a person who belongs to an opposing gang. At the end of the song, the singer's lover jumps in to defendthe singer, who is confronting his lover's brother (the singer's "sworn enemy") and is killed by the bullet intended for the singer.Track listingThe 7" single sold in the UK was mispressed, with "Culling of the Fold" as theB-side despite the artwork and record label listing "After the Bombs" as the B-side.Music videosFor the "O Valencia!" music video, The Decemberists filmed themselves in front of a green screen and asked fans tocomplete it by digitally adding in background images or footage. Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report, having recently asked fans to do the same with a video of him with a light saber in front of a green screen,brought up The Decemberists on his segment "Look Who's Riding on My Coattails Now" and accused the band of stealing the idea. The Decemberists' response was to challenge Stephen Colbert to a guitar soloshowdown on December 20, 2006, on The Colbert Report.On January 19, 2007, The Decemberists premiered an alternate music video of "O Valencia!", directed by Aaron Stewart-Ahn, on MTV2. The video follows acharacter named Patrick, played by Meloy, as he and his love Francesca (Lisa Molinaro), daughter of "the Boss", plan an escape to an unknown location. At a cafe, a man in a suit, portrayed by the band member ChrisFunk, tells him to hide in the "Valencia" hotel (the Super Value Inn on North Interstate Avenue in Portland, Oregon) while he gets them the necessary documentation to escape. Above the name of the hotel, there is aneon sign that reads "Office". The letters have all burnt out except for the "O", creating the title of the song. The video then introduces other characters - various assassination teams - who sit in different rooms of thehotel waiting for the chance to catch the two lovers. Most are portrayed by other members of the band (along with Meloy's wife, Carson Ellis). They kill off any potential witnesses to their plan. Patrick manages to takedown one member from each team, before they gang up on him. The Boss arrives, along with the man from the cafe, who reveals that he snitched on Patrick and Francesca. They execute Francesca, while forcing Patrickto watch. After they leave, Patrick finds a note by Francesca, which reveals that she never fell in love with him, and only wanted protection. 2 months later, Patrick and the man, who has lost an eye from a previousassassination attempt, have a sit-down at the same cafe. The man reveals that he snitched on Patrick just to take over the town. Patrick reveals that he poisoned a drink the man was having, but before he could getaway, the man stabs Patrick in the neck with a fork before dying, followed by Patrick.The video is somewhat influenced by the distinct style and themes of director Wes Anderson, with bold fonts being used to introducecharacters and groups on the bottom of the screen (much like in the film The Royal Tenenbaums). The band had previously (and more explicitly) drawn influence from Anderson's Rushmore in their video for "SixteenMilitary Wives". The layout of the hotel is also similar to the one used in Bottle Rocket.Kurt Nishimura was chosen as the winner by mtvU for his video that depicted a love affair between a woman and her television, withthe TV containing the green-screened Decemberists video footage.Passage 5:Astrid NorthAstrid North (Astrid Karina North Radmann; 24 August 1973, West Berlin – 25 June 2019, Berlin) was a German soul singer andsongwriter. She was the singer of the German band Cultured Pearls, with whom she released five Albums. As guest singer of the band Soulounge she published three albums.CareerNorth had her first experiences as asinger with her student band Colorful Dimension in Berlin. In March 1992 she met B. La (Bela Braukmann) and Tex Super (Peter Hinderthür) who then studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and whowere looking for a singer for their band Cultured Pearls. The trio entered the German charts with four singles and four albums.In 1994 North sang for the dance-pop band Big Light on their hit single Trouble Is. In 1996she was a guest on the side project Little Red Riding Hood by Fury in the Slaughterhouse brothers Kai and Thorsten Wingenfelder which resulted in the release of the single Life's Too Short from the eponymousalbum.The song Sleepy Eyes, texted and sung by North, appears in the soundtrack of the movie Tor zum Himmel (2003) by director Veit Helmer. In 2003 she appeared at the festival Das Fest in Karlsruhe and sangalongside her own songs a cover version of the Aerosmith hit Walk This Way together with the German singer Sasha. North also toured with the American singer Gabriel Gordon.After the end of her band Cultured Pearlsin 2003 North moved 2004 to New York City to write new songs, work with a number of different musicians and to experiment with her music.In 2005 she joined the charity project Home, which produced an album forthe benefit of the orphans from the Beluga School for Life in Thailand which have been affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 and the subsequent tsunami. Beside the orphans themselves also the followingartists have been involved, guitarist Henning Rümenapp (Guano Apes), Kai Wingenfelder (Fury in the Slaughterhouse), Maya Saban and others. With Bobby Hebb Astrid North recorded a new version of his classic hitSunny. It was the first time Hebb sung this song as duett and it appeared on his last album That's All I Wanna Know.North sang in 2006 My Ride, Spring Is Near and No One Can Tell on the album The Ride by Basic JazzLounge, a project by jazz trumpeter Joo Kraus. In addition, she worked as a workshop lecturer of the Popkurs at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.In spring 2010 North performed as the opening act of theFakebling-Tour of Miss Platnum. The magazine Der Spiegel described her as one of the "leading ladies of the local soul scene". On 20 July 2012 her solo debut album North was released.On 16 September 2016 AstridNorth released her second solo album, Precious Ruby, dedicated to her grandmother Precious Ruby North. North used crowdfunding to finance the album. The first single published from this album was the song MissLucy. In 2016 she also started her concert series North-Lichter in Berlin's Bar jeder Vernunft to which she invited singers such as Katharina Franck, Elke Brauweiler, Lizzy Scharnofske, Mia Diekow, Lisa Bassenge or IrisRomen.LifeAstrid North was born in West Berlin, West Germany to Sondria North and Wolf-Dieter Radmann. She commuted between her birth city and her family in Houston, Texas until she was nine years old. In theUSA she lived mainly with her grandparents and her time there significantly shaped her musical development.Besides her music career Astrid North worked also as lecturer in Hamburg at the Hochschule für Musik undTheater and as yoga teacher. North was the mother of two children, her daughter was born in 2001 and her son in 2006. Her sister Ondria North works as make-up artist and hair stylist in the German film industry.Shedied in June 2019 at the age of 45 years from pancreatic cancer.Discographywith Cultured PearlsAlbums1996: Sing Dela Sing (German chart position 92, 3 weeks)1997: Space Age Honeymoon (German chart position54, 6 weeks)1999: Liquefied Days (German chart position 19, 9 weeks)2002: Life on a Tuesday (German chart position 74, 1 week)Singles1996: Tic Toc (1996) (German chart position 65, 10 weeks)1997: Sugar SugarHoney (German chart position 72, 9 weeks)1998: Silverball (German chart position 99, 2 weeks)1999: Kissing the Sheets (German chart position 87, 9 weeks)with Soulounge2003: The Essence of the Live Event –Volume One2004: Home2006: Say It AllSolo2005: Sunny (Single, Bobby Hebb feat. Astrid North)2012: North (Album, 20. Juli 2012)2013: North Live (Album, live recordings from different venues in Germany)2016:Sunny (Compilation, Bobby Hebb feat. Astrid North)2016: Precious Ruby (Album, 16. September 2016)as guest singer1994: Trouble Is – Big Light (Single)1996: Life's Too Short – Little Red Riding Hood (Single)2006:Basic Jazz Lounge: The Ride – Joo Kraus (Album)Passage 6:Caspar BabypantsCaspar Babypants is the stage name of children's music artist Chris Ballew, who is also the vocalist and bassist of The Presidents of theUnited States of America.HistoryBallew's first brush with children's music came in 2002, when he recorded and donated an album of traditional children's songs to the nonprofit Program for Early Parent Support titled"PEPS Sing A Long!" Although that was a positive experience for him, he did not consider making music for families until he met his wife, collage artist Kate Endle. Her art inspired Ballew to consider making music that