Saturday, August 29, 2009

Randy couture want know more about randy couture

Randy Duane Couture (born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor, former collegiate wrestler, and the former heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Couture is one of only two UFC fighters to have held a championship title in two different divisions (heavyweight and light heavyweight) while in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the other fighter being BJ Penn), as well as the only five-time champion in UFC history. Couture has competed in 15 title fights, a record. Couture is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame, and many consider him to be the most popular fighter in MMA history.

Couture has been an Olympic wrestler alternate, and lived in Corvallis, Oregon throughout much of his career where he served as an assistant wrestling coach and a strength and conditioning coach for Oregon State University.eXtreme Couture, with additional locations in Vancouver, Washington, Wellington, Florida, Lombard, Illinois, and most recently Independence, Missouri and Toronto, Ontario. He currently trains at his Las Vegas-based gym. Couture also partnered with Bas Rutten in the opening of Legends Gym, located in Hollywood, California.

Couture is generally recognized as a clinch and ground-and-pound fighter who uses his wrestling ability to execute take downs, establish top position, and successively strike the opponent on the bottom. Couture has also displayed a variety of skills in boxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submitting two opponents using different chokeholds. Couture is also the only athlete in UFC history to win a championship after becoming a Hall of Fame member and is the oldest title holder ever (in the UFC and MMA in general).

Along with Chuck Liddell, Couture is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of American pop culture and sports.

Wrestling years

Couture wrestled at Alderwood Middle School in Lynnwood, Washington then moved onto Lynnwood High School where he won a State Championship during his senior year. Couture served in the U.S. Army from 1982–1988. Upon discharge, he was a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I All-American and a two-time NCAA Division-I runner-up at Oklahoma State University. In 1992 he was the Division-1 runner up at 190 pounds coming in second after Mark Kerr.

UFC career

Light heavyweight title and trilogy with Liddell
See also: Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell

After his two consecutive losses in the heavyweight division to larger opponents, Couture moved down a weight class to fight at 205 lbs in the UFC's light heavyweight division. In his light heavyweight debut, Couture took on long-time number one contender Chuck Liddell for the interim light heavyweight championship. Couture won by TKO in the third round, and became the only UFC competitor to win championship titles in two weight classes, a feat since matched in 2008 by B. J. Penn; this earned Couture his nickname "Captain America". His next match was billed as a "Champion vs. Champion" fight in order to settle who was the rightful, undisputed champion of the division. Couture faced the five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for the undisputed light heavyweight title. Couture won a unanimous decision and became the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion at age 45.



On April 16, 2005, Couture lost his title and suffered the first knockout loss of his career in a rematch with Chuck Liddell. Couture came back in August with a win over Mike Van Arsdale to re-establish himself as a top contender. He faced Liddell again for the third and final time in a championship match on February 4, 2006 at UFC 57. He did not succeed, falling victim to a second round knockout. Immediately after the match, he announced his retirement from the sport.
Couture in 2005

On June 24, 2006, during The Ultimate Fighter 3 finale, which was broadcast live on Spike TV, Couture became the fourth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, joining Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, and Ken Shamrock.

Retirement

After retiring from the professional fighting circuit, Couture began embarking on a variety of activities, including appearing at UFC events as a regular broadcast commentator and as co-host of "Before/After The Bell" on The Fight Network. He also appeared in the Rob Schneider comedy Big Stan, along with fellow mixed martial artists Don Frye and Bob Sapp.

On November 17, 2006, Couture decided to compete athletically again, facing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in a submission wrestling match. The bout ended in a draw.

Couture was featured on season two of Spike TV's reality show "Pros vs. Joes", which premiered on January 25, 2007. His teammates on the episode were Michael Irvin, Kevin Willis, and José Canseco. He returned for the finale, where he even took part in a football based round. His teammates were Willis, Randall Cunningham, Bruce Smith, Roy Jones Jr., and Tim Hardaway. Couture also had a brief cameo appearance on the season finale of the CBS show The Unit as a military guard and on the film Redbelt as a fight commentator. Couture also appeared on an episode of The History Channel's "Human Weapon" on September 27, 2007, and starred in the 2008 film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

Reclaiming the heavyweight title
Couture now trains at his own gym, Xtreme Couture.

On January 11, 2007, Couture appeared for an interview on the Spike TV magazine show, Inside the UFC to announce his return from retirement. In a conversation with Joe Rogan, Couture confirmed that he would be facing Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 68 on March 3, 2007 and revealed that he had signed a four-fight, two-year deal with the company.

At the age of 43, Couture defeated then-champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 by unanimous decision to claim his third UFC heavyweight title. Couture's first punch, at :08 of the first round, sent the 6'8" (2.03m) Sylvia reeling to the mat.Couture controlled the pace of the fight for five rounds, smothering Sylvia with effective striking and numerous takedowns. All three judges' scored the bout 50-45 for Couture,[14] making him the first fighter in UFC history to become a three-time champion.

On August 25, 2007, at UFC 74 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Couture defended his title against Gabriel Gonzaga, who previously defeated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović at UFC 70 to become the number one contender. In the fight, Couture defeated Gonzaga by TKO (strikes) to retain the title. Couture suffered a broken left arm from blocking one of Gonzaga's kicks during the course of the fight.[16] The kick cleanly separated the ulna bone. The injury placed the UFC heavyweight champion’s arm in a splint for six weeks. This would be the least of Couture's worries as shortly after the fight he would be embroiled in a legal battle with the UFC.

Resignation and dispute with the UFC

On October 11, 2007, Couture announced that he was severing all ties with the UFC, leaving two contracted fights, a position as an on-air analyst, and his heavyweight championship behind. Reportedly he received $250,000 plus $936,000 of PPV revenue for his comeback against Tim Sylvia. He also reportedly received a $250,000 purse for defeating Gabriel Gonzaga, as well as a $35,000 bonus for "Fight of the Night" and $787,000 in PPV revenue. This became a sticking point since Chuck Liddell lost his two previous fights yet is still being paid a higher amount, according to Couture.[citation needed] Couture cited the UFC's failure to sign #1 ranked heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko, as well as disputes with UFC management.

UFC president Dana White said Thursday Oct. 18, 2007 that Couture remains the promotion's heavyweight champion despite his announced plans to quit. White also reiterated he would not release Couture from the final two fights on his UFC contract.[20] Couture held a press conference on October 25, 2007 in which he denied his leaving of the UFC was a "retirement," set forth his grievances over the pay he received for his fights against Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga, and reiterated his belief that he would be free from any contractual obligations to the UFC after nine months. On October 30, 2007, White and UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta held another press conference. There White reiterated the UFC's position that Couture remains the promotion's heavyweight champion despite his tendered resignation, and that Couture would remain obligated under his UFC contract well beyond nine months. White also released documents at the press conference to refute Couture's claims about the pay he received. Sherdog.com analyzed language reportedly found in the UFC's standard contracts relating to fighter retirement which Sherdog believes clarifies the dispute over Couture's contractual status.

In another chapter to the Couture/UFC saga, White and Randy Couture met and had a "good" conversation at UFC 78. However, White also met with Couture during the Thanksgiving holiday to discuss a possible return to the Octagon, where Couture said he had no desire to return to the UFC at that time.

Cornering some of his fighters from Xtreme Couture at HDNet Fights on December 15, 2007 in Dallas, Texas, Couture answered questions about Fedor stating that he would like to fight him in October once his employment contract with the UFC has expired, if the UFC cannot come to some kind of co-promotion agreement with M-1 Global before that time.

On January 15, 2008 Zuffa (the UFC's parent company)filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court in Nevada citing breach of contract and irreparable damage. Zuffa is seeking over $10,000 in damages. This suit concerns only Couture's employment contract and not his promotional contract. On February 28, 2008 Judge Jennifer Togliatti handed down the first ruling in the case of Zuffa v. Randy Couture issuing a preliminary injunction barring Couture's participation in an IFL event to be held the following day.

On August 2, 2008 a Texas appeals court granted Zuffa LLC's request for a stay against a motion for a declaratory judgment in a suit filed by HDNet regarding Randy Couture's contractual status with the UFC. The stay effectively ends the dispute in the state of Texas and Zuffa will be allowed to move forward with the Nevada suit.

Return to the UFC

On September 2, 2008 the UFC announced a 3 fight deal with the now 45 year old Randy Couture to return to active competition for the UFC. His first fight back was at UFC 91 on November 15, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he lost his UFC Heavyweight Championship to Brock Lesnar. It was at first a closely contested match, however, later in the fight Lesnar knocked Couture down and finished him with hammer fists for a TKO victory at 3:07 of the second round.[30] In the post fight interview with Joe Rogan, Couture declared his desire to keep fighting. He stated that he felt like he was still becoming a better fighter and blamed his loss on a bad performance, not his age.

Couture has said he still wants to fight former Pride World Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, but the UFC has been unable to reach an agreement with Fedor.

Couture has said he'd also drop weight to fight UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida if that's what the UFC wants.

On February 26, 2009 it was reported that Couture has agreed to a bout with former UFC interim heavyweight champion and former Pride World Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102 in Portland,OR.

UFC 102

On August 29, 2009, Couture lost an entertaining hard fought bout via unanimous decision against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). After the fight, Couture stated he felt like he was in the best shape of his life, and that he will wait and see what the UFC has in store for him in the future. In this post fight press conference Randy was quoted as to saying "I hear rumors that Anderson Silva actually asked for me, I dont know who made that up... There is no way in the world, Wanderlei, Chuck, Brock, Lyoto NOBODY asks for me... Nobody... I dont know who the kid is but if you ask for me thats exactly what your gonna get, me."

Kelly Brianne Clarkson

Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actress. Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the first season of the television series American Idol in 2002.

Clarkson has released four albums to date. Her debut album Thankful (2003), her multi-platinum second album Breakaway (2004), followed by My December (2007) and her latest album All I Ever Wanted (2009). Her first four albums have sold over 10.2 million copies in the United States.

Eight of Clarkson's singles became Top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Her single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", advanced from No. 97 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its first week of release, breaking the record for the largest leap to the top position in chart history.

In addition to her music, Clarkson had the lead role in the movie From Justin to Kelly (2003) along with Justin Guarini. She played Brenda Lee in the television drama American Dreams and appeared in the sitcom Reba. She also participated in a comedy skits on MADtv (2002) and Saturday Night Live (2005).

Clarkson has toured extensively worldwide as a solo act. After Clarkson's appearance on the CMT Crossroads and her duet version of "Because of You" (2007) with Reba McEntire, they co-headlined the 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour (2008).

Early life

Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up in the small town of Burleson, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Rose, a first grade teacher, and Stephen Michael Clarkson. Clarkson's siblings include her older brother and sister, Jason and Alyssa. When Clarkson was six years old, her parents divorced after seventeen years of marriage. The family settled in Burleson, where Clarkson's mother married her second husband, Jimmy Taylor.

Clarkson's family struggled financially and after her parents divorced, music became her refuge. Clarkson attended Pauline G Hughes Middle School and Burleson High School. She wanted to become a marine biologist but changed her mind after seeing the movie Jaws. In seventh grade, a teacher (Mrs. Cynthia Glenn) overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir; Clarkson told the teacher that she had never received professional vocal training.

In high school, Clarkson performed in musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Brigadoon. She sang at her high school talent show, after which a gentleman shared some inspiring words with her: "God has given you this gift. You've got to sing. You're destined to sing." Clarkson continued singing and soon started classical training, hoping that music would be her ticket to a college scholarship.

Upon high school graduation, Clarkson was offered full scholarships to The University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas, and Berklee, but decided against college because she had "already written so much music and wanted to try it on her own," and she figured "you're never too old to go to college."

American Idol
Main article: American Idol (season 1)

Clarkson won the first season of American Idol on September 4, 2002, earning 58% of the vote to 42% for Justin Guarini. Choking back tears, Clarkson performed the ballad "A Moment Like This", the song written for the winner of American Idol, which would subsequently appear on her debut album, Thankful. The song's music video was filmed at Pantages Theater in Hollywood, and incorporated short scenes of Clarkson performing on Idol. When released as a single in October 2002, it set a record on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart when it rose from number 52 to number one.[10] This achievement was largely due to the impact from Idol as the CD single managed to sell 236,000 copies in its first week of sales in the U.S.; it spent five weeks at number one in Canada.

Soon after after the first season of American Idol ended, Clarkson starred with Idol runner-up Justin Guarini in the movie From Justin to Kelly (2003). The film was poorly received by critics and grossed only $5 million at the North American box office, less than half its reported budget. Clarkson has mentioned in interviews that she is shocked when people send her scripts after From Justin to Kelly, often citing contractual obligation as her sole reason for involvement in the film. Clarkson was quoted telling People "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper and I could not get out of it." The script was written by Kim Fuller, Simon Fuller's brother.

World Idol

In December 2003, a competition titled World Idol was held in London, England, gathering the winners of the first seasons of Idol from across the globe. Clarkson was contractually obligated to participate, and placed second behind Norwegian Idol Kurt Nilsen. She performed Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman". Because she left immediately after the competition, she was criticized by some in the media for what they saw as poor sportsmanship. Clarkson later explained to fans that she was not feeling well.

Post-Idol: career
Kelly Clarkson performed at the Washington D.C. Lincoln Memorial on September 11, 2002 following her win on American Idol.

Shortly following the completion of the first season of American Idol, Clarkson was accused of working with a record company. American Idol's rules stated that a contestant was not allowed to compete on the program if they had been linked to a record company. However, she was cleared of all allegations, as she had only had a contract in order to conduct demonstration work.

Clarkson is currently the only American Idol contestant to have reached number one in the UK. She claimed number one on March 1, 2009 when "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted number one on downloads alone. She has sold over 10.2 million albums in the United States, and over 20 million albums worldwide, becoming the highest-selling Idol winner. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Clarkson is also ranked on the top 200 album sellers of the Nielsen SoundScan era at number 187.

2003–2004: Thankful

Following the release of "A Moment Like This", Clarkson's full-length debut album Thankful was released in North America by RCA Records on April 15, 2003. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album was certified double platinum by the RIAA for sales of two million copies on December 8, 2003 and platinum by the CRIA for sales of 100,000 copies on February 10, 2004. Reviews for the album were generally favorable. However, several critics noted that her early achievement was established due to her performances on American Idol. Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album for its vocal ability: "throughout this record, [Clarkson] makes it seem effortless and charming. She can croon, she can belt out a song, she can be sexy and sassy while still being graceful and as wholesome as the girl next door". Rachel Kipp of JS Online criticized Clarkson for not having the same personality on Thankful that she had on American Idol, and wrote: "on American Idol, Clarkson showcased a great voice and an endearing, 'aw-shucks' personality. That personality is missing on Thankful, and there lies the album's greatest fault". Kipp blamed the producers behind the album for not allowing Clarkson to be herself.

"Miss Independent" was released as the second single from Thankful. It reached the top ten of the U.S. and Canadian singles charts, and earned Clarkson a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". When the single was released in the United Kingdom and Australia, it reached the top ten of the charts; however, Thankful received less attention. It peaked at number forty-one on the UK albums chart and at number 33 on the Australian albums chart.

"Low", the third single from Thankful, reached number two in Canada, but it was unable to make the Top 40 of the U.S. chart. The final single, "The Trouble with Love Is", was not released in Canada, and it peaked at #101 on the U.S. Charts. Clarkson attributed the under performance of both releases to poor management and relieved her manager Simon Fuller, who she felt was not completely focused on her career. Clarkson also covered Danielle Brisebois' "Just Missed the Train" on the album.

As of 2009, Thankful has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

2004–2006: Breakaway

"Because of You" (2005)
Play sound
At the age of sixteen, Clarkson wrote the lyrics and melody to this song to cope with her emotions. The later composition would result in the use of the piano and a full orchestral arrangement.
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Distancing herself from her American Idol image, Clarkson took more creative control with her second studio album Breakaway, and developed a more rock-oriented image. Breakaway was released by RCA Records on November 30, 2004. The album debuted within the U.S. top five and Canadian top ten, but sales were initially low in comparison to Thankful. However, the single releases from Breakaway proved very successful, and allowed it to become only the fourth album in history to stay in the Billboard 200 Top 20 for a consecutive year, as well as, being certified 6x platinum in the U.S. in late 2007 and 5x platinum in Canada in May, 2006. In Australia, the album reached number two and spent 52 weeks in the top 10 and was certified 6x Platinum; however, it experienced a delayed release in the UK. Clarkson co-wrote six of the songs with several songwriters, such as former Evanescence band members Ben Moody, David Hodges and producer Max Martin; the title track was co-written by punk-pop singer Avril Lavigne. Breakaway received different responses from critics; Rolling Stone commented that "on Kelly Clarkson's second album, she embraces her rock side rather than the pop pageantry that put her on top of the American Idol heap". TeenInk noted the strength of her vocals on Breakaway, and praised the change from pop music to contemporary rock: "[Clarkson] retains the incredible power and beauty of her voice while switching to rock". Stylus magazine also enjoyed Clarkson's foray into rock music, however, she was called out because of her American Idol image, which reviewer Charles Merwin believed she had yet to lose. He praised the non-singles and wrote that they "maintain a quality high". Allmusic called the album "a nice, low-key relief".

Clarkson appeared on numerous television programs during the promotional tour for Breakaway, some of which included Saturday Night Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show and The View; she performed the first two singles "Breakaway" and "Since U Been Gone" on Saturday Night Live, which became her first major telecast appearance in order to support the album. "Breakaway", co-written by Avril Lavigne, served as the original song for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) and achieved considerable success across the world; it became Clarkson's third top-ten single in the U.S. and fourth top-ten single in Canada. It reached number ten in Australia, and number 22 in the UK. The song's contemporary pop-rock ambiance was one of the several tracks including a stronger rock-influenced sound that had not been heard on Thankful. The second single "Since U Been Gone", which was 'produced' by Max Martin, became the most successful release from the album. Its music video presented Clarkson singing to an underground audience with a full band; cut scenes of Clarkson destroying a former boyfriend's apartment were incorporated. The song's strong rock ambiance allowed it to reach number two in the U.S. and the top five across the world. It also earned Clarkson her first Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance"; she won a second award for "Best Pop Vocal Album".

The third and fourth single releases, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "Because of You", also followed with chart success. The video for "Behind These Hazel Eyes" broke the record for days at #1 for a female artist with 33 out of 50 days #1 on TRL. The video for "Because of You" won the 2006 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video, her second consecutive win in that category (The first being from "Since U Been Gone"). The fifth single from Breakaway was entitled "Walk Away". Breakaway spent 103 weeks on the Billboard 200. It fell out of the Billboard 200 in late November and was moved to Billboard's Pop Catalog. Breakaway was the tenth best selling album of 2006 in the US, adding nearly 2 million additional sales to the 2005 and 2004 sales. As a testament to Clarkson's continuing popularity, she was the most-played artist of 2006 on American radio, despite releasing only one single in the entire year, "Walk Away". On December 23, 2006, American Top 40 radio show host Ryan Seacrest announced during a countdown of 2006's most popular songs that Clarkson had had a song in the American Top 40 for 111 weeks, making her "the most successful female artist in AT40 history". She was also the most radio broadcasted artist of 2006 in Australia and "Because Of You" was the third most broadcast song of the same year, despite being released in 2005.
Clarkson at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas, Joint Reserve Base in 2006.

In 2005, Clarkson made a performance during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend as part of the festivities leading up to the All-Star Game Later that year, she performed the Star-Spangled Banner at Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons She also performed that spring as part of the 2005 NCAA Final Four festivities in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the summer of 2006, Clarkson lent Ford Motor Co. a song titled "Go", written by Clarkson and Rhett Lawrence ("Miss Independent"). The song was used in the company's advertising campaign in 2006, "Bold Moves" and the song, along with its music video, was made available free at Ford's AddictedtoKelly.com website (website now defunct).

As of 2009, Breakaway has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

2007–2008: My December

While on tour in Europe in 2006, Clarkson began writing and composing songs for her third album, My December. During the Addicted Tour, Clarkson debuted two of her songs: "Maybe" and "Yeah". The first single from My December was "Never Again", which made its radio debut on April 13, 2007. The song was released on iTunes on April 20, 2007, but was taken down and replaced with a notice that said that the song was not available until April 23, 2007. The single peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #8 and on the Pop 100 at #5. Following "Never Again", Clarkson released "Sober" as her next single from My December on June 6, 2007. The singles were promoted with appearances on Good Morning America and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Clarkson also returned to American Idol on the May 23, 2007 season 6 finale for the first time since its third season, performing "Never Again" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry during a Beatles medley.

Clarkson parted with her management, The Firm, on June 11, 2007, after the controversy[specify] surrounding My December.Clarkson would then sign with Starstruck Entertainment, run by Narvel Blackstock - the husband of Reba McEntire - on July 2, 2007. On June 14, 2007, Live Nation announced that Clarkson's summer tour—her first nationwide arena tour—had been canceled due to underwhelming ticket sales, to be rescheduled after the release of the My December album at smaller, more intimate concert environments. Clarkson reinstated plans to tour the US during 2007, with a much smaller tour than the one she canceled in June. Clarkson began her My December Tour on October 10 in Verona, New York in venues significantly smaller than those previously booked.

My December was officially released in the U.S. on June 26, 2007. On the date of the album's release, Clarkson appeared on Good Morning America to promote her new album. Clarkson performed songs from this new album, including the single "Never Again". Despite the controversy surrounding My December, the album debuted at #2 in the U.S. with 291,000 albums sold. This is a slightly higher debut than Clarkson's previous album, Breakaway, which debuted at #3.

On July 7, 2007, Clarkson performed on the American leg of Live Earth. Her five-set performance list included: "Walk Away", "How I Feel", "Never Again", "Sober", and "Since U Been Gone".

Clarkson was the celebrity coach for Canadian Idol during its Top 5 week of the fifth season, aired on the CTV network on August 20, and she performed on the results show the next night. She was also awarded a Platinum Certification for shipments of more than 100,000 copies of My December in Canada. Clarkson also performed at the 2007 NFL opening kickoff where she sang the national anthem and performed songs from My December including "Never Again", "Maybe" and "Don't Waste Your Time". Clarkson also performed in the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets game on Thanksgiving Day.

My December was certified both gold and platinum on December 12, 2007, by the RIAA. It has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide.

Clarkson performed during the festivities of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

On April 25, 2007, Clarkson appeared on Idol Gives Back and performed Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain". After the performance, the audience who watched Clarkson perform live gave her a standing ovation. American Idol judge Simon Cowell described her as "incredible", saying, "When you let her [Clarkson] come back on the show it makes everybody else look like an amateur."

In addition to her roles as spokeswoman for the acne treatment Proactiv as well as Vitaminwater, Clarkson partnered with NASCAR for the 2007 season. She appeared in televised advertising spots, performed at pre-race concerts, promoted NASCAR Day, and appeared at the Champions' Banquet in December.[ The August 2007 issue of Blender included a feature on Clarkson and her new album, as well as her music label woes Clarkson also appeared at the NFL's opening night performance in Indianapolis for the kickoff of the new season.

Clarkson also performed at half-time during the 2007 Thanksgiving Day football game between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys.

On April 19, 2008, Clarkson participated in a Papal Youth Rally at the campus of St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie in Yonkers, New York performing a mini-concert for those in attendance. This was the Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI. She performed Schubert's "Ave Maria" for the Pope later in the day following the Pope's speech. Clarkson, raised Baptist, was said to be honored by the invitation and appreciative of the rosary given to her and her band by the Pope, who were invited over by the Pope immediately following the performance for the rosary honor.

Country music

Clarkson performed "What Hurts the Most", with Rascal Flatts, at ACM Awards in 2006 and returned again to sing a duet with Reba McEntire in 2007. This was her second performance on a country music award show, even though she is in the pop/rock genre. Along with her performance with Rascal Flatts, Clarkson also performed "Cigarettes", with the country duo The Wreckers during one of their shows in Texas.

Building on her country music status, Clarkson and Reba McEntire recorded an hour-long CMT Crossroads special at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium on February 22, 2007. It aired on CMT and Palladia (then known as MHD) on June 24, 2007. Previously, Clarkson was a performer on CMT's Giants: Reba McEntire. where she sang McEntire's hit song "Why Haven't I Heard From You", introduced Dolly Parton, and later also sang Reba's hit "Does He Love You" with Martina McBride. Clarkson also appeared on an episode of McEntire's sitcom Reba, that aired on January 14, 2007.

At the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, 2007, Clarkson and McEntire sang a duet of Clarkson's own 2005 single, "Because of You", which also became the lead single from McEntire's album of all-star duets. The music video for this version of the song later debuted on June 20, 2007. This collaboration with McEntire earned Clarkson a CMA Award nomination for "Musical Event of the Year" in 2007 and a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Country Collaboration With Vocal" in 2008. Additionally, the song was featured on Now That's What I Call Country, which was released in August 2008.

Clarkson was a surprise guest at the 2007 CMA Music Festival in Nashville on June 7, 2007, where she performed "Does He Love You" and "Because of You" with Reba McEntire during the internationally-renowned annual event. The performance of "Because of You" was taped and aired as part of the "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night To Rock" television special that aired on ABC on July 23, 2007.

On January 17, 2008, Clarkson embarked on the 2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour 2008, a co-headlining tour with Reba McEntire.

On May 18, 2008, Clarkson performed on stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam with Reba McEntire and Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn. The All-Star jam is the final event of the week taking place immediately after the awards show. Clarkson was not announced ahead of time for an appearance.

Clarkson's fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, was released March 10, 2009. During recording of the album, Clarkson worked closely with producer-songwriters Ryan Tedder, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Howard Benson, among others. The album’s recording was completed on October 23, 2008. The first single off the album, "My Life Would Suck Without You", was sent to radio on January 13, 2009, and was available to download thereafter. The single first entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #97. The following week, the single shot to #1, breaking the record of largest leap to the top spot, formerly held by Britney Spears' "Womanizer" This marks the second time Clarkson has broken the record, her first being the American Idol victory ballad "A Moment Like This", which shot from #52 to #1 in 2002. In March 2009, Clarkson reached #1 in the UK singles chart with "My Life Would Suck Without You", and became Clarkson's first UK #1 single. In its first week of sales, it moved 255,000 copies in the USA, and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The album sold 90,000 copies in its second week and remained at #1. The album's second single is "I Do Not Hook Up." It was sent to Australia and U.S. Radio on March 30 and April 13, respectively. It debuted in the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 at #20, entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #88, and has climbed to #20. "I Do Not Hook Up" has also peaked at #12 thus far on the Billboard Pop 100. Clarkson's third single, "Already Gone", which had already charted on Billboard's Hot 100 at #70 early in 2009, was officially announced in July 2009 along with its music video and North American tour dates for the album. The single drop date for North America was announced for August 11 2009 and for the UK on September 7, 2009.

Clarkson has been confirmed as one of the performing guests for the return of VH1 Divas live concert event on September 17 2009, airing live on VH1 from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

Musicianship and artistry

Clarkson's vocal talents and abilities have been met with praise from critics and celebrities alike. On an interview with Good Morning America, Simon Cowell was asked of the six American Idol winners, who he thought had the best voice. Cowell immediately answered that Clarkson did "by a mile", noting that she was "up there" with other great singers such as Celine Dion.

Reflecting back on Clarkson's performance during the Idol Gives Back special, Jeff Beck described Clarkson as having a "soul voice" that "demands attention"."

After attending a rehearsal for American Idol's season six finale (in which Clarkson was scheduled to perform), Blender magazine described Clarkson's voice as follows:

"The Texas native has one of the great voices in pop music, a powerful and versatile instrument that's steeped in the rhythm and blues and country music she grew up with in the South. If Mariah Carey's five-octave voice is the equivalent of an expensively bred poodle, then Clarkson's is a bloodhound: friendly, earthy, but fierce just the same."

Arion Berger of Rolling Stone has said of Clarkson that "her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her midrange is amazingly confident for a pop posy whose career is tied for eternity to the whims of her American Idol overlords."

Dr. Luke, a songwriter and producer of some Clarkson's hits stated that "She has powerful lungs. She's like the Lance Armstrong of vocal

Deborah norville

Deborah Norville (born August 8, 1958 in Dalton, Georgia) is an American television broadcaster and journalist. A graduate of The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, since 1995 she has been host of the syndicated American television program Inside Edition. She hosted Today on NBC, substitute anchored both the NBC Nightly News, and the weekend CBS Evening News, and was a host and correspondent for two CBS News magazine programs.

Career

NBC years


After serving as singer and an anchor for local television stations first in Atlanta and then Chicago, in 1987, Norville, at age 28, was named anchor of NBC News at Sunrise, the network's early morning newscast which aired just prior to the Today program. Throughout the late 1980s she was seen on Today as a regular substitute for host Bryant Gumbel, co-host Jane Pauley, and news anchor John Palmer.

On September 5, 1989, Norville replaced Palmer at the Today newsdesk and he assumed her previous role on Sunrise. She also began substituting for Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. Shortly after Norville's appointment as Today's news anchor, the decision was made to feature Norville as an unofficial third host. Whereas Palmer had read the news from a desk separate from where Gumbel and Pauley sat, Norville was seated alongside the program's hosts at the opening and closing of every show. Before long, gossip columns and media observers predicted that NBC would remove Jane Pauley from the program and replace her with Norville in an effort to improve the program's recently declining viewership by young women, the demographic most coveted by morning shows.

As co-host of Today


On October 27, 1989, Jane Pauley announced after 13 years on Today that she would be leaving the program at the end of the year to pursue a prime time news assignment - which would debut on July 17, 1990 as Real Life with Jane Pauley. NBC, as expected, announced that Norville would become co-host. An emotional Norville hugged Pauley on the air after the announcement was made, and many at NBC hoped the negative press generated by Norville's increased presence on the program would end. It did not. Prior to the announcement of Pauley's departure, much of the criticism had focused on Norville's youth and beauty, with many branding her "the other woman" and a "home wrecker," in a reference to what some felt seemed like her intent on "breaking up" the television marriage of Gumbel and Pauley.

Negative press only heightened after the announcement of Pauley's resignation, and Norville was put under a gag order by NBC brass which prevented her from defending herself from the widespread and erroneous reports that she somehow orchestrated her rise on Today. In January 1990, the new anchor team of Bryant Gumbel and Deborah Norville, minus Jane Pauley, debuted with disastrous results. Ratings for the program began to plummet. Critics felt that Gumbel and Norville lacked chemistry and many loyal viewers began turning to rival ABC's Good Morning America (GMA). Whereas Jane Pauley had excelled at being deferential to the aggressive Gumbel, Norville, it was observed, was not by nature a passive person. She thus fit uncomfortably into a role in which her chief duty was to play off of his lead.

By June 1990, NBC devised what it hoped would be solution to the growing unpopularity of the show. Though it had been rumored that Norville would be removed as co-host, NBC announced that she would remain in her position and that Joe Garagiola, former Major League Baseball player, game show host, Major League Baseball on NBC announcer, and Today contributor from 1967-1973, would join Norville as a co-host alongside Bryant Gumbel. Also, CBS newswoman Faith Daniels would become the program's news anchor -- a position which was still unfilled since Norville became co-host. Finally, Katie Couric assumed the role of National Correspondent; Garagiola, Daniels and Couric were added to the show during the June 11, 1990 broadcast.

In September 1990, Norville announced that she and her husband were expecting a child in the following year. It was hoped that motherhood would help soften Norville's image as a too-pretty, too-icy newswoman, but her pregnancy announcement was essentially unnoticed by critics.

Ouster from Today


The changes accomplished nothing in the way of stopping the ratings decline. By the end of 1990, Today, the longtime dominant program, was officially the second place morning show behind GMA, and most of the blame was pinned on Norville. By the outbreak of The Gulf War in 1991, Norville saw her role as co-host continually minimized. Today aired special editions of the program called America at War, with Gumbel anchoring most of the show alone. It was not uncommon for Norville not to even make an appearance until the two hour show's second half hour. In addition, she was directed not to initiate conversation on the show and only speak when asked a question by Gumbel. Nearing the end of her pregnancy which became complicated with a condition known as toxemia, Norville left the show for maternity leave in February 1991. It was announced that Katie Couric would substitute co-host during Norville's absence. Ratings for the program rose immediately following Norville's departure and Couric's arrival.

Midway through her maternity leave, Norville was interviewed by People. In the story, she avoided conversation about her recent trouble on Today, and instead focused on her newborn baby boy. She was photographed breastfeeding her son, a seemingly innocuous event, but NBC management was said to be greatly displeased by this, believing the photo to be in poor taste. By April 1991, in light of improved ratings on Today and NBC's displeasure at the People photograph, it was announced that Norville would not return to Today and that Katie Couric had been named the program's co-host. Norville, it was disclosed, would continue to be paid in accordance with her contract, although she would no longer appear on any NBC News programs.

Reborn on radio

Maurice Tunick former Vice-President of Talk Programming for the ABC Radio Networks comments: "With Sally Jessy Raphael's TV show in high gear and the pressures and time commitments needed to keep the show on top Sally asked to be released from her ABC Radio Network contract in late 1990. I was the one who hired Sally and the person who would be responsible for replacing her. Sally agreed to stay through the Summer of 1991 and her replacement would start immediately after Labor Day 1991. The search was on."

"We tried many people while Sally took some days off. Cindy Garvey was a favorite. Dr. Laura Schlesinger who had been a regular sub for Sally for the past five years was very determined to replace her as well as several others."

"Because Sally was an original and the Dear Abby format was created for her, it was determined we would seek someone with national name recognition and with more of a topical news interest than a personal advice persona. About midway into the search I heard the news that Deborah Norville would be leaving The Today Show. She had just given birth to her first child and said she wanted to be home with her child. I went to see her agent, Jim Griffin of the William Morris Agency to ask if she would be interested in replacing Sally on the radio? He reiterated Deborah's desire to stay out of the limelight and be a stay at home Mom. I suggested we could do the show from her home, and in fact identify the show as "Deborah Norville - From Her Home To Yours". He set up a meeting with background. She liked the idea and decided to do it."

"The show was launched in September 1992. The launch itself was perhaps anticlimactic. When the announcement of Deborah hosting a radio show was first made in May 1992, it was met by headlines and reaction around the country. Her short time at The Today Show and the botched transition from Jane Pauley was still very much alive. Deborah and her new radio show were being judged before the show even took to the air."

"The original plan for the show was solid. Deborah was a good interviewer who was able to attract big guests and covered many important stores. Originating from home most nights allowed the listeners to eavesdrop on her life. Guests to her show were often invited to her New York City apartment. It was an interesting, entertaining program hosted by a bright, articulate woman."

"The press on Deborah was never good. It never mentioned her performance on the radio show. It only continued to talk about The Today Show. It made the growth of her show slow. While she never lost any stations that were carrying the show, it was difficult getting new stations, proving it wasn't her performance which was hurting, it was the negative image from television which would continue to haunt her." (Maurice Tunick)

Norville hosted her ABC Radio program for one year.

Return to television


By late 1993, Norville had been hired by CBS News as a correspondent for Street Stories, a prime time newsmagazine hosted by CBS veteran Ed Bradley. Norville was soon tapped to anchor Sunday editions of the CBS Evening News on a rotating basis and also substitute anchored on the weeknight edition of that program. By the summer of 1994, Street Stories had been cancelled and CBS introduced a summer newsmagazine series called America Tonight co-anchored by Norville and newswoman Dana King.

On her new role at CBS and in reference to her appearances on the CBS Evening News, Norville once remarked, "I hope Bryant [Gumbel] was watching."
Syndication success

By 1995, Norville, still a news correspondent for CBS was asked to replace Bill O'Reilly, later of Fox News Channel, as the host of the highly popular syndicated news and entertainment program Inside Edition -- a position she holds today.

Morning show comeback


In the summer of 2002, the beleaguered Early Show on CBS -- a distant rival of NBC's Today and ABC's GMA -- was in a precarious position. The show, which had failed to gain traction since its inception in 1999, was devoid of an anchor team. Former Today host Bryant Gumbel, who had since left NBC to anchor The Early Show, had not renewed his contract with the network. His co-host, Jane Clayson, was still on the show, albeit with an uncertain future. CBS, which owns King World, the syndicator for Inside Edition, hired Norville, still anchoring Inside Edition, to co-host alongside Clayson for a week. Rumors started that Norville would either join or replace Clayson on the program. Neither materialized, however, as Clayson was removed from the program and CBS opted for a multi-anchor concept of which Norville expressed no interest to be a part, and chose to stick with the syndication arm.

Ironically, CBS had reportedly approached Norville in 1999 about co-hosting the program with Gumbel before its launch. This would have been particularly unusual (if not ironic) given their unsuccessful pairing on Today.

Deborah Norville Tonight


In 2004, MSNBC announced that Norville would anchor a prime time interview program on that network while remaining at Inside Edition. A clumsy arrangement was orchestrated in which Norville was prevented from appearing as an anchor for NBC News -- of which MSNBC is a division -- so as not to confuse viewers who identified her with Inside Edition. As a result, if breaking news had developed either during the course of her show or earlier in the day, she was unable to cover the story by speaking with NBC correspondents unless they were featured as guests on the program.

Norville's news broadcasts were not faultless; while at MSNBC in late March 2004, she presented as genuine a satirical article entitled "Study: 58 Percent Of U.S. Exercise Televised" from The Onion, a parody newspaper.

Norville conducted some high profile interviews on the show -- including one with her successor on Today, Katie Couric -- and also addressed some controversial topics including the debate revolving around Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Mormon polygamy.

During one of the broadcasts on the Passion controversy, Norville disclosed on the air that she was a born-again Christian, having accepted Christ as her savior at age 15. Though Norville's religious identity had been reported previously, it was the first time she had ever made such an announcement on live television.

By February 2005, exhausted from working two jobs and facing flat ratings, Norville announced she would leave MSNBC and continue anchoring the syndicated Inside Edition.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Dj am or Adam Michael Goldstein

Adam Michael Goldstein

Goldstein was a member of the rock band Crazy Town, known for their hit "Butterfly". He has also scratched on albums for Papa Roach, Madonna, Will Smith, and Shifty and played concerts with Jay-Z. He has played private events for celebrities like Jim Carrey, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Stiller, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and Kate Hudson. He had had a one-year contract with Las Vegas' Pure Nightclub inside Caesar's Palace to play at the venue every Friday and opening a nightclub at Caesars Atlantic City called Dusk.

He had recently collaborated with Travis Barker of Blink-182 and +44 in several performances, including the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that DJ AM would make his first appearance with Travis Barker since the two survived the plane crash. The duo performed at New Year's Nation's Los Angeles 2008 New Year's Eve Party at The Wiltern. Their performance was streamed live on the Internet via New Year's Nation's official site, and was broadcast at other New Year's Nation parties across the Before the gig Barker told press, "I'm ready to get back onstage with AM and continue to rock the house. I'm very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A."

His reality television appearances include Punk'd, where his former fiance, Nicole Richie, was the subject of a practical joke, and the third season of The Simple Life. Goldstein appears as himself in the "What About Bob?" episode of Entourage's third season; he gets the last pair of an exclusive line of shoes, right before Vince (Adrian Grenier) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) arrive.
In 2009, DJ AM became Rain Nightclub's regular Friday night DJ.

Backgroud information:
Birth name- Adam Michael Goldstein
Also know as- Dj AM
Born- March 30, 1973(1973-03-30)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died- August 28, 2009 (aged 36)
New York City, New York, U.S
Occupations- Dj
Associated- Crazy Town, Steve Aoki, DJ
Acts- Jazzy Jeff, Travis Barker


Personal life

After overcoming his crack cocaine addiction and having gastric bypass surgery, Goldstein dated socialite and reality TV star Nicole Richie. The engagement was announced in early 2005. On December 7, 2005, both he and Richie called off the engagement.

After his breakup with Butler, Goldstein dated singer/actress Mandy Moore. They broke off the relationship in March 2007.

DJ AM was an avid "sneakerhead" (posting on sneaker enthusiast message board Niketalk.com), he collected athletic shoes, primarily Nikes. His collection of over 600 shoes includes a pair of Nike Air Force 1 shoes that were created specifically for him, with his DJ AM logo appearing on the shoe itself. In a new commercial, he starred alongside Mike Epps and Kobe Bryant sporting the Nike Air Yeezy, the signature shoe for Kanye West.
Travis Barker, DJ AM To Perform At New Year's Eve Party

Travis Barker and DJ AM will perform together on New Year's Eve, marking the first time they've shared a stage since surviving the September 19 plane crash that killed four people.

The duo will headline New Year's Nation's Los Angeles New Year's Eve Party at the Lot in West Hollywood, California. Their performance will also be streamed live on the Internet via New Year's Nation's official site, and will be broadcast at other Nation parties across the U.S.

"I'm ready to get back onstage with AM and continue to rock the house," Barker said in a statement. "I'm very excited to bring in the New Year in my hometown of L.A."

Barker and AM last performed together at a T-Mobile-sponsored event in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 19, just hours before boarding a private jet that crashed and killed four, including Barker's assistant, "Little" Chris Baker, and his security guard, Charles "Che" Still.

The duo escaped the crash, but suffered second- and third-degree burns that have required extensive therapy in burn centers in Georgia and Los Angeles. In October, AM — born Adam Goldstein — had healed enough to get back behind the decks, first making an appearance at a "welcome home" party at the Hollywood club Avalon and then serving as DJ at several Jay-Z gigs, including one at the Palladium the following night.

And earlier this month, Barker's +44/ Blink-182 bandmate (and best friend), Mark Hoppus, told MTV News that the former Blink drummer was "healing incredibly well," and "can't wait to get back on the drums. He can't wait to get back in the studio."

Speculation about a possible Blink-182 reunion was spurred last month by a Hoppus blog post in which he wrote about hanging out with Barker and singer/guitarist Tom Delonge for the first time in years.

Plane crash

2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash

On September 19, 2008, after having performed at a college event with frequent collaborator Travis Barker, Goldstein was seriously injured when a Learjet he was traveling in crashed on takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. The crash killed both crew members and two other passengers, and critically injured Goldstein and Barker. They were both transported to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, and were both listed in critical condition. According to reports, Goldstein suffered burns on his hands and part of his head. His ex-girlfriend, singer Mandy Moore, with whom he was still close, flew to be by his side at the Georgia hospital where he was staying. Goldstein was released from the hospital on September 26, 2008, a spokeswoman told AP.

In December 2008, Goldstein filed a civil lawsuit against the plane's charter company, Learjet and Goodyear tires; the suit claims negligence on the part of the pilots and a manufacturing defect on the part of the plane. Goldstein was asking for damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and loss of earnings. Goldstein was the last passenger to file a civil suit; the estates of deceased passengers Chris Baker and Charles Still have already filed suits, as has crash survivor Travis Barker, although Barker and Still's suits did not name the deceased pilots as defendants.

Death

Adam Goldstein was found dead at his New York City apartment at around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, August 28, 2009. He was 36 years old. Friends called the police, who along with paramedics broke into the apartment and found Goldstein's body. Sources say the cause of death may have been accidental drug overdose Statements by a New York law enforcement official to the Associated Press indicate that drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, but no signs of foul play.

Hayley Wood

Hayley Wood, in Cambridgeshire, is managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its notable plantlife.
History

A large wood in this area of the parish was mentioned in the 1068 Domesday Book, but by 1251 it had been split into two: Hayley Wood (40 acres) and Littlehound Wood (32 acres). Agriculture in the area declined after 1350 and the wooded area expanded; by 1650, Hayley Wood covered 120 acres and Littlehound 40. Around 1655, Littlehound was 'new stubbed' and disappeared under cultivation, although its outline can still be seen in the form of field boundaries. Hayley Wood was confiscated from the Bishop of Ely by Queen Elizabeth in 1579 and became privately owned.

The Varsity Line - a railway between Bedford and Cambridge - ran along the wood's northern edge between 1863-1969. Now disused, its bed has created different habitats and brought plant species. Hayley Wood was purchased in 1962 by what was then the Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Naturalists' Trust (now the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough).
This ancient woodland is a treasure trove of spring flowers, traditional management practices and archaeological clues to times past. As well as the usual flora, such as bluebell, wood anemone and dog’s mercury, Hayley Wood is host to hundreds of species of fungi, and thousands of insects and birds. Its chequered history is laid out for all to see, if you know how to look.

Geography

Hayley Wood lies in the south-east corner of the civil parish of Little Gransden in Cambridgeshire, 10 miles (17 km) south-west of Cambridge and 45 miles (73 km) north of London.[5] The clay soil is heavy, leading to waterlogged conditions[6] on the flat hilltop.
As you walk up Hayley Lane, the hedge on your left is at least 800 years old and in the winter groans with berries that sustain fieldfares and redwings. As you pass the cottage, you cross the bed of the old Cambridge to Bedfordshire railway line. The tracks are long gone but the telegraph poles give a clue to the industrial past and many of the plants which thrive here today were carried here as seed in the wake of speeding trains.

Flora and fauna


The structure of Hayley Wood is coppice-with-standards of Field Maple, Ash, Hazel and Hawthorn species, with a canopy of Pendunculate Oak and small areas of Small-leaved Elm. Most of the oak trees date from between 1780-1840, older than most woodland oaks.

Management


There are many ancient coppice stools in the wood; coppicing was practiced from at least the 13th Century until the early 20th Century, with a revival from 1964. Traditional management practices are still used in the woodland, including coppicing of an acre of Hazel per year, and hedgelaying to encourage growth and retain structure. Intervention is kept to a minimum so that the wood can return to its original state and dead wood is left as it is an excellent habitat for liverworts and woodpeckers.

The rides and glades are mown to keep nutrient levels down. Most of the wood is surrounded by a fence, erected in 1972,to exclude deer, which has had the effect of reversing the decline in Hayley Wood's famous Oxlip population.
The soil favours Oxlip and Meadowsweet - the wood is described as 'one of the largest Oxlip woods on the chalky Boulder Clay in Britain'. Bluebell and Yellow Archangel grow in drier parts. Plants typical of ancient woodland, including Wood Anemone, Dog's Mercury and Early Purple Orchid, grow; Bird's-nest Orchid and Pale Sedge can also be found. The wood's plantlife is the reason for its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest; it was included in Derek Ratcliffe's A Nature Conservation Review, a survey of the country's most important wildlife sites.
In the wood itself you cannot fail to notice the fence, erected by the Wildlife Trust to protect most of the wood from the ravages of deer browsing. Although not in keeping with the landscape, it has reversed twenty years of decline in the oxlip population for which the wood is so famous. The area you first enter is young oak woodland, grown up since 1920 on a ridged arable field, then as you pass over the bank and ditch which mark the original wood boundary, you enter the ancient wood.

The main ride is a flower-filled corridor between 14 coppice plots, it shows the gradual progress from freshly harvested crop, through lush spring flowers to shady grove. At the end of the plots is the roundabout, the historical turning point for teams of heavy horses when extracting timber, now the site of an information hut where you can explore more of the history of the site. From here you can see some of the wilder parts of the wood, where coppicing is long abandoned and the undergrowth is thicker.

Ascii art want to know more about it

ASCII art is a graphic design technique that utilizes computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable (from a total of 128) characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters (beyond the 128 characters of standard 7-bit ASCII). The term is also loosely used to refer to text based art in general. ASCII art can be created with any text editor, and is often used with free-form languages. Most examples of ASCII art require a fixed-width font (non-proportional fonts, like on a traditional typewriter) such as Courier for presentation.

Among the oldest known examples of ASCII art are the creations by computer-art pioneer Kenneth Knowlton from around 1966, who was working for Bell Labs at the time. "Studies in Perception I" by Ken Knowlton and Leon Harmon from 1966 shows some examples of their early ASCII art.

One of the main reasons ASCII art was born was because early printers often lacked graphics ability and thus characters were used in place of graphic marks. Also, to mark divisions between different print jobs from different users, bulk printers often used ASCII art to print large banners, making the division easier to spot so that the results could be more easily separated by a computer operator or clerk.

History

Typewriter art

Since 1867 typewriters have been used for creating visual art. The oldest known preserved example of typewriter art is a picture of a butterfly made in 1898 by a woman named Flora Stacey.

In the 1954 short film Stamp Day for Superman, typewriter art was a feature of the plot.
TTY and RTTY

TTY stands for "TeleTYpe" or "TeleTYpewriter" and is also known as Teleprinter or Teletype. RTTY stands for Radioteletype. According to a chapter in the "RTTY Handbook", text images have been sent via teletypewriter as early as 1923. However, none of the "old" RTTY art has been discovered yet. What is known is the fact that text images appeared frequently on radio teletype in the 1960s and the 1970s.

ASCII art
There are 95 printable ASCII characters, numbered 32 to 126.

The widespread usage of ASCII art can be traced to the computer bulletin board systems of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The limitations of computers of that time period necessitated the use of text characters to represent images. Along with ASCII's use in communication, however, it also began to appear in the underground online art groups of the period. An ASCII comic is a form of webcomic which uses ASCII text to create images. In place of images in a regular comic, ASCII art is used, with the text or dialog usually placed underneath.

During the 1990s, graphical browsing and variable-width fonts became increasingly popular, leading to a decline in ASCII art. Despite this, ASCII art continued to survive through online MUDs (textual multiplayer roleplaying games), Internet Relay Chat, E-mail, message boards and other forms of online communication which commonly employ the needed fixed-width.

Over the years, warez groups began to get into the ASCII art scene. Warez groups usually release .nfo files with their software, cracks or general illegal software reverse-engineering releases. The ASCII art will usually include the warez group's name and maybe some ASCII borders on the outsides of the release notes, etc.

Uses
A tank and a truck both made using ASCII art.

ASCII art is used wherever text can be more readily printed or transmitted than graphics, or in some cases, where the transmission of pictures is not possible. This includes typewriters, teletypes, non-graphic computer terminals, printer separators, in early computer networking (e.g., BBSes), e-mail, and Usenet news messages. ASCII art is also used within the source code of computer programs for representation of company or product logos, and flow control or other diagrams. In some cases, the entire source code of a program is a piece of ASCII art — for instance, an entry to one of the earlier International Obfuscated C Code Contest is a program that adds numbers, but visually looks like a binary adder drawn in logic ports.

Examples of ASCII-style art predating the modern computer era can be found in the June 1939, July 1948 and October 1948 editions of Popular Mechanics.

"0verkill" is a 2D platform multiplayer shooter game designed entirely in colour ASCII art. There is also a video driver for the popular video game Quake that displays the game in ASCII art. MPlayer and VLC media player can display videos as ASCII art. ASCII art is used in the making of DOS-based ZZT games. Another example of ASCII art in games is "Original War", a little-known game for Windows, in which the cutscenes for the Russians are made up totally of ASCII art.

Emoticons and verticons
Main article: Emoticon

The simplest forms of ASCII art are combinations of two or three characters for expressing emotion in text. They are commonly referred to as 'emoticon', 'smilie', or 'smiley'.

There is another type of one-line ASCII art that does not require the mental rotation of pictures, which is widely known in Japan as kaomoji (literally "face characters".) Traditionally, they are referred to as "ASCII face ". Today, some call them "verticons".

More complex examples use several lines of text to draw large symbols or more complex figures.
The Adventures of Nerd Boy

The Adventures of Nerd Boy, or just Nerd Boy is an ASCII comic by Joaquim Gândara between August 6, 2001 and July 17, 2007, consisting of 600 strips. They were posted to ASCII art newsgroup alt.ascii-art and on the website.[16] Some strips have been translated to Polish[17][18] and French

[edit] Styles of the computer underground text art scene

[edit] Atari 400/800 ATASCII

The Atari 400/800 did not follow the ASCII standard and had its own character set, called ATASCII. The emergence of ATASCII art coincided with the growing popularity of BBS Systems caused by availability of the acoustic couplers that were compatible with the 8-bit home computers. ATASCII text animations are also referred to as "break animations" by the Atari sceners.[citation needed]

C-64 PETSCII

The Commodore 64, which was released in 1982, also did not follow the ASCII standard. The C-64 character set is called PETSCII, an extended form of ASCII-1963. As with the Atari's ATASCII art, C-64 fans developed a similar scene that used PETSCII for their creations.

[edit] "Block ASCII"/"High ASCII" style ASCII art on the IBM PC
Block ASCII display via Notepad versus ACiDView for Windows

So-called "block ASCII" or "high ASCII" uses the extended characters of the 8-bit code page 437, which is a proprietary standard introduced by IBM in 1979 (ANSI Standard x3.16) for the IBM PC and MS DOS operating system. "Block ASCIIs" were widely used on the PC during the 1990s until the Internet replaced BBSes as the main communication platform. Until then, "block ASCIIs" dominated the PC Text Art Scene.

The first art scene group that focused on the extended character set of the PC in their art work was called "Aces of ANSI Art," or "AAA." Some members of left in 1990, and formed a group called ACiD, "ANSI Creators in Demand." In that same year the second major underground art scene group was founded, ICE, "Insane Creators Enterprise".

There is some debate between ASCII and block ASCII artist, with "Hardcore" ASCII artists maintaining that block ASCII art is in fact ANSI art, because it does not use the 128 characters of the original ASCII standard. On the other hand, block ASCII artists argue that if their art uses only characters of the computers character set, then it is to be called ASCII, regardless if the character set is proprietary or not.

Microsoft Windows does not support the ANSI Standard x3.16. One can view block ASCIIs with a text editor using the font "Terminal," but it will not look exactly as it was intended by the artist. With a special ASCII/ANSI viewer, such as ACiDView for Windows (see ASCII and ANSI art viewers), one can see block ASCII and ANSI files properly. An example that illustrates the difference in appearance is part of this article. Alternatively, one could look at the file using the Type command in the command prompt.

"Amiga"/"Oldskool" style ASCII art
Oldschool/Amiga ASCII look on Commodore Amiga Computer versus look on the IBM PC (notice the tight spacing)

In the art scene one popular ASCII style that used the 7-bit standard ASCII character set was the so called "Oldskool" Style. It is also called "Amiga style", due to its origin and widespread use on the Commodore Amiga Computers. The style uses primarily the characters: _/\-+=.()<>:. The "oldskool" art looks more like the outlined drawings of shapes than real pictures. This is an example of "Amiga style" (also referred to as "old school" or "oldskool" style) scene ASCII art.[21]

The Amiga ASCII Scene surfaced in 1992, 7 years after the introduction of the Commodore Amiga 1000. The Commodore 64 PETSCII scene did not make the transition to the Commodore Amiga as the C64 demo and warez scenes did. Among the first Amiga ASCII art groups were ART, Epsilon Design, Upper Class, Unreal. This means that the text art scene on the Amiga was actually younger than the text art scene on the PC. The Amiga artists also did not call their ASCII art style "Oldskool". That term was introduced on the PC. When and by whom is unknown and lost in history.

The Amiga style ASCII artwork was most often released in the form of a single text file, which included all the artwork (usually requested), with some design parts in between, as opposed to the PC art scene where the art work was released as a ZIP archive with separate text files for each piece. Furthermore, the releases were usually called "ASCII collections" and not "art packs" like on the IBM PC.

This kind of ASCII art is hand made in a text editor. Popular editors used to make this kind of ASCII art include
CygnusEditor aka CED (Amiga) and EditPlus2 (PC).

"Newskool" style ASCII art
Newskool ASCII Screenshot

Another popular style of the PC underground art scene, which is using primarily the characters like "$#Xxo." was called "Newskool". This label is actually inaccurate because the style was not "new"; on the contrary it was very old but fell out of favor and was replaced by "Oldskool" and "Block" style ASCII art. Most sceners deemed it a new style, nonetheless, and dubbed it "Newskool" upon its comeback and renewed popularity at the end of the nineties.[21]

"Newskool" continued to evolve and the use of extended proprietary characters was introduced. The classic 7-bit standard ASCII characters remain predominant. The extended characters are primarily used for "fine tuning" and "tweaking" of the ASCII image. With the introduction and wide spread adaptation of Unicode the style developed further and new forms of text art evolved from that as well.


Oldskool font example from the PC, which was taken from the ASCII Editor FIGlet.

Methods for generating ASCII art
Main article: List of text editors#ASCII_and_ANSI_art

While some prefer to use a simple text editor to produce ASCII art, specialized programs have been developed that often simulate the features and tools in bitmap image editors. For Block ASCII art and ANSI art the artist almost always uses a special text editor, because the required characters are not available on a standard keyboard.

The special text editors have sets of special characters assigned to existing keys on the keyboard. Popular MS DOS based editors, such as TheDraw and ACiDDraw had multiple sets of different special characters mapped to the F-Keys to make the use of those characters easier for the artist who can switch between individual sets of characters via basic keyboard shortcuts. PabloDraw is one of the very few special ASCII/ANSI art editors that were developed for MS Windows XP.

[edit] Image to text conversion
Main article: ASCII art converters

Other programs allow one to automatically convert an image to text characters, which is a special case of vector quantization. A method is to sample the image down to grayscale with less than 8-bit precision, and then assign a character for each value.

Examples of converted images are given below.

With the advent of the web and HTML and CSS, many ASCII conversion programs will now quantize to a full RGB colorspace, enabling colorized ASCII images.

Since the appearance of the first simple converter tools, individuals have converted images to ASCII art automatically and afterwards claimed that they generated the result themselves "by hand" via a text editor.

Images that were converted to text, where no touch up work was done after the conversion, can in almost every case be identified as such, at least by an experienced text artist. The detection of converted, software-generated text art becomes much more difficult if some time was spent by the fraudster to touch up the details that are typical indicators of auto-generation. The inconsistencies in "shading" in just one art piece are often what gives the fraudster away.
Non fixed-width ASCII

Most ASCII art is created using a monospace font, where all characters are identical in width (Courier New is a popular font). However, most of the more commonly used fonts in word processors, web browsers and other programs are proportional fonts, such as Arial or Times New Roman, where different widths are used for different characters. ASCII art drawn for a fixed width font will usually appear distorted, or even unrecognizable when displayed in a proportional font.

Some ASCII artists have produced art for display in such fonts. These ASCIIs, rather than using a purely shade-based correspondence, use characters for slopes and borders and use block shading. These ASCIIs generally offer greater precision and attention to detail than fixed-width ASCIIs for a lower character count, although they are not as universally accessible since they are usually relatively font-specific.

Animated ASCII art

Animated ASCII art started in 1970 from so-called VT100 animations produced on vt100 terminals. These animations were simply text with cursor movement instructions, deleting and erasing the characters necessary to appear animated. Usually, they represented a long hand-crafted process undertaken by a single person to tell a story.

Contemporary web browser revitalized animated ASCII art again. It became possible to display animated ASCII art via JavaScript or Java applets. Static ASCII art pictures are loaded and displayed one after another, creating the animation, very similar to how movie projectors unreel film reel and project the individual pictures on the big screen at movie theatres. A new term was born: ASCIImation - another name of Animated ASCII Art. A seminal work in this arena is the Star Wars ASCIImation. More complicated routines in JavaScript generate more elaborate ASCIImations showing effects like Morphing effects, star field emulations, fading effects and calculated images, such as mandelbrot fractal animations.

There are now many tools and programs that can transform raster images into text symbols; some of these tools can operate on streaming video. For example, the music video for pop singer Beck Hansen's song "Black Tambourine" is made up entirely of ASCII characters that approximate the original footage.
Other text-based art

There are a variety of other types of art using text symbols from character sets other than ASCII and/or some form of color coding. Despite not being pure ASCII, these are still often referred to as "ASCII art". The character set portion designed specifically for drawing is known as the line drawing characters or pseudo-graphics.

ANSI art

The IBM PC graphics hardware in text mode uses 16 bits per character. It supports a variety of configurations, but in its default mode under DOS they are used to give 256 glyphs from one of the IBM PC code pages (Code page 437 by default), 16 foreground colors, 8 background colors, and a flash option. Such art can be loaded into screen memory directly. ANSI.SYS, if loaded, also allows such art to be placed on screen by outputting escape sequences that indicate movements of the screen cursor and color/flash changes. If this method is used then the art becomes known as ANSI art. The IBM PC code pages also include characters intended for simple drawing which often made this art appear much cleaner than that made with more traditional character sets. Plain text files are also seen with these characters, though they have become far less common since Windows GUI text editors (using the Windows ANSI code page) have largely replaced DOS based ones.

Shift_JIS

A large character selection, the widespread use of Japanese on the internet, and the availability of standard fonts with predictable spacing make Shift JIS a common format for text based art on the internet.

[edit] Unicode
Main article: Unicode

Unicode would seem to offer the ultimate flexibility in producing text based art with its huge variety of characters. However, finding a suitable fixed-width font is likely to be difficult if a significant subset of Unicode is desired. (Modern UNIX-style operating systems do provide complete fixed-width Unicode fonts, e.g. for xterm.) Also, the common practice of rendering Unicode with a mixture of variable width fonts is likely to make predictable display hard if more than a tiny subset of Unicode is used, making a complicated picture.


Overprinting (surprint)

In the 1970s and early 1980s it was popular to produce a kind of text art that relied on overprinting — the overall darkness of a particular character space dependent on how many characters, as well as the choice of character, printed in a particular place. Thanks to the increased granularity of tone, photographs were often converted to this type of printout. Even manual typewriters or daisy wheel printers could be used. The technique has fallen from popularity since all cheap printers can easily print photographs, and a normal text file (or an e-mail message or Usenet posting) cannot represent overprinted text. However, something similar has emerged to replace it: shaded or colored ASCII art, using ANSI video terminal markup or color codes (such as those found in HTML, IRC, and many internet message boards) to add a bit more tone variation. In this way, it is possible to create ASCII art where the characters only differ in color

Jaycee lee dugard

Jaycee Lee Dugard was born May 3, 1980 in Anaheim, California.
Abduction

On June 10, 1991, Dugard's stepfather Carl Probyn saw two people in a gray sedan, possibly a Mercury Monarch or Mercury Zephyr, pull up to a bus stop where she was waiting and abduct her. Despite an extensive investigation, police uncovered no further information about the abduction. Her stepfather was initially a suspect in her disappearance, and took several lie-detector tests. The case attracted nation-wide attention and was featured several times on the crime-stopping television show, America's Most Wanted.
Numerous people discovered it Thursday and vented angry and often violent feelings

The story of Jaycee Lee Dugard being found alive was the top story on news web sites from Europe to New Zealand and India. It was a top story on several Web sites, such as NYTimes.com, msnbc.com and bbc.com. Cable news stations carried the story throughout the evening.

CNN

CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed Ed Smart and his daughter Elizabeth, who was abducted from her bedroom in 2002 and reunited with her family nine months later, about their thoughts on Dugard. Ed Smart said urged people to report suspicious activity.

In 2002, police searched the vacation property of a defrocked priest who lived in the area, but found nothing.

Time as a captive

Law enforcement officers believe that Jaycee Lee Dugard was kept in outdoor sheds or tents in a hidden area behind Phillip Garrido's residence and was used as a sex slave for Garrido and his wife Nancy. The hidden area of the yard also included outhouses. Dugard became pregnant several times during captivity, bearing at least two daughters. According to law enforcement, Dugard was in good physical health, but neither Dugard or her daughters had been to school or had seen a doctor in the years since she was abducted.

Jaycee lived in a 10x10 foot shed, as did her children. They also had two tents, and what has been described as a "rudimentary’ camping-style shower and toilet.
Reappearance

On August 25, 2009, Phillip Garrido brought two girls, ages 11 and 15, to UC Berkeley to distribute religious literature. A campus officer spotted the trio, became suspicious, and ran a background check. After learning of Garrido's 1971 rape conviction, she contacted his parole officer. At a parole meeting the next day, Garrido brought the two girls in, along with a woman named "Allissa." They turned out to be Jaycee and the two children she had borne in captivity. Police believe that this may have been the first time Jaycee had been off of Garrido's property in 18 years. Garrido and his wife were arrested on the spot, and Jaycee was turned over to police. After "Allissa" spoke by telephone with Dugard's mother, Terry Probyn, Dugard's stepfather said "I would say it's a 99 percent chance it's her." On August 27, 2009, the woman was confirmed to be Jaycee Lee.

Alleged abductors
Phillip Craig Garrido
Born April 5, 1951 (1951-04-05) (age 58)
Contra Costa County, California, USA
Nationality American

Mugshots of Phillip Craig Garrido (left) and Nancy Garrido, August 26, 2009

Law enforcement sources indicated that Phillip Craig Garrido, 58, and his wife Nancy Garrido, 55, of 1554 Walnut Ave, Antioch, CA[14] had been arrested in connection with Dugard's abduction. The same sources indicated that Phillip Garrido was a registered sex offender who had spent time in prison following a conviction for rape.

KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, interviewed Garrido in his jail cell by telephone. During the interview Garrido said that, "In the end, this is going to be a powerful, heartwarming story." He also repeatedly told the reporter that he had "filed documents" with the FBI that, when they were revealed, would cause people to "fall over backwards" and that he could not reveal more because he "had to protect law enforcement" and that "what happened" was "something that humans have not understood well."

"My life has been straightened out.” “Wait till you hear the story of what took place at this house. You’re going to be absolutely impressed. It’s a disgusting thing that took place with me at the beginning, but I turned my life completely around."

Garrido also kept an internet blog associated with God’s Desire church. In the blog he said that he had the power to control sound with his mind:

“I Phillip Garrido have clearly demonstrated the ability to control sound with my mind and have developed a device for others to witness this phenomena” “I have produced a set of voices by effectively controlling the sound to pronounce words through my own mental powers.”


“I think that sometimes we need to put ourselves out and if we feel uncomfortable about something, you might look stupid, but it’s better to check than not,” he said.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Rancho palos verdes fire want know more about it

Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) is a city in Los Angeles County, California that was incorporated on September 7, 1973. The population was 41,145 at the 2000 census.


Rancho Palos Verdes
is a quiet, affluent suburb of Los Angeles. Sitting atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, it is known for expansive views of the Pacific Ocean. The history of Rancho Palos Verdes dates back to the Spanish explorers and the establishment of the first Spanish rancho land grant in California. Its most notable geographic features are the Palos Verdes Hills and cliffs with grand vistas of the Pacific Ocean, with views of Santa Catalina Island. Its most notorious geographic feature is the continuous landslide at Portuguese Bend, which may have been caused in part by septic runoff from homes in Rancho Palos Verdes and its neighboring communities.
Contents



Landmarks

Wayfarers Chapel designed by Lloyd Wright and built between 1949-1951 is on the National Register of Historic Places. Point Vicente Lighthouse was built in 1926 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. Marineland, once the world's largest oceanarium, operated from 1954 through 1987. The site has been converted into a large resort.

Geography

Rancho Palos Verdes is located at 33°45′30″N 118°21′51″W / 33.75833°N 118.36417°W / 33.75833; -118.36417 (33.758216, -118.364256).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.4 km² (13.7 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 41,145 people, 15,256 households, and 12,220 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,163.0/km² (3,011.2/mi²). There were 15,709 housing units at an average density of 444.0/km² (1,149.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.23% White, 1.98% African American, 0.15% Native American, 25.95% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 1.21% from other races, and 3.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.68% of the population.

There were 15,256 households out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.9% were non-families. 16.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $108,640, and the median income for a family was $122,589.[8] Males had a median income of $80,617 versus $46,665 for females. The per capita income for the city was $46,250. About 2.0% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The city is served by Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. PVPUSD schools have constantly ranked among the best in California and the nation. The Washington Post once ranked the district's largest high school, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (PVPHS) in neighboring Rolling Hills Estates as the 8th best public or private high school in the nation. Also, Chadwick School is a well known K-12 private school that serves the area. Another private school is Christ Lutheran Church and School. It ranges from preschool to 8th grade. Rolling Hills Country Day School[1], adjacent to the South Coast Botanic Garden, offers a private K-8 education. Rancho Palos Verdes also includes Marymount College.

The latest survey conducted by U.S. News in 2007 reports that PVPHS still ranks among the top 100, at 89th place, and the reopened Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) in Palos Verdes Estates trails closely behind, at 93rd place.

Schools served by the PVPUSD:

* Cornerstone at Pedregal Elementary
* Dapplegray Elementary
* Lunada Bay Elementary
* Mira Catalina Elementary
* Miraleste Elementary
* Miraleste Intermediate
* Montemalaga Elementary
* Palos Verdes High
* Palos Verdes Intermediate
* Palos Verdes Peninsula High
* Point Vicente Elementary
* Rancho Del Mar High School
* Rancho Vista Elementary
* Ridgecrest Intermediate
* Silver Spur Elementary
* Soleado Elementary
* Vista Grande Elementary
Politics

In the state legislature Rancho Palos Verdes is located in the 25th Senate District, represented by Democrat Edward Vincent, and in the 54th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Bonnie Lowenthal. Federally, Rancho Palos Verdes is located in California's 46th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +6[9] and is represented by Republican Dana Rohrabacher.

Emergency services

Fire protection in Rancho Palos Verdes is provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department with ambulance transport by McCormick Ambulance Service. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provides law enforcement, operating out of the Lomita Station.