An Interesting Online Chat (Humor)

Our FRIEND WAS chatting with a female - (Online chat).

(Background both are s/w engineers by the way and both work for real big MNC's)

Hero : Hey...GM (Good Morning)... How's u doing today?

Female: VGM...Day is going good and it got better having found u on chat

Hero : wow...am honoured, u know what, my day starts only when I find you on Chat

Female: Yep...me too feel the same...Brb (be right back)'ll get some Coffee.

Hero : OK

(Hero waits impatiently. Meanwhile, his manager comes to his desk ).

Manager : Hey, I need some help from you

Hero : [**** This guy always comes at wrong time] Yeah tell me.

Manager : Could u write a program for me which generates nth prime number, Given value of n. Would you give this by today evening?

Hero : I would do that, but I think it's quite hard, is it ok with you, if I Give it by tomorrow evening.

Manager: Yeah, that would be fine. Thank you [Leaves the place]

(Our hero sighs and stares at his monitor waiting impatiently for Female to Arrive. All of a sudden smiles on his face. Over to chat window...)

Female: Hey, am back

Hero : cool, you know what my manager does, he's kinda..... keeps asking stupid tings, tries to give me stupid work.... $*#&$@

Female: Yeah, it's the same everywhere. Real sick ppl these managers are!!

Hero : Yep, u rite!!

Female: Hey, can u do me a favor

Hero : *smiles* sure, why not.

Female: Hey, I want you to write me a program to print nth prime Number, given N. Would you give that to me by tomorrow evening? Plzzz. You know it's real Urgent for me to work this out

Hero : hey, that's a one-hour's work. Sure check Ur mail in an hour from now.

ok?

Female: THIS IS WHAT I ASKED U WHEN I CAME TO YOUR WORK PLACE. NOW YOU KNOW WHO I AM ...!!

AND ONE MORE POINT.... YOUR 1 HOUR TIME STARTS NOW !!

*********
FUNZUG.COM

Nadine Velazquez

Nadine Velazquez (born November 20, 1978) is an American actress and model.

Velazquez was born in Chicago, Illinois, of Puerto Rican descent. She attended Notre Dame High School for Girls, and has a BA in marketing. Her first acting role was a McDonald's commercial as a drive-thru lady. She was also originally cast as Fernando Sucre's girlfriend Maricruz Delgado in the Fox television series Prison Break but acquired a role in My Name Is Earl instead.

Her latest roles were in the film War with Jet Li and Jason Statham, and in the Oxygen Network original television film Husband for Hire. She recently starred in the NBC series My Name Is Earl as Catalina Aruca. In 2006 she was ranked #54 in 102 sexiest women in the world, and was named #39 in the annual Maxim Hot 100 list.

Danica Patrick

Danica Sue Patrick (born March 25, 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin) is an American auto racing driver, currently competing in the IndyCar Series, as well as a model and advertising spokeswoman. She was raised in Roscoe, Illinois. Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season. In May 2006, she published her autobiography, Danica: Crossing the Line. With her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first woman to win an Indy car race. Patrick currently drives the #7 Boost Mobile/GoDaddy.com Honda/Dallara for Andretti Green Racing. She also has an equity stake in her #7 team. She placed 3rd in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, which was both a personal best for her at the track and the highest finish by a woman in the event's history.

Patrick began go-karting in 1992 at the age of 10, and went on to win several World Karting Association championships. She moved to England at the age of 16 in order to advance her racing career. Patrick raced in Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall, earning a second-place finish in Britain's Formula Ford Festival, the highest finish by a woman in the event.

In 2002, Patrick started driving for Rahal Letterman Racing in the United States. After making several starts in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, she moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship for 2003. Patrick won one pole position and was a consistent podium finisher (top three); however, she never won a race. In 2004, Patrick finished third in the Championship.

IRL IndyCar Series

After the 2004 racing season, Rahal Letterman Racing officially announced that Patrick would drive in the IRL IndyCar Series for 2005.

On May 29, 2005, Patrick became only the fourth woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500, following Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher. After posting the fastest practice speed of the month (229.880 mph/369.956 km/h) during the morning practice session on the first day of qualifications (May 15), she made an error in the first turn of her first qualifying lap, and failed to capture the pole position, which instead went to Tony Kanaan. Patrick's fourth starting position, however, was still the highest ever attained for the race by a female driver. Patrick became the first female driver to lead the race at Indianapolis, first when acquiring it for a lap near the 125-mile (201 km) mark while cycling through pit stops, and late in the race when she stayed out one lap longer than her rivals during a set of green-flag pit stops. Patrick overcame two crucial errors to finish fourth in the race, the same position in which she started: Patrick's car stalled in the pits about halfway through the 500-mile (800 km) race, dropping her to the middle of the field; and shortly after reclaiming a spot in the top 10, Patrick spun on a caution period just before an intended green flag leading to a four car accident. The accident caused damage to Patrick's car that was limited to the nose and front wing. Her pit crew promptly made repairs, and due to the subsequent yellow, Patrick was able to rejoin the field having lost only one position. When the leaders pitted for fuel on lap 172, Patrick stayed out to take the lead. On lap 194, eventual race winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon passed her as she was forced to slow in order to conserve fuel. Patrick was subsequently passed by both Bryan Herta and her teammate Vitor Meira. Patrick's fourth place was the highest ever finish for a female driver at the Indy 500, besting the previous record of ninth set by Janet Guthrie in 1978. Patrick led 19 laps overall.

On July 2, 2005, Patrick won her first pole position, leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Rahal Letterman Racing at Kansas Speedway. She became the second woman to accomplish this feat in the IndyCar Series, the first being Sarah Fisher in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. On August 13, 2005, she won her second pole at Kentucky Speedway, although this time, rain prematurely ended qualifying and position was determined by speeds achieved during practice. She took a third pole at Chicagoland Speedway which tied her with Tomas Scheckter's record for number of pole positions earned in a rookie season.

In 2005, Patrick finished 12th in the IndyCar Series championship, with 325 points. She was named Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.

During the offseason following the 2005 racing year, Patrick competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona along with co-driver Rusty Wallace in January 2006.

Patrick competed in the 2006 IndyCar Series season giving her another chance at qualifying and racing in the Indianapolis 500. In the first race of the season, the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead, Patrick qualified third behind the Penske Racing teammates of Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. However, tragedy struck as RLR teammate Paul Dana was killed in a crash during practice the morning of the race. Patrick and Buddy Rice withdrew from the race immediately. The two resumed their 2006 IndyCar campaign with the second race of the year at St. Petersburg

At the Indy 500, Patrick started eighth and finished eighth. After Watkins Glen, RLR switched to the Dallara chassis and the team struggled to adapt. Patrick struggled to remain competitive, but her fourth place finishes at Nashville and Milwaukee tied her career best IndyCar finishes. At Michigan, Patrick's car ran out of fuel with three laps to go and she fell to 17th. She rebounded at Kentucky and Infineon to finish 8th in both races.

In her final race with RLR at Chicagoland, Patrick recorded a 12th place finish and a 9th place finish in the IndyCar Series Championship point standings, besting her 12th place points finish as a rookie.

In November, the March of Dimes awarded her the title of Sportswoman of the Year in celebration of her dedication and success.

On July 25, 2006, Patrick announced she had signed a deal to drive for Andretti Green Racing, replacing Bryan Herta in the number 7 Dallara Honda car beginning in 2007. Patrick's car is sponsored by Motorola, XM radio and Go Daddy.

In Patrick's first race with AGR at Homestead on March 24 she finished 14th after crashing into the pit wall on lap 154. She finished 8th at St. Pete and 11th at Japan. At Kansas she had her best finish of the year at that point, finishing 7th.

In April 2007, Patrick launched her official fan club The Danica Maniacs to help foster greater interaction between her and her fans.

Patrick ended up starting and finishing eighth in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. She ran as high as 2nd to Tony Kanaan after the mid-race rain delay. After a pit stop, she dropped back in the field. Patrick was working her way back to the front until the race was ended under the caution caused by Marco Andretti's accident due to the subsequent rain on lap 166.

At Milwaukee, Patrick started second to last but moved up quickly to 5th before contact with Dan Wheldon. Patrick managed to save the car from hitting anything but the wreck caused aerodynamic damage. She used a timely caution to get back on the lead lap and finish 8th. After the race she and Wheldon had a heated exchange after she tried to confront him about the wreck.

Following the incident at Milwaukee, Patrick rebounded with a career night at Texas in the Bombardier Learjet 550. She ran with the lead pack throughout the entire race and led a race for the first time since 2005. She finished less than a second behind winner Sam Hornish, Jr., a then career-best third, her first "podium" finish.

Her good fortune would only be temporary as she was involved in one of the several crashes at Iowa to finish 13th. She would however rebound at Richmond to run in the top 10 all night before finishing 6th.

She followed that up with an 11th place finish at Watkins Glen before running in the top 5 all day and finishing 3rd at Nashville. At Mid-Ohio she finished 5th (her best career road course finish) despite being involved in a lap 1 accident that sent her into the grass briefly.

Patrick continued to have bad luck at Michigan International Speedway as previous years have seen Patrick retire from the race early due to fuel and other troubles. At the 2007 running, a flat tire in the late portion of the race forced Patrick to pit and dropped her to a 7th place finish.

Her terrible luck would continue at Kentucky as she ran in the lead group all night and appeared headed towards another podium finish when she spun out exiting pit road with less than 50 laps to go. After restarting from that spin, a rear tire on Patrick's car blew leading to a crash and forcing her to retire from the race.

Her luck would get a little better at Infineon as she ran in the top 10 and finished 6th. However a series of slow pit stops kept her from what could have been an even better finish.

At Belle Isle, Patrick started 11th and was involved in two accidents from which she was able to restart without damage, eventually driving to the front and leading 9 laps of the race before falling back after having to pit. On the final lap, while Patrick was running in 5th, Buddy Rice, Scott Dixon and teammate Dario Franchitti were involved in an accident immediately in front of her. Patrick was able to avoid the wreck and finish in second place, a career-high in the IndyCar Series and tying her with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Sarah Fisher for best finish in IndyCar racing by a female.

At the season finale in Chicagoland Speedway, Patrick ran most of the race in the top 6, but had to make a pit stop for fuel with 7 laps to go. When entering pit lane, Patrick spun-out but avoided damage to her car. With assistance from her pit crew, Patrick was able to refire the engine, make a complete pit stop and reenter the race, finishing 11th overall.

For the 2007 season as a whole, Patrick scored her first three career podium finishes to finish with 4 top 5's and 11 top 10's while leading 17 laps on the season. She also scored her career best championship points finish of 7th with 424 points.

Patrick won her first IRL race at the 2008 Indy Japan 300, and became first woman to win an IndyCar Series race.

To begin the 2008 season, her second with AGR, Patrick scored her best career Homestead finish of 6th. She followed that up with another top 10 by scoring a 10th place finish at St. Petersburg.

Patrick won at Twin Ring Motegi in the Indy Japan 300 on April 20, 2008, becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race, joining the ranks of drag racer Shirley Muldowney, who won three NHRA Top Fuel Championships, as a "first female" winner in the top tier of American motorsports. Patrick took the Indy Japan 300 after the race leaders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps. She finished 5.8594 seconds ahead of the Brazilian pole-sitter Helio Castroneves, who ran out of fuel in the final turns on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Twin Ring Motegi oval.

Her team owner, Michael Andretti, commented, "I'm thrilled for her that the monkey is finally off of her back."

A mechanical problem late in the race RoadRunner Turbo 300 at Kansas Speedway forced Patrick to retire early from the race.

During practice for the 2008 Indianapolis 500, Patrick's car struck a member of Dale Coyne Racing's pit crew when she came into the pits on May 9. During the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, 2008, she retired from the race early after a collision in the pitlane. As Ryan Briscoe exited his pitbox the two cars collided, damaging Patrick's left rear suspension and eliminating both from the race. After being pushed back to her own pit, Patrick left her car and headed down pit road towards Briscoe's pit at which point IMS security intervened, preventing an on-track confrontation.

Following Indy, Patrick finished 9th at Milwaukee and 10th at Texas, with both races ending under yellow flag conditions. At Iowa and Richmond she stayed out of the many crashes during these races and finished 6th in each event.

Overall, she finished the 2008 IndyCar Series season in sixth place - the highest championship finish among American drivers for the 2008 season.

During the offseason following the 2008 racing year, Patrick made her second appearance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January 2009 .

On May 24, Patrick raced at the Indy 500. She finished third behind winner Helio Castroneves and second-place Dan Wheldon. It was her best finish in five attempts, one spot better than her 2005 finish, and a new record high finish for a female driver in the race. The following weekend in Milwaukee Patrick raced to 5th position at the flag. On June 6, she finished the Bombardier Learjet 550 in 6th place, dropping her to fifth place in the IndyCar Series point standings.

Patrick began the season with the Motorola sponsorship from her previous two seasons with AGR, however her car was rebranded for Boost Mobile following the Kansas race. The changes were made public with a drive down the tarmac at the Indianapolis International Airport.

In what was a difficult Honda Indy Toronto qualifying and practice for the entire AGR team, Patrick started the race in the 18th position (her teammates also starting in the rear of the field in 17th, 20th, and 22nd). Patrick had the best finish of the AGR team moving up 12 positions to finish 6th, putting her only three points behind Castroneves for the 4th position in the 2009 points championship.

Emma Stone

Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She made her feature film debut in 2007 with the comedy Superbad and gained wide exposure in 2008's The Rocker and The House Bunny.

Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the daughter of Jeff and Krista Stone, and has a younger brother, Spencer. Stone was a member of the Valley Youth Theatre while growing up, a regional theater in Phoenix, Arizona where she appeared in her first stage production, The Wind in the Willows, at the age of 11. Stone attended Sequoya Elementary School and then Cocopah Middle School for sixth grade. She was home schooled for two years, at which time she appeared in 16 productions at Valley Youth Theatre, including: A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail, The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella, The Wiz, Titanic, Honk!, The Little Mermaid, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Alice in Wonderland, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and performed with the theatre's improv comedy troupe. She told Teen Vogue in a September 2008 interview that, since her mind "works in five-minute increments," she connected to improvisational comedy.

Stone attended Xavier College Preparatory, an all-girl Catholic high school, as a freshman for one semester. She gave a PowerPoint presentation to her parents to convince them to let her move to California for an acting career. She moved with her mother to Los Angeles, California at age 15.

Career

Stone launched a career in television after winning the role of Laurie Partridge on In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004), a VH1 talent competition reality show. The resulting show, The New Partridge Family (2005), only produced a pilot episode. Stone next appeared in the television series Medium, Malcolm in the Middle and Lucky Louie. In 2007, Stone had a regular role on the Fox television drama series Drive until its cancellation. She made her feature film debut in the teen comedy Superbad, playing Jules, the love interest of lead character Seth (Jonah Hill).

In 2008, Stone appeared in the comedy films The Rocker, with Rainn Wilson, and The House Bunny, starring Anna Faris. In The Rocker, Stone played Amelia, the bassist in a band featuring Teddy Geiger; a role for which she learned to play the bass. In The House Bunny, Stone played the president of a sorority. Colin Hanks and American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee also appear in the film.

In 2009, Stone appeared in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a romantic comedy directed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls (2004), and starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. Stone played "The Ghost of Girlfriends Past", a takeoff of the Ghost of Christmas Past from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Stone will star in the comedy Paper Man, starring Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Lisa Kudrow, and directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney. Stone began filming on Veterans Day, November 11, 2008, in Montauk, New York, using well-known local locations. She will also star in the horror/comedy Zombieland, along with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. The project, her third comedy for Columbia Pictures, began shooting in Atlanta in February 2009. Stone plays the character Wichita, from Wichita, Kansas, traveling across the U.S. with her little sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Stone will star as a high school student in Easy A with Amanda Bynes, a comedy directed by Will Gluck. Stone's character divides the strictly moral students and teachers against the liberals in her school after a false rumor circulates that she's sexually promiscuous. The script draws on elements of The Scarlet Letter and that novel's heroine, Hester Prynne.

Stone has stated that she would eventually like to venture into film production, producing her own films, and would like to appear on Saturday Night Live

Personal life

As of 2007, Stone lives on her own in Los Angeles. She has stated that she is skilled in HTML and has web design as a hobby. As of July 2008, Stone was romantically linked to singer-songwriter and actor Teddy Geiger, her co-star in The Rocker though they have not been seen together since the Rocker premiere. Although known as a redhead, Stone was a brunette when film producer Judd Apatow had her change the color for her role in Superbad. She is naturally a blonde.

Sophie Monk

Sophie Charlene Akland Monk (born 14 December 1979) is an Australian pop singer, actress and model.

She was once a member of female pop group Bardot and has since established a solo career with the release of an album, Calendar Girl.

More recently, she turned her hand to acting, appearing in films such as Date Movie and Click.

Monk's professional music career began in 1999 when she responded to an advertisement at the recommendation of her mother which requested girls with vocal and dance experience. The advertisement was for the Australian television series, Popstars, a TV talent show which aimed to create a successful new girl group. Monk, who has been trained in classical and pop singing and has been performing since she was eight years old, drove all night to audition. In one audition, she performed a rendition of Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday, Mr. President", working on her previous experience as a Monroe impersonator at Warner Bros. Movie World. After numerous rounds of singing and dancing workshops, Monk was selected as a member of the group, which was named Bardot.

Bardot became the first Australian act to debut at the #1 position with both its debut single, "Poison", and self-titled debut album. Further singles "I Should've Never Let You Go" and "These Days" followed and in August, the group embarked on its first national tour. Bardot performed at the 2000 ARIA Awards at which they were nominated in three categories.

In July 2001, the group released "ASAP", the first single from their second album. Bardot now had more control over their music and image. The single peaked Top 5, as did follow-up single, "I Need Somebody", their most successful single since "Poison". The second album, Play It Like That debuted at #16, achieving gold status. Monk co-wrote the album track "Feel Right" with fellow bandmate Sally Polihronas. In 2002, final single, "Love Will Find A Way" completed Bardot's string of consecutive Top 20 hits and the group embarked on its second national tour. In May, the group disbanded.

Soon after Bardot's split, Monk began work on her solo career, re-signing a solo contract with Warner Music. She travelled overseas to work with some well-known producers including hit maker Rob Davis (famous for co-writing Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head") and this resulted in two tracks, "Inside Outside", Monk's debut solo single and the album track "Don't Push It". Sophie performed her new single for the very first time in September on the grand final edition of the AFL Footy Show at Rod Laver Arena. "Inside Outside" was released 28 October 2002 and after a week of busy promotion, debuted in the Top 5, spending a total of 12 weeks in the ARIA Top 50, receiving gold status. Monk also co-wrote the B-side "Luv Me" (in dedication to her long-term boyfriend of the time) with producer Shane Monopoly. Adding to her growing profile was her role as model and spokesperson for Expozay Swimwear. Second single, "Get The Music On" was co written by Roselyn Della Sabina, became another Top 10 hit, spending 10 weeks in the Top 50. The single's B-side "Shake" was also co-written by her.

In May 2003, Monk released her debut solo album, Calendar Girl, which surprised many by mixing contemporary pop-dance and funk with classical opera interludes, Monk having been classically trained growing up. Despite heavy promotion including TV advertising and in store appearances, the album debuted at #35 which was seen as a disappointing result. The album's final single, the ballad "One Breath Away", was re-recorded and mixed for single release, peaking at #23 in July, spending only 9 weeks in the Top 100. Despite beginning work on new material in early 2004, including songs with Roselyn Della Sabina and dance act Rogue Traders, Monk parted ways with Warner Music. The material created during these sessions has yet to surface.

Sophie Monk has since established herself in Hollywood. Although most of her roles have been reasonably small, she did play Marilyn Monroe for a high-budget telemovie The Mystery Of Natalie Wood (2004) and starred in the music video "Always" for rock group blink-182.

In February 2006, she starred in her debut feature role as the flirtatious and seductive 'best man' Andy in the spoof comedy Date Movie. A scene in the film sees Monk act out a parody of the infamous Paris Hilton burger advertisement, somewhat ironic now since her ex-fiancee started dating Hilton in 2008.

June 2006 saw the release of the Adam Sandler film Click, a story about a universal remote control. The film debuted at #1 on both the US and Australian box office charts. Monk plays a small role in this film; Stacey, David Hasselhoff's flirtatious, bimbo secretary who she described in an interview as "... kind of a floozy that kind of just works there because she gets around a bit. Another serious character."

In 2007 she appeared in HBO's Entourage episode "The Day Fuckers", which included a sex scene with Vincent Chase.

Also in 2007, Monk played the role of Cynthia Rose in the dark comedy Sex and Death 101, written and directed by Daniel Waters. The film stars fellow Australian actor Simon Baker, and Winona Ryder, and received a straight-to-DVD release on 5 March 2008.

In 2009, Sophie Monk is due to appear in a total of 6 films:

Firstly, in the upcoming Warner Bros. comedy Spring Breakdown she plays "Mason Masters". Monk describes her character as "... the head of the evil girls. I'm like the evil bitch that everyone wants to be like and they all end up hating her." She has confirmed that she is recording three songs for the film Spring Breakdown and that one of the songs "Candy" will be released as a single to coincide with the film's release. She is also set to star in a similarly named comedy titled Spring Break '83 in which she plays the character Brittany.

Also in 2009, Monk will appear in the horror film Murder World alongside Scout Taylor-Compton, as well as the films The Hills Run Red, Hard Breakers and The Legend of Awesomest Maximus.

Marisa Miller

Marisa Lee Miller (born August 6, 1978) is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, and her work for lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret. After a stint shooting with photographer Mario Testino for fashion magazines like Vogue, Miller began working for both companies in 2002. As of late 2007, she is a Victoria's Secret Angel, and graced the cover of the 2008 SI Swimsuit Issue to record-setting numbers, accomplishments that have led to her being dubbed the "return of the great American supermodel."

She is also known for contracts with companies like Harley-Davidson and for taking the #1 spot on Maxim magazine's 2008 "Hot 100" list. Aside from modeling, she is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society.

Miller moved from a start as an amateur magazine model to high profile mainstream work after an acquaintance showed a picture of her to famed fashion photographer Mario Testino in 2001. Testino asked to meet Miller, who was running a surf school at the time, and was invited to Manhattan Beach, California, where she would be surfing.

Noticing her, Testino snapped pictures of her and approached her for a job offer that turned out to be editorials for both the American and Italian editions of Vogue. Within six months, Miller was working for Victoria's Secret and the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in which she appeared in every issue from 2002 to 2008. She has also appeared in a diverse range of magazines, many of them international editions, such as GQ, Maxim, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, and Vanity Fair, as well as working on campaigns/advertisements for Nordstrom, J.Crew, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepsi, Panasonic, Bath & Body Works, and most recently, for True Religion jeans and motorcycle company Harley-Davidson. In July 2008, Miller took her first step beyond modeling when her shoe line with skateboarder/surfer-oriented company Vans launched.

Television spots of Miller's include the short-lived reality television series Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model (2004), Puddle of Mudd's "Spin You Around" music video (2004), the pilot episode and finale of VH1's reality show The Shot (2007), and cameos in HBO's Entourage and the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother (both 2007), the latter with her fellow Victoria's Secret Angels. However, it wasn't until 2007 that she filmed her first television commercial for Victoria's Secret, appearing alongside Heidi Klum for the It bra. Miller's other commercials include a 2008 viral video on YouTube with All Star baseball player Ryan Braun for Remington's ShortCut clippers and a commercial for the NFL Network.

On December 4, 2007, Miller made her debut at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and opened a segment in the following year's edition. Other runway credits of Miller's include 2007's Fashion for Relief show, benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina, as well as MTV's Fashionably Loud, Imitation of Christ, Inca, and Amir Slama's Rosa Cha, for which she was one of the most anticipated models.

On the February 12, 2008 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, it was announced via a three-story billboard in New York City that Miller would grace the cover of that year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The tandem online launch of the issue drew record page views to the SI website: 228 million, a 41% increase over 2007. In September 2008, Sports Illustrated released a "Best of Marisa Miller" swimsuit calendar for the 2009 year.

Victoria's Secret also put her to work in 2008, with a five-city tour to promote the 2008 Swim collection's release in stores; the April-May tour included stops in New York City, Miami, Chicago (where she threw the opening pitch at a Cubs game), Boston, and Minneapolis. The relaunch of Victoria Secret's sports line, VSX, soon followed, along with her first official campaign as an Angel: promoting the company's fragrance Very Sexy Dare.

Elizabeth Banks

Elizabeth Banks (born February 10, 1974) is an American actress whose TV and film appearances include Scrubs, the Spider-Man films, The Uninvited, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, W., Zack And Miri Make A Porno, and Role Models.

Banks was born Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as the oldest of four children of Ann and Mark Mitchell. Her father was a factory worker for General Electric and her mother until recently worked in a bank. As a young child she was a contestant on the Nickelodeon game show Finders Keepers. She graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992 and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996 where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority. She was the first in her family to graduate from college. In 1998 she completed schooling at the American Conservatory Theater.

Banks changed her name to avoid confusion with actress Elizabeth Mitchell. She debuted in the independent film Surrender Dorothy as "Elizabeth Casey." Banks is known for her roles in Seabiscuit, Heights, the Spider-Man films (playing the part of Betty Brant), and the cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer. She quickly gained widespread exposure through movies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Slither. She also plays Mark Wahlberg's love interest in the movie Invincible.

In May 2006, she appeared in the season five finale of the NBC comedy-drama Scrubs as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of J.D. (Zach Braff). The character has appeared throughout seasons six, seven and eight as a recurring guest star.

In 2005, she appeared on the show Stella. In 2007, Banks played the female lead in the comedy Meet Bill, alongside Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba. Banks also has a small role in the 2007 Christmas comedy film Fred Claus, co-starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, and played a love interest in the 2008 comedy Definitely, Maybe alongside Isla Fisher and Ryan Reynolds.

Banks starred with Seth Rogen as the eponymous female lead in the Kevin Smith comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which was released on Halloween 2008. She was also seen playing United States First Lady Laura Bush in W, Oliver Stone's biopic of George W. Bush.

She has appeared in the thriller The Uninvited, a remake of the Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. The film tells the tale of an intrusive stepmother who makes life miserable for the teen daughters of her new husband. Banks based her character, Rachel, on Rebecca De Mornay's character in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle". "It was very important to me that every line reading I gave could be interpreted two ways," says Banks of her role, "So that when you go back through the movie you can see that".

Banks is a frequent co-star of actor Paul Rudd, the two having appeared in four films together to date (Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Role Models). She does not have any projects in production at this time. "There was a David O. Russell movie that I really wanted to make with Vince Vaughn that ended up falling apart", said Banks, referring to the film H-Man Cometh, in a January 2009 interview.

Banks is set to star alongside Leslie Mann in What Was I Thinking?, based upon the book by Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman.

Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanović, (Serbian: Ана Ивановић, Serbian pronunciation: [ˈana iˈvaːnɔvitɕ] ( listen); born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia) is a former World No.1 Serbian tennis player. As of July 6, 2009, she is ranked World No. 11 by the Women's Tennis Association. She won the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.

Ivanović's mother Dragana, who is a lawyer, attends all of her daughter's matches. Her father, Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loves to play basketball. She chooses not to have a permanent coach. Aside from her tennis career, Ivanović also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanović became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanović visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said: "I'm also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids."

Ivanović confirmed in November 2008 that she was romantically involved with Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco; however, it was reported that the relationship ended in January 2009. Ivanovic is currently dating Australian golfer Adam Scott.

Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, writer, comedienne, and producer. She has received five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1992, Fey moved to Chicago to take classes at the improvisational comedy group The Second City, where she became a featured player in 1994.

In 1997, Fey became a writer for the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). She was promoted to the position of head writer in 1999. The following year, Fey was added to the cast of SNL. During her time there, she was co-anchor of the show's Weekend Update segment. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created her own television series called 30 Rock, a situation comedy loosely based on her experiences at SNL. In the series, Fey portrays Liz Lemon, the head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan, a fictional sketch comedy series.

In 2000, Fey and Rachel Dratch starred in the Off Broadway two-woman show Dratch & Fey, which received positive reception. Fey made her feature film debut as writer and co-star of the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls. In 2008, she starred in the comedy film Baby Mama, alongside Amy Poehler. Fey received an Emmy nomination for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on SNL.

January Jones

January Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and former Abercrombie & Fitch model.

She currently appears in the AMC original television drama series Mad Men as young suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper. She is also well known for her role as Cadence Flaherty in American Wedding (2003), from the American Pie comedy film series.

She had the lead female role in the movie Love's Enduring Promise as a pioneer family's oldest child. Her character fell in love with a mysterious man who saved her father's life.

Jones has had supporting roles in Anger Management (2003), Love Actually, and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. In 2005 she appeared as a U.S. border guard's frustrated wife in the film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. In We Are Marshall (2006), she played the role of Carol Dawson, wife of football coach William "Red" Dawson.

She appeared in the Season 18 Law & Order episode "Quit Claim", playing a con artist who matches wits with Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter, in which she is the lone surviving suspect connected to a real estate scam involving organized crime.

She also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, released in 2009.

Jones was ranked #82 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002.

Jones appeared on the cover of "The Hot Issue" of British GQ magazine in May 2009.

Kate Winslet

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress and occasional singer. She is noted for having played diverse characters over her career, but probably best-known for her critically acclaimed performances as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility, Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sarah Pierce in Little Children, April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road, and Hanna Schmitz in The Reader.

Winslet has been nominated for six Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Reader. She has won awards from the Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as well as being nominated for an Emmy. At the age of 22, she became the youngest actress to receive two Oscar nominations; at age 33, she is now the youngest actor to receive six nominations. David Edelstein of New York Magazine hails her as "the best English-speaking film actress of her generation".

Chicago

Chicago is an American pop rock/jazz fusion band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The band began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had a steady stream of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Second only to the Beach Boys in terms of singles and albums, Chicago is one of the longest running and most successful U.S. pop/rock and roll groups.

According to Billboard, Chicago was the leading U.S. singles charting group during the 1970s. They have sold over 120 million albums worldwide, scoring 22 Gold, 18 Platinum, and 8 Multi-Platinum albums. Over the course of their career they have charted five No. 1 albums, and have had twenty-one top ten hits.

Beginnings

The band was formed when a group of DePaul University music students began playing a series of late-night jams at clubs on- and off-campus. The group eventually grew to seven players and went professional as a cover band called The Big Thing. The band featured an unusually versatile line-up of musicians, including a full horn section (saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow, and trumpet player Lee Loughnane) in addition to the more traditional rock instrumentalists: guitarist Terry Kath, keyboardist Robert Lamm, drummer Danny Seraphine, and bassist Peter Cetera.

While gaining some success as a cover band, the group began working on original songs. In June 1968, they moved to Los Angeles, California under the guidance of their friend and manager James William Guercio, and signed with Columbia Records. After signing with Guercio, The Big Thing changed their name to Chicago Transit Authority.

Their first record (released in April 1969), the eponymous The Chicago Transit Authority, was an audacious debut: a double album, very rare for a first release, featuring jazzy instrumentals, extended jams featuring Latin percussion, and experimental, feedback-laden guitar abstraction. The album began to receive heavy airplay on the newly popular FM radio band; it included a number of pop-rock songs — "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?", "Beginnings", and "Questions 67 and 68" — which would later be edited to a radio-friendly length, released as singles, and eventually become rock radio staples.

Soon after the album's release, the band's name was shortened to Chicago, when the actual Chicago Transit Authority threatened legal action.

Chicago's greatest prominence

The band's popularity increased with the release of their second album, another double-LP set, which included several top-40 hits. This second album, titled Chicago (also known as Chicago II), was the group's breakthrough album. The centerpiece track was a thirteen-minute suite composed by James Pankow called "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" (the structure of this suite was inspired by Pankow's love for classical music). The suite yielded two top ten hits, the crescendo-filled "Make Me Smile" (#9 U.S) and prom-ready ballad "Colour My World", both sung by Terry Kath. Among the other popular tracks on the album: Terry Kath's dynamic but cryptic wah-wah-buttressed "25 or 6 to 4" (a reference to a songwriter trying to write at 25 or 26 minutes to 4 in the morning, sung by Cetera, Chicago's first Top Five hit), and the lengthy war protest song "It Better End Soon."

The band recorded and released LPs at a rate of at least one disc per year from their third album in 1971 through the 1970s. During this period, the group's album titles invariably consisted of the band's name followed by a Roman numeral indicating the album's sequence in their canon, a naming pattern that lent an encyclopedic aura to the band's work. (The two exceptions to this scheme were the band's fourth album, a live boxed set entitled Chicago at Carnegie Hall and their twelfth album Hot Streets. While the live album itself did not bear a number, each of the four discs within the set was numbered Volumes I through IV.) The distinctive Chicago logo was designed by Nick Fasciano (bearing more than a passing resemblance to the Coca-Cola logo) and has graced every album cover in one form or another; as an American flag on III, a piece of wood on V, a dollar (or U.S. currency) bill on VI, a Cardinal on VIII, a Hershey bar on X, a computer silicon chip on 16, and mosaic on 18 being among the examples.

In 1971, Chicago released the ambitious quadruple-album live set, Chicago at Carnegie Hall Volumes I, II, III, and IV, consisting of live performances, mostly of music from their first three albums, from a week-long run at the famous venue (along with the James Gang and Led Zeppelin in 1969, one of the few rock bands to play the historic concert hall since the Beatles performed there on February 12, 1964). The performances and sound quality were judged sub-par; in fact, trombonist James Pankow went on record to say that "the horn section sounded like kazoos." The packaging of the album also contained some rather strident political messaging about how "We [youth] can change The System," including massive wall posters and voter registration information. Nevertheless, Chicago at Carnegie Hall went on to become the best-selling box set by a rock act, and held that distinction for 15 years.

The group bounced back in 1972 with their first single-disc release, Chicago V, a diverse set that reached number one on both the Billboard pop and jazz albums charts and yielded the Robert Lamm-composed-and-sung radio hit and perennial fan favorite "Saturday in the Park", which mixed everyday life and political yearning in a more subtle way. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1972. Chicago would long open their concerts with the hit song.

In 1973, the group's manager, Guercio, produced and directed Electra Glide in Blue, a movie about an Arizona motorcycle policeman. The movie starred Robert Blake, and featured Cetera, Kath, Loughnane, and Parazaider in supporting roles. The group also appeared prominently on the movie's soundtrack.

Other successful albums and singles followed in each of the succeeding years. 1973's Chicago VI topped the charts buoyed by the hits "Feelin' Stronger Every Day" (#10 U.S.) and "Just You 'N' Me" (#4 U.S.) and it was also the first of several albums to include Brazilian jazz percussionist Laudir de Oliveira. Chicago VII, the band's double-disc 1974 release, featured the Cetera-composed "Wishing You Were Here", (#11 U.S.) sung by Terry Kath and Cetera with background vocals by Cetera and The Beach Boys and some fusion jazz. Chicago VII also provided one of the group's enduring signature tunes, the anthemic "(I've Been) Searchin' So Long," which started with as a soft ballad and culminated in a hard-rock conclusion featuring Terry Kath's electric guitar soloing against the Chicago horn section and a soaring string arrangement by Jimmie Haskell. "Happy Man," another song from Chicago VII, was also a popular favorite on FM radio, was a big hit in South America and subsequently covered by Tony Orlando and Dawn on their album To Be With You. Their 1975 release, Chicago VIII, featured the political allegory "Harry Truman" and the nostalgic Pankow-composed "Old Days". Both hits reached the Top 15, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. That summer also saw a very successful joint tour across America with The Beach Boys, with both acts performing separately, then coming together for a rousing finale. The tour was considered one of the highest grossing in rock music up to that time.

Chicago gave a concert in Mexico City in 1975 at the Auditorio Nacional which was highly appreciated by the attendants in spite of the fact that the Mexican press later reviewed it not as one of the band’s better performances, presumably for the band not being "in the best of shape". The tickets for the concert sold so fast that thousands of people were not able to get in, so Terry Kath asked those inside to applaud for those standing outside. Carmen Romano de Lòpez Portillo, the wife of Mèxico's then-President Josè Lòpez Portillo, is said to have been among the attendants in the first row.

But for all their effort, none of their singles went to number one until Chicago X in 1976, when Cetera's slow, exquisite ballad "If You Leave Me Now" climbed to the top of the charts and remained there for two weeks. The song also won Chicago their only Grammy award, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 1977. Ironically, the tune almost did not make the cut for the album; "If You Leave Me Now" was recorded at the very last minute. The huge success of the song would foreshadow a later reliance on ballads that would typecast the group on radio, despite the presence of mellower songs on all the previous albums. The group's 1977 release, Chicago XI, was another big success for the band; it included Cetera's hit ballad "Baby, What a Big Surprise", a #4 U.S. hit which became one of the group's last big hits of the decade.

Time of transition

1978 was a tragic and transitional year for Chicago. The year began with an acrimonious split with long-time manager James William Guercio (which had actually occurred three months earlier). Then, on January 23, guitarist/singer/songwriter/group co-founder Terry Kath died of an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound. Another version describes Kath's drunken last words to guitar tech Don Johnson: "Don't worry, guys. It isn't even loaded. See?" Kath was the group's leader onstage, and for many longtime fans, its musical soul. Terry Kath's stunning death could have meant the end for Chicago, but encouraged by friends and admirers such as Doc Severinsen, the group held fast and soldiered on.

After auditioning over 30 potential replacements for Kath, Chicago decided upon guitarist/singer/songwriter Donnie Dacus, who joined the band in April 1978 just in time for the Hot Streets album and its energetic lead-off single "Alive Again", which brought Chicago back to the Top 15.. The group was briefly re-energized by Dacus, whose long blond hair and rock star image stage presence seemingly overshadowed his musical abilities. The kinetic Dacus may have been out of character for the normally laid-back Chicago, but he could sing and play, and the band responded by delivering some of their tightest live performances ever. Hot Streets, with producer Phil Ramone now at the helm, was Chicago's first album with an actual title rather than a number and was the band's first LP to have a picture of the band featured prominently on the cover (with the ubiquitous logo downsized,) two moves that were seen by many as a way to indicate the band had changed following Kath's death. To a degree, the band returned to the old naming scheme on its subsequent releases, although most titles would now bear Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals. The release of Hot Streets also marked a move somewhat away from the jazz-rock direction favored by Kath and towards more pop songs and ballads. Dacus didn't last long, only staying with the band through the 1979 album Chicago 13 (Dacus is also featured in a promotional video on the DVD included in the Rhino Records Chicago box set from 2003). 13, again produced by Phil Ramone, was the group's first studio album not to contain a Top 40 hit.

1980's Chicago XIV, produced by Tom Dowd, relegated the horn section to the background on a number of tracks, and the album's two singles failed to make the Top 40. Production values were spare, perhaps due to the lean, stripped-down New Wave music that was popular at the time. Chris Pinnick handled the guitar duties and came close to the "Kath sound," but did not sing. He would remain with the band through 1985. Believing the band to no longer be commercially viable, Columbia Records dropped them from its roster in 1981 and released a second "Greatest Hits" volume later that year to fulfill its contractual obligation.

The second major phase of the band's career took off in late 1981 with a new producer (David Foster), a new label (Warner Brothers), and the addition of keyboardist/guitarist/singer Bill Champlin and guitarist Chris Pinnick (who had played on XIV and subsequent tour); percussionist Laudir de Oliveira also departed at this time along with former Buckingham and sax player Marty Grebb, who had joined the group briefly for the XIV tour.

Foster brought in studio musicians for some of the tracks on Chicago 16 (including the core members of Toto), and Chicago once again topped the charts with the single "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away". This was followed up by a song that barely missed the top 20, "Love Me Tomorrow." The following album, Chicago 17, became the biggest selling album of the band's history, producing two more Top Ten singles ("You're the Inspiration" and "Hard Habit to Break") (both #3 hits) and two other singles ("Stay the Night" (#16) and "Along Comes a Woman" (#14). Peter's brother, Kenny Cetera, was brought into the group for the 17 tour to add percussion and high harmony vocals.

Lead vocalist Peter Cetera's desire to record a second solo album (he'd done his first one in 1981) and not continue with the band's gruelling tour schedule caused him to leave Chicago in 1985. Although other band members (including Lamm and Champlin) have released solo material, Cetera has proved the most successful, topping the pop charts with The Karate Kid, Part II theme song "Glory of Love," and also with Amy Grant on "The Next Time I Fall". Two more songs, a 1988 solo hit called "One Good Woman" (#4 U.S.) and a 1989 duet with Cher called "After All" (#6 U.S.) reached the Top Ten.

The post-Cetera era

Cetera was replaced in September 1985 by bassist/singer Jason Scheff, who joined the band for the final Foster-produced album Chicago 18. This album was not as commercially successful as the previous two, but still produced the #3 single "Will You Still Love Me?," a Top 5 Adult Contemporary and Top 20 Pop song ("If She Would Have Been Faithful..."), and also a high-tech and highly programmed version of "25 or 6 to 4" with a concept video that got a lot of airplay on MTV. Soon after the album was recorded, the band hired guitarist Dawayne Bailey from Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Bailey and Scheff had previously played in bands together, so Scheff introduced Bailey to the band in time for the Chicago 18 tour (Scheff and Bailey's first concert with Chicago took place on Friday Oct 17, 1986 in Rockford, Illinois).

In 1988, the band replaced producer Foster with Ron Nevison and Chas Sanford, and they topped the charts again with the Diane Warren-composed single "Look Away," from the album Chicago 19. The album also yielded two more Top 10 hits, both with Bill Champlin singing solo lead for the first time and another Top 5 single that would officially be a release from the forthcoming greatest hits record. Chicago 19 was followed in short order by Greatest Hits 1982-1989, which included the aforementioned #5 hit "What Kind Of Man Would I Be?," a slightly remixed tune originally included on 19 and sung by Jason Scheff. The album's other Top Ten hit, "You're Not Alone", reached #10 in early 1989. During 1989, Chicago did a reprise joint concert tour with The Beach Boys (and would do so once again in 1997).

The band continued in the decade of the 1990s, even though their popularity began to decline. There was also another personnel change: founding member Danny Seraphine was fired by the band in 1990 after a severe falling out with some of the others in the group and was replaced by session drummer Tris Imboden, who first appeared on the 1991 album Twenty 1. Imboden was well-known in the industry as the longtime drummer for Kenny Loggins. On a happier note, Chicago was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 23, 1992.

In 1993, Chicago wrote and recorded their 22nd album, Stone of Sisyphus. Their record company at the time though, Reprise [Warner Music Group], was unhappy with the finished result, and thus the album was not released, although in succeeding years bootleg recordings of the album went on to surface worldwide, including over the Internet. It is also rumored that the label would not release the album as a result of being unable to reach a licensing agreement with band management over the back catalog. Selected tracks from the unreleased album were later officially released on four international compilation greatest hits CDs and the Rhino Records 2003 box set, and four were re-recorded for band members' solo albums. One track, "The Pull," was performed live during their 1993 appearance at the Greek Theatre (taped for PBS, and released on video in 1993). The album finally did see a release in June 2008, almost 15 years after its completion.

Starting on their 1994 tour, Chicago attempted to merge their unique sound with Big Band music for the 1995 album Night & Day Big Band, which consisted of covers of songs originally recorded by artists like Sarah Vaughan, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington (from whom the album mainly got its inspiration). Session guitarist Bruce Gaitsch handled the guitar work, and the album featured guest appearances by Paul Shaffer of "David Letterman" fame, and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.

Keith Howland joined the band as guitarist in early 1995 to replace the departed Dawayne Bailey.

During a Los Angeles concert in 1997, Chicago teamed up with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra to perform a James Pankow/Dwight Mikelson orchestral arrangement of Pankow's rock epic "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon". Also during this year, the group released The Heart of Chicago 1967-1997, a compilation album which went gold and yielded the #1 Adult Contemporary hit "Here in My Heart."

In 1998, Chicago released Chicago XXV: The Christmas Album, which mixed traditional holiday favorites with an original Lee Loughnane composition. It went gold in the US. (The album was re-released with additional tracks in 2003, under the title ''What's It Gonna Be, Santa?) The album featured Howland's first, and to date only, lead vocal on a Chicago record.

The band released a live album in 1999, Chicago XXVI, which included only two of the many songs Cetera helped to write while in the group. In 2000, the group (minus Cetera) had the opportunity to tell their story in an episode of VH1's Behind The Music. This included gems such as Pankow relating this story from the early 1980s: "One record company said 'Man, if you get rid of the horn section, we'll sign ya... That's like tellin' Elton John to get rid of the piano." The show, however, was not without its difficulties. The episode put more emphasis on the death of Terry Kath than their entire career combined. Cetera completely disowned the special and went so far as to not allow VH1 to use any of the songs he composed for the band, even declining to be interviewed (although stock footage of a Cetera interview does appear).

Chicago today

Despite the personnel changes over the years, the group is still active four decades after its founding. They are one of the few major rock groups that have never broken up or even taken an extended hiatus. Four of the six surviving founding members (major songwriters Lamm and Pankow, plus Loughnane and Parazaider) remain to this day providing continuity, while Jason Scheff has over 23 years with the band, Tris Imboden over 18, and Keith Howland over 13.

As a new century turned, the band licensed their entire recorded output to Rhino Records (after years with Columbia Records and Warner Brothers as well as their own short-lived label). In 2002, Rhino released a two-disc compilation, The Very Best of Chicago: Only The Beginning, which spans the band's entire career. The compilation made the Top 40 and sold over 2 million copies in the US. Rhino has also begun releasing remastered versions of all of the band's Columbia albums, each including several bonus tracks; and in 2005 they released a compilation entitled Love Songs.

Chicago continues to appear in big and small venues worldwide. In 2004–2005 they toured jointly with the band Earth, Wind & Fire; a DVD recorded during that tour, Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire - Live at the Greek Theatre, was certified platinum just two months after its release.

The group released Chicago XXX, on March 21, 2006, their first all-new studio album since Twenty 1. Two songs from this album, "Feel" and "Caroline", were performed live during Chicago's Fall 2005 tour; the studio recording of "Feel" debuted on WPLJ radio in New York in November 2005. "Feel" was the first single released. The album contains two versions of the song: one with horns and an orchestral tag that echoes "Love Me Tomorrow", and another non-brass version. "Love Will Come Back" was the second single released. The album was produced by Rascal Flatts bassist Jay DeMarcus, who is a friend of Chicago bassist Jason Scheff. Seven of the 12 tracks were co-written by Scheff, and the album included a large roster of guest musicians, supplanting band members in many cases. While Chicago XXX did manage to debut at No. 41 on the US album chart (besting some other entries including Chicago XIV which hit US #71 and Twenty 1 which topped out at only US #66), it only remained in the top 200 for two weeks.

During March 2006, Chicago made a multi-week appearance at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, which was repeated in May of the same year. In July 2006, the band made a series of US appearances with Huey Lewis and the News. Highlights of that tour included Chicago's Bill Champlin performing with Huey Lewis and the News on a couple of songs, members of Huey Lewis and the News contributing to Chicago's percussion-laden song, "I'm a Man," and Huey Lewis singing the lead vocal on Chicago's "Colour My World."

In early 2006, original drummer Danny Seraphine formed California Transit Authority, who play many of the older Chicago songs.

At the end of 2006, the band played at CD USA's New Year's Eve party on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. Chicago toured the summer of 2007 with the band America. On October 2, 2007, Rhino Records released the two-disc The Best of Chicago: 40th Anniversary Edition, a new greatest hits compilation spanning their entire forty years, similar to The Very Best of: Only the Beginning, released four years earlier.

June 17, 2008 saw the official release of the Stone of Sisyphus album by Rhino Records, recorded in 1993 and originally slated for a March 1994 release until being shelved by Warner Records. The album contains eleven of the original twelve tracks (the raucous "Get on This" was left off), plus four demo recordings. Its official title is "Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus" (it was originally slated to be album #22). Summer of 2008 also included multiple European tour dates, with members of the horn section missing at various times. This trend of fill-in players has continued into 2009, with Lamm sometimes the only original member on stage. As Chicago has existed as a "faceless" band for years, the lack of original members may not concern the audience like it would with another long-lived band such as the Rolling Stones and high-profile members like Mick Jagger.

In 2009 Chicago reunited with Earth, Wind & Fire for yet another joint tour.

In August 2009, Bill Champlin, who was with Chicago for 28 years, left the band to focus on his own music and solo career. His replacement is Lou Pardini.

7 Titik Sensitif Pria

Tak hanya wanita, pria pun ternyata juga menyenangi foreplay. Meski tak sepanjang waktu yang dibutuhkan wanita untuk “panas”, namun pria pun suka disentuh dan dibelai sebelum “bertempur”. Jangan hanya menstimulasi titik yang sama berulang-ulang, si dia bisa bosan. Coba di titik-titik rangsang alternatif berikut untuk menggodanya malam ini.

Telinga: Konon, suara helaan napas lembut di telinga bisa membuat seorang pria turn on. Sedikit permainan lidah di sekitar daun telinga juga bisa membangunkan gairahnya. Namun, jangan berlebihan, karena terlalu kencang meniupnya malah bisa membuat si dia merasa risih. Sentuhan yang terlalu banyak melibatkan air liur juga membuatnya tak nyaman. Jadi, perlahan dan sedikit saja sudah cukup.

Bagian dalam lengan: Umumnya, seluruh bagian kulit pria lebih tebal dari wanita, tak jarang pula tubuhnya ditumbuhi rambut-rambut halus, sehingga membuat kulitnya tak terlalu sensitif. Namun bila Anda menyentuhnya di bagian yang kulitnya tipis dan tak terlalu tebal, bisa diprediksi ia akan merasa tergoda. Sentuh perlahan dari bagian dalam lengan atasnya ke arah dalam sikut. Bersiaplah untuk mendapatkan “serangan balik” darinya.

Tengkuk: Pernah merasakan dicium suami di bagian tengkuk? Bagaimana rasanya? Geli tapi menggairahkan? Ya, karena daerah belakang leher memiliki banyak ujung saraf. Sehingga belaian lembut saja sudah membuatnya dimabuk kepayang, apalagi dengan ciuman-ciuman kecil.

Puting payudara: Tentu, seperti pula pada wanita, bagian ini juga merupakan titik sensitif. Tetapi, jangan langsung menuju titik ini untuk distimulasi. Karena bagian ini begitu sensitif, Anda perlu menstimulasi lebih dulu daerah sekitarnya, atau setidaknya membuatnya sedikit “panas” dulu. Setelah itu Anda baru dapat bermain dengan titik ini.

Bokong: Bagi pria, bokong wanita adalah bagian yang tak kalah sensual dibandingkan bagian lainnya. Anda pasti akan merasakan hal yang sama pada bokongnya. Ia juga akan senang jika Anda tak hanya mengaguminya, tetapi juga memberikan stimulasi pada bagian tubuhnya itu. Cobalah untuk mengelus bagian ini, atau sedikit meremasnya.

Persendian: Titik di belakang lutut dan belakang sikut cenderung memiliki kulit yang tipis dan sensitif. Coba sentuh titik ini di tubuh Anda sendiri, terasa berbeda ketimbang Anda menyentuh bagian kulit lainnya, kan? Karena itu, jangan ragu untuk menyentuh halus titik-titik di belakang lutut dan belakang siku si dia. Rasanya pasti membuatnya merinding (dalam arti yang menyenangkan).

Frenulum: Tentu Anda sudah tahu, bahwa titik paling sensitif pada pria adalah bagian kemaluannya. Di mana persisnya? Anda bisa menggali titik frenulumnya, yakni bagian jaringan yang menjembatani antara kepala penis dan batangnya. Ini merupakan titik paling sensitif pria dari seluruh bagian tubuhnya.

Sumber: Kompas.Com

Anna Nicole Smith

Vickie Lynn Marshall (November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), better known under the stage name of Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, sex symbol, actress and television personality. She first gained popularity in Playboy, becoming the 1993 Playmate of the Year. She modeled for clothing companies, including Guess jeans and Lane Bryant. She also starred in her own reality TV show, The Anna Nicole Show.

Born and raised in Texas, Smith dropped out of high school and was married at the age of 17. Her highly publicized second marriage to oil business executive and billionaire J. Howard Marshall, 63 years her senior, resulted in speculation that she married the octogenarian for his money, which she denied. Following his death, she began a lengthy legal battle over a share of his estate; her case, Marshall v. Marshall, reached the U.S. Supreme Court on a question of federal jurisdiction.

She died at age 39, apparently as a result of an overdose of prescription drugs. In the months before her death, she was the focus of renewed press coverage surrounding the death of her son, Daniel Smith, and the paternity and custody battle over her daughter Dannielynn.

A major turning point in Smith's career was in 1992. It was then her career took off after she was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March 1992 issue of Playboy, where she is listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboy's most popular models, Smith was heavier and larger than the typical Playboy model. Smith was chosen to be the 1993 Playmate of the Year. By the time of her PMOY pictorial, she had settled on the name Anna Nicole Smith.

Smith secured a contract to replace supermodel Claudia Schiffer in the Guess jeans ad campaign in a series of sultry black and white photographs. Guess capitalized on Smith's strong resemblance to sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and put her in Jayne-inspired photo sessions. In 1993, before Christmas, she modeled for the Swedish clothing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M). She was dressed in underwear and arranged in seductive poses. She appeared on big posters in Sweden and Norway.

A photograph of Smith was used by New York magazine on the cover of its August 22, 1994 issue titled White Trash Nation. In the photo, she appears squatting in a short skirt and cowboy boots as she eats chips. In October 1994, Smith's lawyer initiated a $5,000,000 lawsuit against the magazine claiming unauthorized use of her photo and that the article had damaged her reputation. Her lawyer said that Smith was told she was being photographed to embody the "all-American-woman look", and that they wanted glamor shots. He further stated that the picture used was taken for fun during a break.

Death and funeral

On February 8, 2007, Smith was found unresponsive in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Tasma Brighthaupt, a friend of Smith who was a trained emergency nurse performed CPR for 15 minutes until her husband, Maurice "Big Moe" Brighthaupt, Smith's friend and bodyguard took over CPR. He had frantically driven back to the hotel after being notified by his wife of Smith's condition. According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. (18:38 UTC) Maurice Brighthaupt, who was also a trained paramedic, called the hotel front desk from her sixth floor room. The front desk in turn called security, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m. the bodyguard administered CPR until paramedics arrived and she was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m and pronounced dead on arrival at 2:49 p.m.

A phone call was released to the public on February 13, 2007 involving Seminole police and the local 911 operators, saying:

We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive...actually, it's Anna Nicole Smith.

After a seven-week investigation led by Broward County Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Joshua Perper in combination with the Seminole police and several independent forensic pathologists and toxicologists, Dr. Perper announced that Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the "major component." No illegal drugs were found in her system. The official report states that her death was not considered to be due to homicide, suicide, or natural causes. The full investigative report has been made public and can be found online. Additionally, an official copy of the autopsy report was publicly released on March 26, 2007 and can be found online.

Ultimately her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly lethal when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically 4 benzodiazepines: Klonopin (Clonazepam), Ativan (Lorazepam), Serax (Oxazepam), and Valium (Diazepam). Furthermore, she had taken Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) and Topamax (Toprimate), an anticonvulsant GABA agonist, which likely contributed to the sedative effect of chloral hydrate and the benzodiazepines. Although the individual levels of any of the benzodiazepines in her system would not have been sufficient to cause death, their combination with a high dose of chloral hydrate led to her overdose. The autopsy report indicates that chloral hydrate was the "toxic/lethal" drug, but it is difficult to know if chloral hydrate ingestion would have killed her alone, since Dr. Perper indicated (in the March 26 press conference) that she had built up a tolerance to the drug and took more than the average person. He indicated that she took about 3 tablespoons, whereas the normal dosage is between 1 and 2 teaspoons. Chloral hydrate, first synthesized in 1832, was the first depressant developed for the specific purpose of inducing sleep. The infamous “Mickey Finn” or “knockout drops” was a solution of alcohol and chloral hydrate that was popular in Victorian England and in that era’s literature. When used properly, and without the introduction of alcohol or other depressants, chloral hydrate is effective in easing sleeplessness due to pain or insomnia. But according to Avis (1990) the effective dose and lethal dose of chloral hydrate are so close that the sedative should be considered dangerous. Today, the use of chloral hydrate has declined as other agents, including barbiturates and benzodiazepines, have largely replaced them. Despite rumors of methadone use due to its involvement in her son's death, Dr. Perper only found methadone in her bile, indicating that it could only have been ingested 2–3 days prior to her death and was not a contributing factor. The autopsy report indicates that abscesses on her buttocks (presumably from prior injections of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) and human growth hormone), and viral enteritis were contributory causes of death. Tests for influenza A and B were negative.

It was reported that 8 of the 11 drugs in Smith's system, including the chloral hydrate, were prescribed to Howard K. Stern, not Smith. Additionally, two of the prescriptions were written for Alex Katz and one was written for Smith's friend and psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Eroshevitz. Dr. Perper acknowledged that all 11 prescriptions were written by Dr. Eroshevitz herself.

Before Smith's body was buried, it began decomposing at a faster-than-normal pace. The drugs found in Anna Nicole's body in the autopsy, the fact that the legal battles delayed her embalming until over a week after her death, and the nearly month-long wait for her burial in the warm Bahama weather, were cited as possible factors in her more rapid decomposition. The family ended up having a closed-casket funeral.

Smith's will, drawn up in April 2001, named her son Daniel as the sole beneficiary of her estate, specifically excluded other children, and named Howard K. Stern as the executor. It indicated personal property valued at $10,000 and real property valued at $1.8 million (with a $1.1 million mortgage) at the time of death. A petition to probate Smith's will was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The petition to probate lists Larry Birkhead as a party with interest to Anna's estate. Legal battles may not end there. On April 2, 2009 Us Weekly reported that Anna Nicole's father Donald Hogan is considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Stern. Hogan was quoted as saying that while he blames Stern in Anna Nicole's death, he doesn't care "if [he] get[s] a dime out of [the lawsuit]."

A six-foot-tall black granite monument was installed at Smith's grave in the Bahamas, as of February 2009.

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles (born September 4, 1981), best known mononymously as Beyoncé (pronounced /biːˈɒnseɪ/), is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, choreographer, video director, actress and model. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools, and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child. Knowles rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the girl group Destiny's Child. Knowles has sold more than 50 million records worldwide with the group and over 75 million records in her total career.

In June 2003, during the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Knowles released her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, which became one of the most successful albums of that year, and signaled her viability as a solo artist. The album was a commercial and critical success, spawning the hits "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy", and earning Knowles five Grammy Awards in 2004. The disbanding of Destiny's Child in 2005 facilitated her continued success: her sophomore solo album, B'Day, released in 2006, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, and produced the hits "Deja Vu", "Irreplaceable", and "Beautiful Liar". Her third solo album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, was released in November 2008, and included the hits "If I Were a Boy", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Halo" and "Sweet Dreams". Knowles has attained five Hot 100 number one singles, becoming one of the two female artists with the most number ones attained within the 2000-2009 decade. She is also the female artist with the most cumulative weeks at number one this decade, with 37 total weeks at number one, the most top fives and the most top ten hits this decade with twelve, as well as the most top 40 hits of the decade with 17 top 40 hits.

The success of her solo albums has established Knowles as one of the most marketable artists in the music industry, and she has expanded her career to acting and product endorsement. She began her acting career in 2001, appearing in the musical film Carmen: A Hip Hopera. In 2006, she starred in the lead role in the film adaptation of the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, for which she earned two Golden Globe nominations. Knowles launched her family's fashion line, House of Deréon, in 2004, and has been engaged to endorse such brands as Pepsi, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani and L'Oréal. In 2009, Forbes listed Knowles fourth on its list of the 100 Most Powerful and Influential Celebrities in the world, third on its list of the top-grossing musicians, and number one on the list of top Best-Paid Celebs Under 30 with over $87 million dollars in earnings between 2008 and 2009

Knowles has become known as a sex symbol. According to her, "I like to dress sexy and I carry myself like a lady," but she has said that the way she dresses on stage is "absolutely for the stage". As someone who is fond of fashion, Knowles combines its artistic elements with her music videos and performances. According to Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, she uses different styles and tries to harmonize it with the music while performing. The B'Day Anthology showed many instances of fashion-oriented footage, depicting classic to contemporary wardrobe styles. People magazine recognized Knowles as the best-dressed celebrity in 2007. Knowles' mother wrote a 2002-published book, titled Destiny's Style: Bootylicious Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Secrets From Destiny's Child, an account of how fashion had an impact on Destiny's Child's success.

As one of the most media-exposed black artists in the United States, Knowles has often received criticism that some believe is due to racism and sexism. A fan of hers points out, "[Knowles] portrays herself as a sex symbol rather than an artist." Toure of the Rolling Stone stated that since the release of Dangerously in Love, "[Beyoncé] has become a crossover sex symbol a la Halle Berry ..." Her appearance in Vanity Fair magazine has also provoked speculations that her skin tone was digitally altered.

In 2007, Knowles was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the first non-model and non-athlete woman to pose on the issue and the second African American model after Tyra Banks. In the same year, Knowles appeared on billboards and newspapers across the United States showing her holding an antiquated cigarette holder. Taken from the back cover of B'Day, the image provoked response from an anti-smoking group, stating that she did not need to add the cigarette holder "to make herself appear more sophisticated".

On April 24, 2009 Knowles appeared on Larry King Live where she gave herself a more political image talking about everything from singing at President Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009 to racism that she has faced as being an African-American. She said that Michelle Obama is "so chic" and even stated that her performance of "At Last" was the highlight of her career.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, Academy Award nominated actress, producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the most philanthropic African American of all time, and was once the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, including being raped at the age of nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claimed broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture and promoting controversial self-help fads, she is generally admired for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. In 2006 she became an early supporter of Barack Obama and one analysis estimates she delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race, an achievement for which the governor of Illinois considered offering her a seat in the U.S. senate.

Lady Gaga

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American recording artist. She began playing in clubs in the New York City area while also working at Interscope Records as a songwriter for several established acts, including Akon who, after hearing Gaga sing, convinced Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine to sign her to a joint deal with the label and Akon's Kon Live Distribution label.

She began working with a collective called the Haus of Gaga in 2008, and released her debut album The Fame in August of the same year. The album peaked at number one in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, and topped the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart in the United States. To date, the album has spawned the international number one singles "Just Dance" (nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 51st Grammy Awards) and "Poker Face." After opening for New Kids on the Block and the Pussycat Dolls, Gaga headlined her first tour, The Fame Ball Tour.

Musically, she is inspired by glam rockers such as David Bowie and Queen, as well as pop singers such as Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Gaga was born in Yonkers, New York as the eldest child to Italian American parents Joseph, an Internet entrepreneur, and Cynthia Germanotta, a telecommunications assistant. By the time she was eleven, Gaga was set to join Juilliard School in Manhattan, but instead attended Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private Catholic school. Having learned piano at the age of four, Gaga went on to write her first piano ballad at thirteen and began performing at open mic nights by the age of fourteen. At the age of seventeen, she gained early admission to the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. There, she studied music and improved her songwriting skills by composing essays and analytical papers focusing on topics such as art, religion, and socio-political order. Gaga later withdrew from the school.

Grayscale image of two young women standing side-by-side. The woman on the right is blond and wears a leotard while tilting her head back. She keeps her body straight and holds her waist with her left hand. The other woman is a brunette. She stands facing the blond woman. Her hands are raised up to her head with her fingers spread. She wears a silk robe that comes up to her knees. Her face has a hint of smile.

Gaga signed with Def Jam Records when she was nineteen years old, after record executive L. A. Reid heard her singing down the hallway from his office. However, she claims Reid never met with her, and after three months, she was dropped from the label. She moved out of her parents' house and started performing downtown in the Lower East Side club scene, with bands Mackin Pulsifer and SGBand. Wanting to differentiate herself from the prevalent rock and roll scene, she chose to focus on pop music. Around the same time, she started taking drugs and performing at burlesque shows; Gaga said her father "just didn't understand" it, and that he could not look at her for several months. One day, music producer Rob Fusari, who helped Gaga write some of her earlier songs, compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury. He nicknamed her Gaga, after the Queen song "Radio Ga Ga." She began to use it as her stage name and was known thereafter as Lady Gaga.

Throughout 2007, Gaga collaborated with performance artist Lady Starlight, who helped her create her onstage fashions. The pair began playing gigs at downtown club venues like the Mercury Lounge, The Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall, with their live performance art piece known as "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue." Billed as "The Ultimate Pop Burlesque Rockshow," their act was a low-fi tribute to 1970's variety acts. In August 2007, Gaga and Starlight were invited to play at the American music festival Lollapalooza. The show was critically acclaimed, and their performance received highly positive reviews. Having initially focused on avant-garde, electronic dance music, Gaga found her musical niche when she began to incorporate pop melodies and the vintage glam rock of David Bowie and Queen into the mix.

During this time, she began writing for artists signed to Akon's Konvict label, as well as Fergie, the Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears, and New Kids on the Block. After hearing her sing a reference vocal for one of his tracks, Akon formed the opinion that she was also a good singer. He ultimately convinced Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine to sign her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution, and would later call Gaga his "franchise player." Through her affiliation with Akon, Gaga started to work on her own new material for her debut album with producer RedOne. Already having a solid selection of electro-glam, David Bowie-esque, and Queen-inspired songs, Gaga wanted to mix her retro dance beats with urban melodies, a pop chorus and still retain a rock and roll edge. The first song they produced was a mash-up of Mötley Crüe's "Girls, Girls, Girls" and AC/DC's "T.N.T.

A distant image of a blond woman performing onstage. She is clad in a white leotard. She is singing onto a microphone in her left hand. Her right hand is held by somebody whose appearance is not clear. On her left, two African dancers imitate a pose where they appear to be looking at the woman throuogh a camera.

By 2008, Gaga had relocated to Los Angeles, working closely with her record label to finalize her debut album The Fame. Gaga said that she combined a lot of different genres on the album, "from Def Leppard drums and handclaps to metal drums on urban tracks." She began to work with a collective called the Haus of Gaga, who collaborate with Gaga on her clothing, stage sets, and sounds. The Fame received mostly positive reviews from critics; according to the music review aggregation of Metacritic, it has received an average score of seventy-one out of hundred. Times Online described the album as "a fantastic mix of Bowie-esque ballads, dramatic, Queen-inspired midtempo numbers and synth-based dance tracks that poke fun at celebrity-chasing rich kids." The Fame peaked at number one in Austria, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, and at number four in Australia and the United States; worldwide sales as of May 28, 2009 stand at 2.3 million copies. The album's lead single, "Just Dance," was released on April 8, 2008, and has topped the charts in six countries - Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It received a Grammy nomination for the Best Dance Recording, but lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." The second single, "Poker Face", was released on September 23, 2008, and has reached number one in nearly twenty countries, including almost all major music markets in the world. "Poker Face" became Gaga's second consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2009.

Afterward, the Haus of Gaga turned its focus further upon the American market with Gaga going on her first ever concert tour with fellow Interscope pop group, the reformed New Kids on the Block. Gaga started her stint with them in Los Angeles on October 8, 2008, and continued through the end of November. She appeared as a guest artist on the song "Big Girl Now" from their new album, The Block. Gaga's first headlining North American tour, The Fame Ball Tour, began on March 12, 2009, and has received critical acclaim. In May, Gaga opened for the Pussycat Dolls in Australia. Her performance there was well-received, with a reviewer claiming that she upstaged the Dolls. Around the same time, the music video for her international third single, "LoveGame," was banned by the Australian channel Network Ten, who refused to play the video reasoning that it contained sexually explicit imagery.

Gaga appeared semi-nude, wearing only plastic bubbles, on the cover of the annual 'Hot 100' issue of Rolling Stone in May 2009. In the issue she discussed that while she was making her beginnings in the New York club scene, Gaga was romantically involved with a heavy metal drummer. Gaga described their relationship and break-up, saying of it, "I was his Sandy, and he was my Danny [of Grease], and I just broke." He later became an inspiration behind some of the songs on her debut album The Fame. Gaga also stated that she is bisexual and is inspired by beautiful women, which she says makes her boyfriends "uncomfortable." She later regretted the comments she made of her sexuality, saying, "I don't like to be seen as somebody who is using the gay community to look edgy. I'm a free sexual woman and I like what I like. I don't want people to write that about me because I feel like it looks like I'm saying it because I'm trying to be edgy or underground." She had previously told a crowd at one of her concerts that her song "Poker Face" lyrically discusses fantasizing about a woman while being in bed with a man. She also appeared on rapper Wale's single "Chillin."