Lettre

Klaten, le 30 Mai 2010

Bonjour Napoleon
Comment ca va?
Je suis en vacances a la campagne chez mon oncle. Il habite a Blora, c'est tres beau. Et pour vous, les vacances sont comment?


A bientot
Grosses bise

Arif

Cheat Game Midnight Club

Hi there!!
Here I got some cheat for Midnight Club. Hope you like it.

Infinite money Successfully complete Career mode.

Karol Garage partner mission Get the "Idol" rank (33,500 Reputation) to unlock the Karol Garage partner mission.

Hydraulics and air bags To unlock hydraulics and air bags, you must join the Rockstar Social Club, link to your Gamertag, then complete four of the twelve "Driving Test" achievements listed on the website. Doing so will unlock hydraulics/air bags for your Gamertag, even if you completely restart the game. If you already have four of the achievements completed, just joining the Rockstar Social Club and linking your Gamertag will unlock the hydraulics and air bags.

Vehicle groups Reach the indicated rank to unlock the corresponding vehicle group:

Group 2: Get the "Student Driver" rank (2,000 Reputation).
Group 3: Get the "Racer" rank (8,060 Reputation).
Group 4: Get the "Champion" rank (16,500 Reputation).

Performance upgrades Reach the indicated rank to unlock the corresponding performance upgrade:

Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 1 vehicles: Get the "Navigator" rank (800 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 2 vehicles: Get the "Driver" rank (5,600 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 3 vehicles: Get the "Elite Racer" rank (13,700 Reputation).
Level 1 Performance upgrades for Group 4 vehicles: Get the "Savant" rank (22,760 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 1 vehicles: Get the "Rookie" rank (3,610 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 2 vehicles: Get the "Veteran" rank (10,760 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 3 vehicles: Get the "Legend" rank (19,540 Reputation).
Level 2 Performance upgrades for Group 4 vehicles: Get the "Hero" rank (26,160 Reputation)

Easy rank and money Go to Arcade mode, and set the AI to "Easy", traffic to "None", and disable power-ups. To earn money, make sure you do not finish in last place.

Getting rid of police Use the following trick to get rid of the police when doing a race. Finish the race, and enable the "No Police" cheat, then turn it off again. The police will disappear, and it will not have any effect on what you do afterward.

Teleport In both offline and online game modes, you can teleport around the map by entering the race editor, switching out of "drive and drop" mode, moving the pointer to where you want to go, then going back to "drive and drop" mode, and exiting the creator. You will be where you ended the race editor.

Cheat Game Digimon World 4

Alphamon If you chose Agumon in the beginning, you can get him by going on the Booster Pack Collection sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Terminal Area and completing the dungeon with only 1 HP, without recovering your HP or using a Gate Disk. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Veemon or Dorumon in the beginning, go on the "Treasure Hunt" sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Central Area. Complete the dungeon, and bring back the Sword Cannon Delta. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Guilmon in the beginning, complete Item Road after completing the game on Hard mode.

Agumon You can choose Agumon at the beginning of the game; or when Guilmon reaches level 17, you can go to the DigiLab and teach him the Agumon "Evolution Technique".

Beezlemon X If you chose Agumon in the beginning, complete Item Road on Hard mode after you complete the game. If you chose Veemon or Guilmon in the beginning, you can get him by going on the Booster Pack Collection sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Terminal Area and completing the dungeon with only 1 HP, without recovering your HP or using a Gate Disk. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, complete Item Road on Hard mode after you complete the game and collect twenty items. Note: You may need to do this on all Item Road quests on Hard mode.

Black War Greymon X Successfully complete the "Wormhole" dungeon on Hard mode.

Clavis Angemon If you chose Agumon in the beginning, complete the Undead Yard on Hard mode, killing all 302 enemies and have ten minutes or more remaining. You also need to activate all the "Concealment Gates". If you chose Veemon in the beginning, complete Undead Yard, defeating all 279 enemies within thirty minutes. If you chose Guilmon in the beginning, go on the "Ghost Extermination" sidequest in the "Shrine of Seals" and complete the dungeon with more than ten minutes remaining. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, complete Item Road after you complete the game, and collect twenty items there (may be optional).

Dorumon You can choose him at the beginning of the game; or when Agumon reaches level 17, you can go to the DigiLab and teach him the Dorumon "Evolution Technique". Note: The above could be level 16; when you reach level 16, go to the DigiLab and see if you can "digivolve" yet.

Gallantmon Crimson mode Go on the "Treasure Hunt" sidequest and bring back the Blast Gun Gamma; do this on Very Hard mode.

Guilmon You can choose him at the beginning of the game; or when Veemon reaches Level 17, you can go to the DigiLab and teach him the Guilmon "Evolution Technique".

HeruclesKabuterimon X If you chose Agumon in the beginning, then complete Item Road after you complete the game. If you chose Veemon in the beginning, go on the "Ghost Extermination" sidequest in the "Shrine of Seals" and complete the dungeon with more than ten minutes remaining. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Guilmon in the beginning, complete the Undead Yard, defeating all 279 enemies within thirty minutes. If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, complete the Undead Yard on Hard mode, killing all 302 enemies and have 10 minutes or more remaining. You also need to activate all the "Concealment Gates".

Imperial Dramon Fighter mode If you chose Agumon or Guilmon in the beginning, you can get him by going on the Booster Pack Collection sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Terminal Area and completing the dungeon with only 1 HP, without recovering your HP or using a Gate Disk. This must be done on Very Hard mode. If you chose Veemon or Dorumon in the beginning, go on the Ghost Extermination quest at the Shrine of Seals and sacrifice the "Defense ROM Delta". This must be done on Very Hard mode.

Imperial Dramon Paladin mode Successfully complete the "Wormhole" dungeon on Very Hard mode.

Metal Garurumon X If you chose Agumon or Guilmon in the beginning, go on the "Treasure Hunt" sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Central Area. Complete the dungeon, and bring back the Sword Cannon Delta. This must be done on Hard mode. If you chose Veemon in the beginning, complete Item Road after you complete Hard mode. If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, you can get him by going on the Booster Pack Collection sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Terminal Area and completing the dungeon with only 1 HP, without recovering your HP or using a Gate Disk. This must be done on Hard mode.

Susanoomon If you chose Agumon or Guilmon in the beginning, go on the Ghost Extermination quest at the Shrine of Seals and sacrifice the "Defense ROM Delta". This must be done on Very Hard mode. If you chose Veemon or Dorumon in the beginning, you can get him by going on the Booster Pack Collection sidequest set by the Digi-Elfs in the Terminal Area and completing the dungeon with only 1 HP, without recovering your HP or using a Gate Disk. This must be done on Very Hard mode.

Veemon You can choose him at the beginning of the game; or when Dorumon reaches Level 17, you can go to the DigiLab and teach him the Veemon "Evolution Technique".

War Greymon X If you chose Agumon in the beginning, complete Undead Yard in under 30 minutes and defeat all 279 enemies. If you chose Veemon in the beginning, complete the Undead Yard on Hard mode, killing all 302 enemies and have ten minutes or more remaining. You also need to activate all the "Concealment Gates." If you chose Guilmon in the beginning, complete Item Road after completing the game. If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, go on the "Ghost Extermination" sidequest in the "Shrine of Seals" and complete the dungeon with more than ten minutes remaining. This must be done on Hard mode.

Were Garurumon X If you chose Agumon in the beginning, go on the Ghost Extermination sidequest in the Shrine of Seals and complete the dungeon with more than ten minutes remaining. Do this on Hard mode. If you chose Veemon in the beginning, complete Item Road after you complete the game. If you chose Guilmon in the beginning, complete the Undead Yard on Hard mode, killing all 302 enemies and have ten minutes or more remaining. You also need to activate all the "Concealment Gates". If you chose Dorumon in the beginning, complete Undead Yard, defeating all 279 enemies within thirty minutes.

Modes and MP Techniques The following can be done while playing in either single player or multi-player mode. However, for the mode to become unlocked in multi-player, you must switch your players to the first slot.

Hard mode: Successfully complete Normal mode; this applies to player one only. To unlock it for other players, switch them to the first slot. Super Hard mode: Successfully complete Hard mode; this applies to player one only. To unlock it for other players, switch them to the first slot. Fourth MP Move: Increase your Blast Technique to about 1,000. Increase MP Power Moves: Keep repeating your MP Moves. Notice that the Tech Ups will increase about 300 tech points and you will level up your move from Petty to Magna.

Cheat Game Assassins Creed

Unlocking doors When you go to bed after Memory Block 2, you will notice your closet door is open. Press any button to get a piece of paper Desmond notes as a code. The code will unlock your bedroom door, which will allow you to be able to go out as often as you like after you go to bed, as well as to open the meeting room area. You can also pick up various items to unlock Lucy's password.
Successfully complete the game, and allow the credits to end. You will be given the access code for the computer attached to the Animus. Hack the computer to access an inbox, outbox, and deleted message. Look at the inbox and choose the email about the conference room. You can go to the conference room and access it via the keypad.

Decoding e-mails from Lucy's computer One item you can pick up after being able to unlock your bedroom door is Lucy's password. You can then investigate her e-mails, which entail a short secondary story line. After you complete the last Memory Block, go back outside your room. Go to Lucy's computer. In "Deleted Items" is an e-mail which entails her talking to someone about a rescue, then the last reply comes back as:

WondEr Why It is everyone Laughs at you?
i'll Let you guess.
let's just say she's proBably gEtTing it bigger and better from someone else tHat isn't you.
how can you hope to compEte?
REst asSured there are sOme gOod ways.
click the liNk to see!

Removing the capital letters out of the message decodes the message as:

WE WILL BE THERE SOON

Hidden messages After killing Al Muaiam and returning to the real world, listen to the conversation about how they going to kill you. Turn on your Eagle Vision, and look at the floor. There are some mixed up letters on both sides of the Amnius. You should see on the side closest to the main door:

M O R Y M N O E S
E N C E O L C H T
H O N B T L O T C
T D E O S A T O A
P E D S N L S T F
L D D U O O E T E
E A I E I R I N T
H S H K T T K E R
T U A A A N S S A

To decode this, start reading at the bottom right hand corner to the top right hand corner, so you will start at "A" and stop at "S". It will spell a real word. Do this for all of the columns and it will read:
ARTEFACTS SENT TO THE SKIES TO CONTROL ALL NATIONS TO MAKE US OBEY A HIDDEN CRUSADE DO NOT HELP THEM
Next, do the same thing to the mixed letters on the other side of the Amnius:

A
D R H
O O D T M
W H B I T D O
E U S Y S I N S E
A R O O M R E A Y N R
I S E Y T N I D L M I D E
T W I H W Y I E A U D A Y H T

It will spell out:
THEY DRAINED MY SOUL AND MADE IT THEIRS I DRAINED MY BODY TO SHOW YOU WHERE I SAW IT

Assassinations

Loud assassination: Hold LT + RT and press X. You can do this while running up to a guard, and it almost always works from any angle. However, it is noisy and causes civilians to run for guards. Silent assassination: Hold LT and press X. It has less of a chance of working, and works best when used behind guards so no one hears you.

Assassination in Jerusalem When you go to Jerusalem and do the assassination with the guards surrounding you, do not try to fight them off. Instead, turn around and run up the ladder to get to the second floor. A short intermission sequence will show your target running away and up another ladder. Hold RT + A and run across the chandeliers. The ladder will be to the right. Run up the ladder, and another short intermission sequence will show your target on top of another building. Chase him down, and have your wrist blade enabled (press Up). Then, press LT to lock onto your target while still chasing him down. When you get close enough, the word "Assassinate" will appear for X in the upper right of the screen. Press it to complete your task. After another intermission sequence, evade the guards by jumping onto building roofs, hiding, etc. Make your way over to the bureau to complete the memory.

Defeating Al Mualim When fighting the Master, he will take away your ability to use radar and make it difficult to see. This also allows him to hit you once and kill you. Lock on to him, and use a throwing knife against him. This will take away his power to blind you and make him easier to kill.
The first part is simple. Take out your sword, as you will be fighting all your previous assassination targets. They are fairly easy to kill. Only one counter is required to kill each of them. For the second part, as soon as Al Mualim releases you, use your Eagle Vision. The real Al Mualim is the one in yellow. Focus your attacks on him. In the third part, Al Mualim takes away your synchronization bar and radar, allowing him to kill you in one hit. Take out your throwing knives. Look for the Piece of Eden in his hand. Once you see him, throw a knife at him. Then, just counterattack/grab break him. Keep repeating this until he says, "Damn you Altair!" Finish him off with your hidden blade or keep attacking him with your sword until he is dead.

Defeating Templars When initiating combat against a Templar, press LT to lock on to him. Then, quickly equip the hidden blade. Wait for him to attack you so that you can counter attack, killing him in one blow. This is better than the sword fight. If you counter with the sword, you will only knock him down and not kill the Templar.

Defeating William of Montferrat in Acre After the guards (or most of them) leave William, drop down from the castle, and slay William. Then, "de-target" or deselect, and run up into the castle buildings and battlement to get away. This is the fastest way of completing the mission.

Easy "Eagle's Challenge" achievement In Memory Block 1, after Al Mualim sends you to defend the fortress against the Templar attack, wait at the intersection/fork that is about 135 feet from the destination, just after the hill/path that leads to the Creed building. Guards will continuously respawn down the right fork. You can just stand still and kill 25 guards as your status will never leave "exposed" until you go to the destination.
Go to the entrance of Acre, but go through Kingdom. There is a base of soldiers. Start killing them, but do not finish all of them. Start running to gather more. Kill a few, then run again. Do this until you get the achievement. If you take long time, you may also unlock the "Eagle's Flight" achievement.

Easy "Eagle's Dive" achievement In Masyaf, go to the castle. Enter the training arena, and choose the option for combo kill. When you succeed three times, the match will end. Select it again, and continue until you get the achievement.

Easy "Eagle's Flight" achievement When you first reach Damascus and must save the citizen, kill two of the three guards. Back yourself into a stall or a corner that you cannot be pushed out of, then hold RT to guard. In ten minutes you will get the achievement. You can also put a rubber band around your controller and RT, and allow the game to idle.

Easy "Eagle's Will" achievement In the area after you first start the game, just after you see the Knights Templar, enter the room containing the Ark Of The Covenant. Move towards the ladder in front, and jump to the left of it, as if to grab onto the ledge on the wall. You should fly through the wall and land behind it on a square outline. Walk towards the middle of this square, and you will fall through, dying shortly afterwards. After you die, you should get the "Eagle's Will" achievement.

Easy "Gifted Escapist" achievement Go into any of the main cities. It is probably easiest to go to Damascus, Poor District. Find a merchant stand, and start hopping through it. If you can find two that are next to each other, it saves time. Keep jumping through the merchant stand(s) until you get the achievement.

Easy "March of the Pious" achievement This achievement is probably easiest to unlock in Damascus. Save the citizen in front of the main gates if you have not already done so. If you have already done that, go to the scholars. Blend in with them. As they get past the main array of guards, start pressing Deblend continuously. You should be going in and out of blend mode continuously. After a short time, you should get the achievement.

Easy "Visions of the Future" achievement After you complete the game, walk to your bedroom, and use Eagle Vision on the wall behind your bed. Scan it from left to right, and then the credits will begin. Once they end, you will get the achievement. -From: kodiak4wheelin

Transformers reference Go to the southwestern-most vigilantes in the poor district of Damascus. On one of the buildings around them, you should see an outcropping in the wall, climb on it to see it looks exactly like G1 Optimus Prime in vehicle mode. Note: There may be more than one outcropping in the area, so look carefully. If you lose sight of the vigilantes, you have gone too far.

Eiichiro Oda

Eiichiro Oda (Oda Eiichirō, born January 1, 1975 in Kumamoto, Kumamoto) is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime One Piece.

Early life

As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking he watched as a child. As a child, he submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.

Career

At the age of 17, he submitted his work Wanted! and won several awards, including second place in the coveted Tezuka Award. That got him into a job at the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, where he originally worked as assistant to Shinobu Kaitani's series Suizan Police Gang before moving to Masaya Tokuhiro on Jungle King Tar-chan and Mizu no Tomodachi Kappaman, which gave him an unexpected influence on his artistic style. At the age of 19, he worked as an assistant to Nobuhiro Watsuki on Rurouni Kenshin, before winning the Hop Step Award for new artists. Watsuki also credits Oda for the creation of the character Honjō Kamatari who appears in Rurouni Kenshin. During this time, he drew two pirate-themed one-shot stories, called "Romance Dawn", which would debut in Monthly and Weekly Jump in late 1996-early 1997.Hiroyuki Takei, and the three of them are good friends. "Romance Dawn" featured Monkey D. Luffy as the protagonist, who then became the protagonist of One Piece. While Oda was an assistant of Watsuki, his colleague was

In 1997, One Piece appeared for the first time in Weekly Shonen Jump and promptly became one of the most popular manga in Japan. His biggest influence is Akira Toriyama, who is the creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump.

In an interview with Shonen Jump, when asked what his three favorite manga by other authors were, he stated 'everything by Akira Toriyama'. Oda and Toriyama have made a one shot called "Cross Epoch" containing characters from Toriyama's Dragon Ball and Oda's One Piece.

Works

• One Piece (since 1997)
• Wanted! (1998, Collection of the short stories below)
  • Wanted! (1992)
  • God's Gift for the Future (1993)
  • Itsuki yakou (1993)
  • Monsters (1994)
  • Romance Dawn (Version 2, 1996)
• Dragon Ball x One Piece: Cross Epoch (2007

Popularity

In a 2008 poll, conducted by marketing research firm Oricon, Oda was elected fifth most favorite manga artists of Japan. He shared the place with Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Hunter X Hunter and YuYu Hakusho.

Death threat

On April 9, 2009, Anime News Network reported Oda received threatening text messages from a 27-year-old unemployed woman named Tomoko Fukushige, who was arrested earlier that day. According to authorities, the woman's husband was an assistant at Oda's office and was fired for an unknown reason. As a result, Oda was sent threatening text messages that read "Die, Die" from September to December 2007.

Personal life

Oda is married to Chiaki Inaba, who had played the One Piece character Nami during Jump Festa One Piece stage performances. They have two children.

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band has achieved mainstream success with their 2005 album City of Evil, which includes singles such as "Burn It Down", "Bat Country," "Beast and the Harlot" and "Seize the Day." The band's success followed with their self-titled album, that includes singles such as "Critical Acclaim", "Almost Easy", "Afterlife", "Scream" and "Dear God".
Avenged Sevenfold emerged with a metalcore sound on their first two albums, but later changed their musical style into a more hard rock approach with City of Evil. The band themselves have received much credit for their worldwide mainstream success and were most notably proclaimed as one of the leaders and key bands in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal and were featured as second place on Ultimate Guitar's Top Ten Bands of the Decade. They are currently in production of their fifth studio album. During the end of 2009 the death of their drummer and founding member, James "The Rev" Sullivan was announced.

+44

+44 was an alternative rock band formed by Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass guitar) and Travis Barker (drums, electronics, keyboards). The band also included former Transplants touring guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and the lead guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher.

Their sound has been described as "originally more electronic-based, eventually falling instead under the alternative rock umbrella". The band name refers to the international dialing code of the United Kingdom, the country where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the project.

History

Formation (2005)

+44 was announced in April 2005, only a few months after Blink-182 had announced their indefinite hiatus. The band originally consisted of elements not usually present in Blink-182's work, namely electronic drums, samples, keyboards and direct computer recordings.

As work continued on the demos, Get the Girl vocalist Carol Heller was invited by Hoppus and Barker to audition her vocals. Heller's performance was agreeable enough to the band and as a result the three kept working on more songs together. The band's lineup changed again early 2006, with the addition of guitarist Shane Gallagher.

In order to progress with their demos, Barker and Hoppus acquired a studio, a move which marked a "turning point for +44." The band began working solely in the studio they had purchased, playing live drums, guitars and vocals. The band's original electronic elements became less evident, but still remained a key feature. As a result, Heller found she wasn't compatible with the band's direction, and with the addition of her wish to start a family, she left the band. The vocal work that Heller contributed is still present in the song "Make You Smile". After this, Hoppus, Barker, and Gallagher were left to find a new backing vocalist. Guitarist Craig Fairbaugh of Mercy Killers then joined the band.

Wayne Rooney

Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who currently plays as a striker for English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team.

Rooney began his career with Everton, joining their youth team at age ten and rising through the ranks. He made his professional debut in 2002 and his first goal made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at the time. He quickly became part of Everton's first team, spending two seasons at the Merseyside club. Before the start of the 2004–05 season he moved to Manchester United for £25.6 million and became a key member of the first team. Since then, he has won the Premier League three times, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and also the League Cup.

Rooney made his England debut in 2003 and at Euro 2004 he briefly became the competition's youngest goalscorer. He is frequently selected for the England squad and also featured in the 2006 World Cup.

Loving Money Too Much

There was a man who liked money very much. He worked all of his life and wanted to save all of his money for his own future. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything.
Even, just before he died, he said to his wife; “Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife.” So he asked his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.
Well, one day, he really died. Then he was stretched out in the casket. The wife was sitting there in black clothes next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said “Wait just a minute!”

She had a box in her hands. She came over with the box and placed it in the casket. After that the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away. Not long after that, her friend said, “I hope you were not crazy enough to put all that money in the casket.”
The wife turned to her friend and replied; “Yes, because I have promised.” Then she continued; “I can’t lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him.” Feeling shocked, her friend said; “You mean that you have put every cent of his money in the casket with him?” Then the wife answered; “Surely I did. I got it all together, put all the money into my account and I just wrote him a check.”

Expensive Plumbing Service

Mr. Brown was a skilful plumber. He was very good at fixing things around the house. He received many job about plumbing services.
One day Mr. Brown went to another city to do some work of plumbing there and his wife was alone in the house. While Mr. Brown was not in home, one of the water tap on the bathtub broke. Mrs. Brown could not repair the water tap because she did not much about fixing broken tap. So she called a plumber to fix the broken tap.

The plumber came to the house and fixed the broken tap in a few minute. When he finished repairing the broken tap, he gave the bill to Mrs. Brown to be paid.
Mrs. Brown shockingly looked the bill for a moment. According her, the amount on the bill was too expensive for fixing the broken tap. Of course she knew well about the plumbing service price because her husband herself was a professional plumber. she said; “Your price for fixing that broken tap is very high, isn’t it? Then she compared; “Do you know that the doctor costs less then your bill when he comes to my house?
The plumbing man replied calmly; “Yes, I know exactly. Then the plumber continued; ” I know well about it because I was a doctor before getting job as a plumber”

Jimmy Hoffa

James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975, declared legally dead in 1982) was an American trade unionist.

Hoffa was involved with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, as an organizer from 1932 to 1975. He served as the union's General President from 1958 to 1971. He secured the first national agreement for teamsters' rates in 1964, and played a major role in the growth and development of the union, which eventually became the largest single union in the United States, with over 1.5 million members during his terms as its leader.

Hoffa, who had been convicted of jury tampering, attempted bribery, and fraud in 1964, was imprisoned in 1967, sentenced to 13 years, after exhausting the appeal process. However, he did not officially resign the Teamsters' presidency until mid-1971. This was part of a pardon agreement with U.S. president Richard Nixon, in order to facilitate Hoffa's release from prison in late 1971. Nixon blocked Hoffa from union activities until 1980; Hoffa was attempting to overturn this order and to regain support. He was last seen in late July 1975, outside a suburban Detroit restaurant called the Machus Red Fox.

General and New Soldier

A man recently appointed general in the army was sitting in his new office when a new soldier walked in. Wishing to impress the new soldier, the general picked up the telephone and said, “Yes, Mr. President. I’m glad you like my suggestions. I’ll come by and give you a more detailed report at the White House a little later this week.” After hanging up the telephone the general asked, “Now, soldier, what can I do for you?” “Nothing much, sir,” said the soldier. I just came in to connect your telephone.”

The Clever Chauffer

There’s a story about how Albert Enstein was traveling to universities in a chauffer-driven car, delivering tectures on his theory if relativity.

One day while in transit, the chauffer remarked, “Dr. Einstein, I’ve heard you deliver that lecture about 30 times. I know it by heart ang bet I should give it myself.”

“Well, I’ll give you the chance, “said Einstein, “They don’t know me at the next school, so when we get there I’ll put on your cap, and you introduce yourself as and give the lecture.”

The chauffer delivered Einstein’s lecture flawlessly. When he finished, he started to leave, but one of the proffesors stopped him and asked a complex question filled with mathematical equations and formulas. The chauffer thought fast.

“The solution to that problem is so simple,” he said, “I’m surprise you have to ask me. In fact, to show you just how simple it is, I’m going to ask my chauffer to come up here and answer your question.”

Ralph and Edna

Ralph and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while day were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Ralph suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there. Edna quickly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Ralph out.
When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna’s heroic act she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital as she now considered her to be mentally stable.When she went to tell Edna the news said, “Edna , I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re being discharged; since you were able to rationally respond to crisis by jumping in and saving the life of another patient, I have concluced that your that your act displays sound mindedness. The bad news is , Ralph, the patient you saved, hung himself with his bathrobe belt in the bathroom right after you saved him. I am sorry, but he is dead.” Edna replied, ‘He didn’t hang himself, I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?”

Camel Question

Te little camel went to his mother and asked, “Mother, why do we camels have such big eyes?”She looked on him lovingly and replied, “You see, my soon, when we are walking in the dessert and the wind starts to blowing and there’s sand everywhere, we need these big eyes to keep an eye on one another so that we don’t get lost.”“Oh!” he said. And why do we have such huge feet?“Well,” she said, “ they allow us to walk easily in the dessert sands and help us avoid sinking into the dunes.”“Wow.” He said, “great equipment. What the heck is this stuff on our backs for?”“You see,” his mother informed, “we can walk for days, even weeks without food or water, so we use it to store fat during those times. But why do you ask me all these obvious questions?”“Well, mother,” said the young camel, “I was just wondering, if we’ve got all of this great stuff, what are we doing in the zoo?”

Job at The Zoo

One day a clown was visiting the zoo and attempted to earn some money by making a street performance. He acted and mimed perfectly some animal acts. As soon as he started to drive a crowd, a zoo keeper grabbed him and dragged him into his office. The zoo keeper explained to the clown that the zoo's most popular gorilla had died suddenly and the keeper was fear that attendance at the zoo would fall off. So he offered the clown a job to dress up as the gorilla until the zoo could get another one. The clown accepted this great opportunity.So the next morning the clown put on the gorilla suit and entered the cage before the crowd came. He felt that it was a great job. He could sleep all he wanted, played and made fun of people and he drove bigger crowds than he ever did as a clown. He pretended the gorilla successfully.However, eventually the crowds were tired of him for just swinging on tires. He began to notice that the people were paying more attention to the lion in the next cage. Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he decided to make a spectacular performance. He climbed to the top of his cage, crawled across a partition, and dangled from the top to the lion's cage. Of course, this made the lion furious, but the crowd people loved it.At the end of the day the zoo keeper came and gave him a raise for being such a good attraction. Well, this went on for some time, he kept taunting the lion, the audience crowd grew a larger, and his salary kept going up. Then one terrible day happened. When he was dangling over the furious lion, he slipped and fell into the lion cage. The clown was really in big terrible situation. He was terrified.Sooner the lion gathered itself and prepared to pounce. The clown was so scared. He could do nothing and he began to run round and round the cage with the lion close and closer behind. Finally, the lion could catch him. The clown started screaming and yelling, "Help me, help me!", but the lion was quick and pounces. The clown soon found himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and suddenly he heard a voice from the lion’s mouth;"Shut up you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?".

That Phone is Off

Soon after he left college, Dave found one of his uncles who was very rich and had no children of his own died and left him a lot of money, so he decided to set up his own real estate agency.
Dave found a nice office. He bought some new furniture and moved in. he had only been there for e few hours when he heard someone coming toward the door of his office.
“It must be my first customer” Dave thought. He quickly picked up the telephone and pretended to be very busy answering an important call from someone in New York who wanted to buy a big and expensive house in the country.
The man knocked at the door while this was going on. He came in and waited politely for Dave to finish his conversation on the phone. Then the man said to Dave; “I am from the telephone company and I was sent here to connect your telephone”

Nasreddin's Coat

One day Nasreddin had been invited to the dinner party. He went to the party by wearing old clothes.
When he arrived in the party, nobody looked at him and nobody gave him a seat. He got no food in the party so he went home and change his clothes
Next he put on his best clothes. He wore his newest coat and went to the party again. The host at once got up and came to meet him. The host offered him the best table and gave him a good seat and served him the best food
Nasreddin sat and put off his coat. He put his coat and said; “Eat the food, Coat!” the hosts and guests were very surprised and asked Nareddin; “What are doing?” Nasreddin replied calmly; “When I came here with my old clothes, nobody looked at me. Then I went home and put on my best clothes. I came back in my newest coat and you all give me this best food and drink. So, you give food to my coat instead of me”. Getting Nasreddin's answer, they just shook the head.

Goat Jumping into Deep Hole

Two men were walking through the woods and come across a very big deep hole. "Wow...that looks deep." One replied,"Sure does... toss a few pebbles in there and we will see how deep this hole is." Then they pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait... no noise "Geeez. That is really deep... here.. throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise." After that, they pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait... and wait. but no noise they heard.Wow.. They were really impressed with how deep hole it was. They look at each other in amazement. One gets a determined look on his face and says, "Hey...over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss that sucker in this hole, it's must make some noise."The two men drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. But, not a sound comes from the hole. Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as its legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole. The goat disappeared into the deep hole.The two men are astonished with what they've just seen. How could a goat jump into the hole? Then, not long after that, out of the woods comes a farmer. He seemed to seek something and asked to the two men, "Hey two guys... have you seen my goat out here?"Feeling amazing with what they saw of a goat jumping to the hole, they answer straightly,"You bet we did! Craziest thing I've ever seen! A goat came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!"The farmer thought a moment and said, "That could not have been my goat. Because my goat was chained to a railroad tie." Then he left the two men.

Cinderella

Once there was a widower who married a proud and haughty woman as his second wife. She had two daughters who were equally vain. By his first wife, he had had a beautiful young daughter who was a girl of unparalleled goodness and sweet temper. The Stepmother and her daughters forced the first daughter to complete all the housework. When the girl had done her work, she sat in the cinders, which caused her to be called "Cinderella". The poor girl bore it patiently, but she dared not tell her father, who would have scolded her; his wife controlled him entirely.
One day the Prince invited all the young ladies in the land to a ball so he could choose a wife. As the two Stepsisters were invited, they gleefully planned their wardrobes. Although Cinderella assisted them and dreamed of going to the dance, they taunted her by saying a maid could never attend a ball.
As the sisters swept away to the ball, Cinderella cried in despair. Her Fairy Godmother magically appeared and vowed to assist Cinderella in attending the ball. She turned a pumpkin into a coach, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turned Cinderella's rags into a beautiful gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers. The Godmother told her to enjoy the ball, but return before midnight for the spells would be broken.
At the ball, the entire court was entranced by Cinderella, especially the Prince, who never left her side. Unrecognized by her sisters, Cinderella remembered to leave before midnight. Back home, Cinderella graciously thanked her Godmother. She then greeted the Stepsisters who enthusiastically talked of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball.
When another ball was held the next evening, Cinderella again attended with her Godmother's help. The Prince became even more entranced. However, this evening she lost track of time and left only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chased her, but outside the palace, the guards had seen only a simple country wench leave. The Prince pocketed the slipper and vowed to find and marry the girl to whom it belonged. Meanwhile, Cinderella kept the other slipper, which had not disappeared when the spell had broken.
The Prince tried the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the Prince arrived at Cinderella's villa, the Stepsisters tried in vain. When Cinderella asked if she might try, the Stepsisters taunted her. Naturally, the slipper fit perfectly, and Cinderella produced the other slipper for good measure. The Stepsisters begged for forgiveness, and Cinderella forgave them for their cruelties.
Cinderella returned to the palace where she married the Prince, and the Stepsisters also married two lords.

Snow White

Once upon a time, as a queen sits sewing at her window, she pricks her finger on her needle and three drops of blood fall on the snow that had fallen on her ebony window frame. As she looks at the blood on the snow, she says to herself, "Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony". Soon after that, the queen gives birth to a baby girl who has skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony. They name her Princess Snow White. As soon as the child is born, the queen dies.

Soon after, the king takes a new wife, who is beautiful but also very vain. The queen possesses a magical mirror that answers any question, to whom she often asks: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?" to which the mirror always replies "You, my queen, are fairest of all." But when Snow White reaches the age of seven, she becomes as beautiful as the day, and when the queen asks her mirror, it responds: "Queen, you are full fair, 'tis true, but Snow White is fairer than you." Though in another version, the mirror simply replies: "Snow White is the fairest of them all."

The queen becomes jealous, and orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the woods to be killed. She demands that the huntsman, as proof of killing Snow White, return with her heart. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest, but after raising his knife to stab her, he finds himself unable to kill her. Instead, he lets her go, telling her to flee and hide, He then brings the queen the heart of a young deer, which is prepared by the cook and eaten by the queen.

In the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to seven dwarfs, where she rests. There, the dwarfs take pity on her, saying "If you will keep house for us, and cook, make beds, wash, sew, and knit, and keep everything clean and orderly, then you can stay with us, and you shall have everything that you want." They warn her to take care and let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains. Meanwhile, the Queen asks her mirror once again "Who's the fairest of them all?", and is horrified to learn that Snow White is not only alive and well and living with the dwarfs, but is still the fairest of them all.

Three times the Queen disguises herself and visits the dwarfs' cottage while they are away during the day, trying to kill Snow White. First, disguised as a peddler, the Queen offers colorful stay-laces and laces Snow White up so tight that she faints, causing the Queen to leave her for dead. However, Snow White is revived by the dwarfs when they loosen the laces. Next, the Queen dresses as a different old woman and brushes Snow White's hair with a poisoned comb. Snow White again collapses, but again is saved by the dwarfs. Finally, the Queen makes a poisoned apple, and in the disguise of a farmer's wife, offers it to Snow White. When she is hesitant to accept it, the Queen cuts the apple in half, eats the white part and gives the poisoned red part to Snow White. She eats the apple eagerly and immediately falls into a deep stupor. When the dwarfs find her, they cannot revive her, and they place her in a glass coffin, assuming that she is dead.

Time passes, and a prince traveling through the land sees Snow White. He strides to her coffin. The prince is enchanted by her beauty and instantly falls in love with her. He begs the dwarfs to let him have the coffin. The prince's servants carry the coffin away. While doing so, they stumble on some bushes and the movement causes the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, awakening her. The prince then declares his love for her and soon a wedding is planned.

The vain Queen, still believing that Snow White is dead, once again asks her mirror who is the fairest in the land, and yet again the mirror disappoints her by responding that "You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But the young queen is a thousand times fairer than you."

Not knowing that this new queen was indeed her stepdaughter, she arrives at the wedding, and her heart fills with the deepest of dread when she realizes the truth.

As punishment for her wicked ways, a pair of heated iron shoes are brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She is then forced to step into the iron shoes and dance until she falls down dead.

Donald Henry "Pee Wee" Gaskins, Jr.

Donald Henry "Pee Wee" Gaskins, Jr. (March 13, 1933 - September 6, 1991) was an American serial killer

Early life

Donald Henry Pee-Wee Gaskins was born on March 13, 1933, in Florence County, South Carolina. Gaskins spent much of his youth in reform school. In adulthood, Gaskins' small, slight build (5' 4" tall, hence his nickname) would make him a target for physical and sexual abuse in prison.

As a youth, Gaskins was both a poor scholar and a criminal, committing a number of petty thefts. During one burglary, he hit a woman on the head with a hatchet and left her for dead, though she survived. For this crime, Gaskins served his first custodial sentence at a reform school. Gaskins married for the first time in 1951, at eighteen, and fathered a daughter the following year. Upon his release from reform school, Gaskins took to committing insurance fraud, and was arrested for attacking a teenage girl with a hammer whom he claimed had been insulting him and was charged with attempted murder. Gaskins was sentenced to six years' imprisonment at the South Carolina State Penitentiary. During this incarceration, Gaskins' wife divorced him.

First Murder

Gaskins committed his first murder whilst serving this first prison sentence in 1953, when he slashed the throat of a fellow inmate named Hazel Brazell. Gaskins claimed he committed this murder to earn himself a fearsome reputation amongst his fellow inmates. He was judged to have acted in self-defense, and sentenced to a further three years' imprisonment. Gaskins escaped from prison in 1955 by hiding in the back of a garbage truck and fled to Florida, where he took employment with a traveling carnival. He was rearrested, remanded to custody, and paroled in August, 1961.

Second Arrest and subsequent murders

Following his release from prison, Gaskins remarried but soon reverted to committing burglaries and fencing stolen property. Two years after his parole, Gaskins was arrested for the rape of a twelve-year-old girl; he absconded whilst awaiting sentence, but was rearrested in Georgia, and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. Gaskins was paroled in November, 1968. Upon his release, Gaskins moved to the town of Sumter and began work with a construction company. In September 1969, Gaskins began killing a series of hitchhikers he picked up whilst driving around the coastal highways of the American South, he classified these victims as Coastal Kills: people whom he killed purely for pleasure, both male and female, whom Gaskins killed on average approximately once every six weeks, when he went hunting to quell his feelings of "bothersome-ness". He would torture his victims and mutilate them, but attempt to keep them alive for as long as possible; he confessed to killing these victims using a variety of methods including stabbing, suffocation and mutilation, and even claimed to have cannibalized some of them. He later confessed to killing ' eighty to ninety ' such victims, although this figure has never been corroborated.

In November, 1970, Gaskins committed the first of his Serious Murders: people whom he knew and killed for personal reasons. Gaskins' first Serious Murder victims were his own niece, Janice Kirby, aged 15, and her friend Patricia Ann Alsbrook, aged 17, whom he beat to death after attempting to sexually assault them in Sumter, South Carolina. Other Serious Murder victims were killed for a variety of reasons: because they had mocked Gaskins, attempted to blackmail him, owed him money, because they had stolen from him, or because Gaskins had been paid to kill his victim. Unlike his Coastal Kills, Gaskins simply executed these victims, usually by shooting them, before burying them around the coastal areas of South Carolina.

Final Arrest

Gaskins was arrested on November 14, 1975, when a criminal associate, named Walter Neeley, confessed to police that he had witnessed Gaskins having killed two young men named Dennis Bellamy, aged 28, and Johnny Knight, aged 15. Neeley confessed to police that Gaskins had confided in him to having killed several people who had been listed as missing persons over the previous five years, and had indicated to him where they were buried. On December 4, 1975, Gaskins led police to land he owned in Prospect, where police discovered the bodies of eight of his victims.

Imprisonment

Gaskins was tried on eight charges of murder on May 24, 1976, found guilty on May 28 and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison, when the South Carolina General Assembly's 1974 death sentence ruling was changed to conform to the United States Supreme Court guidelines for the death penalty in other states.

On September 12, 1982, Gaskins committed another murder, for which he earned the title of the "Meanest Man in America". Whilst incarcerated in the high security block at the South Carolina Correctional Institution, Gaskins killed a death row inmate named Rudolph Tyner, who earned his sentence for killing an elderly couple named Bill and Myrtle Moon during a bungled armed robbery on the store they owned in the Burgess community.

Gaskins was hired to commit this murder by Tony Cimo, son of Myrtle Moon. Gaskins initially made several unsuccessful attempts to kill Tyner by lacing his food and drink with poison before he opted to use explosives to kill him. To accomplish this, Gaskins rigged a device similar to a portable radio in Tyner's death row cell and told Tyner this would allow them to communicate between cells. When Tyner followed Gaskins' instructions to hold a speaker (laden with C-4 plastic explosive, unbeknownst to him) to his ear at an agreed time, Gaskins detonated the explosives in his cell and killed him. Gaskins later said, "The last thing he [Tyner] heard was me laughing."

Gaskins was tried for the murder of Rudolph Tyner and sentenced to death.

Final Truth

Whilst on death row, Gaskins told his life story to a journalist named Wilton Earle, confessing to having committed between 100 and 110 murders, one of them being that of Margaret "Peg" Cuttino³ (1957-70), the 13 year old daughter of then SC state senator James Cuttino, Jr. of Sumter, SC, near Florence, SC, (about 130 miles from the "Fort Sumter" of Civil War fame). However, law enforcement sources found it impossible to verify all of his claims. In his autobiography, Final Truth (published posthumously), Gaskins wrote that he had "a special mind" that gave him "permission to kill."

Execution

Gaskins was executed on September 6, 1991 at 1:10 a.m. He was the fourth person to die in the electric chair after the death penalty was reinstated in South Carolina in 1977. Reportedly, his final words were "I'll let my lawyers talk for me. I'm ready to go".

Mike Dirnt

Mike Dirnt (born Michael Ryan Pritchard on May 4 1972 in California, United States), is an American musician who is currently the bassist and backing vocalist for the American punk rock band Green Day. While at school, he would play "air-bass." While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise: "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt," so his schoolmates started to call him "Mike Dirnt."

Biography

Mike Dirnt grew up in California. He was adopted by a Native American mother and a European American father. He has one sister, Myla. His parents divorced when he was seven years old. His mother remarried a few years later. When asked about his stepdad, he says, "We didn't get along for years." The one thing my family did give me is blue collar morals. But he died when I was 17." Dirnt had left home when he was 17 to live out of his truck, but later rented a room in Billie Joe Armstrong's house. He attended Salesian High School (where he briefly played with the band Helder and the Heldernauts), John Swett High School, and ended up graduating from Pinole Valley High School in 1990, and Green Day went on their first tour the day after graduation.

Tré Cool

Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III; December 9, 1972) is a German-born American drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990.

Biography

Frank Edwin Wright III was born December 9, 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany, making him the youngest member of Green Day. He lived in Willits, California with his father and his older sister, Lori. His father, a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, decided to move the family there to insulate them upon his return to the United States.

Wright's closest neighbor was Larry Livermore, who at the time was the singer of the punk band The Lookouts. At age 12, Livermore recruited Wright to join The Lookouts and gave him the name of Tre Cool relying on both the French word très (meaning very) combined with the word cool. However, the silent "s" has been incorrectly dropped in the spelling.

When Green Day's drummer, John Kiffmeyer, left the band they recruited Cool to play drums. Cool decided to drop out of high school in his sophomore year. Instead, he passed an equivalency test and earned his GED, and began taking classes at a nearby community college. He had to drop out of college, however, when the demands of Green Day's touring intensified.

Cool's father, who owned a small company, overhauled a bookmobile and even served as the driver on three separate tours. "I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic," he later recalled. "On their first tour or two, it was more of a party than anything else. I still scratch my head and say, 'How in the hell did they make it?' They used to practice in my living room here - a lot of the songs they did on Dookie. You hear it coming together, and you don't expect people are going to go out and buy it. But when it does, you just say, 'Wow that's so cool.'"

In 1998, after Green Day won a "Moon Man" Trophy at the MTV Music Awards, Tré Cool famously scaled the Universal globe at Universal studios, but escaped with no punishment - only compliments and cheers. Cool has been the only person to ever do so.

Tré was once notorious for burning his drum kit, on stage, upon completion of every set on the "Warning" tour. He has a tradition also that if he cracks a cymbal during a concert, he gives it away at the end.

Singing and songwritting

Tré sings and plays guitar on the tracks "Dominated Love Slave" and "All by Myself", from Kerplunk! and Dookie, respectively, both of what he wrote and composed. He wrote and sang the subtrack "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" from the medley "Homecoming" featured on the album American Idiot. He also sang and composed the track "DUI" ("Driving Under the Influence"), which was recorded during the Nimrod sessions and was due to be released on Shenanigans (a compilation of B-sides), but it was omitted and can only be found online.

During a radio interview at Washington DC's alternative station DC 101, Tré sang and played the guitar to a short song titled "Like a Rat does Cheese," a song about the pleasure of fellatio. This song was acoustic.

Several live tracks also exist, usually from early dates around 1993, such as "Food Around the Corner." a song from the 1943 Elmer Fudd cartoon "An Itch in Time." Another live track, "Billie Joe's Mom" was also recorded.

Tré had also recorded a version of Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain." It was posted on YouTube on August 1, 2007. His cover was mentioned in several news journals.

Personal life

Tré married his long-time girlfriend Lisea Lyons, a photographer, in March 1995 and had a child, Ramona Isabelle Wright, born January 12, 1995. They divorced sometime in 1998. In May 2000, he married again to a woman named Claudia. They split up in 2003 and had one son together, Frankito ("Little Frank"), was born on February 14, 2001. He is currently dating a girl named Ruri.

Equipment

Tré has used the drums of different companies. He currently uses Leedy drums and Zildjian cymbals. In the past, he used DW, Ludwig and Slingerland drums. Currently, he is still listed as an endorser in Ludwig's website.

Drum kit: Leedy custom maple set in White Marine Nitron with Remo heads

• 18"×22" Bass drum with a Clear Powerstroke 3
• 9"×13" Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
• 16"×16" Floor Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
• 16"×18" Floor Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
• 6.5"×14" Leedy Broadway Standard Snare with a Coated Emperor x on batter and hazy snare side Ambassador

Cymbals: Zildjian

• 14" K Constantinople/Z Special hi-hats
• 19" K Dark Crash Medium Thin
• 19" A Medium Thin Crash
• 22" A Deep Ride
• 21" A Sweet Ride
• 20" Oriental Classic China

Drumsticks: Zildjian Tré Cool Signature

Mark Hoppus

Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician and record producer. Hoppus is one of the founding members of the pop punk band Blink-182 and the alternative rock band +44. He plays bass guitar and provides vocals for both bands. As of late, Hoppus has produced albums for groups like Idiot Pilot, New Found Glory, The Matches, and Motion City Soundtrack. He is known for his lower voice and, in Blink-182, usually sings either lead or provides harmony and backing vocals for fellow singer Tom DeLonge. He is also known for his concern over the environment and global warming.

Tom Delonge

Thomas Matthew "Tom" DeLonge, Jr. (born December 13, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists for the pop punk band Blink-182 as well as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative rock band Angels & Airwaves. In addition, he started the band Box Car Racer with his close friends Travis Barker and David Kennedy.

Early years

Tom DeLonge was raised by his mother, Connie and his father, Thomas, who is of German & Irish descent, in Poway, California. He has an older brother, Shon, and a younger sister, Kari. Tom was expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drinking at a school basketball game. He then went to Rancho Bernardo High School. When he returned to Poway High School during his senior year, the students voted him Homecoming King, despite the fact that he wasn't even on the ballot. ^[1] Becoming a musician was not his first calling. "I was originally going to be a firefighter. I was in the San Diego Cadet Program,” says DeLonge.Some of his influences are the Descendents, Screeching Weasel, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, NOFX, Pink Floyd and The Cure.

Quick Decisions

A game warden noticed how a particular fellow named Sam consistently caught more fish than anyone else, whereas the other guys would only catch three or four a day. Sam would come in off the lake with a boat full. Stringer after stringer was always packed with freshly caught trout. The warden, curious, asked Sam his secret. The successful fisherman invited the game warden to accompany him and observe. So the next morning the two met at the dock and took off in Sam's boat. When they got to the middle of the lake, Sam stopped the boat, and the warden sat back to see how it was done.

Sam's approach was simple. He took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it in the air. The explosion rocked the lake with such a force that dead fish immediately began to surface. Sam took out a net and started scooping them up.

Well you can imagine the reaction of the game warden. When he recovered from the shock of it all, he began yelling at Sam. "You can't do this! I'll put you in jail, buddy! You will be paying every fine there is in the book!" Sam, meanwhile, set his net down and took out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and tossed it in the lap of the game warden with these words, "Are you going to sit there all day complaining, or are you going to fish?"

The poor warden was left with a fast decision to make. He was yanked, in one second, from an observer to a participant. A dynamite of a choice had to be made and be made quickly! Life is like that. Few days go by without our coming face to face with an uninvited, unanticipated, yet unavoidable decision. Like a crashing snow bank, these decisions tumble upon us without warning. Quick. Immediate. Sudden. No council, no study, no advice. Pow!

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling hip hop album in history. It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project D12 to mainstream recognition.

The Marshall Mathers LP and his third album, The Eminem Show also won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LP's. In 2002, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" from the film 8 Mile, in which he also played the lead. "Lose Yourself" would go on to become the longest running #1 hip-hop single. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the decade, and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide to date, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Eminem is also ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time by Rolling Stone magazine. He was also named the Best Rapper Ever by Vibe magazine. Including his work with D12, Eminem has achieved eight #1 albums on the Billboard Top 200 and 12 number one singles worldwide. In December, 2009 Eminem was named the Artist of the Decade by Billboard Magazine. According to Billboard, Eminem has two of his albums among the top 5 highest selling albums of the 2000s.

My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is a Grammy-nominated American rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, bassist Mikey Way, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro and drummer Bob Bryar. Shortly after forming, the band signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major label debut Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004; the album was a commercial success, selling over one million copies.

The band eclipsed their previous success with 2006's The Black Parade, featuring their hit singles, "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Famous Last Words", "I Don't Love You", and "Teenagers". The band also filmed a live DVD in Mexico City, titled The Black Parade Is Dead!, which was released in July 2008.

Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy is an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, that formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist-rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz and drummer Andy Hurley.

With Pete Wentz as the band's primary lyricist and Patrick Stump as the primary composer, Fall Out Boy reached mainstream success with its major label debut, From Under the Cork Tree. Released in 2005, the album won several awards and has achieved double platinum status after selling more than 2.5 million albums in the United States alone. To support the album, the band headlined tours around the world in 2005 and 2006.

In 2007 the band released Infinity on High to major chart success, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 and selling 260,000 copies its first week. The lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", reached #1 on the Pop 100 and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. To promote the album, the band performed at the Live Earth concerts and headlined the Honda Civic Tour through mid 2007.

Post-it Notes

The 3M Company encourages creativity from its employees. The company allows its researchers to spend 15 percent of their time on any project that interests them. This attitude has brought fantastic benefits not only to the employees but to the 3M Company itself Many times, a spark of an idea turned into a successful product has boosted 3M's profits tremendously.

Some years ago, a scientist in 3M's commercial office took advantage of this 15 percent creative time. This scientist, Art Fry, came up with an idea for one of 3M's best-selling products. It seems that Art Fry dealt with a small irritation every Sunday as he sang in the church choir. After marking his pages in the hymnal with small bits of paper, the small pieces would invariably fall out all over the floor.

Suddenly, an idea struck Fry. He remembered an adhesive developed by a colleague that everyone thought was a failure because it did not stick very well. "I coated the adhesive on a paper sample," Fry recalls, "and I found that it was not only a good bookmark, but it was great for writing notes. It will stay in place as long as you want it to, and then you can remove it without damage."

Yes, Art Fry hit the jackpot. The resulting product was called Post-it! and has become one of 3M's most successful office products.

From Candles to Soap

In 1879, Procter and Gamble's best seller was candles. But the company was in trouble. Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb, and it looked as if candles would become obsolete. Their fears became reality when the market for candles plummeted since they were now sold only forspecial occasions.

The outlook appeared to be bleak for Procter and Gamble. However, at this time, it seemed that destiny played a dramatic part in pulling the struggling company from the clutches of bankruptcy. A forgetful employee at a small factory in Cincinnati forgot to turn off his machine when he went to lunch. The result? A frothing mass of lather filled with air bubbles. He almost threw the stuff away but instead decided to make it into soap. The soap floated. Thus, Ivory soap was born and became the mainstay of the Procter and Gamble Company.

Why was soap that floats such a hot item at that time? In Cincinnati, during that period, some people bathed in the Ohio River. Floating soap would never sink and consequently never got lost. So, Ivory soap became a best seller in Ohio and eventually across the country also.

Like Procter and Gamble, never give up when things go wrong or when seemingly unsurmountable problems arise. Creativity put to work can change a problem and turn it into a gold mine.

Good Charlotte

Good Charlotte is an American pop punk band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. They took their name from the children's book called "Good Charlotte: The Girls of Good Day Orphanage," written by Carol Beach York.

History

Early years & self-titled album (1995–2001)

Good Charlotte started out by playing at small bars. They soon caught the attention of pop punk band, Lit, whose song "My Own Worst Enemy" was a chart topper at the time. Good Charlotte lost the opening slot on Lit's East Coast tour in 1999. Soon after, Good Charlotte played some dates with the band Blink-182, who had just experienced mainstream success with their album, Enema of the State. All of this caught the attention of major music labels, and Good Charlotte eventually signed with Epic Records in 1999.

In 2000, they released their self-titled debut album, Good Charlotte. Y100, a now-defunct radio station in Philadelphia spun Good Charlotte's song "Little Things" before it was released as a single. It ended up being a big success on the station, so big that on Y100's nightly "Cage Match" competition (where new songs were pitted against each other and listeners could vote on which was better), "Little Things" won fifteen nights in a row, beating out bigger names, before it was retired to the cage match hall of fame.

Good Charlotte also gained a lot of momentum and popularity from "Little Things" being played by now defunct Washington radio station, 99.1 WHFS. WHFS's annual music concert, the HFStival, hosted a locals only stage and is credited with being Good Charlotte's big break.

"Little Things" was later released as a single in 2001, and peaked at #23 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In the second half of the year, three more singles were released from the album, "The Motivation Proclamation", "The Click" and "Festival Song", which is an ode to HFStival.

Billie Joe Armstrong

Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is the lead vocalist, chief songwriter and guitarist for the rock band Green Day. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Pinhead Gunpowder and sings for garage rock band Foxboro Hot Tubs. He's also suspected of being the lead singer for new wave group The Network, though he has emphatically denied it on numerous occasions.

Early life

Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Oakland, California and was raised in Rodeo, California, as the youngest of six children. His father, Andy Armstrong, worked as a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway to support the family. He died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1982 when Armstrong was 10. The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father. He has five older siblings: David, Alan, Marci, Hollie, and Anna. His mother Ollie worked at Rod's Hickory Pit. Armstrong and Mike Dirnt got their first gig at Rod's Hickory Pit during their early years.

Green Day

Green Day is an American rock trio formed in 1987. The band has consisted of Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals), and Tré Cool (drums, percussion) for the majority of its existence.

Green Day was originally part of the punk rock scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases for independent record label Lookout! Records earned it a grassroots fanbase, some of whom felt alienated when the band signed to a major label. Nevertheless, its major label debut Dookie (1994) became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide. As a result, Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Rancid, with reviving mainstream interest in and popularizing punk rock in the United States. Green Day's three follow-up albums, Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, but they were still successful, reaching double platinum, double platinum, and gold status respectively. Green Day's 2004 rock opera American Idiot reignited the band's popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the U.S. The band's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released on May 15, 2009.

Green Day has sold over 22 million records in the United States. They have won three Grammy Awards; Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

Formation and Lookout years: 1987–1993

In 1987, friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time, formed a band called Sweet Children. The first Sweet Children show took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California where Armstrong's mother was working. In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with former Isocracy drummer, John Kiffmeyer (also known as Al Sobrante). Kiffmeyer served as both the band's drummer and business manager, handling the booking of shows and helping the band establish a fan base.

Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early show and signed them to his label. In 1989 they recorded their first EP, 1,000 Hours. Before 1,000 Hours was released, the band dropped the name Sweet Children, according to Livermore this was done to avoid confusion with another local band Sweet Baby. The band adopted the name Green Day, allegedly due to their fondness of marijuana.

Lookout! would release Green Day's first LP, 39/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day would record two EPs later that year: Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of which included some older songs they had recorded for Minneapolis indie label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records released 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, a compilation of the 39/Smooth, Slappy, and 1,000 Hours EPs. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Sobrante left the East Bay area to attend college. The Lookouts drummer Tré Cool began filling in as a temporary replacement, and when it became clear that Sobrante did not plan to commit to the band full time, Tré Cool's position as Green Day's drummer became permanent. The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993, and played a stretch of shows overseas in Europe. The band's second full length album Kerplunk sold about 50,000 copies in the U.S.

Breakthrough success: 1994–1996

Kerplunk's underground success led to a wave of interest coming from major record labels, and they eventually left Lookout! on friendly terms and signed with Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. Signing to Reprise caused many punk rock fans to regard Green Day as sellouts. Reflecting on the period, Armstrong told Spin magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure ... The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward." After signing with Reprise, the band went o work on recording its major label debut, Dookie.

Released in February 1994, and recorded in 3 weeks, Dookie became a commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs "Longview", "Basket Case", and "When I Come Around", all of which reached the number one position on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. That year, Green Day embarked on a nationwide tour with queercore band Pansy Division as its opening act. At a September 9, 1994 concert at Boston Esplanade, mayhem broke-out during the band's set (cut short to seven songs) and by the end of the rampage, 100 people were injured and 45 arrested. The band also joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza festival and Woodstock 1994, where they started an infamous mud fight. During the concert, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth. Viewed by millions by pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's growing publicity and recognition, and helped push its album to eventual diamond status. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and the band was nominated for 9 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year.

In 1995, a new single for the Angus soundtrack was released, titled "J.A.R.". The single went straight to number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was followed by the band's new album, Insomniac, which was released in the fall of 1995. Insomniac was a much darker and heavier response by the band, compared to the poppier, more melodic Dookie. Insomniac opened to a warm critical reception, earning 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, which said "In punk, the good stuff actually unfolds and gains meaning as you listen without sacrificing any of its electric, haywire immediacy. And Green Day are as good as this stuff gets." Insomniac used a piece of art by Winston Smith entitled God Told Me to Skin You Alive for its album cover. The singles released from Insomniac were "Geek Stink Breath", "Brain Stew/Jaded", "Walking Contradiction", and "Stuck With Me". Though the album did not approach the success of Dookie, it still sold two million copies in the United States. Insomniac won the band award nominations for Favorite Artist, Favorite Hard Rock Artist, and Favorite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American Music Awards, and the video for "Walking Contradiction" got the band a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form, in addition to a Best Special Effects nomination at the MTV Video Music Awards. After that, the band abruptly cancelled a European tour, citing exhaustion.

Middle era and fall in popularity: 1997–2002

After taking a break in 1996, Green Day began to work on a new album in 1997. From the outset, both the band and Cavallo agreed that the album had to be different from its previous records. The result was Nimrod, an experimental deviation from the band's standard pop-punk brand of music. The new album was released in October 1997. It provided a variety of music, from pop-punk, surf rock, and ska, to an acoustic ballad. Nimrod entered the charts at number 10. The success of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video for the song's video, which depicted people undergoing major changes in their lives while Billie Joe Armstrong strummed his acoustic guitar. The song was also used in the second "clip show" episode of Seinfeld and on two episodes of ER. The other singles released from Nimrod were "Nice Guys Finish Last", "Hitchin' a Ride" and "Redundant". The band made a guest appearance in an episode of King of the Hill entitled "The Man Who Shot Cane Skretteberg", which aired in 1997.

In 2000, Green Day released Warning, a step further in the style that they had hinted at with Nimrod. Critics' reviews of the album were varied. Allmusic gave it 4.5/5 saying "Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously satisfying." Rolling Stone was more critical, giving it 3/5, and saying "Warning... invites the question: Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope and social commentary from what used to be snot-core's biggest-selling band?" Though it produced the hit "Minority" and a smaller hit with "Warning", some observers were coming to the conclusion that the band was losing relevance, and a decline in popularity followed. While all of Green Day's past albums had reached a status of at least double platinum, Warning was only certified gold.

At the 2001 California Music Awards, Green Day won all eight awards that they were nominated for. They won the awards for Outstanding Album (Warning), Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album (Warning), Outstanding Group, Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding Songwriter and Outstanding Artist.

The release of a Greatest Hits compilation, International Superhits!, and an assemblage of B-sides, Shenanigans, followed Warning. International Superhits and its companion collection of music videos, International Supervideos!, sold reasonably well, going platinum in the U.S. Shenanigans contained some of the band's B-sides, including "Espionage" which was featured in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

In the spring of 2002, Green Day co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink-182. Despite the co-headlining title, Green Day would play each show before Blink-182, who at the time were experiencing more success. The tour was documented on the DVD Riding in Vans with Boys.

American Idiot and renewed success: 2003–2006

In the summer of 2003 the band went into a studio to write and record new material for a new album, tentatively titled Cigarettes and Valentines. After completing 20 tracks, the master tapes were stolen from the studio. The band chose not to try to re-create the stolen album, but instead started over. By the end of 2003, Green Day collaborated with Iggy Pop on two tracks for his album Skull Ring. On February 1, 2004 a new song, a cover of "I Fought the Law" made its debut on a commercial for iTunes during NFL Super Bowl XXXVIII. The band underwent serious "band therapy," engaging in several long talks to work out the members' differences after accusations from Dirnt and Cool that Armstrong was "the band's Nazi" and a show-off bent on taking the limelight from the other band members.

The resulting 2004 album, American Idiot, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, the band's first ever album to top the chart, backed by the success of the album's first single, "American Idiot." The album was billed as a "punk rock opera" which follows the journey of the fictitious "Jesus of Suburbia". American Idiot won the 2005 Grammy for "Best Rock Album" and the band swept the 2005 MTV music awards, winning a total of seven of the eight awards they were nominated for, including the coveted Viewer's Choice Award.

Through 2005, the band toured in support of the album with about 150 dates — the longest tour in its career — visiting Japan, Australia, South America and the United Kingdom, where they drew a crowd of 130,000 people over a span of two days. While touring for American Idiot, they filmed and recorded the two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in England, which was voted 'The Best Show On Earth' in a Kerrang! Magazine Poll.

These recordings were released as a live CD and DVD called Bullet in a Bible on November 15, 2005. This CD/DVD featured hits from American Idiot as well as a few songs from all its previous albums, except "Kerplunk" and "1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours". The DVD featured behind-the-scenes footage of the band, and showed how the band prepared to put on the show. The final shows of its 2005 world tour were in Sydney, Australia, and Melbourne, Australia, on December 14 and 17 respectively. On January 10, 2006 the band was awarded with a People's Choice Award for favorite group.

Foxboro Hot Tubs and 21st Century Breakdown: 2007–present

Green Day engaged in several other smaller projects in the time following the hype of American Idiot. Green Day released a new album under the band name Foxboro Hot Tubs entitled Stop Drop and Roll!!!. In 2008, the Foxboro Hot Tubs went on a mini-tour to promote the record, hitting tiny Bay Area venues including the Stork Club in Oakland and Toot’s Tavern in Crockett, CA. One song, “Ruby Room,” even gives a shout-out to the Oakland dive bar where “the Pabst Blue Ribbon unravels.”

In an interview with Kerrang!, Armstrong revealed that 2008 would "be a fair estimate of the release date of their new untitled eighth studio album for Green Day." In an interview with Carson Daly, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson revealed that Butch Vig would be producing Green Day's forthcoming album. The span of nearly five years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown was the longest gap between studio albums in Green Day's career. The band had been working on new material since January 2006. By October 2007, Armstrong had 45 songs written, but the band showed no further signs of progress until October 2008, when a video of the group recording with producer Butch Vig in the studio was posted on YouTube. Two videos showing the band in the studio were posted on YouTube. In the tour section of the band's official website, the message "World Tour coming soon!" is shown. The writing and recording process, spanning three years and four recording studios, was finally finished in April 2009.

The new album, titled 21st Century Breakdown, was released worldwide on May 15, 2009. It received rave reviews from the likes of Nirvana's Krist Novoselic. The album had mainly positive reception from critics, getting an average rating between 4 and 5 stars. After the release, the album hit #1 in fourteen different countries, hitting Gold or Platinum in each. 21st Century Breakdown achieved Green Day's best chart performance to date. The band started playing shows in California in April and early May. It was their first live show in about 3 years. Green Day is currently on a world tour that started in North America in July, 2009 and continuing around the world throughout the rest of 2009 and early 2010.

It has also been announced that Green Day will be getting their own Rock Band video game entitled Green Day: Rock Band. A trailer of the game was shown during the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009. It is set to release sometime in 2010.

Band members

Current members

• Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitars (1987–present)
• Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals (1987–present)
• Tré Cool – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1990–present)

Current touring members

• Jason White – guitars, backing vocals (1999–present)
• Jason Freese – keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, trombone, saxophone, accordion, backing vocals (2003–present)
• Jeff Matika – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)

Former members

• John Kiffmeyer – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1987–1990)

Former touring members

• Timmy Chunks – rhythm guitar (1997–1999)
• Garth Schultz – trombone, trumpet (1997–1999)
• Gabrial McNair – trombone, tenor saxophone (1999–2001)
• Kurt Lohmiller – trumpet, timpani, percussion, backing vocals (1999–2004)
• Mike Pelino – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
• Ronnie Blake – trumpet, timpani, percussion, backing vocals (2004–2005)