Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams were a popular tandem in theaters with the hits 'Mahogany' (1975) and 'Lady Sings the Blues' (1972). Three decades since audiences saw last them together, Oprah Winfrey put them together again today on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' (weekdays, syndicated).
"I take full responsibility because my staff said to me, 'Di -- Miss Ross -- she does not want any surprises,'" said Winfrey. Thankfully, it seemed to turn out well. You never want to surprise a diva.
Robert E. Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954-1965). He was the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. He also went by the nickname "Dutch" in college.
When Bob Pettit came out of college in 1954, no one thought he was talented enough to make it as a professional basketball player. Although he had been a prolific scorer at Louisiana State University, the tall, thin forward was deemed too slight at 200 pounds to survive the pounding of an NBA season. However, the scouts failed to factor in Pettit's willingness to work harder than anyone else on the court in order to succeed. Pettit was named All-NBA First Team 10 times and won two MVP trophies in his career.
And succeed he did. After 11 years with the Milwaukee and St. Louis Hawks, he retired having become the first player in the league to top 20,000 points. The greatest forward of his era, Pettit was an All-Star in each of his 11 seasons, an All-NBA First Team selection 10 times, and an All-NBA Second Team pick once. He never finished below seventh in the NBA scoring race, and he left the sport with two Most Valuable Player Awards and an NBA championship ring. After Pettit's playing days had ended, rival Bill Russell offered this tribute: "Bob made 'second effort' a part of the sport's vocabulary. He kept coming at you more than any man in the game. He was always battling for position, fighting you off the boards."
The Daytona 500 is a 500 miles (804.7 km)-long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule.
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, carrying by far the largest purse. Championship points awarded are equal to that of any other Sprint Cup race. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.
The event serves as the final event of Speedweeks and is sometimes referred to as "The Great American Race" or the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing." It is held the second or third Sunday in February, and since 1971, has been loosely associated with both Valentine's Day and the Presidents Day weekend. The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed, in race-winning condition, for one year at Daytona 500 Experience, a museum and gallery adjacent to Daytona International Speedway.
Here are the complete results of the 2011 Daytona 500:
POS DRIVER CAR MANU. LAPS START LED PTS
1 Trevor Bayne 21 Ford 208 32 6 0
2 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 208 22 0 42
3 David Gilliland 34 Ford 208 39 0 41
4 Bobby Labonte 47 Toyota 208 31 2 41
5 Kurt Busch 22 Dodge 208 3 19 40
6 Juan Pablo Montova 42 Chevrolet 208 13 5 39
7 Regan Smith 78 Chevrolet 208 5 7 38
8 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 208 10 3 37
9 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 208 19 11 36
10 Mark Martin 5 Chevrolet 208 17 0 34
11 AJ Allmendinger 43 Ford 208 15 4 34
12 Bill Elliott 09 Chevrolet 208 29 0 32
13 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 208 25 0 31
14 David Ragan 6 Ford 208 34 7 31
15 Terry Labonte 32 Ford 208 43 2 30
16 Robby Gordon 7 Dodge 208 30 7 29
17 Clint Bowyer 33 Chevrolet 208 6 31 28
18 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 208 14 11 27
19 Martin Truex, Jr. 56 Toyota 208 20 17 26
20 Steve Wallace 77 Toyota 208 36 0 0
21 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 207 18 7 24
22 Ryan Newman 39 Chevrolet 206 21 37 24
23 Joey Logano 20 Toyota 206 38 0 21
24 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 88 Chevrolet 202 1 9 21
25 Kasey Kahne 4 Toyota 199 11 0 19
26 Dave Blaney 36 Chevrolet 198 42 3 19
27 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 189 23 0 17
28 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 173 2 1 17
29 Brad Keselowski 2 Chevrolet 166 16 9 16
30 David Beutimann 00 Toyota 164 24 0 14
31 Brian Vickers 83 Toyota 160 27 0 13
32 Travis Kyapil 38 Ford 153 40 0 0
33 Andy Lally 71 Chevrolet 149 37 0 11
34 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 133 9 0 10
35 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 126 26 0 9
36 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 92 4 5 9
37 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 82 35 0 7
38 Robert Richardson, Jr. 37 Ford 45 28 0 0
39 Joe Nemechek 87 Toyota 29 41 0 0
40 Michael Waltrip 15 Toyota 28 8 0 4
41 Brian Keselowski 92 Dodge 28 12 0 3
42 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 22 7 5 3
43 J. J. Yeley 46 Chevrolet 10 33 0 1
Trevor Bayne wins the 2011 Daytona 500. He is youngest driver to win the Great American Race and gave the historic Wood Brothers team its fifth Daytona 500 victory. Its first since 1976 with David Pearson and now Trevor Bayne with the No. 21 Ford that was retrofitted to resemble Pearson's famed ride. In just his second Sprint Cup start, the 20-year-old Bayne surprised NASCAR's biggest names with a thrilling overtime win at Daytona International Speedway, holding off Carl Edwards after fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed in NASCAR's first attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish.
Trevor Bayne is an American race car driver who drives the #16 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Further, he also drives part-time in the #21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, sharing the ride with Bill Elliott. Bayne attended Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee as a freshman and Gibbs High School outside Knoxville as a sophomore before getting a General Educational Development degree online.
On his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500.
At 20 years and 1 day, he is the youngest driver to win the race and, with the exception of Lee Petty, the winner of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, is the only driver to win the race in his first attempt. Bayne had celebrated his 20th birthday the previous day. He is five years and 195 days younger than the previous youngest Daytona 500 winner, Jeff Gordon, who won the race in 1997.
The Great American Race, the Daytona 500, was announced to take place this Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 at exactly 1 p. m. Eatern Time with NASCAR's best drivers duking it out over 500 miles at Daytona International Speedway. Television coverage begins at Noon on FOX. From Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Enumclaw's Kasey Kahne, the field is full of star-power, gathered together to kick the 2011 season off right. Drivers start their engine early on Sunday morning and on the third lap, fans in attendance will participate in a tribute to Dale Earnhardt to mark the 10-year anniversary of his passing at Daytona.
Moreover, the Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III unleashed today that the 54th Annual Daytona 500 will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2012.
“The decision to kick-off to the NASCAR racing season one week later was made in close partnership with the sanctioning body, our broadcast partners including FOX, community partners and others within the industry,” said Chitwood. “This move shortens the racing season by one week, which is something the teams and competitors will surely enjoy, and it eliminates the off-weekend typically scheduled in March, which many fans and media partners have said created a drop in momentum in the early part of the racing season.
“We also know some of our great fans like to plan their visit to the ‘World Center of Racing’ well in advance so we are announcing the 2012 date much earlier in the season to minimize any inconveniences in planning their visit.”
The dates of Daytona International Speedway’s other racing events that comprise Speedweeks, in addition to the motorcycle events in March, will be determined in the near future.
Irina Shayk has definitely risen to the top of the modeling profession. The 25-year old Russian model is the cover girl of the magazine Sports Illustrated Swimsuit this year. Irina Shayk was born in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia. After winning the "Supermodel 2004" Chelyabinsk beauty pageant, scout Guia Jikidze suggested Shayk to pursue a career as a model. Last 2007, Shayk debuted in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and has appeared in each annual edition ever since. She worked with photographers like Pamela Hanson, Steve Erle, Riccardo Tinelli, Rennio Maifredi, and Raphael Mazucco, and shooting in places such as St. Petersburg, Naples Grenada and Chile.
Last 2007, she turned out to be the face of lingerie brand Intimissimi, showed in the company's catalogs and advertisements, as well as a commercial last 2009. Last 2010, Irina Shayk became the official ambassador of Intimissimi. Last 2007, she also became the face of Lacoste and LaPerla. Her other modeling contracts are Beach Bunny (2009), Guess (2008–2009), and Armani Exchange (2010). Her magazine covers include GQ Spain, Elle Spain, GQ South Africa, Ocean Drive, Woman Spain, Paris Capital, Jalouse, Annabelle, and Bolero.
She is ranked 18th in the "Top 20 Sexiest Models" list on Models.com and 1st in the "50 Hottest Russian Women" list by Complex magazine. In 2010, Glamour Spain gave her the "Best International Model of 2010" award (Spanish: Mejor Modelo Internacional). At the end of the year she was pictured nude in GQ Spain; however, she claimed that she had never stripped, and that the magazine had digitally altered the images to remove her lingerie.
Here are some of the photos of Irina Shayk in the issue of GQ Magazine:
This February 15, 2011, the Late Show with David Letterman revealed her on a billboard to be the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl. This is the fifth time she's been featured in the magazine, but it's the first time she's on the cover as well as the first Russian to do so.
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society claimed to have been established during the Late Medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. Rosicrucianism holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm."Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross. The legendary origin of modern-day Rosicrucianism was a manifesto, the "Fama Fraternitaris", printed in 1614. This document claimed that an unknown German called 'The Highly Illuminated Father C.R.C." was the founder of the first "Secret Society of the Rose Cross" in the thirteenth century.
In between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous manifestos were published, first in Germany and later throughout Europe. These were Fama Fraternitatis RC (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC) and Confessio Fraternitatis (The Confession of the Brotherhood of RC). The influence of these documents, presenting a "most laudable Order" of mystic-philosopher-doctors and promoting a "Universal Reformation of Mankind", gave rise to an enthusiasm called by its historian Dame Frances Yates the "Rosicrucian Enlightenment".
Rosicrucianism was more closely related with Protestantism than Roman Catholism and in particular, was most closely associated with Lutheranism. According to historian David Stevenson, it was also influential to Freemasonry as it was emerging in Scotland. In later centuries, many esoteric societies have said to derive their doctrines, in whole or in part, from the original Rosicrucians. Several modern societies, which date the beginning of the Order to earlier centuries, have been formed for the study of Rosicrucianism and allied subjects.
Nothing in the Rosicrucian philosophy which claimed to possess the "secret of the ages" was built upon Jesus Christ and His revelation to man. Rosicrucians teach that Christianity has perverted and suppressed "ancient truths." They deny the historic definition of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ, saying that the Son of God was only "a spirit be longing to our human evolution...the Christ spirit which entered the body of Jesus was a ray from the Cosmic Christ...we may follow Jesus back in his previous incarnations, and we can trace his growth to the present day."
