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TOM CRUISE Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. He started his career at age 19 in the film Endless Love (1981), before making his breakthrough in the comedy Risky Business (1983) and receiving widespread attention for starring in the action drama Top Gun (1986) as Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. After starring in The Color of Money (1986) and Cocktail (1988), Cruise starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning drama Rain Man. For his role as anti-war activist Ron Kovic in the drama Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Cruise received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and his first Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. In the 1990s, Cruise starred with Jack Nicholson in the legal drama A Few Good Men (1992) and starred in a number of box office hits including The Firm (1993) and Interview with the Vampire (1994), before starring as IMF agent Ethan Hunt in the action spy thriller Mission: Impossible (1996), the first of a commercially successful six-film series. In 1996, Cruise also starred as the title character in the romantic comedy-drama Jerry Maguire, earning him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and his second Academy Award nomination. In 1999, Cruise starred in the erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut opposite his then wife Nicole Kidman and also appeared in the ensemble drama Magnolia, for which he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor–Motion Picture and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology and its associated social programs. He became involved with Scientology in 1990 through his first wife, Mimi Rogers. Cruise struggled with dyslexia at an early age and has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia.
CHURCH Of SCIENTOLOGY The Church of Scientology is a multinational network and hierarchy of numerous ostensibly independent but interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, a new religious movement. At a local level, every church is a separate corporate entity set up as a licensed franchise and has its own board of directors and executives. The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard. Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base, in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California. The location at Gilman Hotsprings is private property and not accessible by the public. Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature. Scientology’s central mythology developed around the original notion of the thetan. In Scientology, the thetan is the individual expression of “theta”, described as “the cosmic source and life force”. The thetan is the true human identity, rendering humans as “pure spirit and godlike”. The religion’s mythology holds the belief that “in the primordial past, thetans applied their creative abilities to form the physical universe”. Contrary to the biblical narrative that shows that the universe was created by a divine, sole creator, Scientology holds that “the universe was created by theta in the form of individualized expressions”. Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion, the movement has been the subject of a number of controversies, and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise. In some countries Scientology is treated legally as a commercial enterprise, and not as a religion or charitable organization. In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for the 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising, which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.
SCIENCE FICTION Science fiction (often shortened to Sci-Fi) is a genre of speculative fiction, typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as advanced science and technology, spaceflight, time travel, and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas�. Science fiction had its beginnings in the time when the line between myth and fact was blurred. Written in the 2nd century AD by the Hellenized Syrian satirist Lucian, A True Story contains many themes and tropes that are characteristic of modern science fiction, including travel to other worlds, extraterrestrial lifeforms, interplanetary warfare, and artificial life. Some consider it the first science fiction novel. Some of the stories from The Arabian Nights, along with the 10th century The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter and Ibn al-Nafis's 13th century Theologus Autodidactus also contain elements of science fiction. Following the 18th-century development of the novel as a literary form, Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein (1818) and The Last Man (1826) helped define the form of the science fiction novel. Brian Aldiss has argued that Frankenstein was the first work of science fiction. Edgar Allan Poe wrote several stories considered science fiction, including one about a trip to the Moon. Jules Verne was noted for his attention to detail and scientific accuracy, especially Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) which predicted the modern nuclear submarine. In 1887 the novel El anacronópete by Spanish author Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau introduced the first time machine.
STEVEN SPIELBERG Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era and one of the most popular directors and producers in film history. After gaining traction in Hollywood with directing television and several minor theatrical releases, Spielberg became a household name as the director of Jaws (1975), which was critically and commercially successful, and is considered the first summer blockbuster. His subsequent releases focused typically on science fiction and adventure films, with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the Indiana Jones series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and the Jurassic Park series seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood escapist filmmaking. Spielberg transitioned into addressing humanistic issues in his later work via the films The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Schindler's List (1993), Amistad (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). He has largely adhered to this practice during the 21st century, with Munich (2005), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), and The Post (2017). Spielberg co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Studios, where he has also served as a producer for several successful films, including the Back to the Future, Men in Black, and Transformers series. Spielberg later transitioned into producing several games within the video-game industry. Spielberg is one of the American film industry’s most critically successful filmmakers, with praise for his directing talent and versatility, and has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice. Some of his movies are also among the highest-grossing movies of all-time, while his total work, unadjusted for ticket-price inflation, makes him the highest-grossing film director in history. His net worth is estimated to be more than $3 billion.
STAR WARS Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, created by George Lucas and centered around a film series that began with the eponymous 1977 movie. The saga quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The first film was followed by two successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, albeit to mixed reactions from critics and fans. Finally, a sequel trilogy to conclude the nineepisode saga began in 2015 with The Force Awakens. The first eight films were nominated for Academy Awards (with wins going to the first two released) and were commercially successful, with a combined box office revenue of over US $8.5 billion. Together with the theatrical spin-off films The Clone Wars (2008), Rogue One (2016), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film series of all time. The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with droids who may assist them in their daily routines, and space travel between planets is common due to hyperspace technology. The rises and falls of different governments are chronicled throughout the saga: the democratic Republic is corrupted and overthrown by the Galactic Empire, which is fought by the Rebel Alliance. The Rebellion later gives rise to the New Republic and rebuilds society, but the remnants of the Empire reform as the First Order and attempt to destroy the Republic. Heroes of the former rebellion lead the Resistance against the oppressive dictatorship. A mystical power known as “the Force” is described in the original film as “an energy field created by all living things ... [that] binds the galaxy together.” Those whom “the Force is strong with” have quick reflexes; through training and meditation, they are able to perform various superpowers (such as telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, and manipulation of physical energy). The Force is wielded by two major knighthood orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi, who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration, and the Sith, who use the dark side through fear and aggression. The latter’s members are intended to be limited to two: a master and their apprentice.
ARK OF THE COVENANT The Ark of the Covenant (Modern: Arōn Ha’brēt, Tiberian: Ārôn Habbərî), also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a gold-covered wooden chest with lid cover described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to various texts within the Hebrew Bible, it also contained Aaron’s rod and a pot of manna. Hebrews 9:4 describes: “The ark of the covenant [was] covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.” The biblical account relates that, approximately one year after the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, the Ark was created according to the pattern given to Moses by God when the Israelites were encamped at the foot of biblical Mount Sinai. Thereafter, the gold-plated acacia chest was carried by its staves while en route by the Levites approximately 2,000 cubits (approximately 800 meters or 2,600 feet) in advance of the people when on the march or before the Israelite army, the host of fighting men. When carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, always carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests and the Levites who carried it. When at rest the tabernacle was set up and the holy Ark was placed in it under the veil of the covering, the staves of it crossing the middle side bars to hold it up off the ground. In the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city once a day for seven days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams’ horns. On the seventh day, the seven priests sounding the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark compassed the city seven times and, with a great shout, Jericho’s wall fell down flat and the people took the city. After the defeat at Ai, Joshua lamented before the Ark. When Joshua read the Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side of the Ark. We next hear of the Ark in Bethel where it was being cared for by the priest Phineas the grandson of Aaron (where ‘Bethel’ is translated ‘the House of God’ in the King James Version). According to this verse it was consulted by the people of Israel when they were planning to attack the Benjaminites at the battle of Gibeah.
Birmingham, UK Birmingham is the second-most populous city in the United Kingdom, after London, and the most populous city in the English Midlands. With an estimated population of 1,137,100 as of 2017, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. It is the main centre of the West Midlands conurbation, which is the third most populated urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population in 2011 of 2,440,986. The wider Birmingham metropolitan area is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a population of over 3.7 million. Birmingham is frequently referred to as the United Kingdom’s “second city”. A market town in the medieval period, Birmingham grew in the 18th-century Midlands Enlightenment and subsequent Industrial Revolution, which saw advances in science, technology, and economic development, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society. By 1791 it was being hailed as “the first manufacturing town in the world”. Birmingham’s distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops practicing a wide variety of specialized and highly skilled trades, encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation and provided an economic base for prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century. The Watt steam engine was invented in Birmingham. The development of Birmingham into a significant urban and commercial centre began in 1166, when the Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market at his castle, and followed this with the creation of a planned market town and seigneurial borough within his demesne or manorial estate, around the site that became the Bull Ring. This established Birmingham as the primary commercial centre for the Birmingham Plateau at a time when the area’s economy was expanding rapidly, with population growth nationally leading to the clearance, cultivation and settlement of previously marginal land. Within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years
Billboard Top 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The first number one song of the Hot 100 was “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson, on August 4, 1958. As of the issue for the week ending on December 1, 2018, the Hot 100 has had 1,079 different number one hits. The chart’s current number-one song is “Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande. On August 4, 1958, Billboard premiered one main all-genre singles chart: the Hot 100. The Hot 100 quickly became the industry standard. As the decades passed, the recording industry concentrated more on album sales than singles sales. Musicians eventually expressed their creative output in the form of full-length albums rather than singles, and by the 1990s many record companies stopped releasing singles altogether. Eventually, a song’s airplay points were weighted more so than its sales. Billboard has adjusted the sales/airplay ratio many times to more accurately reflect the true popularity of songs. A growing trend in the early first decade of the 21st century was to issue a song as a “remix” that was so drastically different in structure and lyrical content from its original version that it was essentially a whole new song. Under normal circumstances, airplay points from a song’s album version, “radio” mix and/or dance music remix, etc. were all combined and factored into the song’s performance on the Hot 100, as the structure, lyrics and melody remained intact. Criticisms began when songs were being completely re-recorded to the point that they no longer resembled the original recording. The first such example of this scenario is Jennifer Lopez’ “I’m Real”. Originally entering the Hot 100 in its album version, a “remix” was issued in the midst of its chart run that featured rapper Ja Rule. This new version proved to be far more popular than the album version and the track was propelled to number one. The Hot 100 served for many years as the data source for the weekly radio countdown show American Top 40. The ongoing splintering of Top 40 radio in the early 1990s led stations to lean into specific formats, meaning that practically no station would play the wide array of genres that typically composed each weekly Hot 100 chart.
EDM Electronic dance music, also known as EDM, dance music, club music or simply dance, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by disc jockeys who create seamless selections of tracks, called a mix by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. In Europe, EDM is more commonly called ‘dance music’, or simply ‘dance’. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, following the emergence of raving, pirate radios and an upsurge of interest in club culture, EDM achieved widespread mainstream popularity in Europe. In the United States at that time, acceptance of dance culture was not universal; although both electro and Chicago house music were influential both in Europe and the United States, mainstream media outlets and the record industry remained openly hostile to it. There was also a perceived association between EDM and drug culture, which led governments at state and city level to enact laws and policies intended to halt the spread of rave culture. By the mid-2000s, Dutch producer Tiësto was bringing worldwide popular attention to EDM after providing a soundtrack to the entry of athletes during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics — an event which The Guardian deemed as one of the 50 most important events in dance music. In 2003, the influence of dance music on American radio resulted in Billboard creating the first-ever Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. By 2005, the prominence of dance music in North American popular culture had markedly increased. According to Spin, Daft Punk’s performance at Coachella in 2006 was the “tipping point” for EDM—it introduced the duo to a new generation of “rock kids”. As noted by Entertainment Weekly, Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” helped introduce EDM sounds to top 40 radio, as it brought together variations of electronic dance music with the singer’s R&B sounds. In 2009, French house musician David Guetta began to gain prominence in mainstream pop music thanks to several crossover hits on Top 40 charts. YouTube and SoundCloud helped fuel interest in EDM, as well as electro house and dubstep. Skrillex popularized a harsher sound nicknamed “brostep”, or dubstep.
deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced “dead mouse”), is a Canadian electronic music producer, DJ, and musician. Zimmerman produces a variety of styles within the progressive house genre and sometimes other forms of electronic music. His works have been included in numerous compilation albums, such as Tiësto’s In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza, and his tracks have also been included and presented on Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance radio show. Zimmerman has received six Grammy Award nominations for his work. He has worked with other DJs and producers, such as Kaskade, MC Flipside, Rob Swire and Wolfgang Gartner. He has also collaborated with Steve Duda under the group name BSOD (Better Sounding On Drugs), and was part of the group named WTF? with Duda, Tommy Lee, and DJ Aero. In 2007, he founded his own record label, Mau5trap. Deadmau5 is currently one of the highest paid electronic music producers in the world, and is a masked music artist similar to Marshmello and Daft Punk. Zimmerman was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. His mother, Nancy (née Johnson), is a visual artist, and his father, Rodney Thomas “Rod” Zimmerman, is a General Motors plant worker. He has two siblings, Jennifer (older) and Chris (younger). His ancestry includes German, Swiss, and English. He received his first keyboard for Christmas when he was a teenager. His music career began in the late 1990s, with a chiptune and demoscene movements-influenced sound with the Impulse Tracker. Zimmerman graduated from Westlane Secondary School in Niagara Falls. He then worked with an online music licensing company and as a programmer. He adopted the name Deadmau5, which referred to a dead mouse he found in his computer. Zimmerman created the original logo—called “mau5head”—while learning how to use some 3D modelling software. The logo appears in many different colors and designs, and has been shown on the cover art of most of Zimmerman’s albums. He was given the idea to wear a headdress based on the logo by one of his friends, Jay Gordon of the industrial metal band Orgy. In an interview with CBC Television, Zimmerman said that he wants his logo to be an “icon”. Fans often attend Deadmau5 concerts sporting their own copy of the Mau5head.
Phoenix Phoenix is an indie pop band from Versailles, France, consisting of Thomas Mars (lead vocals), Deck d’Arcy (bass/keyboards/backing vocals), Christian Mazzalai (guitar/backing vocals) and Laurent Brancowitz (guitar/ keyboards/backing vocals). They are best known for their singles “If I Ever Feel Better,” “Lisztomania,” and “1901.” Phoenix was conceived in the 1990s when vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d’Arcy, and guitarist Chris Mazzalai, who were all friends in school, started playing together as a “garage band” based out of Mars’s house in the suburbs of Paris. In 1995, Laurent Brancowitz, Mazzalai’s older brother, permanently joined the band on guitar after the end of Darlin’, a short-lived band that Brancowitz had formed with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (Bangalter and de Homem-Christo later formed Daft Punk). Two years later the band took on the name Phoenix and pressed 500 copies of a single on their own label, Ghettoblaster. Shortly after, they were signed to the Paris-based Source Records. In early 2009, around the time of the release of the Phoenix’s compilation album for Kitsuné, it was announced that the band would be returning with a new album titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which would be released on 25 May 2009. The album was recorded in Paris, and was co-produced and mixed by Philippe Zdar of Cassius. “1901”, a tribute to early Paris, was released on 23 February 2009 on the band’s website as a free download. Due to extremely positive reviews, the song was then issued as a retail single and aired for the first time on Australian radio station Triple J. In June 2009, after the release of the album, Phoenix first appeared on the cover of the 62nd issue of The FADER publication. As the album’s popularity rapidly grew, “Lisztomania” and “Lasso” were issued as the second and third singles from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix won Best Alternative Music Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards on 31 January 2010. Shortly afterwards, “1901” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart. The album was the first Phoenix album to be certified gold and appeared on numerous “Best of ” lists at the end of 2010, including Rolling Stone magazine. In addition, “1901” and “Lisztomania” were certified platinum and gold, respectively.