Chris Ballew
Ballew in 2005
Background information
Born	(1965-05-28) May 28, 1965 (age 47)
Origin	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, Post-grunge, Punk rock, Grunge, Pop punk
Instruments	Vocals, bass guitar
Years active	1986–present
Associated acts	The Presidents of the United States of America, Balls, EGG, Caspar and Mollusk, Supergroup, The Minus 5, The Giraffes, The Tycoons, Chris and Tad, The Feelings Hijackers

Christopher "Chris" Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is a member of the alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America and performs as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants.

Ballew grew up in Seattle and attended middle and high school at The Bush School, where he met David Dederer, with whom he would form The Presidents of the United States of America many years later. In the late 1980s and early 90s Ballew lived in Boston, where he performed as a street musician in a duo called Egg with Phil Franklin (later of Caroliner Rainbow and Sunburned Hand of the Man).^[1] Many of Ballew's songs with Egg would become well-known Presidents songs, most notably Naked and Famous, which is performed by Egg as a bonus track on a 2005 reissue of the Presidents' eponymous debut album. While in Boston, Ballew played briefly with Mary Lou Lord, and also with Mark Sandman of Treat Her Right and Morphine in a duo called Supergroup, in which they developed the oddly-stringed instruments that would become a staple of both the Presidents' and Morphine's sound.

Ballew is endorsed by Epiphone Guitars and Hartke amps, utilising an Epiphone SG-400 guitar (converted into a two-string "basitar") as well as a 3500 bass amplilfier from Hartke. No distortion pedals are used live, just the natural distortion of the amp is heard. Says Ballew, "I have a Hartke amp, a 3500 which has a really snappy, upfront, punchy sound and distorts nicely. It has a nice gain structure in it and a multi-band EQ which I love too".^[2]

Regarding his two-string "basitar", Ballew admits: "I’m technically not really a bass player, although, I play as if I’m playing bass lines, a lot of times I strum like (on a) guitar and make chords.^[3]

In 2009, Ballew launched a project targeted toward toddlers called Caspar Babypants.^[4] Ballew uses a three-string acoustic guitar when performing Caspar Babypants songs. To date, Caspar Babypants has released five full-length albums; Here I Am!, More Please!, This is Fun, Sing Along!, and HOT DOG!.

Ballew also was a member of Beck's live band for a period of time in the early 90s, stating the gig "was the beginning of my professional career as a guy getting paid to make music."^{[citation needed]}

Ballew is married to collage artist Kate Endle.^[5]

Discography[link]

With The Presidents of the United States of America:

• The Presidents of the United States of America (1995, Sony)
• II (1996, Sony)
• Rarities (1997, Import)
• Pure Frosting (1998, Sony)
• Lump (2000, Sony Special Product)
• Freaked Out and Small (2000, Music Blitz)
• Love Everybody (2004, PUSA Inc)
• These Are the Good Times People (2008, PUSA Inc)

With Balls

• We Will Grow On You (1990, Elaterium Records) - only 300 LPs printed

With EGG

• "Emotional Cowboy" on the compilation EP A Kinder, Gentler Genocide (Wasted Effort Records, 1990)

As Caspar:

• Lint Cake (1991, Raw Poo Music)
• Sonic Uke (1993, Raw Poo Music)
• Caspar (1996, Raw Poo Music)

With Caspar and Mollusk: (aka Chris & Beck)

• Caspar and Mollusk (1995, Cosmic Records)

With Supergroup: (aka Chris & Mark Sandman)

• Supergroup (1995, Cosmic Records, 45 rpm single)

With The Minus 5L

• The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy (1997)

With The Giraffes:

• 13 Other Dimensions (1998, My Own Planet)
• The Days Are Filled with Years (2000, Orange Recordings)

With The Tycoons:

• Is It Christmas Yet? (1998, Collective Fruit)

With Chris and Tad:

• Hand Me That Door (2000, Orange Recordings)

With SUbSET (aka PUSA & Sir Mix-A-Lot)

• Addicted To The Fame (2000, MusicBlitz.com)

With Chris Ballew and Friends:

• Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS): Sing with a Child (2002)

With Creepy Stick

• Creepy Stick (2005)

With The Feelings Hijackers:

• T.F.H. (2005)
• Skeletal Remains (2007)

As Caspar Babypants:

• Here I Am! (2009)
• More Please! (2009)
• PEPS Sing A Long! (2010) (Download only)
• This Is Fun! (2010)
• Sing Along (2011)
• HOT DOG! (2012)

Solo work:

• My First Computer (2003)
• Like to Boogie (2004)
• Run world, run. (2005) (A soundtrack to a short Flash advertisement for Brooks Running.)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Chris Ballew semi-official fan site
• Presidents of the USA official site
• Caspar Babypants official site
• Complete Chris Ballew discography

Bill Nye
Nye at Bridgewater State University in 2007
Born	(1955-11-27) November 27, 1955 (age 56)[1] Washington, D.C.[1]
Residence	Los Angeles
Fields	Mechanical engineering
Institutions	Boeing Cornell University Planetary Society
Alma mater	Cornell University (BS)
Known for	Bill Nye the Science Guy
Signature

William Sanford "Bill" Nye (born November 27, 1955),^[2] popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist. He is best known as the host of the Disney/PBS children's science show Bill Nye the Science Guy (1993–1998) and for his many subsequent appearances in popular media as a science educator.

Early life and career[link]

William Sanford Nye was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Jacqueline (née Jenkins; c. 1920–2000), a codebreaker during World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye (died 1997), also a World War II veteran whose experience in a Japanese prisoner of war camp led him to become a sundial enthusiast.^[3][4][5] Nye is a fourth-generation Washington, D.C. resident on his father's side of the family. After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted to the private Sidwell Friends School on a partial scholarship, graduating in 1973.^[6][7] He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, where one of his professors was Carl Sagan,^[8] and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1977.^[9] He was awarded an honorary doctorate by The Johns Hopkins University in May 2008. In May 2011, Nye was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Willamette University where he was the keynote speaker for that year's commencement exercises.^[10]

Nye began his career in Seattle at Boeing, where, among other things, he starred in training films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the 747. Later he worked as a consultant in the aeronautics industry. Nye told the St. Petersburg Times in 1999 that he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few years but was always rejected.^[11]

The Science Guy[link]

Nye began his professional entertainment career as an actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Almost Live!; Nye attempted to correct the host of Almost Live! after the host pronounced "gigawatt" as "jigowatt."^[12][13] The character name came from the host's comment "Who do you think you are—Bill Nye the Science Guy?" and Nye was thereafter known as such on the program. His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero.

Coincidentally, in 1991–93 he appeared in the live-action educational segments of Back to the Future: The Animated Series with a nonspeaking role as an assistant to Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, in which he would demonstrate science with Lloyd's voice-over. The segments' national popularity led to Nye's hosting the educational television program Bill Nye the Science Guy from 1993 to 1998. Each of the 100 episodes aimed to teach a specific topic in science to a preteen audience, yet it garnered a wide adult audience as well. The show was very popular as a school resource and is still used to this day. He has written several books as The Science Guy. In addition to hosting the show, he was also a writer and producer for the series, which was filmed entirely in Seattle.