Name	Saint Seth the Patriarch
Venerated in	JudaismChristianityIslam
Titles	Holy Forefather, Antediluvian Patriarch, and Prophet
Prayer attrib	}}

Seth (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian ; Shith or Shiyth; "Placed; appointed"), in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, he was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who were the only other of their children mentioned by name. According to , Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as a replacement for Abel.

In the Pentateuch[link]

According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old "a son in his likeness and image." The genealogy is repeated at . states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. In , there is a folk etymology for Seth's name, which derives it from the Hebrew word for "plant" as in "plant a seed" (''syt''). Eve says, "God has planted another seed, under/replacing Abel's". Seth lived to the age of 912.

In Jewish tradition[link]

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in the Great Flood.

In gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Abel, whom Cain had slain. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the kabbalah. The Zohar refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the tzaddikim" (Hebrew: righteous ones).

According to Seder Olam Rabbah, based on Jewish reckoning, he was born in 130 AM. According to Aggadah, he had 33 sons and 23 daughters. According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he died in 1042 AM.

In Islam[link]

Islamic tradition reveres Seth as the gift bestowed upon Adam after the death of Abel. Round about 25 prophets are mentioned in the Qur'an, although Seth is not mentioned, Muslims see Seth as a prophet like his father, and the one who continued teaching mankind after the death of Adam. Islamic lore gives Seth an exalted position among the Antediluvian Patriarchs of the Generations of Adam, and some sources even cite Seth as the receiver of a scripture. Islamic literature holds that Seth was born when Adam was past 100 and that, by the time Adam died, Adam had already made Seth the heir to him in guiding the "Children of Adam". Muslims hold that Seth was taught of the hours of day and night as well as of the Great Flood to come and was further taught to pray to God during the hours of the night. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, traces the genealogy of mankind back to Seth, since Abel did not leave any heirs and Cain's heirs, according to tradition, were destroyed by the Great Flood.

Some Muslims believe that Seth's tomb is located in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth (literally meaning ''The Prophet Seth'') where a mosque is named after him.

In Josephus[link]

In the ''Antiquities of the Jews'', Josephus refers to Seth as virtuous and of excellent character, and reports that his descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, and built the "pillars of the sons of Seth", two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions, notably in astronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based on Adam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time by global flood, in order to protect the discoveries and be remembered after the destruction. One was composed of brick, and the other of stone, so that if the pillar of brick should be destroyed, the pillar of stone would remain, both reporting the ancient discoveries, and informing men that a pillar of brick was also erected. Josephus reports that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day.

William Whiston, a 17/18th century translator of the ''Antiquities'', stated in a footnote that he believed Josephus mistook Seth for Sesostris, king of Egypt, the erector of the referenced pillar in Siriad (being a contemporary name for the territories in which Sirius was venerated (i.e., Egypt). He stated that there was no way for any pillars of Seth to survive the deluge, because the deluge buried all such pillars and edifices far underground in the sediment of its waters.

In Christianity[link]

The 2nd century BC Book of Jubilees, regarded as non-canonical except by Coptic Christianity, also dates his birth to 130 AM. According to it, in 231 AM Seth married his sister, Azura, who was four years younger than he was. In the year 235 AM, Azura gave birth to Enos.

Seth is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with Adam, Abel, and others, with a feast day on July 26. He is also included in the Genealogy of Jesus, according to Luke 3:23–38.

See also[link]

Biblical longevity

Knights of Seth

Sethian

References[link]

Category:Adam and Eve Category:Gnosticism Category:Old Testament saints Category:Torah people

ar:شيث az:Şeys be-x-old:Сіф bo:སེད། bs:Šit ca:Set (Gènesi) cs:Šét cy:Seth de:Set (Bibel) et:Sett el:Σηθ es:Set (judaísmo) eo:Set fa:شیث fr:Seth (Bible) ko:세트 (성경) hr:Šet id:Set it:Set (Bibbia) he:שת hu:Séth (Biblia) ms:Nabi Syith nl:Seth (persoon) ja:セト (聖書) no:Set (bibelsk person) nds:Seth (Bibel) pl:Set (syn Adama) pt:Sete (Bíblia) ro:Set ru:Сиф sk:Šét sr:Сит (библија) sh:Set fi:Set sv:Set (Bibeln) ur:شیث علیہ السلام yi:שת zh:塞特

name	Seth MacFarlane
alt	Seth MacFarlane
birth name	Seth Woodbury MacFarlane
birth date	October 26, 1973
birth place	Kent, Connecticut, U.S.
alma mater	Rhode Island School of Design (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
nationality	American
citizenship	United States
ethnic	Scottish
party	Democrat
occupation	Actor, voice actor, animator, writer, comedian, singer, producer, director
years active	1995–present
known for	''Family Guy''''American Dad!''''The Cleveland Show''''The Winner''''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy''''Comedy Central Roasts''''Ted''
parents	Ronald Wilton MacFarlane,Ann Perry (née Sager)(deceased)
family	Rachael MacFarlane (sister) }}

Seth Woobury MacFarlane (born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, voice actor, animator, screenwriter, comedian, producer, director and singer. He created the animated sitcom ''Family Guy'' and co-created ''American Dad!'' and ''The Cleveland Show'', for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.

A native of Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied animation, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He was an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television shows, including ''Johnny Bravo'', ''Cow and Chicken'', ''Dexter's Laboratory'' and ''I Am Weasel'', before creating his own series for 20th Century Fox entitled ''Family Guy'' in 1999. MacFarlane went on to co-create ''American Dad!'' in 2005, and ''The Cleveland Show'' in 2009 for Fox. He also went on to serve as executive producer on the Fox sitcom ''The Winner''.

As an actor, he has made guest appearances on shows such as ''Gilmore Girls'', ''The War at Home'' and ''FlashForward''. MacFarlane's interest in science fiction and fantasy has led to cameo and guest appearances on ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' and voicing the character of Johann Kraus in Guillermo del Toro's ''Hellboy II: The Golden Army''. In 2008, he created his own YouTube series entitled ''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy''. As a singer, MacFarlane has performed at several venues, including Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

MacFarlane has won several awards for his work on ''Family Guy'', including two Primetime Emmy Awards and an Annie Award. In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Film & Video Person of the Year. For several years, it has been the subject of criticism from television watchdog groups, such as the Parents Television Council, who regularly condemn it for its alleged indecency. Even fellow cartoonists such as ''The Ren & Stimpy Show's'' John Kricfalusi and ''South Park'' duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone have criticized MacFarlane's creation on numerous occasions. He occasionally speaks at universities and colleges throughout the United States, and is a supporter of gay rights.

On the February 10, 2011 episode of the TBS variety nighttime talk-show series ''Conan'', MacFarlane announced he is directing his first feature-length comedy film, ''Ted''. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as an adult who, as a child, wished his teddy bear would come to life. MacFarlane will be the voice and motion capture for the bear. It is currently in production and is scheduled for release July 13, 2012. In September, 2011, MacFarlane released a debut album of American standards, ''Music Is Better Than Words''. In 2011 MacFarlane began a revival of Hanna-Barbera's ''The Flintstones'' for the Fox network. The first episode was due to air in the US in 2013, but production has been indefinitely delayed due to MacFarlane's schedule.

Early life and education[link]

MacFarlane's parents, Ann Perry (née Sager) and Ronald Milton MacFarlane, were born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He is of Scottish, Irish, English and Welsh ancestry, partly by way of Canada, and his ancestors include William Brewster, who travelled to America on the ''Mayflower''. MacFarlane's parents met in 1970, when they both lived and worked in Boston, Massachusetts, and married later that year. In 1972, the couple moved to Kent, Connecticut, where Ann Perry began working in the Admissions Office at South Kent School and later in the College Guidance and Admissions Offices at the Kent School, a selective college preparatory school where Ronald was also a teacher. During his childhood, MacFarlane developed an interest in illustration and began drawing cartoon characters Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker, as early as two years old. By the age of five, MacFarlane knew that he would want to pursue a career in animation, and began by creating flip books, after his parents found a book on the subject. Four years later, at nine, MacFarlane began publishing a weekly comic strip entitled "Walter Crouton" for ''The Kent Good Times Dispatch'', the local newspaper in Kent, Connecticut, which paid him five dollars per week. In one anecdote from the time, MacFarlane said in a 2011 interview he was "always like just weirdly fascinated by the Communion ceremony [so] I did a strip that had a guy kneeling at the altar taking Communion and saying 'Can I have fries with that?' And to my 11-year-old brain that was comedy ...." The paper printed it and he got "an angry letter from our local priest .... It created sort of a little mini-controversy in our little town."

MacFarlane received his high school diploma in 1991 from the Kent School. While there, he continued experimenting with animation, and was given an 8 mm camera by his parents. MacFarlane went on to study film, video and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a student, he had originally intended to work for Disney, but changed his mind upon graduating. At RISD, MacFarlane created a series of independent films, eventually meeting future ''Family Guy'' cast member Mike Henry, whose brother Patrick was MacFarlane's classmate. His senior year at RISD, MacFarlane created a thesis film entitled ''The Life of Larry'', which would eventually become the inspiration for ''Family Guy''. MacFarlane's professor submitted his film to the animation studio Hanna-Barbera, where he was later hired.

Early career[link]

After college MacFarlane was hired at Hanna-Barbera (then Hanna-Barbera Cartoons) based on the writing content of ''The Life of Larry'', rather than on cartooning ability. He was one of few people hired to the company solely based on writing talent. He worked as an animator and writer for Cartoon Network's ''Cartoon Cartoons'' series. He described the atmosphere at Hanna-Barbera as resembling an "old fashioned Hollywood structure, where you move from one show to another or you jump from a writing job on one show to a storyboard job on another." MacFarlane worked on four television series during his tenure at the studio: ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''Cow and Chicken'', ''I Am Weasel'', and ''Johnny Bravo''. Working as both a writer and storyboard artist, MacFarlane spent the most time on ''Johnny Bravo''. He found it easier to develop his own style at ''Johnny Bravo'' through the show's process of scriptwriting, which ''Dexter'', ''Cow and Chicken'' and ''I Am Weasel'' did not use. As a part of the ''Johnny Bravo'' crew, MacFarlane met actors and voiceover artists such as Adam West and Jack Sheldon of Schoolhouse Rock! fame. Meeting these individuals later became significant to the production and success of his ''Family Guy'' series.

He also did freelance work for Walt Disney Television Animation, writing for ''Jungle Cubs'' and ''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective''. Through strict observation of writing elements such as story progression, character stakes, and plot points, MacFarlane found the work for Disney was, from a writing standpoint, very valuable in preparation for his career (particularly on ''Ace Ventura''). MacFarlane also created and wrote a short titled ''Zoomates'' for Frederator Studios' ''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' on Nickelodeon. In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to ''The Life of Larry'' entitled ''Larry and Steve'', which features a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's ''World Premiere Toons''. Executives at Fox saw both ''Larry'' shorts and negotiations soon began for a prime-time animated series.

Although MacFarlane enjoyed working at Hanna-Barbera, he felt his real calling was for prime-time animation, which would allow a much edgier style of humor. He first pitched ''Family Guy'' to Fox during his tenure at Hanna-Barbera. A development executive for Hanna-Barbera, who was trying to get back into the prime-time business at the time, introduced MacFarlane to Leslie Collins and Mike Darnell, heads of the alternative comedy department at Fox. After the success of ''King of the Hill'' in 1997, MacFarlane called Collins once more to ask about a possible second pitch for the series. The company offered the young writer a strange deal: Fox gave him a budget of $50,000 to produce a pilot that could lead to a series (most episodes of animated prime-time productions cost at least $1 million). Recalling the experience in an interview with ''The New York Times'', MacFarlane stated, "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot".

After six months, MacFarlane returned to Fox with a "very, very simply, crudely animated film – with just enough to get the tone of the show across" to present to the executives, who loved the pilot and ordered the series immediately. In July 1998, the Fox Broadcast Company announced the purchase of ''Family Guy'' for a January 1999 debut. ''Family Guy'' was originally intended to be a series of shorts on ''MADtv'', much in the same way ''The Simpsons'' had begun on ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' a decade earlier. Negotiations for the show's ''MADtv'' connection fell through early on as a result of budgetary concerns. At age 24, MacFarlane was television's youngest executive producer.

Further career[link]

''Family Guy''[link]

''Family Guy'' first aired January 31, 1999. MacFarlane's work in animating ''Family Guy'' has been influenced by Jackie Gleason and Hanna-Barbera along with examples from ''The Simpsons'' and ''All in the Family''. In addition to writing three episodes, "Death Has a Shadow", "Family Guy Viewer Mail 1" and "North by North Quahog", MacFarlane voices ''Family Guy'''s main characters – Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin and Glenn Quagmire as well as Tom Tucker, his son Jake and additional characters. Bolstered by high DVD sales and established fan loyalty, ''Family Guy'' developed into a $1 billion franchise. On May 4, 2008, after approximately two and a half years of negotiations, MacFarlane reached a $100 million agreement with Fox to keep ''Family Guy'' and ''American Dad'' until 2012. The agreement makes him the world's highest paid television writer.

MacFarlane's success with ''Family Guy'' has opened doors to other ventures relating to the show. On April 26, 2005, he and composer Walter Murphy created ''Family Guy: Live in Vegas''. The soundtrack features a Broadway show tune theme, and MacFarlane voiced Stewie in the track "Stewie's Sexy Party". A fan of Broadway musicals, MacFarlane comments on using musicals as a component to ''Family Guy'': In addition, a ''Family Guy'' video game was released in 2006. Two years later, in August 2007, he closed a digital content production deal with AdSense. MacFarlane takes cast members on the road to voice characters in front of live audiences. ''Family Guy Live'' provides fans with the opportunity to hear future scripts. In mid-2007 Chicago fans had the opportunity to hear the then upcoming sixth season premiere "Blue Harvest". Shows have been played in Montreal, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

On July 22, 2007, in an interview with ''The Hollywood Reporter'', MacFarlane announced that he may start working on a feature film, although "nothing's official". In September 2007, Ricky Blitt gave TV.com an interview confirming that he had already started working on the script. Then in TV Week on July 18, 2008, MacFarlane confirmed plans to produce a theatrically released ''Family Guy'' feature film sometime "within the next year". He came up with an idea for the story, "something that you could not do on the show, which [to him] is the only reason to do a movie". He later went to say he imagines the film to be "an old-style musical with dialogue" similar to ''The Sound of Music'', saying that he would "really be trying to capture, musically, that feel".

Despite its popularity, ''Family Guy'' has not been immune to criticism. The Parents Television Council frequently criticizes the show for its content, once organized a letter-writing campaign aimed at removing it from FOX's lineup, and has filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that some episodes of the show contained indecent content. MacFarlane has responded to the PTC's criticism by saying, among other things, "That's like getting hate mail from Hitler. They're literally terrible human beings." ''Family Guy'' has been cancelled twice, although strong fan support and DVD sales have caused Fox to reconsider. MacFarlane mentioned how these cancellations affected the lineup of writers each time Fox approved the show. "One of the positive aspects of 'Family Guy' constantly being pulled off [the air] is that we were always having to restaff writers".

During the sixth season, episodes of ''Family Guy'' and ''American Dad!'' were delayed from regular broadcast due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike (which MacFarlane participated in to support the writers while FOX aired three ''Family Guy'' episodes without MacFarlane's permission). On February 12, 2008, the strike ended, and the series resumed airing regularly, beginning with "Back to the Woods".

''American Dad!''[link]

Seth co-created ''American Dad!'' with Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker. ''American Dad!'' was first shown after Super Bowl XXXIX as a sneak preview on February 6, 2005. The show began airing regularly on Fox on May 1, 2005. MacFarlane describes the show being similar to ''All in the Family''.

''American Dad!'' received its inspiration from President George W. Bush's policies. The show focuses on Stan Smith, a straight-laced CIA officer and fanatical conservative. Stan's wife (Francine) and children, (Hayley and Steve), share a typical middle class home with Roger, an extraterrestrial rescued by Stan from Area 51, and Klaus, a goldfish who hosts the transplanted brain of an East German, 1986 Olympic skier. Seth MacFarlane provides the voices of Stan and Roger, basing Roger's voice on Paul Lynde as he played Uncle Arthur in ''Bewitched''. His sister Rachael MacFarlane provides the voice of Hayley.

''The Winner''[link]

MacFarlane was the executive producer of a live-action sitcom starring Rob Corddry called ''The Winner''. The show premiered on Fox on March 4, 2007. The plot has a man named Glen discussing the time he matured at 32 and has him pursuing his only love after she moves in next door. Glen meets her son and both become good friends.

After six episodes, the show was officially cancelled on May 16, 2007. However, at ''Family Guy Live'' in Montreal on July 21, 2007, Seth MacFarlane stated, "It is looking like there could be a future life for ''The Winner''". After MacFarlane's statement neither Fox nor MacFarlane has released any details of plans for the show to return. The show was mentioned in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Family Gay" where all of the horses at a racing track are named after failed Fox shows, ''The Winner'' being one of them.

''The Cleveland Show''[link]

MacFarlane developed a ''Family Guy'' spin-off called ''The Cleveland Show'', which focuses on the character of Cleveland Brown and his family. The idea for the show originated from a suggestion by ''Family Guy'' writer and voice of Cleveland, Mike Henry. Fox ordered 22 episodes and the series first aired on September 27, 2009. The show, which was picked up to air a first season consisting of 22 episodes, was picked up by Fox for a second season, consisting of 13 episodes, bringing the total number to 35 episodes. The announcement was made on May 3, 2009 before the first season even premiered. Due to strong ratings, Fox picked up the back nine episodes of season 2, making a 22-episode season and bringing the total episode count of the show to 44.

''Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy''[link]

On September 10, 2008, MacFarlane released a series of webisodes known as ''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy''. These animated shorts were distributed by Burger King and released weekly.

''The Flintstones''[link]

In May 2011, it was reported that MacFarlane had signed a deal to revamp ''The Flintstones'' for airing in 2013..Macfarlane also said that he will lend his voice to Barney.

''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'' [link]

In August 2011, Fox announced that they had ordered a 13-part updated series of ''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'' which MacFarlane will co-produce with Ann Druyan and Steven Soter. The new series will be hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and is expected to begin airing on the channel in 2013, with repeats airing on the National Geographic Channel on the same night.

Untitled Animated Series [link]

Seth Macfarlane confirmed that he is working on what will be his fifth animated series with Alex Borstein and Gary Janetti.Currently not much is known about the series other than it will be about a family and will have a female lead role..

Music career[link]

MacFarlane is a skilled pianist and singer who, in his early years, trained with Lee and Sally Sweetland, Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra's vocal coaches. He signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records and released a big band/standards album in 2011. MacFarlane's debut studio album, ''Music Is Better Than Words'', was announced in 2010 and released on September 27, 2011, drawing on his training in and attraction to "the great American songbook and particularly the early- to late-'50s era of orchestration". The singer, asked about his experience with the music, said he did "old Nelson Riddle, Billy May charts [with] one of my composers, Ron Jones, [who] has a group called the Influence Jazz Orchestra that he performs with throughout L.A." His album has been nominated in the "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category" at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Guest appearances[link]

MacFarlane has appeared in sitcoms, comedy and news programs, independent films, and other animated shows. In 2002, MacFarlane appeared in the ''Gilmore Girls'' episode "Lorelai's Graduation Day". Four years later on November 5, 2006, MacFarlane guest starred on Fox's ''The War at Home'' as "Hillary's Date", an unnamed 33-year-old man who secretly dates teenaged Hillary in the episode "I Wash My Hands of You". MacFarlane also appeared as the engineer Ensign Rivers on ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' in the third season episode "The Forgotten" and the fourth season episode "Affliction". During 2006, MacFarlane had a role in the independent film ''Life is Short''. He portrayed Dr. Ned, a psychologist who advises a short man (played by ''Freaks and Geeks'' star Samm Levine) to have relationships with taller women. He is also a frequent guest on the radio talkshow ''Loveline'', hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky.

MacFarlane appeared on the November 11, 2006 episode of Fox's comedy show ''MADtv'' and performed a live action re-enactment of a scene from the ''Family Guy'' episode "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High". In the scene, Peter and Lois suspect Chris of murdering his teacher's husband. As a reaction, a terrified Meg jumps out the window. A version with MacFarlane as Peter, Nicole Parker as Kathy Griffin as Lois, Ike Barinholtz as Dane Cook as Chris, Nicole Randall Johnson as Queen Latifah as Meg, and Keegan-Michael Key as Snoop Dogg as Stewie was recorded over the original cartoon. MacFarlane served as a host to the Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts's Second Annual Elan Awards on February 15, 2008.

MacFarlane has also appeared on news shows and late night television shows such as ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman''. On January 19, 2007, MacFarlane appeared on ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' on MSNBC to discuss Stephen Colbert's appearance on ''The O'Reilly Factor'' and Bill O'Reilly's return appearance on ''The Colbert Report''. MacFarlane introduced the segment by saying in Stewie's voice "Oh, wait Bill. Hold still, allow me to soil myself on you. Victory is mine!" Three months later on March 24, 2007, MacFarlane was interviewed on Fox's ''Talkshow with Spike Feresten'', and closed the show by singing the Frank Sinatra song "You Make Me Feel So Young". He also provided Stewie's voice when he appeared as a brain tumor-induced hallucination to Seeley Booth in an episode of ''Bones'', writing his own dialogue for the episode. On May 8, 2009, MacFarlane was a guest on ''Real Time with Bill Maher''.

Other than ''Family Guy'' and ''American Dad!'', MacFarlane voices characters in other cartoon shows and movies. He voiced Wayne "The Brain" McClain in an episode of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. He has also voiced various characters on Adult Swim's ''Robot Chicken'', including a parody of Lion-O and Emperor Palpatine as well as Peter Griffin in the Season 2 premiere – he even parodied himself in the Season 4 premiere, in which he renewed the show simply by mentioning it in a ''Family Guy''-like cutaway after its fictitious cancellation at the end of Season 3. He also played the villain "The Manotaur" in Bob Boyle's animated kids series ''Yin Yang Yo!''. In addition, MacFarlane voiced Johann Kraus in the 2008 film ''Hellboy II: The Golden Army''. He also had a guest appearance in the animated film ''Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder'' where he sings "That Was Then (And This is Too)", the opening theme. He had also starred in a commercial for Hulu in which he plays an alien presenting Hulu as an "evil plot to destroy the world", progressively as his famous ''Family Guy'' and ''American Dad!'' characters. He also lent his voice to the series finale movie of the Comedy Central series, Drawn together.

On August 1, 2009, MacFarlane performed at The BBC Proms with John Wilson and his orchestra, singing a selection of songs from MGM musicals alongside Kim Criswell, Sarah Fox, Sir Thomas Allen, and Curtis Stigers. Three songs from ''High Society'', ''Singin' in the Rain'', and ''That's Entertainment'' were featured. Seth also repeated the MGM musicals show on tour in the UK with the John Wilson Orchestra during November and December 2010. He made another appearance with the John Wilson orchestra in a BBC Two special, Swingin' Christmas, on December 25, 2010.

Seth also played in a character named Ziggy in the 2010 film, ''Tooth Fairy''. In August 2010, MacFarlane appeared as a guest voiceover in a sci-fi themed episode of Disney's ''Phineas and Ferb'' entitled "Nerds of a Feather". MacFarlane was the roastmaster of the Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff in 2010 and then of the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in 2011, as well as the Roast of Charlie Sheen, also from 2011. He is the first (and currently the only) person to serve as roastmaster for more than one occasion of the Comedy Central Roasts.

Speaking engagements[link]

MacFarlane is a frequent speaking guest on college campuses. On April 16, 2006, he was invited by Stanford University's ASSU Speakers' Bureau to address an audience of over 1,000 at Memorial Auditorium. MacFarlane was invited by Harvard University's class of 2006 to deliver the "class day" address on June 7, 2006. He spoke as himself, and also as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin and Glenn Quagmire. He has also delivered speeches at George Washington University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Texas, the University of Missouri, University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University and Loyola Marymount University.

Activism[link]

Political views[link]

MacFarlane is a supporter of the United States Democratic Party. He has donated over $200,000 to various Democratic congressional committees and to the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama. He has stated that he supports the legalization of cannabis.

Gay rights support[link]

MacFarlane came to support gay rights and gay marriage after a family member wondered aloud whether his gay cousin's homosexuality could be "cured". The incident angered MacFarlane, who said in a 2008 interview in ''The Advocate'', that such a statement "was fucking horrifying to hear from somebody that you love". He credits his parents for raising him to be a logical person, in reference to his support for gay rights.

MacFarlane is passionate about his support for gay rights. He said it is "infuriating and idiotic" that two gay partners "have to go through this fucking dog and pony act when they stop at a hotel and the guy behind the counter says, 'You want one room or two?'". He went on to say, "I'm incredibly passionate about my support for the gay community and what they're dealing with at this current point in time". MacFarlane continued, "Why is it that Johnny Spaghetti Stain in fucking Georgia can knock a woman up, legally be married to her, and then beat the shit out of her, but these two intelligent, sophisticated writers who have been together for 20 years can't get married?"

MacFarlane, in recognition for "his active, passionate commitment to Humanist values, and his fearless support of equal marriage rights and other social justice issues", was named the Harvard Humanist of the Year in 2011.

Despite his position on gay rights, MacFarlane was criticized for his portrayal of transsexualism in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Quagmire's Dad". Gay novelist Brent Hartinger found the episode's inclusion of transphobic remarks from Peter and Lois Griffin — as well as a scene of Brian vomiting profusely upon discovering his new girlfriend to be transgendered — to be "shockingly insensitive". Hartinger continued, "Frankly, it's literally ''impossible'' for me to reconcile last night's episode with MacFarlane's words, unless I come to the conclusion that the man is pretty much a complete idiot". The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, an LGBT media watchdog organization, shared "serious concerns being voiced from members of the community" about the episode. MacFarlane said he was "surprised" by the negative reaction to "Quagmire's Dad", saying that "it seemed that [gay commentators] were not picking up on the fact that it was a very sympathetic portrayal of a transsexual character". He further added, "Look, Brian happens to be a heterosexual character, as I am. If I found out that I had slept with a transsexual, I might throw up in the same way that a gay guy looks at a vagina and goes, 'Oh, my God, that's disgusting.'"

2008 Writers Guild of America strike[link]

During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, MacFarlane publicly sided with the Writers Guild, and fully participated in the strike. Official production of ''Family Guy'' was halted for most of December 2007 and various periods afterwards. Fox continued producing episodes without MacFarlane's final approval, and although he refused to work on the show during the strike, his contract with Fox required him to contribute to any episodes it subsequently produced. Rumors of continued production on ''Family Guy'' prompted the statement from MacFarlane that "...it would just be a colossal dick move if they did that". The strike ended on February 12, 2008.

Personal life[link]

MacFarlane identifies himself as a ''Star Wars'', ''Star Trek'' and science fiction fan. He appeared at a ''Star Wars'' convention to promote his new ''Family Guy'' episode "Blue Harvest" on May 26, 2007. MacFarlane's interest in science fiction and music are regularly themes for his birthday and Christmas parties in Los Angeles. In 2009, he held a ''Star Wars''-themed Christmas party. In 2010, he held a Rat Pack-themed party for his birthday with a 60-piece orchestra and performance by Frank Sinatra, Jr.

In a 2004 interview with ''The Daily Princetonian'', MacFarlane noted his similarities to Brian Griffin on ''Family Guy'', revealing, "I have some Brian type issues from time to time – looking for the right person – but I date as much as the next guy". MacFarlane has also revealed that Brian is his favorite character from Family Guy, because he feels most comfortable when playing that role.

In early 2007, fellow comedian Alex Borstein reported in an interview that MacFarlane is old-fashioned in several aspects of his life, in that "his pop culture knowledge is very retro. Seth doesn't have e-mail at home, doesn't own a computer and he doesn't really watch television. He doesn't understand MySpace and despises most new music.".

On July 16, 2010, MacFarlane's mother, Ann Perry MacFarlane, died after a long battle with cancer. Her death was reported by Larry King on his show, ''Larry King Live'', who acknowledged a conversation he had with her during an interview with her son in May 2010. A brief opening scene from the first episode of the ninth season of ''Family Guy'' ("And Then There Were Fewer") mentions her lifespan, and dedicates the episode to her.

MacFarlane is an atheist, but says that he has no problem with religious people in general.

September 11, 2001 experience[link]

On the morning of September 11, 2001, MacFarlane was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston. Suffering from a hangover from the previous night's celebrations, and with an incorrect departure time (8:15 a.m. instead of 7:45 a.m.) from his travel agent, he arrived at Logan International Airport about ten minutes too late to board the flight as the gates had been closed. Fifteen minutes after departure, American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked, and at 8:46 a.m. it was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, obliterating the airplane, and killing everyone on board.

In an interview with TVShowsOnDVD.com, MacFarlane said the following about his close call:

Lawsuits[link]

On October 3, 2007, Bourne Co. Music Publishers filed a lawsuit accusing ''Family Guy'' of infringing its copyright on the song "When You Wish upon a Star", through a parody song entitled "I Need a Jew" appearing in the episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein". Bourne Co., the sole United States copyright owner of the song, alleged the parody pairs a "thinly veiled" copy of their music with antisemitic lyrics. Named in the suit were MacFarlane, 20th Century Fox Film Corp., Fox Broadcasting Co., Cartoon Network, and Walter Murphy; the suit sought to stop the program's distribution and asked for unspecified damages. Bourne argued that "I Need a Jew" uses the copyrighted melody of "When You Wish Upon a Star" without commenting on that song, and that it was therefore not a First Amendment-protected parody per the ruling in ''Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.'' On March 16, 2009, United States District Judge Deborah Batts held that ''Family Guy'' did not infringe on Bourne's copyright when it transformed the song for comical use in an episode.

In December 2007, ''Family Guy'' was again accused of copyright infringement when actor Art Metrano filed a lawsuit regarding a scene in ''Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'', in which Jesus performs Metrano's signature "magic" act involving absurd "faux" magical hand gestures while humming the distinctive tune "Fine and Dandy". MacFarlane, 20th Century Fox, Steve Callaghan, and Alex Borstein were all named in the suit. In July 2009 a federal district court judge rejected Fox's motion to dismiss, saying that the first three fair use factors involved—"purpose and character of the use", "nature of the infringed work", and "amount and substantiality of the taking"—counted in Metrano's favor, while the fourth—"economic impact"—had to await more fact-finding. In denying the dismissal, the court held that the reference in the scene made light of Jesus and his followers—not Metrano or his act.

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1995		Larry CummingsSteveLois Cummings	Voice OnlyStudent Film
2006	''Life is Short''	Dr. Ned	Short Film
2008	''Hellboy II: The Golden Army''	Johann Kraus	Voice Only
2009	''Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder''	Mars Vegas Singer	Voice OnlyDirect-to-DVD Release
	''The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!''	I.S.R.A.E.L. (Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady)	Voice OnlyDirect-to-DVD Release
	Ziggy
2012		Ted	VoiceWriterDirectorProducerPre-production

Television[link]

! Year	! Series	! Role	! Notes
1995	''The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show''	Rhode Island Bug	Episode 2.3: "Bugging Out!"
1996	''The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve''	LarrySteveVarious characters
1999–2002 2005–present	''Family Guy''	Peter GriffinStewie GriffinBrian GriffinGlenn QuagmireVarious characters	Longest-running role, Creator/Executive producer/Voice artist/Writer
2002–2003	''Gilmore Girls''	ZachBob Merriam (Emily Gilmore's lawyer; on the phone)	Episode 2.21: "Lorelai's Graduation Day" Episode 3.11: "I Solemnly Swear"
	''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''	Wayne the Brain	Episode 2.10: "Super Trivia"
''The Pitts''	Radio voice	Episode 1.3: "Squarewolves"
2003–2005	''Crank Yankers''	Dick RogersArthur Johnson	Appeared in four episodes
2004	''Complete Savages''	TV Announcer	Episode 1.4: "Nick Kicks Butt"
2004–2005	''Star Trek: Enterprise''	Engineer	Episodes 3.20: "The Forgotten (Star Trek: Enterprise)
2005–2009	''[[Robot Chicken''	Various characters	Appeared in 15 episodes
2005–present	''American Dad!''	Stan SmithRogerVarious characters
2006		Hillary's Date	Episode 2.5: "I Wash My Hands of You"
	''Help Me Help You''	Seth	Episode 1.13: "Moving On"
''Robot Chicken: Star Wars''	Emperor Palpatine	TV film
59th Primetime Emmy Awards	Stewie GriffinBrian Griffin	TV special
2008	''Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II''	Emperor PalpatineVarious characters	TV film
2008	''Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III''	Emperor PalpatineVarious characters	TV film
2008–2009	''Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy''	Various characters	Appeared in 19 episodes
2009		Stewie Griffin	Episode 4.25: "The Critic in the Cabernet"
2009–2010	''FlashForward''	Agent Jake CurdyFBI Agent	Episode 1.1: "No More Good Days" and 1.15: "Queen Sacrifice";
2009–present	''The Cleveland Show''	Tim the BearVarious characters
	''Phineas and Ferb''	Jeff McGarland	Episode 2.33: "Nerds of a Feather"
	Himself	Roastmaster of The Roast of David Hasselhoff
2010	''BBC Breakfast''	Himself	Guest
2010	''Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III''	Emperor Palpatine	TV film
2011		Himself	Roastmaster of The Roast of Donald Trump
2011		Himself	Roastmaster of The Roast of Charlie Sheen
2011	''Night of the Hurricane''	Peter GriffinStewie GriffinBrian GriffinTom TuckerStan SmithRogerVarious characters
2013	''The Flintstones''

Discography[link]

Studio albums [link]

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		! width="45"	! width="45"
''Music Is Better Than Words''		* Release date: September 27, 2011	* Label: Universal Republic Records	* Formats: CD, Vinyl LP And music download	111	2

Awards[link]

Year	Award	Category	Role	Series	Result	Ref.
2000	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance		''Family Guy''
2002	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Music and Lyrics	Music and lyrics	''Family Guy''
2006	Annie Award	Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production	Stewie Griffin	''Family Guy''
		Film & Video Person of the Year 2009	—	—
Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Voice-Over Performance	Peter Griffin	''Family Guy''
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics		''Family Guy''
	Choice Animated Series	Creator	''Family Guy''
	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Villain	Stewie Griffin	''Family Guy''
Teen Choice Award	Choice Animated Series	Creator	''Family Guy''

References[link]

External links[link]

Interview on IGN.com

}}

Category:1973 births Category:Actors from Connecticut Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American animators Category:American atheists Category:American baritones Category:American comedians Category:American male singers Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:American voice actors Category:American television actors Category:American film actors Category:American directors Category:Annie Award winners Category:Connecticut Democrats Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Family Guy Category:Universal Records artists Category:Kent School alumni Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:American cannabis activists Category:Living people Category:People from Kent, Connecticut Category:People from Providence, Rhode Island Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni

bg:Сет Макфарлън ca:Seth MacFarlane cs:Seth MacFarlane da:Seth MacFarlane de:Seth MacFarlane es:Seth MacFarlane fa:ست مک‌فارلن fr:Seth MacFarlane gl:Seth MacFarlane is:Seth MacFarlane it:Seth MacFarlane he:סת' מקפרלן hu:Seth MacFarlane nl:Seth MacFarlane no:Seth MacFarlane nn:Seth MacFarlane pl:Seth MacFarlane pt:Seth MacFarlane ro:Seth MacFarlane ru:Макфарлейн, Сет sq:Seth MacFarlane simple:Seth MacFarlane fi:Seth MacFarlane sv:Seth MacFarlane tr:Seth MacFarlane zh:塞思·麦克法兰 br />Steve

name	Seth Lakeman
background	solo_singer
origin	Dartmoor, Devon, England
genre	English folk music, folk rock, electric folk, acoustic folk
years active	1994–present
label	iScream Music (pre-2006) , Relentless (2006—present)
instrument	Vocals, violin, guitar, viola, banjo
associated acts	Cara Dillon, Sam Lakeman, Equation, The Lakeman Brothers, Steve Knightley, Jenna Witts
website	http://sethlakeman.co.uk
notable instruments	}}

Seth Bernard Lakeman (born 26 March 1977) is an English folk singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but has also mastered the viola and banjo. Nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, Lakeman has belonged to several musical ensembles, including one with his two brothers, fellow folk musicians Sam Lakeman and Sean Lakeman, but has most recently established himself as a solo headlining act. '''

Career[link]

The Lakeman Brothers[link]

Seth Lakeman began playing music with his parents and two brothers Sean and Sam Lakeman at an early age.

As The Lakeman Brothers, the three brothers released their critically acclaimed debut album ''Three Piece Suite'' in 1994. Later that same year they were invited by two Yorkshire based singers Kathryn Roberts and Kate Rusby to join them as a backing group on a tour of Portugal. After the tour the five musicians became a permanent group and called themselves Equation. The group swiftly garnered critical praise and were signed in a record deal with Time Warner in 1995. After three full albums (''Return to Me'' in 1996, ''Hazy Daze'' in 1998, and ''The Lucky Few'' in 2000), and tours in the UK, Europe and the United States, Lakeman left Equation in 2001. He joined his brother Sam and Sam's wife Cara Dillon and appeared on Dillon's acclaimed eponymous debut album, which featured Seth on fiddle, guitar and vocals. The album won two awards at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Solo work[link]

In 2002 Lakeman released his first solo album, ''The Punch Bowl'', which received wide critical acclaim including a review in ''fRoots'' magazine which said: "The songs don't just glide smoothly by.....they get their claws into you".

''Kitty Jay'', Lakeman's second solo album was released in 2004. The title track of the album tells the story of Jay's Grave, a well known location on Dartmoor. The album was recorded for a cost of less than £300. That same year he collaborated with Devon singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and young local singer Jenna Witts on the album ''Western Approaches''.

A sell-out UK tour in Autumn 2005 followed his Mercury Music Prize nomination, after which Lakeman and his band (regularly brother Sean (guitar), Ben Nichols (bass), Andy Tween(drums), toured extensively with folk-rock giants The Levellers, who took to closing their set with a "fiddle off" between Lakeman and Levellers' fiddler Jonathan Sevink. Other support tours with Billy Bragg and Jools Holland brought Lakeman's music to a wider audience.

In March 2006 Lakeman began a UK tour in order to promote his new album ''Freedom Fields'' which was released on iScream. He signed to a new major record label, Relentless Records, promptly releasing a new single "Lady of the Sea" in early August 2006.

His fourth solo album, ''Poor Man's Heaven'', was released on 30 June 2008 with an accompanying tour. It introduced a rockier edge to the folk of the previous albums. The fifth solo album, ''Hearts & Minds'', was released on 19 July 2010. Lakeman released his sixth album called ''Tales From The Barrel House'' on 18 November 2011.

Festival tours[link]

In 2007[link]

In 2007, Seth Lakeman performed at the SXSW festival in Texas, Hyde Park Calling, in Hyde Park, London, the Glastonbury Festival, The V Festival in South Staffordshire, Womad Charlton Park Festival in Wiltshire, England, the Folk by the Oak Festival, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, in Alberta, Canada, the Cornbury Music Festival, Fairport's Cropredy Convention, and the Towersey Village Festival (both located in Oxfordshire, England), and Lakeman provided support for Tori Amos on her European tour.

2008[link]

On 18 April 2008, Lakeman appeared on stage with Jethro Tull on their 40th anniversary tour at Colston Hall in Bristol before the start of his own UK tour later that month and going on to tour the festival circuit throughout the summer. His fourth album, ''Poor Man's Heaven'' was released on 30 June 2008. It includes "Solomon Browne", a tribute to the courage of the men who lost their lives in the Penlee lifeboat disaster. In August 2008, Lakeman was one of the acts playing at the Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham, England, to over 18,000 people.

2009[link]

The festival tour continued in 2009 (with new drummer Simon Lea); notably with an appearance at the Bath Fringe Festival on 3 June, playing at the newly renovated Komedia venue to a capacity crowd who enjoyed renditions from ''Poor Man's Heaven'' and other albums as well as a wealth of new material. On 29 June they played the Glastonbury Festival's Avalon stage.

In July, he played on the acoustic stage at Chagstock 2009 to a rapturous audience, to be invited back next year to the main stage.

In August 2009 Lakeman performed at Cambridge Folk Festival for the second year running and again at Fairport's Cropredy Festival, Fairport Convention's annual folk festival in Oxfordshire, headlining on the Friday night. The band also headlined at The Levellers' Beautiful Days festival on Friday 21 August and at the V Festival in Weston Park the following day. The band, now augmented by the presence of Benji Kirkpatrick, performed on the Shrewsbury Folk Festival main stage on 29 August and then at Solfest, in Cumbria, England on Sunday 30 August.

On September 13, 2009, Lakeman performed at the Harvest At Jimmy's Food & Music Festival at Jimmy's Farm, Suffolk.

Lakeman has also been a regular performer at the small annual Parklife Festival in the Town of Tavistock near to his home village of Buckland Monarchorum.

2010[link]

Seth played at Cornbury Festival at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire on Sunday 4 July, and as second headline on the main stage at Chagstock 2010 on Saturday 17 July as the sun set. Seth also played at the 2010 Tall Ships Festival on 10 July in Hartlepool, and at the Cambridge Folk Festival, also in July.

He made a return local visit to the Levellers "Beautiful Days" festival on 21 August in Devon and played as support for Runrig on their German tour, some days later. He was also the main headline on Saturday 4 September at Weyfest in Farnham, Surrey.

Awards[link]

In July 2005 Lakeman was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for his album ''Kitty Jay''. On 5 February 2007 Lakeman won ''Singer of the Year'' and ''Best Album'' awards at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Instruments[link]

Seth Lakeman's primary musical instruments are the violin, the tenor guitar, the banjo and the viola.

Discography [link]

Albums[link]

''The Punch Bowl'' (2002, iScream)

''Kitty Jay'' (2004, iScream) UK #100

''Freedom Fields'' (2006, iScream) UK #32

''Poor Man's Heaven'' (2008, Relentless) UK #8

''Hearts & Minds'' (2010, Virgin Records) UK #17

''Tales From The Barrel House'' (2011, Honour Oak Records) UK #63

Singles[link]

''The Bold Night'' (2005)

''Lady Of The Sea'' (2006) #52

''The White Hare'' (2006) #47

''King & Country'' (2006)

''Poor Man's Heaven EP" (2007)

''The Hurlers" (2008)

''Crimson Dawn'' (2008)

''Solomon Brown'' (2008)

the_lakeman_brothers">with The Lakeman Brothers

''Three Piece Suite'' (1994)

equation">with Equation

''Hazy Days'' (1998)

''The Lucky Few'' (1999)

''Return To Me'' (2003)

''First Name Terms'' (2004)

steve_knightley_and_jenna_witts">with Steve Knightley and Jenna Witts

''Western Approaches'' (2004)

References [link]

External links[link]

Seth Lakeman official website

Seth Lakeman on Facebook

Unofficial Seth Lakeman Fan News on Twitter

Seth Lakeman on YouTube

Seth Lakeman MySpace

Seth Lakeman Archive (fan site)

Equation official website

Category:1977 births Category:English folk musicians Category:English folk singers Category:English violinists Category:Living people Category:People from Buckland Monachorum

da:Seth Lakeman fr:Seth Lakeman it:Seth Lakeman

name	Seth Godin
birth date	July 10, 1960
alma mater	Tufts University Stanford University
occupation	author, marketing guru
website	sethgodin.com }}

Seth Godin (born July 10, 1960) is an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.

Background[link]

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Seth Godin graduated from Tufts University in 1979 with a degree in computer science and philosophy. Godin earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. From 1983 to 1986, he worked as a brand manager at Spinnaker Software. For a time Godin commuted every week between California and Boston both to do his new job and to complete his MBA..

After leaving Spinnaker Software in 1986, Godin used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in New York City. It was in the same offices that Godin met Mark Hurst and founded Yoyodyne. After a few years Godin sold the book packaging business to his employees and focused his efforts on Yoyodyne, one of the first online marketing companies. It was with Yoyodyne that Godin came up with the concept of permission marketing. For a period of time, Godin served as a columnist for ''Fast Company''

Godin and his wife Helene now live in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York with their two sons.

Viewpoints [link]

Godin believes that the end of the "TV-Industrial complex" means that marketers no longer have the power to command the attention of anyone they choose, whenever they choose. Second, in a marketplace in which consumers have more power, he thinks marketers must show more respect; this means no spam, no deceit and a bias for keeping promises. Finally, Godin asserts that the only way to spread the word about an idea is for that idea to earn the buzz by being remarkable. Godin refers to those who spread these ideas as "Sneezers", and to the spreading idea as an "IdeaVirus." He calls a remarkable product or service a purple cow.

Advertisements on television and radio are classified as 'interruption marketing' which interrupt the customer while they are doing something of their preference. Godin introduced the concept of "permission marketing" where the business provides something "anticipated, personal, and relevant".

Business ventures[link]

Yoyodyne[link]

In 1995, Godin launched Yoyodyne which used contests, online games, and scavenger hunts to market companies to participating users. In August, 1996, venture-capital firm Flatiron Partners invested $4 million in Yoyodyne in return for a 20% stake. The site gained significant traction, with over one million viewers visiting the site, and companies like America Online, American Express, H&R; Block, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Sony Music, Sprint, and Volvo using its services.

At Yoyodyne, Godin developed the principle of permission marketing and authored ''Permission Marketing: Turning strangers into friends and friends into customers''.

In 1998, Godin sold Yoyodyne to Yahoo! for $30 million and became Yahoo's vice president of direct marketing, a position he held until 2000.

Squidoo[link]

In March 2006, Godin launched Squidoo, a community website allowing users to create pages (called "lenses") for subjects of interest. The site donates 5% of the profits to charity, and 50% to the lensmasters. Godin and Squidoo have been profiled on CNN and the Washington Post. The site was given top prize in SXSW's community/wiki category. As of July 2008, Squidoo was one of the 500 most visited sites in the world.

Other projects[link]

ChangeThis[link]

Godin developed the idea for ChangeThis, a website aimed at spreading ideas through PDF files. In the summer of 2004, Godin hired five interns—Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu and Michelle Sriwongtong—to build and develop the website. The website went live on August 14, 2004. Tom Peters, Chris Anderson, and Guy Kawasaki all had manifestos featured on ChangeThis. In July 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ, the leading distributor of business literature in the United States.

Six month alternative MBA program[link]

In December 2008, Godin announced in a blog post that he would be offering a six month alternative MBA program at his office in Hastings on Hudson, NY. 48,000 people looked at the post and 340 applied. He invited 27 applicants to his office for a group interview. They spent two hours interviewing one another. After co-mingling, they and Godin together wrote down the names of their favorite candidates. Three weeks later the chosen 9 showed up at Godin's office. This group graduated in July 2009.

The Domino Project[link]

In December 2010, Godin announced on his blog that he would be working directly with Amazon on a venture called The Domino Project.

Stop Stealing Dreams (what is school for)[link]

In February 2012, Godin released a 30,000 word manifesto on Squidoo in response to the question "What do you think we ought to do about education?". This manifesto is "totally free to read, share, translate, print and, most of all, use to start an essential conversation".

Books[link]

Godin is the author of 11 books; his ''Free Prize Inside'' was a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004, in its first two years of release, ''Purple Cow'' sold over 150,000 copies in more than 23 printings. ''The Dip'' was a Business Week and New York Times bestseller. And Godin has called his free ebook ''Unleashing the Ideavirus'' the most "popular ebook ever written". In the early 1990s he created a ten book series for children titled ''Worlds of Power'', which was written by various writers. In each the plot of a single video game was told in a novelized form.

Beginning with ''Permission Marketing'', Godin uses the concepts discussed in the books to promote the book. For ''Permission Marketing'', Godin gave 1/3 of the book away for free to anyone who sent an e-mail. For ''Unleashing the Ideavirus'', Godin released the entire eBook on the Internet for free, which led to eventual publishing deals in 41 countries and a public speaking career. For ''Purple Cow'', Godin created a milk carton container for the book which generated attention from work colleagues. For ''Tribes'', Godin launched an exclusive online community for the first 3000 people who pre-ordered the book. For Linchpin, Godin gave the book away for three weeks before its release for free to anyone willing to give $30 to the Acumen Fund for the $20 book, and raised $100,000 for the Acumen Fund.

Bibliography[link]

''Book online'' - Detailing the idea of Viral marketing

Blog[link]

Godin's ''Seth's Blog'' is ranked in the ''AdAge Power 150'' as the #1 marketing blog out of 976 tracked.

References[link]

External links[link]

Seth Godin on TED

''Subvert Magazine'' interview

Smart People Podcast - interview (2011)

The Marketplace of Ideas - interview (2010)

Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:American business writers Category:American business theorists Category:Business speakers Category:American bloggers Category:Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni Category:Tufts University alumni

bg:Сет Годин de:Seth Godin es:Seth Godin fr:Seth Godin he:סת גודין pl:Seth Godin pt:Seth Godin ro:Seth Godin ru:Годин, Сет fi:Seth Godin sv:Seth Godin tr:Seth Godin vi:Seth Godin

name	Kimbo Slice
other names	Kimbo Slice
birth name	Kevin Ferguson
birth date	February 08, 1974
birth place	Nassau, Bahamas
nationality	Bahamian American
height
weight
weight class	Heavyweight
reach
style	Boxing
fighting out of	Miami, Florida, United States
team	American Top Team
years active	2007–2011 (MMA) 2011-present (Boxing)
box win	5
box kowin	4
box loss	0
box draw	0
mma kowin	2
mma subwin	1
mma decwin	1
mma koloss	2
university	University of Miami Bethune-Cookman University
spouse	Antionette Ray
children	6
relatives	Rhadi Ferguson
school	Miami Palmetto High School
url	http://www.kimbo305.com/
boxrec	575561
sherdog	22388
updated	August 13, 2011 }}

Kevin Ferguson (born February 8, 1974), better known as Kimbo Slice, is a Bahamian-American professional boxer, mixed martial artist and occasional actor. He became famous for street fights which were spread on the Internet, leading ''Rolling Stone'' to call him "The King of the Web Brawlers".

Slice left the underground fighting scene and signed a professional contract with EliteXC in 2007. After EliteXC declared bankruptcy in 2008, Slice became a free agent. Slice competed in ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights'', where he lost in his first fight to veteran fighter, and eventual series winner, Roy Nelson. In his UFC debut, Slice defeated Houston Alexander in the ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights'' finale, but lost in his second UFC fight to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113.

Early life[link]

Ferguson was born in Nassau, Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a child, growing up in Cutler Ridge, Florida. Ferguson was raised with his two brothers by mother Rosemary Clarke. He went to Bel-Air Elementary School, where Ferguson was reportedly involved in his first fight at 13 as he tried to defend a friend. He continued his studies with Cutler Ridge Middle School and later with Richmond Heights Middle School. He attended Miami Palmetto High School, where he was the star middle linebacker. In 1992, his house in Perrine, Florida was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, forcing him to live in his 1987 Nissan Pathfinder for a month.

For college, he attended both Bethune-Cookman University and the University of Miami, where he held an athletic scholarship and studied criminal justice. He was there for only a year and a half. In 1997, he had a tryout with the Miami Dolphins and was part of the pre-season squad, but was unable to get a place in the first team. Kimbo's cousin is United States judoka Rhadi Ferguson.

Early career[link]

Ferguson started working as bouncer for a strip club until high school friend and current manager, Mike Ember, offered him a job as limousine driver and bodyguard for RK Netmedia, better known as Reality Kings, a Miami-based pornography production/promotion company responsible for a number of popular adult subscription websites. Kimbo still maintains close ties with Reality Kings who now accompany him, as his fight entourage, under the name ''Team Kimbo''.

In 2002, he was charged for carrying a concealed weapon and in 2003, he began his career in unsanctioned street fights. They were distributed through the Internet, mainly through the adult website SublimeDirectory and YouTube. In his first taped fight against a man named ''Big D'', Ferguson left a large cut on his opponent's right eye which led Internet fans to call him ''Slice'', becoming the last name to his already popular childhood nickname, ''Kimbo''.

His only on-tape street fight loss was against Sean Gannon, a former Boston police officer who also trains in MMA. The popularity of the fight propelled both men into the MMA spotlight.

Mixed martial arts career[link]

To prepare for sanctioned MMA fights, Slice was trained by retired MMA fighter Bas Rutten and boxing instructor Randy Khatami at Rutten's school, EliteMMA, in Thousand Oaks, California. Slice made his MMA debut against former WBO Heavyweight champion and Olympic gold-medalist boxer Ray Mercer at ''Cage Fury Fighting Championships 5'', in Atlantic City on June 23, 2007. The match was scheduled as a three-round exhibition utilizing all professional rules of MMA combat. Slice defeated Mercer with a guillotine choke at 1:12 into the first round. In a post-fight interview, Slice stated that he would like to fight David "Tank" Abbott. Abbott, who was a spectator, stood up from his seat and accepted the call out. One of the matchmakers for CFFC asked Slice for his assurance so that an October 12 bout at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 6 between Slice and "Tank" Abbott could be organized. This event was later canceled due to a promotion dispute. On October 11, 2007, ProElite announced that they had signed Slice to a deal and that he would make his debut on the November 10, 2007 EliteXC. He was originally set to make his professional MMA debut against Mike Bourke, a reformed street fighter, but a shoulder injury from Bourke led him to face Bo Cantrell. Kimbo defeated Cantrell 19 seconds into the first round by submission due to strikes.

On February 16, 2008, Kimbo fought Tank Abbott in the main event at ''EliteXC: Street Certified''. He won by KO 43 seconds into the first round due to strikes. At the fight his weight was announced at an all-time low of , a far cry from his street fighting days of .

On May 31, 2008, Kimbo fought in the main event of the first ever mixed martial arts event shown on prime time network television, ''EliteXC: Primetime''. Though one of the judges had each fighter winning one of the first two rounds, Kimbo's opponent James Thompson won both on total points by repeatedly taking down Slice and grounding and pounding. In the opening seconds of the third round, however, Kimbo threw a haymaker to Thompson's left ear, which ruptured Thompson's cauliflower. This was soon followed by three unanswered punches to a standing Thompson, which led to a referee stoppage and the controversial win for Slice. Fellow EliteXC competitor Brett Rogers was particularly critical of Slice's victory, calling Slice's performance "garbage" in a post fight interview. Frank Mir was also critical of Slice, stating in an interview that "every time Kimbo Slice fights, it sets (mixed martial arts) back".

Fight with Petruzelli[link]

On October 4, 2008, a Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock fight was supposed to take place at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida as part of CBS' ''Saturday Night Fights''. However, Shamrock received a cut to the left eye during a warm-up only hours before the fight was to take place. This left the head of fight operations, Jeremy Lappen, to choose a replacement for the fight. Options were Seth Petruzelli, Aaron Rosa and Frank Shamrock. But Kimbo's team stated they did not want him fighting Frank no matter how much money was offered to them. So Lappen decided that Petruzelli was the best option for the main event. Slice agreed to take the fight after receiving a raise in pay, and took in $500,000. Petruzelli defeated Slice by TKO 14 seconds into the first round of the bout.

Interviewed on the popular radio show ''The Monsters In The Morning'' two days after the fight, Seth Petruzelli said that when they offered him a spot in the main event, EliteXC promoters added monetary incentives to dissuade him from using certain fighting techniques against Slice, in an attempt to protect their relatively unproven Internet star. }}

This added to the controversy surrounding the representation of Slice as a top flight martial artist by CBS and EliteXC. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation started a preliminary investigation on the events surrounding the fight and its outcome.

However, Petruzelli retracted this statement a few hours later, claiming in a follow-up interview with MMA website ''FiveOuncesofPain.com'' that his previous comments on ''The Monsters'' had been misinterpreted. }}

On October 23, 2008, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation concluded its investigation of the bout and found no wrongdoing. By the end of October 2008, EliteXC was forced to file for bankruptcy. Many in the mixed martial arts community, including Jay Thompson, executive consultant to the company, attributed EliteXC and ProElite's failure due to Slice's loss to Seth Petruzelli.

Ultimate Fighting Championship[link]

After Elite Xtreme Combat ceased operations, Dana White stated that if Slice wanted to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship he would have to win his way in by competing on ''The Ultimate Fighter'' TV show. White went on to say that he might create a show with heavyweights just for Kimbo Slice if he wanted in. That statement became reality on June 1, when Kevin Iole of Yahoo.com stated Slice would participate in ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights''.

The coaches for the show were Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans, both former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions. Slice was the number one pick for Rampage and the second pick overall. In his first fight of the show, Kimbo was defeated by Roy Nelson via TKO stoppage in the second round after repeated punches to the head in the crucifix position. Kimbo later turned down the opportunity to take Matt Mitrione's place in the quarter finals after it was revealed that he had arthritis in his knee.

Slice fought Houston Alexander on December 5, 2009, at ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale'' at a catchweight of 215 pounds. In a fight that many thought would not leave the first round, Alexander would instead spend most of the first and third rounds circling Slice tentatively with little engagement. In the second round, however, Slice landed a back suplex on Alexander, which very well may have tipped the judges' scorecards in his favor. Slice would win the bout by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) and Alexander would be cut from the promotion only days later.

On May 8, 2010, Slice made his pay-per-view and official heavyweight debut at UFC 113 versus Matt Mitrione, losing in the second round via a TKO. Following the loss, Dana White stated that it was "probably Kimbo's last fight in the UFC". His release was confirmed the following day, alongside welterweight Paul Daley.

Boxing career[link]

In August 2010, it emerged that Kimbo Slice was intending to take up a career in professional boxing. He stated "I feel like a baby all over again. I'm thinking about this at night. I'm gonna be a problem in the heavyweight division. I'm going to be coming in with a bad demeanor. I want to see what it's like to break some ribs, break a jaw with one punch. This is a career move. I love fighting. I like to knock people the fuck out. I love engaging. Maybe some people think I'm crazy."

Roy Jones, Jr. has stated that he would like to fight Kimbo Slice, but claimed that Kimbo would likely have to have a number of boxing matches beforehand in order to gain experience and exposure in the sport.

Kimbo was set to make his debut in professional wrestling on February 5, 2011 against former Sumo wrestler Shinichi Suzukawa at the Inoki Genome Federation's "Genome 14" event in Fukuoka, Japan, But Kimbo later pulled out of the match due to getting injured in practice.

Slice made his pro boxing debut on August 13, 2011. Slice fought in a four-round headlining attraction against 39 year old James Wade (0-1) at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. He won the fight via KO at 0:10 in the first round.

On October 15, Kimbo returned to the boxing ring, defeating Tay Bledsoe via KO in the first round.

On December 30, Kimbo defeated Charles Hackmann by UD, winning three out of four rounds.

Other media coverage[link]

A series called "Junk Yard Training" was released on yardbarker.com and youtube.com which featured LaDainian Tomlinson, running back for the San Diego Chargers, training in Kimbo's backyard. In 2009, Kimbo starred in an antivirus software advertisement called ''Caterpillar vs. Kimbo''.

Ferguson was featured on ''The Iron Ring'', a television series airing on BET which features MMA prospects. Slice was part of the selection process for the participants. He made his official acting debut when playing ''Bludge'' on Nickelodeon's holiday special, ''Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh''.

Personal life[link]

Ferguson currently lives with his family in Coral Springs, Florida, and is a single father to six children; three boys and three girls. He is engaged to long-time girlfriend, Antionette Ray.

Filmography[link]

! Year	! Title	! Film/Television	! Role	! Other notes
	''The Scorpion King 3: Rise of the Dead''	Film	Zulu Kondo
	''Spring Broke''	Film
	''Locked Down''	Film	King
	''Circle of Pain''	Film	Reg
	''Blood and Bone''	Film	J.C.
	''Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh''	Television	Bludge

Professional boxing record[link]

|- |align="center" colspan=8|5 Wins (4 knockouts, 1 decision), 0 Losses, 0 Draws |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Result | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |Win |5–0 |align=left| Jesse Porter | | | |align=left| Lucky Star Casino, Concho, Oklahoma}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |4–0 |align=left| Brian Green | | | |align=left| O'Reilly Center, Springfield, Missouri}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |3–0 |align=left| Charles Hackmann | | | |align=left| Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |2–0 |align=left| Tay Bledsoe | | | |align=left| Heartland Events Center, Grand Island, Nebraska}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win |1–0 |align=left| James Wade | | | |align=left| Buffalo Run Casino, Miami, Oklahoma}} |align=left|

Mixed martial arts record[link]

|- |Loss |align=center|4–2 | Matt Mitrione |TKO (strikes) | UFC 113 | |align=center|2 |align=center|4:24 |Montreal, Quebec, Canada |Cut from UFC following loss |- |Win |align=center|4–1 | Houston Alexander | Decision (unanimous) | TUF 10 Finale | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |UFC debut. Fought at Catchweight. |- |Loss |align=center|3–1 | Seth Petruzelli | TKO (punches) | EliteXC: Heat | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:14 |Sunrise, Florida, United States | |- |Win |align=center|3–0 | James Thompson | TKO (punches) | EliteXC: Primetime | |align=center|3 |align=center|0:38 |Newark, New Jersey, United States | |- |Win |align=center|2–0 | Tank Abbott | KO (punches) | EliteXC: Street Certified | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:43 |Miami, Florida, United States | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 | Bo Cantrell | Submission (punches) | EliteXC: Renegade | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:19 |Corpus Christi, Texas, United States |MMA Debut

Mixed martial arts exhibition record[link]

|- |Loss |align=center|1–1 | Roy Nelson | TKO (punches) | The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights | |align=center|2 |align=center|2:01 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 | Ray Mercer | Submission (guillotine choke) | Cage Fury Fighting Championships V | |align=center|1 |align=center|1:12 |Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States |

References[link]

External links[link]

Kimbo305.com (Official Website of Kimbo Slice)

Category:1974 births Category:American mixed martial artists Category:American people of Bahamian descent Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Bahamian emigrants to the United States Category:Bahamian boxers Category:Bahamian mixed martial artists Category:Bare-knuckle boxers Category:Boxers from Florida Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Living people Category:Mixed martial artists from Florida Category:People from Miami, Florida Category:People from Nassau, Bahamas Category:University of Miami alumni

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