Look up ansa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ansa or ANSA can refer to any of the following:

• Ansa, Queen of the Lombards, 8th century, wife of Desiderius, king of the Lombards
• Ansa (moth), genus of moth
• Ansa (Hinduism) or Aṃśa in Hinduism, a solar deity and one of the Adityas.
• ansa as part of Arabic words means "constant"

As the acronym ANSA:

• Agence nouvelle des solidarités actives, association créée en janvier 2006 par Martin Hirsch
• Afghan National Standards Association, the ISO representative organization for Afghanistan.
• Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, Italian news agency
  • Ansa Mediterranean or ANSAmed, section of the above
• Association of Norwegian Students Abroad
• Applied Neuroscience Society of Australasia
• Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, student-run arm of the Australian Anthropological Society.
• ANSA, an Italian manufacturer of OEM exhaust systems for automobiles.
• ANSA Pre-processor, commercial pre-processing software (Automatic Net-generation for Structural Analysis).
• The Planet of the Apes equivalent of NASA; it is never made clear in the movies what the letters actually stand for.
• ANSA Business, watch retailer based in The Netherlands

ansa is Latin for "handle". It has several uses derived from this meaning:

• In anatomy, the word is applied to nervous structures which resemble loops (for example the ansa lenticularis, ansa cervicalis, Loop of Henle (ansa nephroni) or the ansa of the tympanal organ).
• In archaeology it is used for the engraved and ornamented handle of a vase, which has often survived when the vase itself, being less durable, has disappeared.
• In astronomy, one of the apparent ends of the rings of Saturn as seen in perspective from the earth: so-called because, in the earlier telescopes, they looked like handles projecting from the planet.
• In chemistry, it is used to describe a bridge between two functional groups/ligands.
• In the plural ansae, in astronomy, compact nebulosities such as can be found in protoplanetary nebulae.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Tina McElroy Ansa (born November 18, 1949)^[1] is an African American novelist, filmmaker, teacher, and journalist. Born Tina McElroy to Walter J. and Nellie McElroy in Macon, Georgia, where she grew up in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood. After graduating from Spelman College and working for several years in a variety of positions at the Atlanta Constitution, she has written several novels and has been a frequent contributor to numerous periodicals, including the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has also been featured on the television segment "Postcards from Georgia" on CBS News Sunday Morning. She instructs writing workshops at Spelman College, Emory University, and Coastal Georgia Community College. She lives with her filmmaker husband Jonée Ansa on St. Simons Island, Georgia where they collaborate on making movies and are active in community events to promote the arts.

Ansa's fiction portrays a variety of Black women in the recent and modern American South, with a blend of the supernatural and traditional superstition. Her first novel, Baby of the Family, was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Baby of the Family was also on the African-America Best-seller List for Paperback Fiction. In October 2001, Baby of the Family was chosen by the Georgia Center for the Book as one of the “Top 25 books Every Georgian Should Read.” The book was also awarded The American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 1990, and won the 1989 Georgia Authors Series Award.

She and her husband are currently adapting Baby of the Family for the screen in a feature film starring Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Vanessa A. Williams, Todd Bridges, Pam Grier.

Bibliography[link]

• Baby of the Family (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. ISBN 0-15-610150-5)
• Ugly Ways (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Co., 1995. ISBN 0-15-600077-6)
• The Hand I Fan With (New York: Doubleday, 1998. ISBN 0-385-47601-9)
• You Know Better (New York: William Morrow, 2002. ISBN 0-06-019779-X)
• "Rachel" in Mending the World: Stories of Family by Contemporary Black Writers, Rosemarie Robotham, editor (New York: BasicCivitas Books, 2003. ISBN 0-465-07062-0)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

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Valentino Balboni is the former chief test driver of Lamborghini, a manufacturer of sports cars in Italy. He retired in October 2008 due to Italian government work regulations, after having served the company for 40 years.^[1] To pay tribute to him in occasion of his retirement, Lamborghini has labeled a 2009 addition to the Gallardo line-up, the LP550-2 Valentino Balboni.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

Balboni started working for Lamborghini on April 21, 1968 as a mechanic apprentice in the company.^[1][4] Eventually he was personally asked by the founder of the company, Ferruccio Lamborghini, to test-drive the newly built cars. Together with Bob Wallace, they became the test-driving team of Lamborghini. Valentino Balboni has reportedly driven about 80% of all Lamborghinis ever built. Among the marque aficionados, Balboni has risen to cult status. In 2008, Balboni was still active for the company as the chief test-driver and ambassador. Fluent in English and German, he often appeared at different Lamborghini-related events, such as the unveiling of new models.

In July 2009, Lamborghini announced a special edition run of 250 Gallardo LP550-2 "Valentino Balboni edition" supercars; the company stated that the new car was to be rear-wheel driven in accordance with Balboni's preference for the thrill of cornering a rear-wheel driven vehicle. These vehicles were also made special with a white and gold stripe that runs the center of the car, inspired by sports cars of the 1970's.

Balboni, even though officially retired as chief test driver, has signed a two year contract with Lamborghini as a consultant through 2010 that can be renewed multiple times.^[1]

Media[link]

Valentino Balboni has made several appearances on television in different documentaries related to Lamborghini such as Top Gear and Rides.

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2011)

Hany Shaker (Arabic: هانى شاكر‎, IPA: [ˈhæːni ˈʃæːkeɾ]; born in Cairo on December 21, 1952) is an Egyptian singer, actor and composer. He has over 461 songs in the hearts of his lovers. His first public appearance was when he sang with Abd El Halim Hafez Choral Group in "Sora", then he showed up in the movie Sayed Darwish as Sayed darwish when he was young.

Biography[link]

Hany Shaker began his musical career at a very early age - learning the piano as a child, when his mother took on the role of agent as well as supervisor of his professional training. After graduation from high school in the early 1970s he started to study music at the prestigious Cairo Conservatoire.

Hany scored his first breakthrough hit in his second year of college in December 1972 with a song written by Mohammed El Mougi, “Heloua ya Dounia (It's a Wonderful Life), which his musical set him off on his musical career.. Although at that time the biggest legends remained at their peak, Umm Kulthum, Farid al-Atrash, Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim Hafez they recognized his potential and supported him, so that he was able to become known among all these legends. Until today Hany claims he owes his greatest musical debt to Abdel Halim Hafez, a man who is very remarkable and who continues to exert a considerable huge influence on younger Egyptian and arab musicians even after his death in 1977. It is known that Halim heavily helped Hany Shaker in 2011 to become successful.[1]

In 1974 Hany was invited to participate in a concert in Lebanon, which turned out to be a huge success.. and ever since then Hani has remained extremely popular among the Lebanese.

From then on Hany produced a number of his early hits “Siboni Aheb” (Let me love), “Kisma w’nasib” (Destiny and fate) and one of his most popular “Kida Bardo Ya Amar” (It’s not fair, oh Moon”) During the 70’s Hany presented two famous Plays “Cinderella” and “Egypt”.. and three romantic movies “When love sings” , “We live for love” and “I love this and want that”.

In the course of his long and successful career, Shaker has proved he is not only a talented singer but also a songwriter of his own material including the whole album of “Albi Maloh” which included 8 Hits in the early 90’s.. and songs such as “Ma’ak” and “Katabetli essenin” as well as working with a number of legendary composers including Salah El Sharnoubi, Tarik Akif, Yehia El Mougi, Mohamed Sultan, Baligh Hamdi, Mohamed Elmogi , khaled Elamir , Mounir Mourad , Elias El Rahbani , Ammar Elshereei , Mohamed Diaa Eldeen , Sami Elhefnawi , Hassan Abo Elsuood and Ahmed Shata.

In spite of his love of traditional Egyptian music, Hany also enjoys modern songs which reflect contemporary society. He considers his own musical style a halfway point between tradition and modernity. In the late eighties and in the nineties he started to act through his video clips including:, Lao Ya’ni, Nesyanak Sa’b, Mat Hadidish, Albi Maloh and many others.

Discography[link]

He has a repertoire of 29 albums to date:

• Baadak Maleesh 2010
• Habib Hayaty 2009
• Ahla Ellayali 2007
• Arabny Leek 2005
• Bahebak Ya Ghaly 2003
• Bahebak Ana 2001
• Garhy Ana 2000
• Ya retny 1999
• El-Helm El-Gamel 1998
• Tekhsary 1997
• Leh ManeHlamshi 1996
• Wala Kan Beamry 1995
• Albi Malo 1994
• Kolo Yehoun
• Shawer 1991
• Aally El-Dehkaiya
• Elhob Malosh Kebeer
• Maaak
• Baasha Dehketak
• Hekayet Kol Aasheq
• Howa Elli Ekhtar
• Teslamly Ouyouno
• Ya Retak Maaaia
• Men Ghair Leh

• Sadainy
• Weselna Lefain
• Keda bardo ya Amar
• La ya Habibi
• Aaysheen lel Hob
• Aghani Haflet Elopera

External links[link]

• Hany Shaker Official Web Site
• Hani Shaker at Ghaneli