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An advice column is a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist (colloquially known in British English as an agony aunt, or agony uncle if the columnist is a male). The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt". An advice columnist can also be someone who gives advice to people who send in problems to the newspaper.

An advice columnist answers readers' queries on personal problems. Sometimes the author is in fact a composite or a team: Marjorie Proops's name appeared (with photo) long after she retired. The nominal writer may be a pseudonym, or in effect a brand name; the accompanying picture may bear little resemblance to the actual author.

The term is beginning to fall into disuse, as the scope of personal advice has broadened, to include sexual matters — pioneered by the likes of Dr. Ruth — as well as general lifestyle issues.

Examples of advice columnists[link]

Many advice columns are now syndicated and appear in very few newspapers. Prominent U.S. examples include Dear Abby, Ann Landers, and in a more modern form, Carolyn Hax's "Tell Me About It". Internet sites such as the Elder Wisdom Circle offer relationship advice to a broad audience, Dear Maggie offers sex advice to a predominantly Christian readership in Christianity Magazine, and Miriam's Advice Well offers advice to Jews in Philadelphia.

Men as advice columnists are more rare than women in print, but men have been popping up more often online in both serious formats and comedic.

Typical format[link]

Questions are most often asked 'anonymously', with the signature assuming the problem that is being expressed. For example, someone who is asking about erratic behaviour in their partner may sign their letter "Confused, Johannesburg".

On the Internet, a greater variation on the signature theme is often seen. The person's signature may refer to the problem being expressed, but rather in a phrase, which the 'agony aunt' abbreviates so as to spell an appropriate word. For instance, "Confused About My Partner" would become "CAMP". Dan Savage uses this method to comic effect in his Savage Love column.

Advice columns on the Internet[link]

Advice columns on the internet provide ways to share one's interests and expertise. Anyone can be a columnist and create their own advice column. Users can post questions for columnists to answer. Users can also interact with the columnist and with each other to voice their opinions. E-mailing advisers is popular because readers can open up their personal problems without exposing their identity to the world. Popular e-mail advisers include Aunt Vera and Annie. Advice columns provide a way for someone to ask a personal question for some advice on the subject.^{[citation needed]}

Ethical issues[link]

Advice columns generally have limited capacity and do not answer all the requests they receive. This has led them to be criticised for abusing the hopes of their correspondents for commercial gain (in terms of newspaper sales) – raising the uncomfortable image of desperate people waiting day after day for the answer to their terrible problem to be published, only to have to accept after months that there will be no help for them. For this reason, Marjorie Proops regarded it as a professional duty to answer all the letters received, whether or not they were published.

Related fiction[link]

Inevitably, the "Agony Aunt" has become the subject of fiction, often satirically or farcically. Versions of the form include:

• An agony aunt whose own personal problems and issues are more bizarre than those of her correspondents. A notable example is the British TV sitcom Agony created by Anna Raeburn, starring Maureen Lipman as the agony aunt with an overbearing mother, an unreliable husband, neurotic gay neighbours, and a career in media surrounded by self-promoting bizarros. Anna Raeburn herself works as an agony aunt on radio call-in shows, much as the main character of the sitcom does.
• Mrs. Mills deliberately gives terrible advice to her clients, and is a satire of an agony aunt.
• Another classic example of the agony aunt in fiction appears in Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West.
• In Evelyn Waugh's novel The Loved One, a Mr. Slump dispenses advice (on one occasion, it is lethal) under the name Guru Brahmin.

Other uses of the term[link]

The Agony Aunts, Dotsie and Sadie, are the chilling elderly enforcers of the Street of Negotiable Affection in author Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels.

See also[link]

• Amy Alkon
• Helen Bottel
• Katie Boyle
• E. Jean Carroll
• George W. Crane
• Amy Dickinson
• Quentin Fottrell
• Phoebe Halliwell
• Phillip Hodson
• Ann Landers
• Marie Manning
• Judge–advisor system, an entity used by academic researchers to study the giving and taking of advice
• Judith Martin
• Mrs._Mills_Solves_all_Your_Problems
• Jeanne Phillips
• Pauline Phillips
• Marjorie Proops
• Susan Quilliam
• Claire Rayner
• Denise Robertson
• Dan Savage
• Jeffrey L. Seglin
• Susan Sutherland Isaacs, who worked under the pseudonym 'Ursula Wise' in several child care journals.
• Cary Tennis
• Elder Wisdom Circle
• Emily Yoffe, of Slate, a web magazine, under the pseudonym Prudence.
• Miss Lonelyhearts, novel
• Straight Talk, a 1992 film featuring Dolly Parton as an agony aunt.
• The Athenian Mercury (1690), first periodical with an advice column ever used.
• The Ladies' Mercury (1693), first periodical just for women contained mostly an advice column.
• "Agony Aunt.Org" Online Agony Aunt Service

Nicole Elizabeth Eggert (born January 13, 1972) is an American actress. Notable roles include Jamie Powell in the television series Charles in Charge and Summer Quinn in the TV Series Baywatch. In 1999 Nicole guest starred on Boy Meets World. She has made a couple of Christmas movies that premeired on Lifetime. Eggert was most recently a contestant on the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club.^[2]

Early life[link]

Eggert was born in Glendale, California, the daughter of a talent agent and an executive.^[3] Eggert's quest for stardom started when her mother entered her in beauty contests. At age five, Eggert was Miss Universe in the petite division. An agent saw her and offered her a role in a Johnson's Baby Shampoo commercial.

Career[link]

In 1980, Eggert, aged eight, landed a role in the movie Rich and Famous, opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen, playing Bergen's character's young daughter.

Eggert had a recurring role on Who's The Boss? from 1985-1986 as Marci Ferguson, who was a friend of Samantha Micelli (Alyssa Milano). In January 1987, she starred on the television show Charles in Charge as Jamie Powell. After the show was canceled in 1990, she was featured as one of the many lifeguards on seasons 3 and 4 on the syndicated show, Baywatch.^[4] She appeared on the show from 1992 to 1994. She appeared on Married with Children in episode Enemies as Shannon (1996).

Eggert appears on the cover of the debut album Lemonade and Brownies of rock band Sugar Ray.

In 2004, Eggert played the role of "Ginger" in the first edition of the TBS network's The Real Gilligan's Island reality show.^[5] She was the first guest star to appear on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Also in 1989, Eggert hosted the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards with Wil Wheaton.^[6] She also appeared on Scott Baio Is 45...and Single (featuring her Charles in Charge co-star) in 2007.

On September 23, 2009, VH1 announced Eggert's participation in the Winter 2010 season of Celebrity Fit Club.^[7]

In 2010, Eggert appeared on the Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff.^[8]

Eggert gave birth to her second daughter in July 2011.^[9]

Filmography[link]

• When She Was Bad (1979)
• Rich and Famous (1981)
• Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown (1981)
• T. J. Hooker as Christine "Chrissie" Hooker (T. J.'s daughter) (5 episodes) (1982–1983)
• Hambone and Hillie (1984)
• Annihilator (1986)
• The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986)
• Omega Syndrome (1987)
• Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989)
• The Haunting of Morella (1990)
• The Double 0 Kid (1992)
• Secrets (1992)
• Blown Away (1992)
• Anything for Love (1993)
• The Demolitionist (1995)
• Amanda and the Alien (1995)
• Melissa (1995)
• The Price of Kissing (1997)
• Bartender (1997)
• Pink as the Day She Was Born (1997)
• Siberia (1998)
• Sleeping Beauties (1999)
• Murder Seen (2000)
• Submerged (2000)
• Triangle Square (2001)
• Thank You, Good Night (2001)
• Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003)
• Wall of Secrets (2003, TV)
• "Devil Winds" (2003, TV)
• Decoys (2004)
• What Lies Above (2004)
• Snowman's Pass - Diana Pennington (2004)
• Stan Lee's Lightspeed (2006)
• National Lampoons: Cattle Call (2006)
• Holiday Switch (2007)
• Loaded (2008)
• A Christmas Proposal (2008)
• Phantom Racer (2009)
• Turbulent Skies (2010) ... Samantha

References[link]

External links[link]

• Nicole Eggert at the Internet Movie Database

Josie Davis
Josie Davis attending the "Night of 100 Stars" for the 82nd Academy Awards viewing party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA on March 7, 2010
Born	Josie Rebecca Davis (1973-01-16) January 16, 1973 (age 39) Los Angeles, California, USA
Years active	1987-present
Website
http://www.josiedavis.com

Josie Rebecca Davis (born January 16, 1973) is an American actress and producer, best known for her role as Sarah Powell in the television sitcom Charles in Charge from 1987 to 1990.

Television work[link]

Davis began her career acting in commercials at three years old. She played Sarah Powell on Charles in Charge for four seasons. Sarah Powell was a quiet, bookish character, and after Charles in Charge wrapped, Davis had a difficult time shedding that image and getting people to forget the character she created and to see her as pretty.

Beginning as a teenager, Davis began studying acting with the Brooklyn-born Paul E. Richards—Lee Strasberg's "right-hand man" at the Actors Studio in the 1950s. At 24, she auditioned and became a member of Actors Studio. At the time, the judges were Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, and the late Shelley Winters. Josie was one of only two performers selected to join that year.

Davis was cast as Camille Desmond on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 2000. She then was cast in the other Aaron Spelling show, Titans opposite Victoria Principal and Yasmine Bleeth.

Her other television credits include working opposite Clifton Collins Jr. on Fear Itself, with David Spade on Rules of Engagement, with James Woods on Shark, Ghost Whisperer, a Christmas episode of Two and a Half Men, NCIS, CSI: Miami, Burn Notice, Chuck, Bones, and a recurring role opposite Skeet Ulrich and Gary Sinise on CSI: NY.

Films[link]

After Titans came to an end, Davis left TV to pursue film work. She acted in a number of films, including the Nicolas Cage-directed Sonny, opposite James Franco and Scott Caan, The Trouble with Romance with Kip Pardue, and Kalamazoo? with Mayim Bialik, among many other indies.

She was the also the lead actress in the television movie The Perfect Assistant, which premiered on Lifetime on January 2, 2008.

She also recently did thrillers The Perfect Student with Natasha Henstridge, Seduced by Lies with Lochlyn Munro and Marc Menard, Past Obsession with Lochlyn Munro and comedy Stealing Roses with John Heard and Cindy Williams.

Davis not only is an actress, but has ventured into producing and is also a screenwriter.

Filmography[link]

TV filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Josie Davis at the Internet Movie Database

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. (May 2012)

Caro Emerald
Emerald singing in Broek op Langedijk, Netherlands
Background information
Birth name	Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw
Born	(1981-04-26) 26 April 1981 (age 31) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Jazz, easy listening
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2007-present
Labels	Grandmono Records
Website	www.caroemerald.com

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw (b. 26 April 1981 in Amsterdam), best known by her stage name, Caro Emerald, is a Dutch jazz singer. She debuted on 6 July 2009 with her single "Back It Up". Her debut album Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor set a new all-time chart record on 20 August 2010, spending its 30th week at number one on the Dutch album chart, beating the previous record set by Michael Jackson's Thriller by one week.^[1] The album has become the biggest selling album of 2010 in the Netherlands, selling over 300,000 copies so far. In total more than a million copies have been sold so far. On 3 October 2010, Van der Leeuw was awarded the Dutch Music Prize "Edison Award" for Best Female Artist.^[2]

Biography[link]

Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw was born on 26 April 1981 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.^[3] She was trained as a jazz vocalist at the Amsterdam Conservatory, graduating in 2005.

Music career[link]

In early 2007 Dutch producer Jan van Wieringen invited van der Leeuw to sing the vocal on a demo track he was co-producing with songwriter/producer David Schreurs. The song, "Back It Up", had been written by Schreurs together with Canadian songwriter Vince Degiorgio, and was based on a hip-hop beat created by Jan and Robin Veldman. Caro's jazzy vocal style was considered a "perfect match" for the new song.^[4]

The song demo was pitched to various publishers and labels but although the reaction was positive they struggled to imagine it suiting any particular artist and didn't believe it had a strong enough chart potential.^[4] In the meantime, however, the song was posted on YouTube reaching public notice around the world. Radio stations picked it up, and the song gained popularity.

When Degiorgio, Schreurs, and van Wieringen discovered van der Leeuw's sound had such potential, they set about working on a full album presenting Caro Emerald as the star in the summer of 2008 and used "Back It Up"'s mix of 40s-50s jazz, easy listening, orchestral Latin, combined with infectious beats as a model.^[4] Adopting a sample based approach but with live instrumentation, the writing sessions drew from a wide range of influences including jazz organist Jackie Davis, exotica composer Martin Denny, mambo king Perez Prado, 20s/30s jazz and van der Leeuw's own vocal inspirations of The Andrews Sisters, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan.^[4] The usual method would be for Schreurs to produce the backing tracks at home and then get together with top line writer and lyricist Degiorgio to write the song. Van der Leeuw would occasionally pitch in her own melody and lyrical ideas, and Van Wieringen co-created the tracks for "The Other Woman" and "Dr Wanna Do".^[4]

After the record labels they approached failed to sign van der Leeuw, Schreurs, van Wieringen and van der Leeuw created their own label Grandmono Records and released "Back It Up" as the first single on 6 July 2009. It was an instant hit and listed in the Dutch Top 40 for 12 weeks, peaking at #12. Kraak & Smaak provided a remix of the song. "Back It Up" was the most played song on Dutch radio station 3FM in 2009.^[5]. Follow up A Night Like This became a #1 hit in The Netherlands.

In 2011 Emerald recorded a version of Brook Benton's 1963 hit "You're All I Want for Christmas", sampling the original song to produce a duet with Benton, who died in 1988. The song was released in December 2011.^[6]

On New Years Eve 2011/2012 Emerald appeared on BBC Two television on the Jools Holland Hootenanny show backed by the Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

Early 2012, Caro Emerald won two prestigious German awards: a Goldene Kamera for Best Musik International and an Echo Award for Best Newcomer International, beating out other Echo nominees who included Lana Del Rey, Gotye, and LMFAO.

Debut album[link]

Emerald singing in the Netherlands on 9 July 2010

Van der Leeuw's debut album Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor was released on 29 January 2010 and immediately occupied the number 1 position of the Dutch Album Top 100 charts. On 20 August 2010, the album had been number 1 for 27 weeks, an all time record, beating Michael Jackson's Thriller, which spent 26 weeks at number one in 1983.^[1] The album reached double platinum status in the Netherlands on 5 July 2010.^[7] In August 2010 it reached triple platinum.^[1], in November 2010 four times platinum (200.000)^[8] and in december 2011, six platinum (over 300.000 albums sold). Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor spent 104 weeks in the official Album charts, until it was removed due to a Dutch chart rule which provided that albums can't spend more than 2 years in the charts.

The second single from the album was "A Night like This". The song was listed in the Dutch Top 40 for 26 weeks and peaked at number 2. In the national single charts, the song peaked at number 1. It was the most played song in The Netherlands in 2010.

The cinematic and upbeat sound of the album has resulted in frequent use of the songs in TV series and advertising campaigns around the world. "A Night Like This" featured in the trailer campaign of NBC series The Playboy Club, a brand campaign by Martini, the trailer of 2 Days in New York (starring Chris Rock and Julie Delpy), and The Secret Circle, amongst others. "Back it Up" featured in a TV ad for Wind Mobile. "That Man" featured in Dancing with the Stars, The Vampire Diaries, a UK advertising campaign for Sky TV, and has been incorporated in the original score of the Disney Nature film Chimpanzee.

On 15 January 2011, she won the Popprijs 2010 for best Dutch pop act of 2010.^{[citation needed]} Also in 2011, the album was released throughout Europe with great commercial success. Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor became a hit in the UK (1x platinum with sales exceeding 360.000, 8 weeks top 10 peaking at #4), Germany (1x platinum with sales exceeding 280.000, peaking at #5 and Platinum single for A Night Like This with sales exceeding 340.000), Poland (6x platinum), Italy (Gold Single for "Back it Up"), abd Austria (#1 with A Night Like This) In the UK, all 6 singles and even the entire album were A-listed by radio station BBC2. Over 1.000.000 albums have been sold worldwide (certified IFPI Platinum).^{[citation needed]} Due to it's exceptional success, the album was included in an episode of the Dutch version of Classic Albums in April 2012.^{[clarification needed]} In May 2012, Emerald was offered a contract record by Universal Music Group in the USA.

Awards[link]

• 11 April 2010: 3FM Serious Talent Award
• April 15, 2010: Schaal van Rigter
• April 26, 2010: De Eerste Prijs
• Oktober 3, 2010: Edison Best female singer
• MTV EMA Award for best Dutch and Belgian Act.
• January 12, 2011: European Border Breakers Award 2011
• January 15, 2011: 3FM Mega Award 2010
• January 15, 2011: Popprijs 2010
• March 3, 2011: Zilveren Harp 2010
• March 3, 2011: Het Beste Nederlandse lied 2010 (Best song of the year 2010)
• March 14, 2011: 3FM Awards: Best Album and Beste Female Singer
• June 12, 2011: TMF Award for best female
• Februari 4, 2012: Goldene Kamera 2012 Best Music International
• March 2012, Echo (music award) Award Best International Newcomer

^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Caro Emerald

• Official website
• Official Uvumi Profile
• Caro Emerald Profile and Discography on This is Vintage Now

Dan Savage
Dan Savage in 2005
Born	Daniel Keenan Savage (1964-10-07) October 7, 1964 (age 47) Chicago, Illinois
Other names	Keenan Hollahan
Education	B.A., Theater, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign[1]
Occupation	Author, media pundit, journalist, newspaper editor and sex advice columnist
Spouse	Terry Miller
Children	D.J.

Daniel Keenan "Dan" Savage (born October 7, 1964)^[2] is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor.^[3][4] Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives and Rick Santorum's views on homosexuality. Savage has clashed with cultural conservatives on the right, and the gay establishment, on the left. He has also worked as a theater director, both under his real name and under the name Keenan Hollahan, using his middle name and his grandmother's maiden name.^[5] In 2010, Savage and his husband Terry Miller began the It Gets Better Project to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

Personal life[link]

Dan Savage was born to William and Judy Savage in Chicago, Illinois.^[6] He is of Irish ancestry.^[7] The third of four children,^[6] Savage was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary North, which he has described as "a Catholic high school in Chicago for boys thinking of becoming priests."^[8] Though Savage has stated that he is now "a wishy-washy agnostic" and an atheist,^[9] he has said that he still considers himself "culturally Catholic."^[8][10]

Savage attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied theater and history.^[6] As a theater director, Savage (working under the name "Keenan Hollahan") was a founder of Seattle's Greek Active Theater.^[10] Much of the group's work has been queer recontextualizations of classic works, such as a tragicomic Macbeth with both the title character and Lady Macbeth played by performers of the opposite sex. In March 2001, he directed his own Egguus at Consolidated Works, a parody of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus which exchanged a fixation on horses for a fixation on chickens. Savage has not directed, produced, or performed in any productions since a 2003 production of Letters from the Earth, also at Consolidated Works, his trimmed version of Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam and Eve, which received scathing reviews, including one from his own paper, "My Boss's Show Stinks".^[11]

Savage and his husband, Terry, have one adopted son, D.J.,^[12] and were married in Vancouver, BC in 2005.^[13][14]

Savage Love[link]

In 1991, Savage was living in Madison, Wisconsin, and working as a manager at a local video store that specialized in independent film titles.^[6] There, Savage befriended Tim Keck, co-founder of The Onion, who announced that he was moving to Seattle to help start an alternative weekly newspaper titled The Stranger.^[6] Savage "made the offhand comment that forever altered [his] life: 'Make sure your paper has an advice column—everybody claims to hate 'em, but everybody seems to read 'em'."^[15] Savage typed up a sample column, and to Savage's surprise Keck offered him the job.^[16][17]

Savage stated in a February 2006 interview in The Onion's A.V. Club (which publishes his column) that he began the column with the express purpose of providing mocking advice to heterosexuals, since most straight advice columnists were "clueless" when responding to letters from gay people.^[16] Savage wanted to call the column "Hey Faggot!" in an effort to reclaim a hate word. His editors at the time refused his choice of column name, but for the first several years of the column, he attached "Hey Faggot!" at the beginning of each printed letter as a salutation."^[18] In his February 25, 1999 column, Savage announced that he was retiring the phrase, claiming that the reclamation was successful.^[18]

He has written in a number of columns about "straight rights" concerns, such as the HPV vaccine and the morning-after pill, stating in his November 9, 2005, column that "[t]he right-wingers and the fundies and the sex-phobes don't just have it in for the queers. They're coming for your asses too."

Media appearances[link]

Dan Savage speaking at Illinois Wesleyan University, 2007

In addition to maintaining his weekly column and authoring four books, Savage has been involved in several other projects.

From 1994 until 1997, he had a weekly three-hour call-in show called Savage Love Live on Seattle's KCMU (now KEXP). From 1998 to 2000, he ran the biweekly advice column Dear Dan on the news website abcnews.com.

He is now the editorial director of the weekly Seattle newspaper The Stranger, a promotion from his former position as The Stranger's editor-in-chief.^[19] Savage currently stars in Savage U on MTV, contributes frequently to This American Life and Out magazine, and acts as a "Real Time Real Reporter" on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. He has also made multiple appearances on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 discussing LGBT political issues such as same-sex marriage and Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Podcast[link]

The Savage Lovecast is a weekly audio podcast based on Savage's column Savage Love, available via iTunes and at the Stranger's website for free download. It features Savage doing a call-in version of his sex advice column. It is routinely rated as the top podcast in the iTunes "Health" category.^[20]

Opinions and points of view[link]

It Gets Better Project[link]

Dan Savage speaking at Google about the It Gets Better Project

On September 21, 2010, Savage started the It Gets Better Project in light of the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who was bullied for his perceived sexual orientation. The project encourages adults, both LGBT and otherwise, to submit videos assuring gay teenagers that life can improve after bullying in early life.^[21] As of January 3, 2011, the project had over 5,000 user created testimonials.^[22]