Look up ask in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ask may refer to:

• The active verb for a direct (interpersonal) question, (i.e. "to ask," "[they] asked" "[are] asking").

In places:

• Ask, Akershus in Gjerdrum municipality, Akershus, Norway
• Ask, Hordaland in Askøy municipality, Hordaland, Norway
• Ask, Buskerud in Ringerike municipality, Buskerud, Norway

In music:

• "Ask" (song), a song by The Smiths
• "Ask", a song by Avail from Over the James
• Ask (Swedish song) (Ash), a Swedish children's song puclished in Barnens svenska sångbok

Other uses:

• Ask blogs, a type of blog wherein followers send questions to moderators to answer, mainly run from Tumblr
• Ask.com, a web search engine, formerly Ask Jeeves
• Ask price in finance markets
• Amplitude-shift keying in telecommunication and computing
• Ask and Embla, in Norse Mythology
• Ishq or Aşk, love
• Ask (restaurant), a British casual dining chain

See also[link]

• ASK (disambiguation)

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.

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 2010)

Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian at Pepsi Center on August 22, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Jose Manuel Figueroa
Also known as	El rey del jaripeo, "El Poeta De Juliantla", "El Huracán del Sur"
Born	(1951-04-08) 8 April 1951 (age 61) Julianta, Guerrero,  Mexico
Genres	Mariachi Banda Latin Pop / Mexican pop
Occupations	Singer/Composer, Actor
Website	Joan Sebastian

Joan Sebastian (pronounced: [xoˈan seβaˈstjan]) (born in Juliantla, Guerrero, in 1951) is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music. His success is not only found in music but also in his short acting career when he became the main protagonist of a Mexican soap opera. In 1996 he made his acting debut in the Mexican soap opera Tú y Yo (You and I) sharing credits with Maribel Guardia (his former wife and mother to one of his sons) the soap opera became an instant televised hit.

Background[link]

Before he had a big successful music career Jose Manuel Figueroa (Joan Sebastian's legal name) passed most of his childhood from place to place. At age eight he was sent away by his parents to Guanajuato for school. When he was eleven he return to Juliantla, his native town, this return inspired him to begin formally composing. But he was sent off again to a monastery in Morelos where he was under the care of father David Salgado. Due to the influence Father Salgado had on Sebastian he took the decision of becoming a priest. So at age 14 he enrolled in the Seminario Conciliar de San Jose(located in Cuernavaca, Morelos). But he soon realized that music was his true calling so when he was 17 years old he abandoned the seminary to dedicate himself completely to the music business.

Meanwhile he made a living as an administrative assistant in a vacationing resort in Oaxtepec, Morelos, where he would sing through the intercom. It was in that resort that Sebastian found the incentive he needed to pursue his singing dream more aggressively. The year was 1968 when Joan Sebastian encountered Angélica María (a famous Mexican actress) who was looking for a place to stay. While she waited she asked him if he sang and the following day he sang for her six songs. Angélica María suggested to Sebastian that he record the songs and gave him the telephone number of Eduardo Magallanes, a music producer. Without hesitating Sebastian moved to Mexico City and began knocking on doors until Chucho Rincon from Discos Capitals agreed to listen to him and thus began Sebastian's artistic career. He recorded his first disc and the positive results came fast when in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, the song "Descartada" sold 12 thousand copies. previous. His most recent production up to date is "Secreto de Amor" which was released in 2000 and sold over 1 million copies.

In February 2001 Joan received the prestigious award "Premio Lo Nuestro a la Música Latina" as recognition of his career, during 2003 Sebastian received the Songwriter of the universe Award for the second time at the 11th Annual El Premio ASCAP. He was awarded "The Silver Pen Award" in 2000, and was named el jefe

Personal life[link]

Joan Sebastian remains one of the most famous singers and songwriters Mexico has. Although he had been diagnosed with cancer in 1999, it did not stop him from creating music.^[1] His versatility has help him remain in the popular taste of the public.

Family[link]

Sebastian is the father of eight children who he has had with different partners throughout his life. Their names are José Manuel Figueroa (who is also a singer and composer), Juan Sebastián, Trigo de Jesús, Sarelia, Julián (son of Maribel Guardia), Marcelia, Joana Marcelia y Juliana.

Trigo de Jesús, his third oldest, was shot in the back of the head after one of Joan Sebastian's concert in Texas on August 27, 2006. Trigo had been trying to control the crowd after the show. He was transported to the McAllen Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

On June 12, 2010, Juan Sebastián was shot dead in Cuernavaca, Morelos, after arriving at a night club with some friends and being refused entrance.^[2] Joan Sebastian said that his son's death had nothing to do with the Mexican drug cartel.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• www.joansebastian.com OFFICIAL website
• Biography at Musicamania (Spanish)
• Starpulse.com – Discography
• Biography at Chalino.com

This biographical article is written like a résumé. Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. (December 2007)

Professor Menas Kafatos (Greek: Μηνάς Καφάτος) is a physicist and writer on science. His publications include "The Nonlocal Universe" and "The Conscious Universe".

Education[link]

B.A., Physics, Cornell University, NY, U.S.A., 1967

Ph.D., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, U.S.A., 1972

Professional Employment/Honors[link]

• Currently at Chapman University
• Honorary Member, Romanian Academy of Sciences.
• Distinguished Faculty, 1986. University Professor.
• Dean, SCS, George Mason University (GMU), July 2002-2006.
• Associate Dean, SCS, George Mason University, 2000- June 2002.
• Director, Center for Earth Observing and Space Research (CEOSR), 1995-present.
• Director for Academic Programs and Science, CSI, GMU, 1991-1994.
• Founding Director, CSI I Acting Chair, Dept. of Physics, GMU, 1989-1991.
• Professor, Dept. of Physics, George Mason University, 1984-??.
• Assistant/Associate Prof. 1975-1984.
• Postdoctoral Research Assoc., NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, 1973-1975.
• Postdoc. Research Assoc., U. of Colorado, Boulder, 1972-1973.
• Research Assistant, Dept. of Physics, M.I.T., 1967-1972.

Author or editor of 12 books

• 134 articles in astronomy and astrophysics (1973-2000)
• 12 Articles in cosmology and quantum theory
• 11 Articles in Brain science/consciousness and quantum theory (since 1999)
• 58 Articles in Earth System Science, remote sensing and data systems (since 1996)

CITATIONS:

• More than 1,940 citations in professional journals, proceedings and books

(from Science Citation Index).

INTERVIEWS - ABC national news on Hurricane Katrina, local Fox news on earthquakes (Sept., Oct 2005);local CBS and Fox news on hurricanes and Mason's antenna (May 2006).

Research Interests:

• Earth System Science/Earth Observing/Remote Sensing:
• Virtual Domain Application Data Centers; federated, distributed data information system architecture;
• Visualization of Earth and space science data;
• Distributed data systems and associated technologies.
• Space Sciences:
  • Black holes, active galaxies and quasars, accretion hydrodynamics in curved spacetime, gamma-rays from active galaxies;
  • Ultraviolet astronomy, symbiotic stars; atomic physics.
• Foundations of Quantum Theory, Cosmology and Consciousness:
• Cosmological observations and their limitations;
• Universal Diagrams;
• Foundations of quantum theory;
• Quantum theory and brain dynamics.

References[link]

• Robert Nadeau and Manos Kafatos, (2001). The Non-Local Universe: The New Physics and Matters of the Mind, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514408-2

This article about an American physicist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e