London i/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.
The Crowd is a 1928 American silent film directed by King Vidor. It is notable for its dramatization of the concerns and dangers of urbanization and modernity.
The picture is an influential and acclaimed feature and was nominated for the Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production.
In 1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The film centers on ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker John Sims (played by James Murray) who meets and marries Mary (Eleanor Boardman).
They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
The Crowd was conceived and filmed under the artistic vision of famed director King Vidor, who sought the film to be innovative in its story, acting, and cinematography. The film mixes striking visual styles and moving camera cinematography, influenced by 1920s German cinema and F.W. Murnau in particular, with intense, intimate scenes of the family's poignant struggle. Vidor avoided casting big-name stars in the film to attain greater authenticity; Murray was a studio extra, and Boardman was a minor actress and Vidor's second wife.
Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.
Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She embarked upon the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful.
She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of Bolt's theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.
Taylor Hanson (born Jordan Taylor Hanson; March 14, 1983) is an American musician best known as a member of the pop rock band Hanson. He sings both lead and back-up vocals, and plays keyboard, percussion (including drums, bongos and the tambourine), guitar, harmonica, and piano. He is also the lead singer of supergroup Tinted Windows.
Hanson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the second oldest child of Clarke Walker Hanson and Diana Frances Hanson.
Taylor sings and plays keyboard and the piano with the band Hanson. He and his older brother, Isaac, started the band with younger brother Zac in 1992, and were initially known as The Hanson Brothers (later changed to just 'Hanson'). At the time, Isaac was eleven, Taylor was nine, and Zac was six. They performed as an a cappella group outside clubs in their hometown of Tulsa. On May 6, 1997, the band released their first major studio album, Middle of Nowhere, with Mercury Records. The first single, "MMMBop", made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. May 6th has been declared "Hanson Day" in Tulsa in honor of the release of Middle of Nowhere.
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Perry grew up with gospel music, and during her first year of high school she pursued a music career as Katy Hudson, releasing her first studio album called Katy Hudson which failed to chart. She recorded a solo album later, which was never released. After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry.
She first gained recognition with the release of her first mainstream album, One of the Boys in 2008, which spawned three Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"I Kissed A Girl", "Hot n Cold" and "Waking Up In Vegas". Perry supported the album with her Hello Katy Tour. In 2010, her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned five number one singles—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—Teenage Dream was the only album (after Michael Jackson's Bad)—to do so, and the first female in history to achieve this milestone. She embarked on the California Dreams Tour, which grossed nearly $60 million worldwide. Perry re-released the album under the name of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 26, 2012, and the re-release has already spawned the number-one single "Part of Me".
Wrenched into the world, deanaesthetized
Blurry images fiht their way through halfway opened eyes
Awakened by alarm fifteen minutes of hygeine
Twenty minutes of eating thirty seconds to the door
I looked outside I looked into the eyes
Of the impersonal mob I've seen a thousand times before
Feeling under covers like books on a shelf
If we're scared of one another
Must be scared of ourself
More than just another crowd
We need a gathering instead
Drink drink in the badland liquid bread for the poor
Another member of the crowd goes down to drown at the liquor store
Choose your escape in the heartland
Of product and demand when you feel like a wasp in the swarm
Lord unchain my hands
Let me sing inside the crowded trams
Let me dance among the traffic jams
We're going to sleep
On the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
Let me mingle with the good people
We meet
Water rising up into the street
Unbind my feet
'The apparition of these faces in
The crowd;
Petals on a wet black bough"
Ezra Pound found the formula
Our houses are rectangular
But life is curved not angular
So when things start to strangular
Remember
Rain still falls on the halls of power
New babies being born every hour
And the eagle keeps watch on the old clock tower
Over me...
[CHORUS]
On the train I refrain from sitting with head and shoulders bowed
They told me time is of the essence
No wandering allowed
But then I saw a pretty girl
Whose features stood out in the crowd
Went ten minutes past my stop waiting for her to look around
I'm just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town
Cooling out, relaxing watching the
World go round
So if you ever have the time
And you want to go drink some wine
I'd rather greet you with a smile
Than greet you with a frown...
Lord unchain my hands
Let me sing inside the crowded trams
Let me dance among the traffic jams
We're going to sleep
On the St Kilda sands
Lord unbind my feet
Let me mingle with the good people
We meet
Water rising up into the street
Unbind my feet
Sometimes I feel so all alone
When there's so many people
It's all a state of mind for me
Every once of a while
They ought to abide by what is true
And it's all been spoken
It's a matter of what they want for them
And it's bringing me down
(Chorus:)
You won't like what I have to say
Don't really matter
You won't like what I have to say to you
Saying it anyway
Let your people know...
All the world must live here!
Now and then a few seem that they care
About the others
They're aware of what tomorrow brings
And it's hopeless feeling
If you know that you fear as I do
Please let me know
We can say that we're not alone
And the rest will follow
I go out with the crowd, I play the game
Pretending out loud but it don’t seem the same
For the heart of the crowd is gone from sight
My part of the crowd is not with me tonight
I remember the FUN, every dance with you
All the crazy things that we used to do
Sometimes we’d wait for a chance
And then we’d steal away
From the crowd and the dance to our hideaway
Aww, but you’re gone and it’s not the same old game
I fall apart each time I hear your name
Guess I’ll go along with the crowd, I’ll make believe
That you’ll come back to me, run back to me