Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision. He is widely considered one of the most successful and influential pioneers of modern vertical skateboarding.
Raised in San Diego, California, Hawk was described as being "hyperactive" as a child. His parents supported his skateboarding because it served as an outlet for his excessive energy, and as Hawk's skills developed, he became a professional skateboarder at age fourteen. In 1999, he became the first skater to land a 900. In 2002, he created the Boom Boom HuckJam, an extreme sports exhibition and tour which launched in Las Vegas.
Throughout his career, Hawk has made numerous appearances in films and other media, as well as his own series of video games. He has also been involved in various philanthropic activities including his own Tony Hawk Foundation which helps build skateparks in underprivileged areas, and also including collaborations with other athletes in the charity Athletes for Hope.
Tim King is an American educator and non-profIt leader, and the founder and CEO of Urban Prep Academies, a network of all-male charter public high schools in Chicago. King and Urban Prep received nation-wide attention in 2010 and again in 2011 after announcements that 100% of the school's first two graduating classes had been accepted into a 4-year college or university.
King was born in Chicago and attended St. Ignatius College Prep, and completed his bachelors and law degrees at Georgetown University. While in law school, King became involved working as a teacher at a nearby Catholic high school, and eventually determined to pursue teaching as a full-time career. After completing his law degree, King was named President of Hales Franciscan High School in Chicago, an all-male, predominately African-American school on the city's South Side. While at Hales, King appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in an interview in which Oprah characterized him as an "Angel". During King's five-year tenure as President of Hales, 100% of the school's graduates were admitted to college. King is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. In 2010, he was named one of People Magazine's Heroes of the Year. He holds a doctoral degree honoris causa from the Adler School of Professional Psychology.
Energy from every pore
Make what you will
Are you with or without
The force cannot be blamed
Just the hunger or greed
Supplying the ugly drive
Dirty water no profit to supply
That round travelled far too long
In every direction you turn touch fire and you burn
Earn self recognition over all the preoccupying nonsense
I plead my inner sense savour this aroma of a new experience
High intelligence bound for the underground we burrow deep down
I originate like the word individual visual visionary I vary
And all others see my eye view so multiply through the big bad city
With a human emotion running wild not fit for the child of all ages
Accelerate speed of life moving closer to the centre enter at ya own
If ya will still the hustling bustling busy bee hive is alive
And kicking I'm picking the moment I gotta get away from this
London never sleeps, it just sucks
The life out of me
And the money from my pocket
London always creeps, showbiz hugs
The life out of me
Have some dignity, honey
Euston, Paddington train station please
Make the red lights turn green
Endlessly
My black cab rolls through the neon disease
Endlessly, endlessly
London never sleeps, it sucks
The life out of me
Show some dignity, honey
Sushi bars, wet fish, it just sucks
The life out of me
And the money from my pocket
Euston, Paddington train station please
Make the red lights turn green
Endlessly
My black cab rolls through the neon disease
Endlessly, endlessly
I come alive outside the M twenty five
I won't drink the poison Thames
I'll chase the sun out West
It's Londinium now, Londinium now
It's Londinium now, Londinium now
Euston, Paddington train station please
Make the red lights turn green
Endlessly
My black cab rolls through the neon disease
Endlessly, endlessly
Euston, Paddington train station please
Make the red lights turn green
Endlessly
My black cab rolls through the neon disease