- published: 06 May 2016
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The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows, but are not closely related to any of the passerine species. Swifts are placed in the order Apodiformes, which they share with hummingbirds. The treeswifts are closely related to the true swifts, but form a separate family, the Hemiprocnidae.
Resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution, reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight.
The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους (ápous), meaning "footless", a reference to the small, weak legs of these most aerial of birds. The tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet.
Some species of swifts are among the fastest animals on the planet, with some of the fastest measured flight speeds of any bird.
Taxonomists have long classified swifts and treeswifts as relatives of the hummingbirds, a judgement corroborated by the discovery of the Jungornithidae (apparently swift-like hummingbird-relatives) and of primitive hummingbirds such as Eurotrochilus. Traditional taxonomies place the hummingbird family (Trochilidae) in the same order as the swifts and treeswifts (and no other birds); the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy treated this group as a superorder in which the swift order was called Trochiliformes.
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 14 to pursue a career in country music. She signed with the independent label Big Machine Records and became the youngest songwriter ever signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house. The release of Swift's eponymous debut album in 2006 marked the start of her career as a country music singer. Her third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008. Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", Fearless became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. The album won four Grammy Awards, making Swift the youngest ever Album of the Year winner. Swift's third and fourth albums, 2010's Speak Now and 2012's Red, both sold more than one million copies within the first week of their U.S release. Speak Now's "Mean" won two Grammy Awards, while Red's singles "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" were successful worldwide. Swift's fifth album, the pop-focused 1989, was released in 2014 and sold more copies in its opening week than any album in the previous 12 years, making Swift the first and only act to have three albums sell more than one million copies in the opening release week. Its singles "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album would go on to win three awards at the 2016 Grammys including Album of the Year making Swift the first and thus far only female artist to receive the award twice.
Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), better known by his stage name Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, singer, songwriter, record producer, recording artist and remixer. His debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and was the precursor to his top-10 singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls". In 2009, Harris released his second studio album, Ready for the Weekend, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and earned a gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry within two months of release. Its lead single, "I'm Not Alone", became his first number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Harris rose to international prominence in 2012 with the release of his third studio album, 18 Months. Topping the UK charts, the album became his first to chart on the Billboard 200 in the US, reaching number 19. All eight of the album's singles; "Bounce", "Let's Go", "We'll Be Coming Back", "Sweet Nothing", "Drinking from the Bottle", "I Need Your Love", "Thinking About You" and "Feel So Close", along with "We Found Love" reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.
Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager. Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations. After being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of the singles "I Kissed a Girl" – which sparked controversy for its homosexual themes – and "Hot n Cold" from her second album, a pop rock record titled One of the Boys. Her third album, Teenage Dream (2010), ventured into disco, and contained the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as well as the number-three single "The One That Got Away". The album became the first by a female artist to produce five number-one Billboard Hot 100 songs, and the second overall after Michael Jackson's album Bad. In March 2012, she reissued the album as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which produced the songs "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake".
Actors: Cam Clarke (actor), Don Handfield (writer), Charlotte Fullerton (writer), Jason Brian Adams (editor), Jason Brian Adams (director), Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli (composer), Robert DiFiglia (producer), Joshua Malkin (writer), Chris Waters (writer), Chris Waters (producer), Justin Moran (actor), Paul Giacoppo (writer), Nancy Johnson (actor), Bill Fritter (actor), John Daniels (actor),
Plot: Kira and Eli are the newest members of the Guardian Force, a group of angel warriors sworn to protect the world from the powers of evil. Not yet full Guardians, the young duo still has a lot to learn, but when darkness descends over the city, the time for training is over. Faced with the responsibility of delivering hope to a lost city, they must learn to work together to drive back the soldiers of darkness and grow into the warriors they are destined to become.
Genres: Animation,Actors: Doug Stone (actor), Beau Billingslea (actor), Jason Brian Adams (editor), Jason Brian Adams (writer), Jason Brian Adams (director), Robert DiFiglia (producer), Chris Waters (actor), Chris Waters (writer), Justin Moran (actor), Tudor Williams (producer), Paul Giacoppo (writer), Dan Wang (writer), Dave Thomas (actor), Nanci Johnson (actress), M.J. Muldoon (actress),
Plot: With his angel hostage in tow, the archangel Michael on his tail, and a symbiotic stone taking control of his body, the demon Morg flees to the underworld where he quickly establishes a new base of operations. Feeding off the demon's pride, the symbiont stone slowly transforms Morg into an all-consuming beast with the power to threaten both Heaven and Earth. Facing impossible odds, it's up to Michael and the Guardian Force to prove the old Proverb true: that pride comes before the fall.
Genres: Animation, Short,Actors: Doug Stone (actor), Beau Billingslea (actor), Jason Brian Adams (editor), Jason Brian Adams (writer), Jason Brian Adams (director), Robert DiFiglia (producer), Chris Waters (writer), Justin Moran (actor), Dan Wang (writer), Nanci Johnson (actress), Peter Wang (producer), Tudor Williams (producer), M.J. Muldoon (actress), Dave Thomas (actor), Mike Nelson (composer),
Plot: An epic, animated, supernatural adventure of angels battling fallen spirits. Eli and Kira, two junior members of the Guardian Force must grow up in a hurry when their first mission to earth takes a detour, pitting them against Morg, a deadly but long forgotten foe. In a race against time, the Guardians must uncover the source of Morg's power, defeat his crafty minions, and stop the ruin of a mortal life, all while learning to work together.
Genres: Animation, Short,Actors: Beau Billingslea (actor), Doug Stone (actor), Jeffrey Scott (writer), Jason Brian Adams (editor), Jason Brian Adams (writer), Jason Brian Adams (director), Robert DiFiglia (producer), Chris Waters (writer), Justin Moran (actor), Dave Thomas (actor), Dan Wang (writer), Nanci Johnson (actress), M.J. Muldoon (actress), Peter Wang (producer), Tudor Williams (producer),
Plot: An epic, animated, supernatural adventure of angels battling fallen spirits. Eli and Kira, two junior members of the Guardian Force must grow up in a hurry when their first mission to earth takes a detour, pitting them against Morg, a deadly but long forgotten foe. In a race against time, the Guardians must uncover the source of Morg's power, defeat his crafty minions, and stop the ruin of a mortal life, all while learning to work together.
Genres: Animation, Short,Actors: Oliver Langewitz (writer), Oliver Langewitz (director), Ralf Multhaup (actor), Wolfgang Schwach (actor), Stephan Buhlinger (actor), Irina Suppanz (producer), Anna Schwabedal (actress), Thorsten Lehmann (actor),
Genres: Crime, Short,Actors: Carroll Baker (actress), Johnny Melville (actor), Christopher Lee (actor), Anthony Marinelli (composer), Maurizio Millenotti (costume designer), Adriano Celentano (actor), Kate Vernon (actress), Adriano Celentano (writer), Pietro Scalia (editor), Giorgio Moroder (composer), Rachel Griffiths (miscellaneous crew), Conchita Airoldi (producer), Mario Orfini (producer), Mario Orfini (director), Mario Orfini (writer),
Plot: Gloria Ruckhauser has a dream: rediscovering the figure and features of herself when she was 20. Convinced that science is getting nowhere in the search for a cure to the aging process, Gloria sets up a foundation whose mission is to find a miracle potion". Various scientists take up the challenge and develop a substance that reverses the biological clock. Now, they face a new challenge. How to stop getting younger before it's too late.
Keywords: box-office-flop, computer, critically-bashedActors: Mary Kay Place (actress), Dakin Matthews (actor), Steve Tisch (producer), Stanley Clarke (composer), Ricky Schroder (actor), John Panzarella (miscellaneous crew), Natalija Nogulich (actress), Ron Canada (actor), Richard Jenkins (actor), Andrew Divoff (actor), Grand L. Bush (actor), Christine Cavanaugh (actress), Sydney Gilner (miscellaneous crew), David Campling (editor), Alfonso Ribeiro (actor),
Plot: The 17 years old Danny's parents are separated. He lives with his mother with whom he can't get along to well. He adores his father but feeling abandoned he tries to get his attention and love in every possible way; by being aggressive, hostile, nice or apathetic. When his father announces he's going to marry Susan, Danny becomes desperate ...
Genres: Drama,Actors: John Lupton (actor), Bernie Casey (actor), Dan Perri (miscellaneous crew), Paul Gleason (actor), Pam Grier (actress), Don Diamond (actor), Gene Corman (producer), Roger E. Mosley (actor), Jodie Lynn Tillen (costume designer), Luther Fear (actor), Marilyn Joi (actress), Sam Laws (actor), George Armitage (writer), George Armitage (director), Bob Harris (actor),
Genres: Crime, Drama,Actors: Tristram Coffin (actor), Sammy Stein (actor), Douglas Evans (actor), William Haade (actor), Earle Hodgins (actor), Chick Chandler (actor), Tom Kennedy (actor), Milton Kibbee (actor), William Lundigan (actor), Cliff Nazarro (actor), William Newell (actor), Garry Owen (actor), Harry Depp (actor), Walter Soderling (actor), Charles Sullivan (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Musical,Actors: Ray Curtiss (editor), Wade Boteler (actor), Anders Randolf (actor), Ivan F. Simpson (actor), Dorothy Revier (actress), Frank Lloyd (producer), Bradley King (writer), Frank Lloyd (director), Noah Beery (actor), Robert Edeson (actor), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (actor), Henry Kolker (actor), William Orlamond (actor), Louis King (actor), Eddie Clayton (actor),
Genres: Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller,Save me--i don't wanna die.
Don't just stand there--just stand there.
(throw me away)
I'm just hoping
That this dirt under my fingernails,
Can keep them clothed.
I've gone too far to be tossed out.
And this knife is upon my neck,
I'm just trying to feed my wife.
I've felt your grab for the last time.
Don't tell me that i wronged you,
When you're not the one giving hugs to the phone.
You've had your chance now give me mine.
Watching my chance roll by--
Watching my chance roll by this time.
Save me--i don't wanna die.
Don't just stand there--just stand there.