Demetri Martin

Demetri Evan Martin (born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer, and humorist. He is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, being a contributor on The Daily Show, and his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.

Early life

Martin was born on May 25, 1973 to a Greek American family in New York City, New York, the son of nutritionist Lillian and Greek Orthodox priest Dean C. Martin (now deceased). He grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and has a younger brother named Spyro.

Martin graduated from Yale University in 1995. During his time there, he wrote a 224-word poem about alcoholism as a project for a fractal geometry class, which became a well known palindromic poem. He was also a member of the Anti-Gravity Society, whose members juggle objects on Sunday evenings on Yale's Old Campus.

Although Martin was accepted into Harvard Law School, he went to New York University School of Law after he received a full scholarship. Martin withdrew from law school before the start of his final year, opting to pursue comedy over finishing his Juris Doctor.

English subjunctive

The English subjunctive is used to form sentences that do not describe known objective facts. These include statements about one's state of mind, such as opinion, belief, purpose, intention, or desire. The subjunctive mood is also used for statements that are contrary to fact, such as If I were a giraffe, … (subjunctive), as distinguished from I was a giraffe. Subjunctive statements often occur in dependent clauses, such as the subjunctive example in the preceding sentence. It contrasts with the indicative mood, which is used for statements of fact, such as He speaks English.

In Modern English, the subjunctive form of a verb often looks identical to the indicative form, and thus subjunctives are not a very visible grammatical feature of English. For most verbs, the only distinct subjunctive form is found in the third person singular of the present tense, where the subjunctive lacks the -s ending: It is necessary that he see a doctor (contrasted with the indicative he sees). However, the verb be has not only a distinct present subjunctive (be, as in I suggest that he be removed) but also a past subjunctive were (as in If he were rich, …).

Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known by the pseudonym Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Keys released her debut album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia and then Arista Records. Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B artist of 2001. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'" becoming the second American recording artist to win five Grammys in one night. Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005. Later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, which debuted at number one in the United States. She became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album to debut at number one and the highest since Nirvana in 1994.

Darius Rucker

Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the Grammy Award-winning rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber. The band has released five studio albums with him as a member, and charted six top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Rucker co-wrote the majority of the band's songs with the other three members.

He released a solo R&B album, Back to Then, in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings but did not chart any singles from it. Six years later, Rucker signed to Capitol Records Nashville as a country music artist, releasing the album Learn to Live that year. Its first single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", made him the first black artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts since Charley Pride in 1983. (Ray Charles hit No. 1 in March 1985 in a duet with Willie Nelson with Seven Spanish Angels). It was followed by two more No. 1 singles, "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright" and the number three "History in the Making." In 2009, he became the first black person to win the New Artist Award from the Country Music Association, and only the second black person to win any award from the association. A second Capitol album, Charleston, SC 1966, was released on October 12, 2010. The album includes the No. 1 singles, "Come Back Song" and "This".

Rock It (album)

Rock It is a Chuck Berry album released in 1979 by Atco Records; Atco was only the third label for which Berry recorded studio material after two tenures with Chess Records and a brief 1960s stint at Mercury Records. It is, to date, his most recent studio album (although he has released some live recordings since). It is his only release on Atco.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Chuck Berry

Personnel

References