Carrie Underwood

The first country singer to win American Idol, Carrie Underwood grew up in the small town of Checotah, OK, and began singing with her church at the tender age of three. Throughout her childhood, she also performed at functions for the Lion's Club and Old Settlers Day, eventually grading to festival gigs in several states. Along with developing her singing, Underwood learned to play guitar and piano. She graduated from high school as her class salutatorian and majored in mass communication at Northeastern State College with an eye on a career in broadcast journalism, but continued her singing career throughout her studies. As a senior just a few credits short of her degree, Underwood heard about the auditions for the 2005 season of American Idol. She tried out for the show at the St. Louis, MO, auditions, and her innocent charm and pure, pretty voice ended up winning her not only a place among the 12 finalists, but the title of 2005's American Idol. Her debut single, Inside Your Heaven, was released that summer, and she began recording her debut album after completing the American Idols Live! tour. Some Hearts was released later that fall and became a smash hit, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week and eventually going platinum a whopping seven times. The album's lead single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel," was also a big success, topping Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks. Acclaim for the album and single spilled over into 2006, when Some Hearts re-entered Billboard's Top Ten after Underwood's appearance on the 2006 American Idol finale. Meanwhile, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won Single Record of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards (where she also won Top Female Vocalist); a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association; and Breakthrough Video and Best Female Video at the CMT Awards, making her the only double winner at the event. Despite her hectic career as a country music star -- which included carrying her Some Hearts tour through the fall of 2006 -- Underwood found the time to finish her degree and become a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (who named her 2005's World's Sexiest Vegetarian). "Before He Cheats" was released as Underwood's third single late in 2006, and became her third country number one and her fourth total number one hit. That December, she won five Billboard Music Awards: Album of the Year, Top 200 Female Artist of the Year, Female Country Artist, New Country Artist, and Country Album of the Year. Early in 2007, Underwood began work on her second album, while "Wasted" became the fourth single taken from Some Hearts; she performed it on an episode of American Idol that March, and the following month, it hit number one on the Hot Country Songs Chart. Underwood gathered more accolades by winning three awards at the 2007 CMT Awards -- Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year, and Video Director of the Year for "Before He Cheats" -- and taking home two Grammys. She also took home three 2007 ACM Awards in May, which included Album of the Year for Some Hearts and Top Female Vocalist. She made another trip to American Idol late in the month for the sixth season finale, where she sang "I'll Stand by You" to a standing ovation. During the show, Clive Davis recognized Underwood's sextuple-platinum sales; Underwood was the first country artist to sell that many copies of a debut album since LeAnn Rimes' Blue in 1996. She also appeared on Brad Paisley's album 5th Gear, which was released in June 2006. Riding on that swell of support, Underwood released the sophomore effort Carnival Ride in October 2007. Four of the album's tracks hit the top of the country charts, pushing the album to multi-million sales and earning her an additional Grammy Award. Two years after the album's release, Underwood released her third studio effort, Play On, which found her devoting more focus than ever to her songwriting abilities. She co-wrote seven of the album's tracks, including the leadoff single, "Cowboy Casanova." Heather Phares, All Music Guide

The dream of flying has often remained just that. The high cost of purchasing a typical aircraft and maintaining it at an airport hangar, coupled with a considerable investment in pilot training, filing flight plans, logging flight time and achieving pilot certification, has often proved an insurmountable barrier to entry for many. In recent decades a new class of experimental aircraft has appeared at the lower end of the aircraft spectrum, generally described as "Ultralight". Many of these aircraft have evolved into robust and reliable designs that have passed muster with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who regulate ultralight use through Federal Aviation Regulation Part 103 – Ultralight Vehicles.

Flying by ultralight is basically self-regulated and one is not required by law to be a certified pilot. Training for such ultralights as the Powerparaplider (PPG) and Trike described below is usually several hours of classes typically distributed over a week before attaining solo flight and certification (for passenger carrying a higher level of training and certification is required). Equipment costs for new gear typically weigh in ranging from the price of a motorcycle to a car, while trading in late-model used gear or working with kits can significantly reduce costs. A number of national organizations have sprung up that are especially helpful in providing fly-in events, vendor expos and resources such as organization-approved training schools and certified instructors - the United States Powered Paragliding Association (USPPA), United States Ultralight Association (USUA) and Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

Recently the USPPA and EAA hosted 2 back-to-back Fly-In 2007 events in Florida, on April 12-15 the USPPA hosted the 2007 U.S. National Powered Paragliding Convention, sponsored by the EAA Ultralight Chapter 125 Power Paragators of Florida at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Clewiston, Florida, while on April 17-23 the EAA, who annually host EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration,” put on their other big show Sun 'n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida. Both of these events offered Airfields where ultralight pilots continuously demonstrated flying their various aircraft, as well as Seminars covering every aspect of ultralight flying, and Vendor Expos providing complete resources for equipment and training. These 2 Fly-In shows offered attendees a comprehensive look at the types of ultralights. Coupled with the developments mentioned above, Fly-Ins like these continue to usher in a new era of personal, affordable flying “for the rest of us”.

Valentines

And the Search Begins........

GEETA BASRA

Geeta Basra is an Indian origin import from England with two Bollywood movies to her credit. Who’s That Girl? Geeta Basra is a Punjabi who grew up in Portsmouth, England. She celebrates her birthday on the 13th March. She was rumoured to be dating Harbhajan Singh. She has studied acting at Kishore Namit Kapoor’s Acting School. She was first seen in Dil Diya Hai with Emraan Hashmi in 2006. Her second release in 2007 was also opposite Emraan Hashmi. She played Roma, a woman who gets caught up in an extramarital affair.

Quad Bikes...

Quad Bike or ATV (All Terrain Vehicle)

Quad bikes are the sit-astride four wheel bikes with handlebars. The farming community tends to call them ATVs, while the forestry calls them ATCs (All Terrain Cycles). Leisure users tend to use the term Quad Bike. We use the term interchangeably! ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) is the general term used to describe a vehicle designed for off-road use. This could include quad bikes, Landrovers, Argo-Cats etc.

LOVE

Robyn Rihanna Fenty

Rihanna was born on February 20, 1988, in a county in Barbados called St. Michael. She lived the life of a normal island girl going to Combermere, a top sixth form school, similar to grammar schools in the UK. Rihanna won a beauty pageant and performed Mariah Carey's "Hero" in a school talent show. Her life changed forever when one of her friends introduced her to Evan Rodgers, a producer from New York who was in Barbados for vacation with his wife, who is a native. Rodgers arranged for her to go to New York to meet Jay-Z, CEO of Def Jam Records. He heard her sing and knew she was going to be big and for more than just one song. She was 16 when she was signed to Def Jam. Rihnanna's debut album is out now. It's called "Music of the Sun".