Mini Biography:

Kaija Saariaho was one of the group of Finnish modernists who received their early training under Paavo Heininen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Magnus Lindeberg was another), where she was one of the founder members of the group Korvat auki (“Ears Open”), which met to discuss new music and occasionally put on concerts of both their own works and new music that deserved an airing in Finland. She went on the study with Brian Ferneyhough in Freiburg im Breisgau, also attending the summer courses at Darmstadt. A decisive move – in both professional and personal terms – came in 182, when she first went to Paris to study computer music at IRCAM : Paris is now her home.It was there that she became more deeply acquainted with the “spectral” approach to composition of Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murail, with considerable effect on her own scores, which increasingly focused on music and sound, examining its constituent elements in microscopic detail, this spectral analysis suggesting larger harmonic patterns. Over the last decade, though – spurred by the opera “L’Amour de loin” (“Love from Afar”), which occupied her thoughts for years before she sat down to its actual composition in 1997 – her style has lightened, admitting a lyrical element, even adopting a degree of classicality.Saarioho’s music has often been written for close friend – musicians like Esa-Pekka Salonen and the cellist Anssi Karttunen have been associated with it more or less since the outset.

Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)

Mini Biography:

Tarek Saab was a candidate on NBC’s The Apprentice 5. He is the CEO of T. Saab Media, Inc. and the co-founder of Lionheart Apparel, a men’s clothing line he founded after his debut on The Apprentice. He was recently named Kipling’s “Who’s Who Among Executives and Business Professionals” for 2008. He is a popular Catholic speaker and his book entitled Gut Check: Confronting Love, Work and Manhood in Your Twenties is slated to release March 1st, 2008 through Spence Publishing.Tarek was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts to a Lebanese father and an American mother. He spent part of his childhood in war-torn Lebanon before relocating to the United States, at times living in public housing projects. As a youth, he was considered a wunderkind and recognized nationally for academic and creative ability. By the seventh grade he was testing at the collegiate level. Upon graduating from college, Tarek spent five years with Texas Instruments. During his time at TI, Tarek authored articles for technical journals and magazines, such as Video Imaging and Design Line, and his work was translated into several languages. He finished his career with TI as a Global Product Manager in the Semiconductor division.Tarek’s big break occurred on the business reality television series The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump, where he was one of the most popular contestants on the show. He has been prominently featured in such magazines as Us Weekly, TV Guide, Teen People, Enigma, Outreach, Midwest Beat, In Touch Weekly, Inside Pulse, The Dallas Business Journal, National Catholic Register, The Wander, Crisis Magazine, US Catholic, Christian Retailing, and The Mensa Bulletin. On September 20th, 2007, he was the featured guest on EWTN’s weekly program “Life on the Rock.” He regularly appears as a radio guest promoting the clothing line and his book, and notable interviews include Imus in the Morning, The Dary Day Show, and The Derek and Romaine Show.Tarek is a very popular motivational speaker, speaking to youth audiences as well as young professionals throughout the United States. He is represented by the Speaker’s Bureau CMG Booking, Inc.Tarek is a member of the Maronite Catholic Church. He is a member of American Mensa, a fact that was emphasized when he was presented at the beginning of The Apprentice 5 season and to which Donald J. Trump has alluded on a number of occasions. It is also rumored that Tarek is a member of the Council for National Policy.Tarek is a resident of Fort Worth, Texas. He does not own a television and spends much of his free time reading, writing, traveling, or exercising.

Spouse:

Kathryn Simpson (27 May 2006 – present)

Trivia:

Member of Mensa

Personal Quotes:

“People misunderstand the word ‘humility.’ Humility doesn’t require a person to downplay achievements, as though there was something virtuous in misrepresenting the truth. Humility doesn’t tolerate lying – it demands honesty. In the honest assessment of how I’ve become successful, pride doesn’t want me to know that I’ve rarely achieved anything entirely on my own.”

Wasichu SEAL is a rap group started at the University Of Wisconsin Stevens Point in 1997. Their last public appearance was in 2000. Members of the group graduated and the group temporarily disbanded. No plans of a reunion tour have been announced. The four core members are DJ Sparklenutz, Stretchmarc, Mista Lanky and Bellirubbre. The WS family: Puff Cattie, Big White Boy Z, D.O.N.N.Y., Thumb, Chesta Mo’ Lesta, Dazzle, Old School, Theory, Big Prize, Big Blacky, T-Bone, Ben L, Claire, Tex, T-Nutz, Will, Japanese Cowboy, Cabana Boy, Lil’ Sparklenutz, Masta Milkmoney, Go D’Go and Carlos Montegos.

Trivia:

Members of the group include: DJ Sparklenutz, Bellirubbre, Stretchmarc, and Mista Lanky.
The WS Family: Puff Cattie, Thumb, Chesta Mo’Lesta, Dazzle, D.O. Double N.Y., Old School, Theory, Johnny Angst, Tony Tee, Big White Boy Z, T-Bone, Lil’ Sparklenutz, Masta Milkmoney, Go D’Go, Carlos Montegos, Clare, Tex, Katie, Cabana Boy, G-Off May, Big Prize, and The Gangreneous One.
Wasichu SEAL was a rap group founded in Stevens Point Wisconsin.

Birth Name: Bruno Schleinstein

Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)

Mini Biography:

The unwanted son of a prostitute, Bruno S. was beaten so severely by his mother at age 3 that he became temporarily deaf. This led to his placement in a mental institution; he spent the next 23 years in various institutions, often running afoul of the law. Despite this past, he a self-taught painter and musician; while these were his favorite occupations, he was also forced to take jobs in factories such as driving a fork lift. Director Werner Herzog saw him in the documentary Bruno der Schwarze – Es blies ein Jäger wohl in sein Horn (1970) and vowed to work with him, which led to his major roles in Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (1974) and Stroszek (1977). He was very difficult to work with, though, sometimes needing several hours of screaming before he could do a scene.

Trivia:

Purchased a piano with his income from Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (1974) — see Stroszek (1977) for details.
Has become involved in outsider art and an exhibition of some of his works was put on display in New York in 2004.
Director Werner Herzog once named him the “unknown soldier of German cinema”.

Height: 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

Mini Biography:

Born to Stew Dodge and Kathy Stine in Portland, Oregon, Jeff S. Dodge graduated from Portland State University in 1995. He began working on many independent projects throughout the 90s via Portland Cable Access. In 1998, he worked as a Key Set Production Assistant for the full feature, “Blast” (2000). In 2002, he premiered his short film “My Mother Was Right” starring Cy Stanger and soon after made a cameo appearance during the conclusion of “What the #$*! Do We Know!?” (2004) with Marlee Matalin. Currently co-managing Darge Productions with Clint Sargent, Dodge recently starred, co-wrote, and edited, “Jeff Steele and the Lost Civilization of NoyNac” (Portland, Oregon – Sept. 2004).

Trivia:

Played guitar in the following Portland rock bands; Woookie, National Rockombo, the Bolsheviks and Plastic Soul

Personal Quotes:

“There is no such thing as failure – only procrastination”.

Mini Biography:

Born in Antwerp before WW2, Paul ‘S Jongers got himself noted at the local Actor’s Studio (Studio Teirlinck) for his rugged good looks and easy way with lines. He soon formed a long lasting friendship with nited actor Julien Schoenaerts, and the two of them were known as a double act in Antwerp nightlife. He become closely associated with a string of ‘dialect’ movies released in Belgium in the 1950s (_Meeuwen Sterven in de Haven (1955)_, Schipperskwartier (1953), De bruid zonder bed (1955))before turning himself into a fully fledged theatre actor who did movies ‘on the side’. Much respected by Belgium’s most prolific directors, Paul suffered from a debilitating stroke in 1983 after falling off a stage in Antwerp. He lost all use of his right side,never fully recovered, and retreated into anonimity. He died only a few years later from cancer.

Trivia:

In his single scene in ‘de Paniekzaaiers’, the girls sitting at the cafe-table are actually his daughters and his niece.
Irene ’s Jongers, his sister, was a stage-actress of note in Belgium during the 60’s and 70’s.
Was the first white man to play the title part in Emperor Jones.