http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_genealogy
Obama related to Pitt, Clinton to Jolie
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer
3-25-8
This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.
Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.
Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.
Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.
"It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect," Child said.
Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.
"His kinships are across the political spectrum," Child said.
Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, "Ancestors of American Presidents."
Clinton's distant cousins include beatnik author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.
McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Obama and Clinton, Child said.
Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.
Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769.
Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, is the oldest and largest nonprofit genealogical organization in the country.
Showing posts with label Celine Dion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celine Dion. Show all posts
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Clinton spoofs Sopranos in Web video
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_video
Clinton spoofs Sopranos in Web video
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jun 19, 2007
The scene: A diner and a jukebox. A nostalgic song. A cut to black. It worked as a finale for "The Sopranos." It now marks a new beginning for "The Clintons." Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign on Tuesday unveiled its new campaign song with a Web video that spoofs the final scene of the popular HBO mobster series.
The video and the announcement of Celine Dion's "You and I" as the official Clinton tune cap a monthlong, interactive Internet campaign that drew more than a million viewers to the Clinton campaign Web site and to YouTube, the popular online video display room.
The selection of Dion, who was born in Canada, resulted in some smirking accusations from Republicans that Clinton had "outsourced" her music. In fact, Dion's "You and I" has done a turn as a theme song already — for Air Canada in 2004.
But the song campaign and the video also illustrates the growing effort by some of the more technologically savvy campaigns to connect with voters and potential donors in clever, relatively inexpensive formats that are infused with pop culture references, contemporary themes or intimate moments.
Just this week, the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, posted a video featuring Romney's wife, Ann, narrating scenes of Christmas vacation last year when the family reached the decision to pursue the White House.
In the new Clinton clip, Hillary Clinton, like Tony Soprano, spins through the musical selections in a diner in Mount Kisco, N.Y., near her home in Chappaqua, as her husband, former President Clinton, quizzes her about the campaign and the song contest winner.
The Soprano touches are subtle but perfectly obvious to any fan of the series.
The music that plays through the video is not Dion's but Journey's "Don't Stop Believin,'" the same song that Tony Soprano chooses from the jukebox in the show's final scene. At one point, actor Vince Curatola, who played New York mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni in the series, walks menacingly by the Clintons' table.
Tony Soprano ordered onion rings. Hillary orders carrots for Bill. "No onion rings?" the former president asks forlornly.
"Where's Chelsea?" Sen. Clinton asks. Outside a car tire hits the curb. "Parallel parking," President Clinton replies.
"How's the campaign going?" he asks.
"Well, like you always say, focus on the good times."
"So what's the winning song," he presses.
"You'll see."
"My money is on Smash Mouth," he says. "Everybody in America wants to know how it's going to end."
"Ready?" Hillary asks.
The scene cuts to black.
But, no, unlike the Sopranos, it's not over. You can click to hear Dion's song. A new page pops up. The most prominent word stands out against a red background:
"Contribute."
____
On the Net:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
Clinton spoofs Sopranos in Web video
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jun 19, 2007
The scene: A diner and a jukebox. A nostalgic song. A cut to black. It worked as a finale for "The Sopranos." It now marks a new beginning for "The Clintons." Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign on Tuesday unveiled its new campaign song with a Web video that spoofs the final scene of the popular HBO mobster series.
The video and the announcement of Celine Dion's "You and I" as the official Clinton tune cap a monthlong, interactive Internet campaign that drew more than a million viewers to the Clinton campaign Web site and to YouTube, the popular online video display room.
The selection of Dion, who was born in Canada, resulted in some smirking accusations from Republicans that Clinton had "outsourced" her music. In fact, Dion's "You and I" has done a turn as a theme song already — for Air Canada in 2004.
But the song campaign and the video also illustrates the growing effort by some of the more technologically savvy campaigns to connect with voters and potential donors in clever, relatively inexpensive formats that are infused with pop culture references, contemporary themes or intimate moments.
Just this week, the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, posted a video featuring Romney's wife, Ann, narrating scenes of Christmas vacation last year when the family reached the decision to pursue the White House.
In the new Clinton clip, Hillary Clinton, like Tony Soprano, spins through the musical selections in a diner in Mount Kisco, N.Y., near her home in Chappaqua, as her husband, former President Clinton, quizzes her about the campaign and the song contest winner.
The Soprano touches are subtle but perfectly obvious to any fan of the series.
The music that plays through the video is not Dion's but Journey's "Don't Stop Believin,'" the same song that Tony Soprano chooses from the jukebox in the show's final scene. At one point, actor Vince Curatola, who played New York mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni in the series, walks menacingly by the Clintons' table.
Tony Soprano ordered onion rings. Hillary orders carrots for Bill. "No onion rings?" the former president asks forlornly.
"Where's Chelsea?" Sen. Clinton asks. Outside a car tire hits the curb. "Parallel parking," President Clinton replies.
"How's the campaign going?" he asks.
"Well, like you always say, focus on the good times."
"So what's the winning song," he presses.
"You'll see."
"My money is on Smash Mouth," he says. "Everybody in America wants to know how it's going to end."
"Ready?" Hillary asks.
The scene cuts to black.
But, no, unlike the Sopranos, it's not over. You can click to hear Dion's song. A new page pops up. The most prominent word stands out against a red background:
"Contribute."
____
On the Net:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
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