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August 15, 2009

The Cat in the Hat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cat in the Hat is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white striped hat, and a bowtie. He also carries an umbrella. With the series of Beginner Books that The Cat inaugurated, Seuss promoted both his name and the cause of elementary literacy in the United States.[1] The eponymous cat appears in six of Seuss's rhymed children's books:

History

The White House 2003 Christmas decoration using "The Cat in the Hat" as the theme.

Theodor Geisel, writing as Dr. Seuss., created The Cat in the Hat in response to the May 24, 1954 Life magazine article by John Hersey, titled "Why Do Students Bog Down on First R? A Local Committee Sheds Light on a National Problem: Reading." In the article, Hersey was critical of school primers:

In the classroom boys and girls are confronted with books that have insipid illustrations depicting the slicked-up lives of other children. [Existing primers] feature abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls. . . . In bookstores, anyone can buy brighter, livelier books featuring strange and wonderful animals and children who behave naturally, i.e., sometimes misbehave. Given incentive from school boards, publishers could do as well with primers.

Hersey’s arguments were enumerated over ten pages of Life magazine, which was the leading periodical during that time. After detailing many issues contributing to the dilemma connected with student reading levels, Hersey asked toward the end of the article:

Why should [school primers] not have pictures that widen rather than narrow the associative richness the children give to the words they illustrate — drawings like those of the wonderfully imaginative geniuses among children’s illustrators, Tenniel, Howard Pyle, "Theodor S. Geisel".

Dr. Seuss responded to this "challenge," and began work. His publisher supplied him with a list of 400 words, ones that the publisher thought children would be learning in school. His publisher told him to cut the list in half and to try and write an interesting enough book for children. Nine months later Dr. Seuss finished The Cat In The Hat, which used 223 words from the list plus 13 words that did not appear on the list.

The story is 1626 words in length and uses a vocabulary of only 236 distinct words, of which 54 occur once and 33 twice. Only a single word – another – has three syllables, while 14 have two and the remaining 221 are monosyllabic. The longest words are something and playthings.

In an interview he gave in Arizona magazine in June 1981, Dr. Seuss claimed the book took nine months to complete due to the difficulty in writing a book from the 223 selected words. He added that the title for the book came from his desire to have the title rhyme and the first two suitable rhyming words that he could find from the list were "cat" and "hat". Dr. Seuss also regretted the association of his book and the "look say" reading method adopted during the Dewey revolt in the 1920s. He expressed the opinion that "... killing phonics was one of the greatest causes of illiteracy in the country."

The Cat in the Hat

In the first book featuring the character (The Cat in the Hat, 1957), the Cat brings a cheerful, exotic and exuberant form of chaos to a household of two young children one rainy day while their mother leaves them unattended. Bringing with him two creatures appropriately named Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat performs all sorts of wacky tricks to amuse the children, with mixed results. The Cat's antics are vainly opposed by the family pet, a sapient and articulate goldfish. The children (Sally and her older brother, who serves as the narrator) ultimately prove exemplary latchkey children, capturing the Things and bringing the Cat under control. To make up for the chaos he has caused, he cleans up the house on his way out, disappearing seconds before the mother arrives.

The book has been popular since its publication, and a logo featuring the Cat adorns all Dr. Seuss publications and animated films produced after The Cat in the Hat. The Cat holds up a cup, some milk, a cake, three books, the Fish, a rake, a toy boat, a toy man, a red fan and his umbrella while he's on a ball.

Seuss wrote the book because he felt that there should be more entertaining and fun material for beginning readers. From a literary point of view, the book is a feat of skill, since it simultaneously maintains a strict triple meter, keeps to a tiny vocabulary, and tells an entertaining tale. Literary critics occasionally write recreational essays about the work, having fun with issues such as the absence of the mother and the psychological or symbolic characterizations of Cat, Things, and Fish. This book is written in a style common to Dr. Seuss, anapestic tetrameter (see Dr. Seuss's meters).

More than 10 million copies of The Cat in the Hat have been printed. It has been translated into more than 12 different languages.[2][3] In particular, it has been translated into Latin with the title Cattus Petasatus and into Yiddish with the title "di Kats der Payats".

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

The Cat in the Hat made a return appearance in this 1958 sequel. On this occasion, he leaves Thing One and Thing Two at home, but does bring along Little Cat A, nested inside his hat. Little Cat A doffs his hat to reveal Little Cat B, who in turn reveals C, and so on down to the microscopic Little Cat Z, who turns out to be the key to the plot. The crisis involves a pink bathtub ring and other pink residue left by the Cat after he snacks on a cake in the bathtub with the water running. Preliminary attempts to clean it up fail as they only spread the mess elsewhere, including a dress, the wall, a pair of shoes, the bed, and then eventually outside where a "spot killing" war takes place between the mess, the main cat, 22 smaller cats (Little Cats A through V), and an arsenal of primitive weapons including pop guns, bats, and a lawnmower. Unfortunately, the initial battle to rid the mess only makes it into an entire yard covering spot. But then Little Cats V W, X, and Y take off their hats to uncover Little Cat Z, who takes his hat off and unleashes a "Voom" which cleans up the back yard and puts all of the other Little Cats back into the Cat in the Hat's hat.

The book ends in a burst of flamboyant versification, with the full list of little cats arranged into a metrically-perfect rhymed quatrain. It teaches the reader the alphabet.

Little Cats A, B and C were also characters in the 1996 TV series The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.

The Cat in The Hat Comes Back was part of the Beginner Book Video series along with There's a Wocket in My Pocket! and Fox in Socks.

Adrian Edmondson narrated both Cat in the Hat stories for a HarperCollins audiobook that also includes Fox in Socks and Green Eggs and Ham

Beginner Books

The Cat in the Hat was published by Random House. However because of its success, an independent publishing company was formed, called Beginner Books. Geisel was the president and editor. Beginner Books was chartered as a series of books oriented toward various stages of early reading development. (From 1957 to 1960, Random House was the distributor of Beginner Books. In 1960, Random House purchased Beginner Books, and it became a division of Random House.[4]) The second book in the series was nearly as popular, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, published in 1958.

Springing from this series of beginning readers were such standards as A Fly Went By (1958), Sam and the Firefly (1958), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), Go, Dog. Go! (1961), Hop on Pop (1963), and Fox in Socks (1965), each a monument in the picturebook industry, and also significant in the historical development of early readers. All are still in print and remain very popular over forty years after their initial publication.

Creators in the Beginner Book series were such luminaries as Jan & Stan Berenstain, P. D. Eastman, Roy McKie, and Helen Palmer (Mr. Geisel’s wife). The Beginner Books dominated the children’s picturebook market of the 1960’s, and still plays a significant role today within the phases of students’ reading development. The early success of Beginner Books, both from a commercial and learn-to-read perspective, initiated the blurring between educational and entertainment books.[5] ,,,

The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library

Starting in 1998, Random House has been releasing books in a book series titled "The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library." In each book, the Cat in the Hat, along with Thing 1 and Thing 2, shows up and teaches Dick (the boy's name in The Cat in the Hat was not revealed, but the 1971 animated special suggested it was Conrad) and Sally the many things the book's topic covers. There are even side notes that are narrated by Thing 1 and Thing 2. In the book Clam-I-Am, the Cat in the Hat takes a break, and Dick and Sally's beloved pet, Norval the Fish, along with the Cat in the Hat and the Things, teaches the children about life at the beach.

At the end of each book, after the Cat in the Hat's teaching is done, there is a glossary on some of the words used, an index, and a list of suggested books, from other publishers, that cover the topic each book covered.fits of Dick and Sally intact, they've made changes to Thing 1 and Thing 2. In the original "The Cat in the Hat" book and the special, Thing 1 and Thing 2 had plain white skin and blue hair and wore red sleepers. In "The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library," the illustrators have changed the Things' appearance so that they have pink skin and yellow hair and wear blue sleepers.

Adaptations

Television

Film

Seussical The Musical

Seussical the Musical is a musical that combines different Dr. Seuss stories together. The Cat In The Hat plays the narrator, as well as a few minor characters.

Educational CD game

Living Books has created an educational CD game of the story, guided by animated characters. Software MacKiev brought this electronic version of the book to the Mac OS X.

Ride

A ride was built based upon the book in Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure in 1999. The ride allows park guest to travel through the story of The Cat in the Hat in all it's Seusstastic colors and shapes.

References in Popular Media


  • A book called "The Cat NOT in the Hat!" written by a fictional "Dr. Juice" was published by Penguin Books USA in 1995. The book depicted O.J. Simpson resembling the Cat in the Hat and describing his perspective on his murder trial with verses such as, "A man this famous/Never hires/Lawyers like/Jacoby Meyers/When you're accused of a killing scheme/You need to build a real Dream Team" and "One knife?/Two knife?/Red knife/Dead wife." Dr. Seuss' widow, Audrey Geisel, sued Penguin Books, arguing that the work infringed the copyright to her husband's work. The court agreed and enjoined Penguin Books from distributing the book. [6]
  • Freud on Seuss is a humorous short essay on the symbolism of The Cat in the Hat. [1]
  • In an episode of The Fairly OddParents, Timmy reads a book called "The Rat in Spats", which is illustrated much like Dr. Seuss.
  • In an episode of The Angry Beavers, an animal called "The Yak in the Sak" appears. .
  • The Cat in the Hat appeared as the protagonist in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.
  • The Cat in the Hat appeared in the Family Guy episode "Dammit Janet!" When the cat offers to clean up young Peter Griffin's house, Peter tells him to leave the mess as he wants to see the look on his parents' faces when they get home.
  • A different version of the Cat in the Hat appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "Endless Breadsticks" voiced by Seth Green. In a segment that parodied "Seussical the Musical," the Cat in the Hat was also shown wearing a coat.
  • In the movie Borat, when Borat wants to buy a pet, he sees a tortoise and asks if it is a "Cat in the Hat," only to be told that it is in fact a "tortoise in a shell."[clarification needed]
  • The Cat is referenced in the R.E.M. song The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite: "The cat in the hat came back, wrecked a lot of havoc on the way ..."
  • In an episode of In Living Color, Keenan Ivory Wayans played Jesse Jackson, touting various Dr. Seuss books re-written for poor black children. The revised titles included: The Crackhead in the Hat, along with Horton Hires a Ho, The Grinch Who Stole My Stereo, Hop on Cop,Green Eggs and Government Cheese.[clarification needed] and
  • One of political consultant's David Gergen's nicknames is the 'Cat In the Hat', based on his physical resemblance to that fictional character.[7][8]
  • In the film Patriot Games (1992), Jack Ryan visits his daughter, Sally, in her hospital room and reads to her from The Cat in the Hat, which features a character named Sally: "I sat there with Sally." Later, he is reading it by himself in the hospital cafeteria, when Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) leader Paddy O'Neill walks in with a gift for Ryan.

Actors who have played or voiced The Cat in the Hat

Quoted in the U.S. Senate

In the 110th Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared the impasse over a bill to reform immigration with the mess created by the Cat in The Cat in the Hat. He read lines of the book from the Senate floor, quoting "'That is good,' said the fish. 'He's gone away, yes. But your mother will come. She will find this big mess.'"[9] He then carried forward his analogy hoping the impasse would be straightened out for "If you go back and read Dr. Seuss, the cat manages to clean up the mess."[10] Reid's hopes did not come about for as one analyst put it "the Cat in the Hat did not have to contend with cloture."[9]


Editions

All were published by Random House. The original edition was a joint publication with Houghton Mifflin.

  • The Cat in the Hat:
    • First Edition

The first edition was published in 1957, prior to the establishment of ISBNs. The first edition can be identified by the '200/200' in the top right corner of the front dust jacket flap, signifying the $2.00 selling price. The Cat In The Hat sold for $2.00 for the first year of publication, then was reduced to $1.95 with the establishment of Beginner Books in 1958.



The Cat in the Hat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tongue-twister - Wikipedia

A tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly. Tongue-twisters may rely on similar but distinct phonemes (e.g., s [s] and sh [ʃ]), unfamiliar constructs in loanwords, or other features of a language.

The hardest tongue-twister in the English language (according to Guinness World Records) is supposedly The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. William Poundstone claims that the hardest English tongue twister is "The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us."

Many tongue-twisters use a combination of alliteration and rhyme. They have two or three sequences of sounds, then the same sequences of sounds with some sounds exchanged. For example, She sells sea shells on the sea shore. The shells that she sells are sea shells I'm sure. or A black bug bit a big black bear, made a big black bear bleed blood.

Another example, Betty Botter (En-Betty Botter.ogg listen ):

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter
The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter
And made her batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter makes better batter.
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter
Making Betty Botter's bitter batter better.

Two well-known such tongue-twisters are "Peter Piper":

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

But if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Were they pickled when he picked them from the vine?
Or was Peter Piper pickled when he picked the pickled peppers
Peppers picked from the pickled pepper vine?

and "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?":

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
He would chuck, he would, as much wood as he could,
and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

This one won grand prize in a contest in Games Magazine in 1979[citation needed]: (Contest announced in issue of November/December 1979; results announced in issue of March/April 1980).

Shep Schwab shopped at Scott's Schnapps shop;
One shot of Scott's Schnapps stopped Schwab's watch.

Some tongue-twisters are short words or phrases, which become tongue-twisters when repeated rapidly (often expressed as "Say this five (or three, ten, etc.) times fast!"). Examples include toy boat, Peggy Babcock, Irish wristwatch, and Red Leather, Yellow Leather. Big whip is another that is difficult for some people to say quickly, due to the lip movement required between the "g" and "wh" sounds.

 Spoonerisms

Some tongue-twisters are specifically designed to cause the inadvertent pronunciation of a swearword if the speaker stumbles verbally (see spoonerism).

An example of this sort:

I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant plucker's mate,
And I'm only plucking pheasants 'cause the pheasant plucker's late.
I'm not the pheasant plucker, I'm the pheasant plucker's son,
And I'm only plucking pheasants till the pheasant pluckers come.

 Loanwords and other language elements

Certain loanwords contain unfamiliar constructs, which are used in tongue-twisters. For example, Finnish strutsin perhe (the family of an ostrich) has the consonant cluster "str", whereas such consonant clusters do not occur in native Finnish words. Repeated, this might be pronounced as "strutsin perse" ("ostrich's arse").

Other features of language can make for tongue-twisters; for instance, the Czech strč prst skrz krk (stick a finger through the throat) relies on the absence of vowels, although syllabic r is a normal Czech sound.

Something that might be regarded as a type of tongue-twister is a shibboleth, that is, a phrase in a language that is difficult for someone who is not a native speaker of that language to say.[citation needed] An example is Georgian baq'aq'i ts'q'alshi q'iq'inebs ("a frog croaks in the water"), in which "q" is a sort of gulping sound.

 Non-English

There are tongue twisters in every language. One Japanese twister (attempted by child genius Chiyo Mihama in the Anime series Azumanga Daioh) is Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu, Busu Basu Gaido, meaning "Bus Gas Explosion, Ugly Bus Guide." Another (as heard on Please Come Home... Mr. Bulbous) is Tonari No Kyaku Wa Yoku Kaki Kuu Kyaku Da, meaning "The customer next to me eats a lot of persimmons (or oysters)". An example in Polish is "Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego". In Scouse, the dialect of the English city of Liverpool, it is common to say They do, though, don't they, though[citation needed]. In Scouse this is easy as all of the diagraphs 'th' are pronounced as a 'd'[citation needed], but saying it quickly in Standard RP or GA (hear GA) can be very difficult.

The sign language equivalent of a tongue twister is called a finger fumbler. According to Susan Fischer, the phrase Good blood, bad blood is a tongue-twister in English as well as a finger-fumbler in ASL.[2]

 Literature

The children's book Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss consists almost entirely of densely rhyming tongue-twisters.


  1. ^ http://williampoundstone.net/Ultimate.html
  2. ^ http://www.umich.edu/~archive/linguistics/linguist.list/volume.2/no.251-300

 

 

Tongue-twister - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dead Piper Pilot Cat Call Crash + Gawker, Foster Can't Hear AP Tonguetwister Glee In Sibilance, Dumb Assonance! @mrjyn #youtube #video

RT @mrjyn http://bit.ly/10RpDP - #Dead Piper #Pilot #Cat #Call #Crash @gawker - GAWKY FOSTER KRAMER PREDICTS YOUTUBE, DR. SEUSS VIDEO! -- "Sadly, this presents another opportunity for a dumbass to make another dumb joke on YouTube"--Foster Kamer http://gawker.com/5338123/plane+helic...

Dear Foster: If you can't hear this AP reporter barely contain his tonguetwisting glee at the sibilance and dumb assonance with which he happily transforms into Dr. Seuss/Cronkite, then you, my gawky little Internet aggregator friend, are the dumbass.

~ nichopoulouzo

AND FOLLOW @mrjyn http://twitter.com/mrjyn OR @nichopoulouzo FOR MORE Dumbass YouTube Videos Like:

Plane-Helicopter Collision's Air Traffic Controller: On His Cell, Talking About Dead Cats
1:15 PM on Sat Aug 15 2009, 1,284 views

Morbid and sad: the NY Post reports that the air traffic controller responsible during last weekend's helicopter-plane crash was on his cell discussing dead cats when the crash occurred. Meanwhile, broken down footage is showing the plane clipping the chopper.

Per the Post, the guy who was supposed to be on watch from Teterboro was on his cell with a contractor, talking about a dead cat who was removed from the airport when the crash happened. The phone call, to an airport contractor, was a "silly conversation" concerning a dead cat that had been removed from the airport, a retired union official said, in an account supported by transportation officials also familiar with the contents of the call. The controller and his supervisor at Teterboro have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. "He was on the phone, and we have made no determination about what role this may have played in the accident," said NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson. "It was a lot of things happening in just a few minutes."

To say both of them have probably had the worst week of their lives would be an understatement. If this is, in fact true, one guy's small mistake, not made, could've possibly prevented a collision where everyone in it ended up dead.

And now, footage taken by a tourist on a boat below the crash is circulating around the internet; it's been around for the last week, but a New York news station did a frame-by-frame of the crash; one wing goes spinning off of the body of the plane the moment it comes in contact with the helicopter. The FAA's using the footage for their investigation.

Surely, there's something trite to be said for representing yet another step in the progress of eyewitness accounts becoming even more readily available following tragic accidents, so we can learn from them and use them to prevent future instances as technology progresses forward.

Sadly, this presents another opportunity for a dumbass to make another dumb joke on YouTube:





Plane-Helicopter Collision's Air Traffic Controller: On His Cell, Talking About Dead Cats

Morbid and sad: the NY Post reports that the air traffic controller responsible during last weekend's helicopter-plane crash was on his cell discussing dead cats when the crash occurred. Meanwhile, broken down footage is showing the plane clipping the chopper.

Per the Post, the guy who was supposed to be on watch from Teterboro was on his cell with a contractor, talking about a dead cat who was removed from the airport when the crash happened.

The phone call, to an airport contractor, was a "silly conversation" concerning a dead cat that had been removed from the airport, a retired union official said, in an account supported by transportation officials also familiar with the contents of the call. The controller and his supervisor at Teterboro have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. "He was on the phone, and we have made no determination about what role this may have played in the accident," said NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson. "It was a lot of things happening in just a few minutes."

To say both of them have probably had the worst week of their lives would be an understatement. If this is, in fact true, one guy's small mistake, not made, could've possibly prevented a collision where everyone in it ended up dead.

And now, footage taken by a tourist on a boat below the crash is circulating around the internet; it's been around for the last week, but a New York news station did a frame-by-frame of the crash; one wing goes spinning off of the body of the plane the moment it comes in contact with the helicopter. The FAA's using the footage for their investigation.

Surely, there's something trite to be said for representing yet another step in the progress of eyewitness accounts becoming even more readily available following tragic accidents, so we can learn from them and use them to prevent future instances as technology progresses forward. Sadly, this is the last thing that'd occur to some people, as it mostly just presents another opportunity for a dumbass to make another dumb joke on YouTube:

Plane-Helicopter Collision's Air Traffic Controller: On His Cell, Talking About Dead Cats - Crashes - Gawker

Drag queen bank robber Huy Trong Luong sentenced to prison term for nine bank robberies


AP Photo/Sang Tan

Huy Trong Luong of Jersey City, New Jersey, was sentenced on August 12 for a series of bank robberies and attempted bank robberies committed in New Jersey and Connecticut.  Over a five-month period in 2008, Luong robbed or attempted to rob nine different banks and stole more than $39,000.  Each robbery was committed while Luong was disguised as a woman.  U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle sentenced Luong to twelve years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay $39,067 in restitution.

Luong entered a guilty plea to two counts of bank robbery on March 31, 2009.  The two bank robberies which were the basis for the plea were the Commerce Bank in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and a Wachovia branch in Greenwich, Connecticut.  As part of the plea, Luong also admitted to the other seven robberies, which were also considered at sentencing.  Luong was indicted in both New Jersey and in Connecticut, and the cases were consolidated in New Jersey for purposes of the guilty plea and sentencing.

Luong's cross-dressing disguise failed to protect him during his failed robbery attempt of a bank in Chatham, New Jersey, on May 5, 2008.  Police found a black wig, a black Dolce & Gabbana hat, a woman's make-up kit, and a black jacket inside his getaway minivan.  His minivan also contained Roman candle fireworks disguised as dynamite.  Luong admitted that he made death threats or threats of violence to the bank tellers during the robberies, and during the three Connecticut bank robberies he passed the tellers a note that he had a bomb.

During his plea hearing, Luong admitted to a total of nine robberies.  On January 11. 2008, Luong robbed a Wachovia Bank in Greenwich, Connecticut, of $2,000.  On January 13, 2008, he robbed $2,000 from Commerce Bank in Westport, Connecticut.  On January 22, 2008, Luong robbed Provident Bank in Toms River, New Jersey, of $11,109.  On April 20, 2008, he robbed the  Commerce Bank in New Canaan, Connecticut, of $3,600.  On April 26, 2008,  he attempted to rob the  Wachovia Bank in Highland Park, N.J..  On April 28, 2008, he robbed Commerce Bank in Stafford Twp., N.J., of $5,388.  On April 30, 2008, he robbed the Commerce Bank in Bergenfield, N.J., of $12,020.  Luong robbed Commerce Bank in Mahwah, N.J., of $2,950 on May 4, 2008, and on May 5, 2008, he attempted to rob the Commerce Bank in Chatham, N.J.  The final failed robbery of the Commerce Bank resulted in his arrest.

Drag queen bank robber Huy Trong Luong sentenced to prison term for nine bank robberies

Federal Bureau of Investigation - The Newark Division: Department of Justice Press Release

Department of Justice Press Release
white spacer
For Immediate Release
August 12, 2009
United States Attorney's Office
District of New Jersey
Contact: (973) 645-2700

Bank Robber Who Dressed in Drag Sentenced to 144 Months in Prison for Committing Nine Robberies in Two States

CAMDEN, NJA—Jersey City man was sentenced to 144 months in prison today for robbing or attempting to rob nine banks in New Jersey and Connecticut over a five-month period in 2008 and getting away with more than $39,000, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr., announced.

U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle also ordered Huy Trong Luong, 41, to pay restitution of $39,067 and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term.

On Mar. 31, 2009, Luong specifically pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery associated with the April 20, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in Bergenfield, N.J., and the Jan. 11, 2008, robbery of a Wachovia branch in Greenwich, Conn. Luong, however, also admitted committing seven other robberies, all of the conduct was taken into consideration at sentencing.

In each of his robberies, Luong disguised himself as a woman, according to a criminal Complaint filed after his arrest following a final, failed robbery attempt on May 5, 2008, in Chatham, N.J. Inside his getaway minivan, Police found a black wig, a black Dolce & Gabbana hat, a woman’s make-up kit and black jacket, according to the Complaint. During his plea hearing, Luong admitted his participation in the following robberies and attempted robberies:

  • April 30, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in Bergenfield, N.J., of $12,020;
  • Jan. 11, 2008, robbery of Wachovia Bank in Greenwich, Conn., of $2,000;
  • Jan. 13, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in Westport, Conn., of $2,000;
  • Jan. 22, 2008, robbery of Provident Bank in Toms River, N.J., of $11,109;
  • April 20, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in New Canaan, Conn., of $3,600;
  • April 26, 2008, attempted robbery of Wachovia Bank in Highland Park, N.J.;
  • April 28, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in Stafford Twp., N.J., of $5,388;
  • May 4, 2008, robbery of Commerce Bank in Mahwah, N.J., of $2,950;
  • May 5, 2008, attempted robbery of Commerce Bank in Chatham, N.J.

Luong admitted that he made death threats or threatened the tellers with violence in each of the robberies. At the time of arrest, law enforcement recovered cash and a hoax bomb – what appeared to be three sticks of dynamite with fuses, wrapped together – in Luong’s minivan. In reality, the sticks were Roman candle fireworks, according to the criminal Complaint. In the three Connecticut bank robberies, Luong passed a note to the tellers advising them that he had a bomb and would detonate it if they did not meet his demands.

In May 2008, Luong was indicted in the District of Connecticut in Bridgeport for the three Connecticut robberies. The cases were consolidated in New Jersey for purposes of the guilty plea and sentencing.

Marra credited Special Agents with the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun in Newark, N.J. for the investigation. He also credited the FBI in Connecticut and local police in New Jersey and Connecticut involved in the arrest and investigation of Luong.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert G. Marasco of the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crimes Unit.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - The Newark Division: Department of Justice Press Release

Top ten similarities between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson

Comparing Elvis Presley & Michael Jackson

Part 3 in a series for Elvis Presley Week

Although the differences between the careers and lives of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson are distinct and varied, since August marks the anniversary month of the death of Elvis Presley as well as the presumed secret burial month of Michael Jackson, this article will examine ten similarities between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson:

Top Ten Similarities Between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson 

1. Poverty to Wealth

Both Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were born into relatively poor circumstances and not only reached musical super-stardom during their lifetimes, but achieved great financial wealth.

2. Families & Relationships with Parents

Both Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson had some problems in their childhoods resulting from issues with their fathers which affected them in their adult years, and both Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley maintained strong relationships with their mothers. Both families were musical and attended church services regularly.

3. Gospel Music Ties

Elvis Presley wrote more than 50 gospel songs and recorded many classic hymns in his career. Elvis Presley frequently used gospel groups as background singers including: the Imperials, The Jordanaires, and J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet. (see The Gospel according to Elvis Presley)

Michael Jackson wrote and recorded several songs that are listed as gospel including  "Cry" and "Will You Be There." (see The gospel according to Michael Jackson) Michael Jackson frequently used gospel groups as background singers including the Andrae Crouch Choir. (see Michael Jackson's gospel music ties). Both men recorded Christmas albums.

4. Striking Costumes and Dance Movies

Both Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson wore striking, flashy costumes which were often sparkly and frequently tight-fitting and usually memorable. Both artists incorporated controversial dance moves on stage.

5. Graceland/Neverland

In 1957, Elvis Presley purchased an estate with a mansion which became his home, and he personalized it with over-the-top special theme rooms. Graceland became synonymous with Elvis Presley.

In 1988, Michael Jackson purchased the property which became Neverland Ranch, and he personalized it with a theme park, zoo and other over-the-top extensions of his personality. Neverland Ranch became synonymous with Michael Jackson.

6. Lisa Marie Presley  

Elvis Presley was the father of Lisa Marie Presley. Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley.

7. Became Reclusive and Distrustful

Towards the end of their lives, both Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson became somewhat reclusive, depressed, distrustful and and overly-obsessed with germs.

8. Health Issues and Drug Abuse

Elvis Presley died of health issues combined with drug issues on August 16, 1977.

Michael Jackson died of health issues combined with drug issues on June 25, 2009.

Both men's deaths were attributed to heart attacks at some point.

9. Died Young and Unexpectedly

Both celebrities died young and unexpectedly, Elvis at 42 and Michael at 50.

10. Kings of Music & Pop Culture

Elvis Presley was called the "King of Rock 'n Roll."

Michael Jackson was crowned the "King of Pop."

Feel free to add your own comparisons between Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley in the comments below.

Read the rest of this series:

Part 1: Gospel Music 101: Who was Elvis Presley? 

Part 2: The Gospel according to Elvis Presley (gospel videos included)

Part 4: Elvis Presley: the 'King of Rock 'n Roll' and a real doll (with slideshow of Elvis dolls)

Also see:

Gospel Music 101: Who was Elvis Presley? Gospel singer, music icon and more

Gospel Music 101: What is gospel music?

Gospel Music 101: Which gospel artists got their start in Nashville?

Top ten similarities between Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson

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