Speedo

Speedo International Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, UK. Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1914, the industry leading company is now a subsidiary of the British Pentland Group. Today, the Speedo brand can be found on products ranging from swimsuits and goggles to wrist watches and MP3 players. The Speedo brand is manufactured for and marketed in North America as Speedo USA by the Warnaco Group under exclusive perpetual license.

In accordance with its Australian roots, Speedo uses a boomerang as their symbol. Due to their success in the swimwear industry, the word "Speedo" has become synonymous with racing bathing suits.

History

Speedo Knitting Mills

Company founder Alexander MacRae emigrated from Loch Kishorn in the western Highlands of Scotland to Sydney, Australia in 1910. Originally working as a milkman, he founded MacRae and Company Hosiery four years later, manufacturing underwear under the brand name Fortitude (taken from his family crest). The Australian Army's need for socks during the First World War provided MacRae with enough business to expand and in 1927 his first line of swimwear, called a "racer-back costume" was introduced. The following year, a naming contest held among the MacRae staff yielded the slogan "Speed on in your Speedos." The brand name was born. The contest winner, Captain Parsonson, was awarded £5 for his slogan and the company was renamed Speedo Knitting Mills.

Earl Carroll (vocalist)

Earl "Speedo" Carroll (November 2, 1937 – November 25, 2012) was the lead vocalist for the doo-wop group The Cadillacs. The group's biggest hit was "Speedoo", Carroll's subsequent nickname. It was released in 1955. He joined The Coasters in 1961, leaving the group in the early 1990s to permanently reform The Cadillacs.

In 1982, Earl took a job as a custodian at the PS 87 elementary school in New York City and worked there until retiring in 2005. A popular figure with the students, he was chosen to be the subject of a children's book, That's Our Custodian, by Ann Morris (Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press). The publicity helped him to revive his career. He became a mainstay of the PBS series honoring doo wop, hosted by Jerry Butler and continued performing until the early 2010s when deteriorating health forced him to retire.

Death

Carroll died on November 25, 2012 of complications from a stroke and diabetes.

References

Swim briefs

A swim brief or racing brief is any briefs-style male swimsuit such as those worn in competitive swimming and diving. The popularity of the Australian Speedo brand racing brief has led to the use of its name in many countries around the world (e.g. the United States, New Zealand, UK and Europe) to refer to any racing brief, regardless of the maker. Occasionally, the Speedo genericized trademark also applies to square cut swimsuit, but in general the generic term is used in reference to swim briefs. Swim briefs are also referred to as competition briefs, swimming trunks, bathers, racer bathers, posing briefs, racing briefs, and colloquially in Australia as "budgie smugglers".

Like underwear briefs, swim briefs feature a V-shape front and a solid back providing form-fitting coverage. They typically are worn below the lower waist. They are generally secured by thin banding at the upper thighs and either a drawstring around the waist or an elastic waistband. Swim briefs are most often made of a nylon and spandex (Lycra) composite, while some longer lasting suits are made from polyester and still others from other materials. Most swim briefs have a beige or white front lining made of a similar fabric.

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona /sᵻˈdoʊnə/ is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031.

Sedona's main attraction is its array of red sandstone formations. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The red rocks form a popular backdrop for many activities, ranging from spiritual pursuits to the hundreds of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Sedona was named after Sedona Arabella Miller Schnebly (1877–1950), the wife of Theodore Carlton Schnebly, the city's first postmaster, who was celebrated for her hospitality and industriousness.

History

Native American history

The first documented human presence in Sedona area dates to between 11,500 to 9000 B.C. It was not until 1995 that a Clovis projectile point discovered in Honanki revealed the presence of the Paleo-Indians, who were big-game hunters. Around 9000 B.C., the pre-historic Archaic people appeared in the Verde Valley. These were hunter-gatherers and their presence in the area was longer than in other areas of the Southwest, most likely because of the ecological diversity and large amount of resources. They left by 300 A.D. There is an assortment of rock art left by the Archaic people in places near Sedona such as Palatki and Honanki.

Sedona (film)

Sedona is a 2011 comedy-drama film about the experiences of an advertising executive and a lawyer in Sedona, Arizona. Released theatrically in 2012, the film's cast includes Frances Fisher, Seth Peterson, Barry Corbin, Christopher Atkins, Lin Shaye, and Beth Grant.

Plot

The film contains two stories that take place in Sedona, Arizona. One story involves a successful advertising executive named Tammy (Frances Fisher) who, on her birthday, is driving from Portland to Phoenix to land the biggest client of her career until a wrong turn gets her lost and takes her into Sedona by mistake, where she is run off the highway by a tour plane making an emergency landing and right in the middle of town, and so she is forced to wait in Sedona while her damaged car is being repaired. Across town, a lawyer named Scott (Seth Peterson) is hiking in the woods with his partner Eddie (Matt Williamson) and their two young sons. Eddie brought the workaholic Scott to Sedona for some rest and relaxation, but wind up in an unexpected adventure when 7-year-old Denny (Trevor Sterling Stovall) gets lost. The ensuing frantic search for Denny sends Scott into a profound life-changing journey that forces him to examine his own priorities and determine what's truly important in his life. Meanwhile, Tammy unwittingly begins a spiritual transformation of her own as she encounters an array of the townspeople, each of them touching her in different meaningful ways. A chain of coincidences spirals her out of control, leaving her haunted by her past and forcing her to face her demons head on. Letting her guard down, she confronts the implausible possibility that she has been brought to Sedona for a reason.

Sedona (song)

"Sedona" is the first single on Houndmouth's second studio album Little Neon Limelight.

Chart positions

References