List of Barbie's friends and family

The list of friends for the popular Barbie line of dolls that began in 1959. Since character continuity has not been consistent over time, there is no real "canon" lineup. At different times, different groups of dolls were offered, and the naming and apparent age relationships of the characters has varied considerably.

Barbie family and other principal characters

Alison Skipper

Alison Skipper is an American actress, model, television personality, dancer, and professional wrestler who is best known for her work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a valet. Outside of TNA, Skipper hosted "The College Experiment" on Fox Sports and appeared on the Home Shopping Network.

Skipper was born in Orlando, Florida where she still resides. She attended the University of Central Florida. Skipper took up dancing and modeling at a young age. She has modeled for Lucky, Vogue, Hyatt Hotels, Breezes Resorts, Body Glove, Kumho Tires, Boost Mobile, Ron Jon Surf Shop, Nike, Victoria's Secret, Macy's and Nordstrom's. She has also been featured in television commercials for Walt Disney World and Papa John's Pizza. Alison is also a regular fashion & jewelry model for the Home Shopping Network (HSN), and hosted "The College Experiment" on Fox Sports from 2010 to 2013.

Professional Wrestling Career

Skipper signed with TNA Wrestling, and debuted under the name Chelsea during the Genesis pay-per-view January 17, 2010. She aligned herself with Desmond Wolfe at the event, where he defeated D'Angelo Dinero. She would continue to appear accompany Wolfe to the ring as he feuded with D'Angelo Dinero, at times even helping him cheat to win matches.

Chelsea (American band)

Chelsea was an early 1970s band from New York City, best known for being the band of drummer Peter Criss before he joined Kiss. They released one album, the self-titled album Chelsea in 1971 and then collapsed during the recording of their unreleased second album.

In August 1971, the band became Lips (a trio consisting of Criss and his Chelsea bandmates Michael Benvenga and Stan Penridge). By the spring of 1973, Lips was just the duo of Criss and Penridge and eventually disbanded completely.

Their sound has been compared to the Moody Blues and Procol Harum.

In 1973, Pete Shepley & Mike Brand recorded an unreleased album which included post-Chelsea Michael Benvenga, and pre-Kiss Peter Criss and Gene Simmons as session musicians. It was titled Captain Sanity.

Chelsea

Chelsea is the only album released by the band. Peter Criss is credited as Peter Cris in the liner notes.

Track listing

Holiday

A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance. Holidays may be designated by governments, religious institutions, or other groups or organizations. The degree to which normal activities are reduced by a holiday may depend on local laws, customs, the type of job being held or even personal choices.

The concept of holidays has most often originated in connection with religious observances. The intention of a holiday was typically to allow individuals to tend to religious duties associated with important dates on the calendar. In most modern societies, however, holidays serve as much of a recreational function as any other weekend days or activities.

In many societies there are important distinctions between holidays designated by governments and holidays designated by religious institutions. For example, in many predominantly Christian nations, government-designed holidays may center on Christian holidays, though non-Christians may instead observe religious holidays associated with their faith. In some cases, a holiday may only be nominally observed. For example, many Jews in the Americas and Europe treat the relatively minor Jewish holiday of Hanukkah as a "working holiday", changing very little of their daily routines for this day.

Holiday (America album)

Holiday is the fourth original studio album by American folk rock band America, released by Warner Bros. Records in June 1974 (see 1974 in music). The album was produced in London by noted Beatles producer George Martin.

The album was a big hit in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album chart and being certified gold by the RIAA. It produced two hit singles: "Tin Man" reached number 4 on the Billboard singles chart and went to number 1 on both the adult contemporary chart as well as the Radio & Records chart; and "Lonely People" which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard singles chart and also hit number 1 on the adult contemporary chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Baby It's Up To You" and "Another Try".

History

Bandmember Dewey Bunnell was thrilled at the prospect of working with Martin as producer. He was quoted as saying that it "was great working with George. It was like we knew each other. We were familiar with the Beatles, of course, and we had that British sense of humor." In a separate interview, Dan Peek recalled to Circus magazine: "Gerry (Beckley) had been in England, and we'd talked about using George Martin as our producer. He's such a hot arranger, thinking about all the stuff he's done. There were several other people we wanted to use, but that idea sort of flashed and George was available."

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season.

History

Early music

Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest examples are hymnographic works (chants and litanies) intended for liturgical use in observance of both the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany, many of which are still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The 13th century saw the rise of the carol written in the vernacular, under the influence of Francis of Assisi.

In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.