IN: Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is an Italian American rapper and the lyricist behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the frontman of the hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. Paz is known for his raw and gritty lyrical delivery. His lyrics frequently contain references to religion, war, politics, mythology, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal.

Paz formed Jedi Mind Tricks with high school friend Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind, a producer and DJ also from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1993. They released their first EP in 1996 called Amber Probe through the Label Superegular Records, which featured three original tracks, two remixes and one instrumental all produced by Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. Jedi Mind Tricks' first official album came out the following year. It was called The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness, "The Psycho-Social" for short. The album originally sold 1000 vinyl copies through Superegular Records, but was re-released in 2003 to combine for 25,000 sales. The album focuses mostly on astronomy, history and physics. Jedi Mind Tricks added two new members DJ Kwestion from Philadelphia in 1997, and Jus Allah from Camden, New Jersey in 1999. They went on to record seven studio albums with sales totaling over 250,000 in the US and 450,000 worldwide (only some including Jus Allah and DJ Kwestion). They also recorded fourteen EPs/singles. The group has collaborated with many other mostly underground east coast rappers including GZA, Kool G Rap, 7L & Esoteric, Sean Price, Ras Kass, Canibus, Percee P, Killah Priest, Immortal Technique, Virtuoso, Louis Logic, R.A. the Rugged Man, Tragedy Khadafi, and Ill Bill. After a falling out with Babygrande Records, the group created their own record label called Enemy Soil. They produce for artists such as Reef the Lost Cauze, Dutch, and Army of the Pharaohs. Jedi Mind Tricks released its most recent album titled Violence Begets Violence in 2011.
QUESTION: How is Paz connected to Jedi Mind Tricks?
IN: Charles George "Charlie" Macartney (27 June 1886 - 9 September 1958) was an Australian cricketer who played in 35 Tests between 1907 and 1926. He was known as "The Governor-General" in reference to his authoritative batting style and his flamboyant strokeplay, which drew comparisons with his close friend and role model Victor Trumper, regarded as one of the most elegant batsmen in cricketing history. Sir Donald Bradman--generally regarded as the greatest batsman in history--cited Macartney's dynamic batting as an inspiration in his cricket career. He started his career as a bowling all-rounder.

World War I interrupted Macartney's career as competitive cricket was cancelled. In January 1916, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). In July 1917 he was posted to France as a temporary Warrant Officer in the 3rd Division Artillery. In 1918, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for gallantry and reached the rank of corporal. The death of his father later in the year led to his repatriation from Britain and prevented his appearance with the AIF cricket team. The war years divided Macartney's career in two. Prior to the war, he was primarily known as a bowling all-rounder. In 21 Tests, he had taken 34 wickets at 26 and scored 879 runs at 27, with one century. After the war, Macartney transformed himself into one of the greatest batsmen of his era. In his 14 post-war Tests, he scored 1,252 runs at nearly 70, with six centuries. His bowling became more sporadic, taking just 11 more wickets, averaging 32. Macartney resumed Test cricket when Australia hosted England in 1920-21, and was one of only four players remaining from before the war. However, he only played in two of the Tests due to illness and injury. His early season form was ominous for the tourists. Macartney scored 161 in guiding New South Wales to a successful run-chase of 4/335 over the Englishmen. He then scored 96 and 30 for an Australian XI against the tourists in a dress rehearsal for the Tests. In the First Test, playing as an opening batsman, he struck 19 in the first innings. Australia's new post-war skipper Warwick Armstrong felt that Macartney would be more effective at number three, and in the second innings, he made a free-flowing 69 in a 111-run second-wicket stand with Herbie Collins as Australia went on to inflict a 377-run defeat. Macartney's return to form was interrupted by an illness, which caused him to miss the following three Test matches. After a two-month layoff, Macartney struck 130 in a match for his state against England. He returned for the Fifth and final Test, where he recorded his highest Test innings of 170 on his home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground. Among the spectators was a 12-year-old Don Bradman, who had been taken to watch Macartney by his father. Eight decades later, Bradman recalled the innings, "as if it were yesterday", describing it as full of "delicate leg-glances, powerful pulls, cuts and glorious drives" and concluding that it was one of the best innings he had seen in his lifetime. Bradman cited the innings as an inspiration for his career. Macartney headed the Australian Test averages with 260 runs at 86.66 as Australia won the Ashes 5-0. It was the only such Ashes whitewash until 2006-07. Macartney has amassed 821 runs at 68.42 for the season. He took only three wickets at 56.33.
QUESTION: How did the war effect his career?
IN: Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider to a Jewish family in Mineola, New York, grew up in nearby Bellmore, and attended Wellington C. Mepham High School. His parents divorced when he was five years old (the documentary Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth claims he was eight years old), and Lenny lived with various relatives over the next decade. His British-born father, Myron (Mickey) Schneider, was a shoe clerk and Lenny saw him very infrequently.

In 1951, Bruce met his future wife, Honey Harlow, a stripper from Manila, Arkansas. They were married that same year, and Bruce was determined to have her end her work as a stripper. Bruce and Harlow eventually left New York City in 1953 for the West Coast, where they got work as a double act at the Cup and Saucer in Los Angeles, California. Bruce then went on to join the bill at the club Strip City. Harlow found employment at the Colony Club, which was widely known to be the best burlesque club in Los Angeles at the time. Bruce left Strip City in late 1954 and found work within the San Fernando Valley at a variety of strip clubs. As the master of ceremonies, his job was to introduce the strippers while performing his own ever-evolving material. The clubs of the Valley provided the perfect environment for Bruce to create new routines: according to Bruce's primary biographer, Albert Goldman, it was "precisely at the moment when he sank to the bottom of the barrel and started working the places that were the lowest of the low" that he suddenly broke free of "all the restraints and inhibitions and disabilities that formerly had kept him just mediocre and began to blow with a spontaneous freedom and resourcefulness that resembled the style and inspiration of his new friends and admirers, the jazz musicians of the modernist school." Honey and Lenny's daughter Kitty Bruce was born in 1955. He had an affair with the jazz singer Annie Ross in the late 1950s. In 1959, Lenny's divorce from Honey was finalized.
QUESTION:
What other aspects of his personal life are notable?