Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Thursday, May 4, 2006

 

 

 

Her first professional acting appearance was not an appearance at all, but the use of her voice on the cartoon The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show in which she voiced the character of Sally at the age of eight in 1983. The following year she also leant her voice to two other Charlie Brown cartoons It's Flashbeagle Charlie Brown in 1984 and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown in 1985. Her next appearance was on a video named Be Smebody or Be Somebody's Fool, an educational video where Mr. T and members of New Edition tells kids how to do the right thing. Stacy appears in the video in some of the skits. She also did some modeling and commercials on the side as well.

Big break
It was in 1984, however, that she got her big break when she received a role in the kid's television series Kids Incorporated along side another future celebrity, Jennifer Love Hewitt. She appeared on this show until 1989. The cast of the show won the Young Artists Ensemble Award in 1984 (shared with Ryan Lambert, Renee Sands, Rahsaan Patterson and Martika) and was nominated fir the Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in 1990 (shared with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sean O'Riordan, Kenny Ford Jr.. Devyn Puett and Richard Shoff). The cast of the show also did a TV special (Kids Incorporated: Rock in the New Year) and a video (Kids Incorporated: Chartbusters) in 1986.

Debut
She made her debut on the big screen in 1986 with the release of the horror/comedy Monsters in the Closet. Stacey took a hiatus from show business for a few years and enjoyed herself in school and doing normal teenage stuff. In 1997 she ended her time off and connected with Renee Sands (from her time in Kids Incorporated) and Sefanie Ridel to form the pop-band Wild Orchard. They released their self-titled debut album, Wild Orchard, in 1997 and it did fairly well on the charts. The following year, they recorded Oxygen, which was even more successful and included the hit song “Declaration.” In 1998, she also appeared briefly in the movie Outside Ozona.

In 1999, Stacy, made her way back to Saturday morning television on a series called Great Pretenders. Herself and the other two members of Wild Orchard hosted a tv show in which the audience would vote for the best contestant to lip-sync a song. The band began to lose popularity and in 2001, their record label refused to release their third album.

Meeting Black Eyed Peas
Stacy went into an emotional and mental downturn (including to turning to drugs for a short while). Wild Orchard dissolved and she bounced around from job to job dancing in nightclubs and performing backup singing. While doing backup, she met will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. She performed and did backup for the band in 2001 and 2002, especially afterKim Hill left. Stacy, who changed her name to “Fergie” was instrumental in making their album Elephunk (2002) such a success. They asked her to become a full time member of the band in 2003. The members of the Black Eyed Peas are Fergie, will.i.am, Taboo and apl.de.ap.

One of 50 most……..
In May 2004, she was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine. The Black Eyed Peas released their fourth album entitled Monkey Business in June of 2005 and it has already sold very well. In July 2005, she became engaged to actor Josh Duhamel (from Las Vegas and All My Children).

She continues to be a part of the Black Eyed Peas and is also continuing with her movie career. She is going to be in the movie Poseidon in 2006, based on the 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure. She also has hinted on having a solo career and has recently appeared on the soundtrack of 50 First Dates (starring Adam Sandler).


By Mood Dude and Gokhra

Mood Dude (DM): Gokhra prefers fast exotics and a few bland Japanese brands like the Gallant and Accord. Don't see what he sees in them.

Gokhra (G): Mood Dude goes for old American muscle and old two door Corollas. Don't' see what he sees in them. But we both agree that the Viper in one mean machine especially when it is tuned to the max.

A very brief Viper story starts in 1989, Chrysler Corp better known for marketing than engineering launches a concept roadster with an eight-litre V10 engine taken straight out of a truck. The theory is that bigger could be significantly better. The design is unmistakably a reptile. Sexy and dangerous all at the same time. The world goes crazy and Chrysler builds the car under the Dodge Viper name. This is followed by the coupe GTS which does fairly well as a racer creating a minor legend.

(DM): On one hand you have the ridiculously silly and oh-so-desirable base Viper with roughly 500 bhp. Then somebody thinks it isn't enough and gos ahead to build one with a little bit more horsepower, let's say about double the base amount.

(G): John Hennessey is one of those dudes who is an official Viper tuner. He has been modifying Vipers out of Houston since its release in 1992. Not limited to his dramatic engine upgrades, Hennessey also offers suspension and brake packages. Some of his Vipers also feature radical bodywork that gives these Venoms an image and appeal all their own. Recently they added some more power to the over-powered car and are offering it to general public.

(DM): Which is you and I right?

(G): Nope, general public meaning those who would like to pay with money that comes out of central banks and not from monopoly sets.

(DM): The new one is called the Viper Venom 1000 and rightfully so. That little 1000 right after the name hints at the amount of horsepower the monster engine produces. That makes it one of the only road-legal cars that can now challenge the Bugatti Veyron which incidentally has 1001 bhp.

(G): Ooooh, that's a whole lot more. It seems the 1000 bhp form the Viper is quite low because it has an ancient pushrod activated OHV and only 2 Valves per cylinder. Wonder what multi valve Honda engines would produce here. So what are the performance stats?

(DM): The Venom 1000 can reach zero-to-sixty in a phenomenal 2.25 seconds. Quarter mile comes up in 9.75 sec. In Road & Track's Standing Mile contest it completed the one mile in 25.6 seconds which was .3 seconds faster than the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo!

(G): To double the stock horsepower rating of the Viper, the Venom has been bored, stroked and pressurized to 15psi with twin Garret Turbos. The engine itself costs $50 000 engine. To match the ferocious nature of the Venom 1000 engine, a variety of tasty options are available. These include a fully adjustable suspension ($4250), Light-weight Rotors ($4500), Connolly Leather ($6500) Front Dam with Rear Diffuser & Spoiler ($9500) and a range of wheels. When all is said and done, the fully trimmed Venom 1000 should cost around $180 000 USD.

(DM): That's still less than other cars boasting similar power.

(G): The next monster Viper will be the Venom 1000 Twin Turbo SRT Coupe. Only 24 examples will be built at a price of $225,000 USD, each with a top speed of 255 mph! You know where you'll read about it.

(DM): Hey, the Monopoly set here only has 100,000 in cash. Damn!

 

 
 

home | Issues | The Daily Star Home

© 2006 The Daily Star