May 02 |
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Dwayne Douglas Johnson's Birthday |
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Dwayne Johnson was born into a wrestling dynasty. His father, Rocky Johnson, was African-American wrestler and his grandfather was Samoan wrestler, High Chief Peter Maivia. His uncles were professional wrestlers known as the Wild Samoans, and his cousins Rickoshi, Rosey, and Umaga were also on the wrestling circuit. Dwayne attended his first wrestling match when he was only a few weeks old, and by the time he was six years old, his father was teaching him the basics. Dwayne originally planned on a football career, but a back injury cost him a place in the NFL. He then signed a three year deal with the Canadian League but left after a year to pursue a career in the family trade. After a brief stint in the United States Wrestling Association under the name Flex Kavanah, Dwayne switched to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), then known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and chose Rocky Maivia as his new name .However, as his popularity began to explode, Dwayne began taking the on the persona of his third reincarnation - The Rock. He became a nine-time World Heavyweight Champion in his career, a seven-time WWE Champion, and a two-time WCW Champion. His last reign was as WWE Undisputed Champion in 2002.
Dwayne's success in playing his wrestling persona allowed him to cross over into mainstream popularity. After hosting
Saturday Night Live, he received several
film offers. Dwayne decided to make his acting debut as the Scorpion King
in The Mummy Returns (2001). Although he only has several minutes of
screen time, the film's producers offered him the lead in The Scorpion King
(2002), a spin-off of his Mummy character, for $5.5 million - the most
money ever paid an actor for his first starting role. Dwayne's film career
continued in his action hero persona in The Rundown
(2003),
Walking Tall (2004), but switched to more family oriented films such
as Race to Witch Mountain
(2009), Tooth Fairy (2110)
and G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2012). |
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Almond Rock |
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Ingredients |
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2 TB margarine 2 cups sugar 1 cup water |
1 tsp lemon juice 3/4 cup light corn syrup 1&1/2 tsp almond extract |
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Instructions |
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1. Grease a baking sheet pan; set aside. 2 .In a heavy small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, corn syrup and lemon juice. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage). 3. Remove from the heat; stir in almond extract. Immediately pour onto prepared baking sheet. Quickly spread into a 13-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Using a sharp knife and working quickly, score into 1-inch squares. 4. Cut candy through score lines into squares. Let stand at room temperature until dry. 5. Separate into squares, or break into bite-size pieces. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 1 pound. |
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© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes | |||