1.
Tsardom of Russia
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From 1551 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 per year. After a military victory over Sweden and Poland, he implemented substantial reforms and proclaimed the Russian Empire in 1721. While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Duchy of Moscow used in its documents were Rus and the Russian land, in the 1480s Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name Росиа, Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre of Russian lordship. In England of the 16th century, it was both as Russia and Muscovy. In Northern Europe and at the court of the Holy Roman Empire, however, muscovites refute this, saying that their country was originally called Russia. When they are asked what nation they are, they respond Russac, which means Russians, and when they are asked what place they are from, by the 16th century, the Russian ruler had emerged as a powerful, autocratic figure, a Tsar. By assuming that title, the sovereign of Moscow tried to emphasize that he was a ruler or emperor on par with the Byzantine emperor or the Mongol khan. At first, the Byzantine term autokrator expressed only the meaning of an independent ruler. Ivan IV was crowned Tsar and thus was recognized, at least by the Russian Orthodox Church and that concept was to resonate in the self-image of Russians in future centuries. The development of the Tsars autocratic powers reached a peak during the reign of Ivan IV, Ivan strengthened the position of the Tsar to an exceptional degree, demonstrating the risks of unrestrained power in the hands of a mentally unstable individual. Although apparently intelligent and energetic, Ivan suffered from breakdowns of paranoia and depression, Ivan IV became Grand Prince of Moscow in 1533 at the age of three. The Shuysky and Belsky factions of the boyars competed for control of the regency until Ivan assumed the throne in 1547, reflecting Moscows new imperial claims, Ivans coronation as Tsar was a ritual modeled after those of the Byzantine emperors. With the continuing assistance of a group of boyars, Ivan began his reign with a series of useful reforms, in the 1550s, he declared a new law code, revamped the military, and reorganized local government. These reforms undoubtedly were intended to strengthen the state in the face of continuous warfare, the key documents prepared by the so-called Select Council of advisors and promulgated during this period are as follows. Muscovy remained a fairly unknown society in Western Europe until Baron Sigismund von Herberstein published his Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii in 1549 and this provided a broad view of what had been a rarely visited and poorly reported state. In the 1630s, the Russian Tsardom was visited by Adam Olearius, whose lively, further information about Russia was circulated by English and Dutch merchants. One of them, Richard Chancellor, sailed to the White Sea in 1553, upon his return to England, the Muscovy Company was formed by himself, Sebastian Cabot, Sir Hugh Willoughby, and several London merchants. Ivan the Terrible used these merchants to exchange letters with Elizabeth I, despite the domestic turmoil of the 1530s and 1540s, Russia continued to wage wars and to expand
2.
Konstantin Makovsky
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Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky was an influential Russian painter, affiliated with the Peredvizhniki. Many of his paintings, such as The Russian Brides Attire. He is often considered a representative of Academic art, konstantin Makovsky was born in Moscow. His father was the Russian art figure and amateur painter, Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky and his mother was a composer, and she hoped her son would one day follow in her footsteps. His younger brothers Vladimir and Nikolay and his sister Alexandra also went on to become painters, in 1851 Makovsky entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he became the top student, easily getting all the available awards. His teachers were Karl Bryullov and Vasily Tropinin, makovskys inclinations to Romanticism and decorative effects can be explained by the influence of Bryullov. Although art was his passion, he considered what his mother had wanted him to do. He set off to look for composers he could refer to, before, he had always been a classical music lover, and listened to many pieces. He often wished he could change the tune, or style of some of them to them more enjoyable. Later in his life it came true, in 1858 Makovsky entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. From 1860 he participated in the Academys exhibitions with such as Curing of the Blind. Makovsky became a member of a co-operative of artists led by Ivan Kramskoi, from 1870 he was a founding member of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions and continued to work on paintings devoted to everyday life. He exhibited his works at both the Academia exhibitions and the Traveling Art Exhibitions of the Wanderers, a significant change in his style occurred after traveling to Egypt and Serbia in the mid-1870s. His interests changed from social and psychological problems to the problems of colors. In the 1880s he became an author of portraits and historical paintings. At the Worlds Fair of 1889 in Paris he received the Large Gold Medal for his paintings Death of Ivan the Terrible, The Judgement of Paris and he was one of the most highly appreciated and highly paid Russian artists of the time. Many democratic critics considered him as a renegade of the Wanderers ideals, producing striking but shallow works, Makovsky was killed in 1915 when his horse-drawn carriage was hit by an electric tram in Saint Petersburg. Biography on site Hrono. ru Official site Biography on site gelos. ru Biography
3.
Opera
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Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. In traditional opera, singers do two types of singing, recitative, a style and arias, a more melodic style. Opera incorporates many of the elements of theatre, such as acting, scenery. The performance is given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his operas in the 1760s. The first third of the 19th century saw the point of the bel canto style, with Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Auber and Meyerbeer, the mid-to-late 19th century was a golden age of opera, led and dominated by Richard Wagner in Germany and Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. The popularity of opera continued through the era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Giacomo Puccini. During the 19th century, parallel operatic traditions emerged in central and eastern Europe, the 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism, Neoclassicism, and Minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso, since the invention of radio and television, operas were also performed on these mediums. Beginning in 2006, a number of opera houses began to present live high-definition video transmissions of their performances in cinemas all over the world. In 2009, an opera company offered a download of a complete performance. The words of an opera are known as the libretto, some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti, others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e. g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action, in some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, the terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below. Over the 18th century, arias were accompanied by the orchestra. Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagners example, though some, the changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below
4.
Aria
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An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term became used almost exclusively to describe a piece for one voice, with or without orchestral accompaniment. The typical context for arias is opera, but vocal arias also feature in oratorios and cantatas, the term, which derives from the Greek and Latin aer first appeared in relation to music in the 14th century when it simply signified a manner or style of singing or playing. By the end of the 16th century, the term refers to an instrumental form. By the early 16th century it was in use as meaning a simple setting of strophic poetry, melodic madrigals. In the context of staged works and concert works, arias evolved from simple melodies into structured forms, the aria evolved typically in one of two forms. Binary form arias were in two sections, arias in ternary form were known as da capo arias, in the da capo aria the B episode would typically be in a different key – the dominant or relative major key. This version of form with ritornelli became a dominant feature of European opera throughout the 18th century. It is thought by some writers to be the origin of the forms of concerto. The ritornelli became essential to the structure of the aria – while the words determine the character of a melody the ritornello instruments often decided in terms it shall be presented. By the early 18th century, composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti had established the aria form and it offered balance and continuity, and yet gave scope for contrast. The very regularity of its conventional features enabled deviations from the normal to be exploited with telling effect. In the early years of the century, arias in the Italian style began to take over in French opera, giving rise eventually to the French genre of ariette, normally in a relatively simple ternary form. Types of operatic aria became known by a variety of terms according to their character – e. g. aria parlante, aria di bravura, aria buffa, and so on. By the end of this first vocal paragraph the music, if it were in a key as it usually was, had modulated to the dominant. The orchestra then played a second ritornello usually shorter than the first, the singer re-entered and sang the same words through a second time. The music of this paragraph was often slightly more elaborate than that of the first. There were more repeats of words and perhaps more florid vocalisations, the key worked its way back to the tonic for the final vocal cadence after which the orchestra rounded the section off with a final ritornello
5.
Bridegroom
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A bridegroom is a man who will soon be or has recently been married. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and groomsmen, in the United States, the bridegroom usually wears a dark-colored suit for a daytime wedding or tuxedo for an evening ceremony. British tradition for a formal wedding requires the bridegroom, male ushers, bridegrooms of Scottish descent often wear full Highland dress, as do their groomsmen. His speech will normally be followed by one from the best man, the first mention of the term bridegroom dates to 1604, from the Old English brȳdguma, a compound of brȳd and guma. It is related to the Old Saxon brūdigomo, the Old High German brūtigomo, the German Bräutigam, in Christianity, Jesus Christ is called a bridegroom in relation to the Church as his bride. In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist speaks of Jesus Christ as the bridegroom and mentions the bride. That is the place in the Gospels that the bride is mentioned
6.
Serenade
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In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someones honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music, the word serenade is the translation of the Italian word serenata, derived from the Latin word serenus. In the oldest usage, which survives in form to the present day. The classic serenade usage would be from a lover to his love through a window. It was considered a piece, one to be performed on a quiet and pleasant evening, as opposed to an aubade. The custom of serenading in this manner began in the Medieval era, Music performed followed no one particular form, except that it was typically sung by one person accompanying himself on a portable instrument, most likely a guitar, lute or other plucked instrument. Works of this also appeared in later eras, but usually in a context that referred specifically to a past time. Carl Maria von Weber composed his serenade for voice and guitar, some composers of this type of serenade include Alessandro Stradella, Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Joseph Fux, Johann Mattheson, and Antonio Caldara. Often these were works performed with minimal staging, intermediate between a cantata and an opera. Usually the character of the work is lighter than other multiple-movement works for large ensemble, most of these works are from Italy, Germany, Austria and Bohemia. Among the most famous examples of the serenade from the 18th century are those by Mozart and his serenades were often purely instrumental pieces, written for special occasions such as those commissioned for wedding ceremonies. By the 19th century, the serenade had transformed into a work, less associated with outdoor performance for honorary occasions. The two serenades by Brahms are rather like light symphonies, perhaps more closely related to suites, except that use an ensemble Mozart would have recognized. Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Josef Suk, Edward Elgar and others wrote serenades for strings only, as did Hugo Wolf, who wrote one for string quartet. Other composers to write serenades in a Romantic style include Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss, Max Reger, Ethel Smyth,24 by Arnold Schoenberg, and the movement entitled Serenade in Shostakovichs last string quartet, No.15. Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a Serenade to Music that premiered in 1938 and these modern serenades are freely explored adaptations to the serenades original formal layout and instrumentation. A serenade is commonly of a multi-movement structure, ranging anywhere from four to up to ten movements and they usually are constructed with a fast opening movement, followed by middle slow movements that alternate with fast ones and close with a fast presto or allegro movement. There are strong influences from music, and serenades can be subtly inserted into a chamber music program
7.
Party
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A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration of a special occasion. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music, in many Western countries, parties for teens and adults are associated with drinking alcohol such as beer, wine or distilled spirits. Some parties are held in honor of a person, day, or event, such as a birthday party. Parties of this kind are often called celebrations, a party is not necessarily a private occasion. Public parties are held in restaurants, pubs, beer gardens, nightclubs or bars. Large parties in public streets may celebrate events such as Mardi Gras or the signing of a treaty ending a long war. A birthday party is a celebration of the anniversary of the birth of the person who is being honored, the tradition started in the mid-nineteenth century but did not become popular until the mid-twentieth century. Birthday parties are now a feature of many cultures, in Western cultures, birthday parties include a number of common rituals. The guests may be asked to bring a gift for the honored person, party locations are often decorated with colorful decorations, such as balloons and streamers. A birthday cake is served with lit candles that are to be blown out after a birthday wish has been made. The person being honored will be given the first piece of cake, while the birthday cake is being brought to the table, the song Happy Birthday to You or some other birthday song is sung by the guests. At parties for children, time is taken for the gift opening wherein the individual whose birthday is celebrated opens each of the gifts brought. It is also common at childrens parties for the host to give parting gifts to the attendees in the form of goodie bags, children and even adults sometimes wear colorful cone-shaped party hats. Birthday parties are often larger and more extravagant if they celebrate someone who has reached what is regarded in the culture as a milestone age, examples of traditional coming of age celebrations include the North American sweet sixteen party and the Latin American quinceañera. A surprise party is a party that is not made known beforehand to the person in whose honor it is being held, Birthday surprise parties are the most common kind of surprise party. At most such parties, the guests arrive a hour or so before the honored person arrives. Often, a friend in on the surprise will lead the honored person to the location of the party without letting on anything, the guests might even conceal themselves from view, and when the honored person enters the room, they leap from hiding and all shout, Surprise. For some surprise birthday parties, it is considered to be a tactic to shock the honored person
8.
Marriage
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The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged. In some cultures, marriage is recommended or considered to be compulsory before pursuing any sexual activity, when defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. Individuals may marry for several reasons, including legal, social, libidinal, emotional, financial, spiritual, whom they marry may be influenced by socially determined rules of incest, prescriptive marriage rules, parental choice and individual desire. In some areas of the world, arranged marriage, child marriage, polygamy, conversely, such practices may be outlawed and penalized in parts of the world out of concerns for womens rights and because of international law. These trends coincide with the human rights movement. Marriage can be recognized by a state, an organization, an authority, a tribal group. It is often viewed as a contract, Marriages can be performed in a secular civil ceremony or in a religious setting via a wedding ceremony. The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved, and any offspring they may produce, some cultures allow the dissolution of marriage through divorce or annulment. In some areas, child marriages and polygamy may occur in spite of laws against the practice. For example, the number of marriages in Europe decreased by 30% from 1975 to 2005 and these changes have occurred primarily in Western countries. The word marriage derives from Middle English mariage, which first appears in 1250–1300 CE and this in turn is derived from Old French, marier, and ultimately Latin, marītāre, meaning to provide with a husband or wife and marītāri meaning to get married. The adjective marīt-us -a, -um meaning matrimonial or nuptial could also be used in the form as a noun for husband. Anthropologists have proposed several competing definitions of marriage in an attempt to encompass the wide variety of marital practices observed across cultures, even within Western culture, definitions of marriage have careened from one extreme to another and everywhere in between. The anthropological handbook Notes and Queries defined marriage as a union between a man and a such that children born to the woman are the recognized legitimate offspring of both partners. In recognition of a practice by the Nuer people of Sudan allowing women to act as a husband in certain circumstances, Kathleen Gough suggested modifying this to a woman, none of these men had legal rights to the womans child. Economic anthropologist Duran Bell has criticized the definition on the basis that some societies do not require marriage for legitimacy. He argued that a definition of marriage is circular in societies where illegitimacy has no other legal or social implications for a child other than the mother being unmarried. In 1955 article in Man, Leach argued that no one definition of marriage applied to all cultures and he offered a list of ten rights associated with marriage, including sexual monopoly and rights with respect to children, with specific rights differing across cultures
9.
Wedding
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A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes, most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by the couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure. Special wedding garments are worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers or readings from religious texts or literature are commonly incorporated into the ceremony. Some cultures have adopted the traditional Western custom of the wedding, in which a bride wears a white wedding dress. This tradition was popularized through the marriage of Queen Victoria, some say Victorias choice of a white gown may have simply been a sign of extravagance, but may have also been influenced by the values she held which emphasized sexual purity. Within the modern white wedding tradition, a dress and veil are unusual choices for a womans second or subsequent wedding. The use of a ring has long been part of religious weddings in Europe and America. Historian Vicki Howard points out that the belief in the ancient quality of the practice is most likely a modern invention, double ring ceremonies are also a modern practice, a grooms wedding band not appearing in the United States until the early 20th century. The kittel is worn only under the Chupah, and is removed before the reception, different wedding clothing around the world Music played at Western weddings includes a processional song for walking down the aisle either before or after the marriage service. An example of use is reported in the wedding of Nora Robinson. Selections by George Frideric Handel, perhaps most notably the Air from his Water Music as processional, the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, often used as the processional and commonly known as Here Comes the Bride. Richard Wagner is said to have been anti-Semitic, and as a result, johann Pachelbels Canon in D is an alternative processional. The Wedding March from Felix Mendelssohns incidental music for the Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Toccata from Charles-Marie Widors Symphony for Organ No. Segments of the Ode to Joy, the movement of Ludwig van Beethovens Ninth Symphony. Other alternative considerations include various contemporary melodies like Bob Marleys One Love which is performed by a steel drum band. Most religions recognize a union with established ceremonies and rituals. Some religions permit polygamous marriages or same-sex marriages, many Christian faiths emphasize the raising of children as a priority in a marriage
10.
Wedding cake
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A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display, traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Modernly however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always served to the guests. Some cakes are built only a single edible tier for the bride. Wedding cakes come in a variety of sizes, depending on the number of guests the cake will serve, modern pastry chefs and cake designers use various ingredients and tools to create a cake that usually reflects the personalities of the couple. Marzipan, fondant, gum paste, buttercream, and chocolate are among the ingredients used. Cakes range in price along with size and components, Cakes are usually priced on a per-person, or per-slice, basis. Prices can range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars per-person or slice, Wedding cakes and cake decorating in general have become a certain pop culture symbol in western society. In America, TV shows such as Cake Boss or Amazing Wedding Cakes have become popular and are trending in today’s popular culture, Wedding cake was originally a luxury item, and a sign of celebration and social status. The bigger the cake, the higher the social standing, Wedding cakes in England and early America were traditionally fruit cakes, often topped with marzipan and icing with tiers, Cutting the cake was an important part of the reception. Today, many flavors and configurations are available in addition to the traditional tiered cake. The contemporary wedding cake has grown out of different ethnic traditions. One of the first traditions began in Ancient Rome where bread was broken over the head to bring good fortune to the couple. Cakes were not yet invented at that time, so they used a loaf of freshly baked of barley bread to do the tradition. The guests who attended the wedding would take part by taking a piece of the broken wedding cake in hopes that they would also get good luck. The custom of breaking the cake was mostly necessary at that time since they believed it would benefit, Brides mostly had to participate to ensure that her children would have good fortune. A successful kiss meant they were guaranteed a life together. From this the Croquembouche was created, the pastry chef then went back to France and piled sweet rolls up into a tower to make the first Croquembouche
11.
Brunch
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Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch eaten usually during the late morning to early afternoon, generally served from 9 am up to 11 am. The word is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch, Brunch originated in England in the late 19th century and became popular in the United States in the 1930s. Some colleges and hostels serve brunch, such brunches are often serve-yourself buffets, but menu-ordered meals may be available instead of, or with, the buffet. The meal usually involves standard breakfast foods such as eggs, sausages, bacon, ham, fruits, pastries, pancakes, scones, the United States military often serves weekend brunch in the dining facilities. They offer both breakfast and lunch options and are open from about 09, 00-13,00, the dim sum brunch is popular in Chinese restaurants worldwide. It consists of a variety of stuffed buns, dumplings, and other savory or sweet food items that have been steamed, deep-fried, customers pick small portions from passing carts, as the kitchen continuously produces and sends out more freshly prepared dishes. Dim sum is usually eaten at a mid-morning, midday, or mid-afternoon teatime, Brunch is prepared by restaurants and hotels for special occasions, such as weddings, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, or Easter Sunday. The Office québécois de la langue française accepts brunch as a valid word, note that, however, in Quebec, déjeuner alone means breakfast. In Quebec, the word—when Francized—is pronounced, german-speaking countries readily adopt Anglicisms, and brunch is no exception, defining it as a combination of breakfast and lunch. Chinese word “早午饭” is defined as brunch, “早饭” means breakfast, the combination of “早饭” and “午饭” is “早午饭”, as known as brunch. Friday Brunch is considered something of an institution in Dubai, in many regions of Canada, in particular in Southern Ontario, brunch is popular on Sundays when families will often host relatives or friends in their dining room. The typical brunch can last a few hours and go late into the afternoon, montreal-style bagels may be served alongside egg dishes, waffles or crepes, smoked meat or fish, fruit, salads, cheese, and dessert. Often, champagne or wine will be served and following the meal tea or coffee is usually consumed, in Canada, brunch is served in private homes using homemade foods and in restaurants. Brunches may also include foods not typically associated with breakfast, such as roasted meats, quiche, soup, smoked salmon, restaurant brunches may also be served from a menu, in which guests select specific items which are served to them by waitstaff. Restaurant brunch meals range from relatively inexpensive brunches available at diners and family restaurants to expensive brunches served at high-end restaurants, in South Africa, brunch is a favourite activity of many families. It is globally-distinctive in that only pancakes and fruit are consumed, the Birth of Brunch, Where Did This Meal Come From Anyway
12.
Ball (dance party)
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A ball is a formal dance party. Social dance forms a part of the evening, actual ballroom dancing may or may not occur. Catalan uses the word, ball, for the dance event. Cotillion ball Commemoration ball Hunt ball Masquerade ball May Ball Dance party Prom A well-documented ball occurred at Kingston Lacy, Dorset, England, on 19 December 1791. The occasion was to celebrate the completion of major alterations to the house, the event involved 140 guests, with dancing from 9pm to 7am, interrupted by dinner at 1am. Ball gown Ballroom Dance card Wallace, Carol McD. et al, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Media related to Balls at Wikimedia Commons
13.
Collective wedding
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A collective wedding or mass wedding is a marriage ceremony in which several couples are married at the same time. In 324 BC Alexander the Great married Barsine, the eldest daughter of Darius, in the same ceremony, he wed many of his leading officers and outstanding soldiers to other Persian women, about 80 couples in all. Today, these ceremonies are now performed in such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kurdistan, Palestine, South Korea. In 2011 a collective wedding ceremony in India involved 3,600 couples, including Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, many of them were the children of poor farmers. In the Philippines, mass civil or religious weddings are a common phenomenon, local politicians and sometimes celebrities participate as common wedding sponsors at such mass rites, which enable couples to benefit from formal state recognition of their unions. Parish churches also regularly offer collective Nuptial Masses for their low-income congregants, since 7 November 1960, under the guidance of Syedna Taher Saifuddin, Dawoodi Bohras have been conducting mass marriage events, at several venues, called Rasme Saifee. Currently the largest event is two days after the birthday of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin in Bombay. The first such mass marriage was held in Jamnagar, the event is now professionally looked after by the community organisation, International Taiseerun Nikah Committee. The Unification Church is known for holding weddings, which for some couples are marriage rededication ceremonies
14.
Dance hall
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Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the century until the early 1960s. One of the most famous dance hall musicians was Glenn Miller, other structural forms of dance halls include the dance pavilion which has a roof but no walls, and the open-air platform which has no roof or walls. The open air nature of the pavilion was both a feature and a drawback. The taxi dance hall is a hall with a specific arrangement. Starting in the early 1930s, The Savoy, a hall in Harlem was the first truly integrated building in the United States — for both the dancers and the musicians. We didnt care about the color of your skin, all we wanted to know was, Can you dance. The early days of rock n roll were briefly played out in dance halls until they were superseded by nightclubs, texas has a high concentration of community dance halls, the largest number of them built by German and Czech immigrants. In Sweden and Finland, open air dance pavilions have been used mostly in summer, especially formerly the dance pavilions were often built at sites with beautiful landscape, for example by the lakes. Ballroom Dance club, the successor of the dance hall Dance Halls at Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
15.
Assembly hall
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An assembly hall is a kind of function hall, a large room used to hold public meetings or meetings of the members of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall where the assembly of the state of Mississippi was held. Some Christian denominations call their places or places of worship assembly halls. Elders and ministers of Presbyterian churches gather in assembly halls for their general assembly, a function hall, reception hall, or banquet hall is a room or building for the purpose of hosting a party, banquet, wedding or other reception, or other social event. Function halls are found within pubs, clubs, hotels. Some are run by organizations and rented out as a fundraiser for the organization. Some condominium associations and apartment buildings have these to keep the noise of parties out of the residential units, the first recorded mention of function rooms is in 1922. On the campuses of colleges and universities in the United States, assembly halls are found in multi-purpose athletic buildings. Examples are Assembly Hall and Assembly Hall, conference hall Meeting house Assembly rooms Wedding reception Church hall Village hall
16.
Master of ceremonies
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A master of ceremonies, abbreviated M. C. also called compère and announcer, is the official host of a ceremony, a staged event or similar performance. The master of ceremonies sometimes also refers to the officer during an official state function. Today, the term often connotes a master of ceremonies who presents performers, speaks to the audience, entertains people, in addition, the term also exists in various chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The term originated in the Catholic Church, the Master of Ceremonies is an official of the Papal Court responsible for the proper and smooth conduct of the elegant and elaborate rituals involving the Pope and the sacred liturgy. He may also be an involved in the proper conduct of protocols and ceremonials involving the Roman Pontiff, the Papal Court. Examples of official liturgical books prescribing the rules and regulations of liturgical celebrations are Cæremoniale Romanum, the office of the Master of Ceremonies itself is very old. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the most ancient ceremonials and rituals of the Catholic Church are the Ordines Romani, names of Masters of Ceremonies are known since the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. However, copies of books prescribing the forms of rituals, rites and it is reasonable to assume that the ceremonials themselves pre-date Gelasius. However, documentary evidence from the late Roman period is scarce or lost, the ceremonies and practices of the Byzantine emperors are also known to have influenced the papal court. At a large Catholic church or cathedral, the Master of Ceremonies organizes and rehearses the proceedings and he may also have responsibility for the physical security of the place of worship during the liturgy. At major festivities such as Christmas and Easter, when the liturgies are long and complex, the current papal Master of Ceremonies is Monsignor Guido Marini, who succeeded Archbishop Piero Marini. Masters of Ceremonies at weddings and private events also ensure the coordination of their event, became an alternative title for a rapper and for their role within hip hop music and culture. The term is used as a term of distinction, referring to an artist with good performance skills. An MC focuses on skills, lyrical ability, and subject matter, in any comedy show, the compère is the host of the evenings events, but the precise role and responsibilities will vary depending on the country, venue and style of event. The compère will normally do longer bits at the start of the show and after any interval and they may also be required to make announcements, such as birthdays, anniversaries and bar promotions. In some circles the title Master of Ceremonies is also known as Minister of Ceremonies, in the 1940 Disney film, Fantasia, Deems Taylor is the films Master of Ceremonies. Media related to Master of ceremonies at Wikimedia Commons
17.
Disc jockey
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A disc jockey is a person who mixes different sources of pre-existing recorded music as it is playing, usually for a live audience in a nightclub or dance club or via broadcasting. DJs typically perform for an audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or in the 2010s. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale, in hip hop music, DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks, basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over, DJs use equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously and mix them together. This allows the DJ to create seamless transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs, DJ equipment, notably the specialized DJ mixer, a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another, the cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to preview a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the track they want to play. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience, effects such as reverb to create sound effects, drum machines. The title DJ is also used by DJs in front of their real names or adopted pseudonyms or stage names as a title to denote their profession. Some DJs focus on creating a mix of songs for the club dancers or radio audience. Other DJs use turntablism techniques such as scratching, in which the DJ or turntablist manipulates the record player turntable to create new sounds. In many types of DJing, including club DJing and radio/TV DJing, there are several types of disc jockey. Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, club DJs select and play music in bars, nightclubs or discothèques, or at parties, raves, or even in stadiums. Mobile DJs travel with portable sound systems and play recorded music at a variety of events. Some mobile DJs also serve as the master of ceremonies at weddings or other events, directing the attention of attendees, there are also many competitions for DJs that specialize in different turntablism techniques, such as mixing, hip hop music-style scratching or other kinds of techniques. Other types of DJ use musical performance techniques that allow them to be categorized as performing musicians, hip hop DJs and are also often songwriters or music producers who use turntablism and sampling to create backing instrumentals for new tracks. In reggae, the DJ is a vocalist who raps, toasts, chants or chats over pre-recorded rhythm tracks, the individual who helps the DJ by selecting tracks or records to be played is called the selector. Many electronica artists and producers who work as DJs often perform music by combining turntablism with keyboards, digital musical instruments
18.
Wedding breakfast
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A wedding breakfast is a dinner given to the bride, bridegroom, and guests at the wedding reception. The phrase is used in British English. The Compact Oxford Dictionary lists the phrase as only “British”, the custom of the wedding breakfast is occasionally spotted in non-English speaking countries that market themselves as wedding destinations, e. g. Poland. Nowadays the wedding breakfast is not normally a morning meal, nor does it look like a typical breakfast, so its name can be confusing. After the wedding ceremony was complete, the priest would bless and distribute some wine, cakes, and sweetmeats, since usage of the phrase cannot be shown to date back earlier than the first half of the nineteenth century however, a pre-16th-century origin seems unlikely. The Oxford English Dictionary does not record any occurrences of the wedding breakfast before 1850. This would agree with the quotation above, which suggests the phrase came into use about the 1830s, list of breakfast topics Wedding Wedding reception Rehearsal dinner
19.
Croquembouche
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A croquembouche or croque-en-bouche is a French dessert consisting of choux pastry balls piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. In Italy and France, it is served at weddings, baptisms. The name comes from the French phrase croque en bouche, meaning crunches in the mouth, a croquembouche is composed of profiteroles piled into a cone and bound with spun sugar. It may also be decorated with other such as sugared almonds, chocolate. Sometimes it is covered in macarons or ganache, in Viards encyclopedia and other early texts, it is included in lists of entremets - elaborate dishes, both savory and sweet, that were served between courses during large banquets. On March 6,2009, alumni of the Pune-based Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and it was recorded as 15 ft tall. Croquembouche was one of the desserts that Gloria serves to the WJM news team and program director in A New Sue Ann. In a take-off on All About Eve, Sue Anns show is hijacked by Gloria Munson, Sue Ann lets Gloria make the mistake of using unrefrigerated cream. On 8 June 2009, Season 1 Episode 37 5th Pressure Test Elimination of MasterChef Australia four out of eleven contestants baked a croquembouche made by Adriano Zumbo in 2 hours and 15 minutes and this challenge was repeated in the following seasons of the series. On 1 September 2014, Season 5, Episode 15 of the reality TV competition MasterChef, in a late-July 2016 episode of Coronation Street, Sally creates a croquembouche for her soirée and wants to impress the Mayor of Weatherfield. Season 3, Episode 3 of Please Like Me is named Croquembouche after the birthday cake featured in the episode
20.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
21.
Layer cake
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Most cake recipes can be made into layer cakes, butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing, but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling, popular flavor combinations include the German chocolate cake, red velvet cake, Black Forest cake, and carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Many wedding cakes are decorated layer cakes, in the mid-19th century, modern cakes were first described in English. Maria Parloas Appledore Cook Book, published in Boston in 1872, another early recipe for layer cake was published in Cassells New Universal Cookery Book, published in London in 1894. An older form of cake is common in southern and eastern Europe. In Ukraine and Russia, people still make these cakes in the old traditional way, the cake batter is baked in a frying pan in thin layers, about a centimeter thick in the finished stack. These layers are covered with a thin layer of cream and/or jam. This stack, which is the height as the typical Western layer cake, is then frosted so that the structure is not visible. At first glance, these cakes look much like a German konditorei style cake such as the Black Forest cake, layer cakes typically serve multiple people, so they are larger than cupcakes, petit fours, or other individual pastries. A common layer cake size, which is baked in nine-inch round cake pans, unlike the Vietnamese Bánh da lợn or Swiss rolls, layer cake is assembled from several separate pieces of cake. A sheet cake can become a layer cake if it is cut into pieces, baumkuchen List of cakes Mille-feuille Torte Stack cake Spekkoek Food portal
22.
Sheet cake
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A sheet cake is a cake baked in a large, flat rectangular pan such as a sheet pan or a jelly roll pan. These single-layer cakes are almost always frosted, with decorations and ornamental frosting along the borders, in the United States, these inexpensive cakes are commonly available in supermarkets and bakeries. Sheet cakes may be made in any flavor, with chocolate, commonly made in the home with boxed cake mixes, they can come in a variety of additional flavors, with colorful batter mix-ins such as sprinkles and chocolate chips. By definition, they are made from a continuous piece of cake. Ingredients such as nuts, chocolate chips, or coconut may be sprinkled over the top, a layer cake may be made from a sheet cake that has been split, filled with jam or icing, and frosted. Cake decorating Swiss roll List of desserts
23.
Groom's cake
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A grooms cake is a wedding tradition originating in Victorian England, but observed more often in the modern age in the American South. While a wedding cake may often be decorated in white and light in texture or color, cheesecake sometimes serves as a grooms cake. The grooms cake is served at a table separate from the wedding cake at a wedding reception or wedding breakfast. The tradition of the cake began in Britain. The grooms cake was often richer than the brides, since stronger flavors such as chocolate, fruitcake, grooms cakes during the Victorian era were heavy, dense fruitcakes. A characteristic recipe for the fruit cake was published in the “The British Baker in 1897. Eventually, flour cakes, either white or chocolate, supplanted fruit cakes as the most popular choice, groom’s cake is a tradition most popular in the southeastern United States. It was brought over from Britain by colonists, the Southern grooms cake was traditionally a dark-liquor soaked fruitcake, especially in Virginia. The white-iced brides cake was considered too light for masculinity Chocolate grooms cakes became popular in the late 19th century, grooms cakes are usually served at the wedding reception as a second flavor choice to the guests, but are often served at the rehearsal dinner in some regions. Grooms Cakes are often decorated to reflect the grooms hobbies, such as golfing, fishing, the movie Steel Magnolias features a famous scene with a red velvet grooms cake shaped as a giant armadillo. Another tradition was to cut a piece of the cake and put it in a small box, the woman was not expected to eat the cake, but rather to put it under her pillow. Superstition held that this tradition would help an unmarried woman find a husband
24.
Tea party
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A tea party is a formal, ritualized gathering for the small meal called afternoon tea. Formal tea parties are characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as porcelain. The table is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups, in addition to tea, larger parties may provide punch, or in cold weather, hot chocolate. The afternoon tea party was a feature of houses in the Victorian and Edwardian ages in the United Kingdom. The formal tea party still survives as an event, as in the debutante teas of some affluent American communities. In the older version, servants stayed outside the room until needed, writing in 1922, Emily Post asserted that servants were never to enter the room unless rung for, to bring in fresh water and dishes or to remove used dishes. This was partly due to the rigidity of social convention at the time, a less formal large afternoon party for tea was known during the 18th and 19th centuries as a kettle drum. Alternately, kettle drum may have been an amalgam of drum — 18th-century slang for a vivacious party — and kettle for the tea served. At kettle drums, guests traditionally came for short periods and left at will, mingled and conversed with little formality, and partook of tea, chocolate, lemonade, cakes, guests were expected to dress for ordinary daytime visiting, but not more formally. Tea parties are also created by young children where the guests consist of stuffed animals, dolls, friends, the other characters give Alice many riddles and stories, including the famous Why is a raven like a writing desk. The Hatter reveals that they have tea all day because time has punished him by standing still at 6 pm. Alice becomes insulted and tired of being bombarded with riddles and she leaves claiming that it was the stupidest tea party that she had ever been to, yum cha is the Chinese equivalent of a tea party, though it is usually held in a restaurant. Dawn L. Campbell, The Tea Book, Pelican Publishing, Louisiana
25.
Toast (honor)
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A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, thus, a person could be the toast of the evening, for whom someone proposes a toast to congratulate and for whom a third person toasts in agreement. The ritual forms the basis of the literary and performance genre, according to various apocryphal stories, the custom of touching glasses evolved from concerns about poisoning. By one account, clinking glasses together would cause each drink to spill over into the others, according to other stories, the word toast became associated with the custom in the 17th century, based on a custom of flavoring drinks with spiced toast. The word originally referred to the lady in whose honor the drink was proposed, toasts are generally offered at times of celebration or commemoration, including certain holidays, such as New Years Eve. Other occasions include retirement celebrations, housewarming parties, births, etc, the protocol for toasting at weddings is comparatively elaborate and fixed. The best man usually proposes a toast in the form of best wishes, a best mans toast takes the form of a short speech that combines a mixture of humor and sincerity. The actual toast is then delivered at the end of the speech and is a short phrase wishing the newlyweds a happy, healthy, the maid of honor may follow suit, appropriately tailoring her comments to the bride. The groom may offer the final toast, thanking the brides parents for hosting the wedding, the party for their participation. Typical traditional wedding toasts include the following, Heres to your coffins May they be made of hundred-year-old oaks Which we shall plant tomorrow. May you both live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live May the best of your yesterdays be the worst of your tomorrows, may I see you grey And combing your grandchildrens hair. Toasts are also offered on occasions, as in the case of Stephen Decaturs famous Our country. In our intercourse with foreign nations may we always be in the right, equally traditional are satiric verses, Heres to dear old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod, Where Lowells speak only to Cabots, And Cabots speak only to God. Toasts may be solemn, sentimental, humorous, even bawdy or insulting, the practice of announcing ones intention to make a toast and signalling for quiet by rapping on the wineglass, while common, is nonetheless regarded by some authorities as rude. Except in very small and informal gatherings, a toast is offered standing, at a gathering, none should offer a toast to the guest of honor until the host has had the opportunity to do so. In English-speaking countries, guests may signal their approval of the toast by saying hear hear, the person honored should neither stand nor drink, but after the toast should rise to thank the one who has offered the toast, perhaps but not necessarily offering a toast in turn. As toasts may occur in series, experienced attendees often make sure to leave enough wine in the glass to allow participation in numerous toasts. Even the non-drinker is counseled not to refuse to allow wine to be poured for a toast, inverting the glass is especially discouraged
26.
Western culture
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The term also applies beyond Europe, to countries and cultures whose histories are strongly connected to Europe by immigration, colonization, or influence. For example, Western Culture includes countries in the Americas and Australasia, whose language, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Ancient Greece is considered the birthplace of Western culture, with the worlds first democratic system of government and major advances in philosophy, science, Greece was followed by Rome, which made key contributions in law, government, engineering and political organization. European culture developed with a range of philosophy, medieval scholasticism, and mysticism. Rational thinking developed through an age of change and formation, with the experiments of the Enlightenment. More often an ideology is what will be used to categorize it as a Western society. There is some disagreement about what nations should or should not be included in the category, many parts of the Eastern Roman Empire are considered Western today but were Eastern in the past. Since the context is highly biased and context-dependent, there is no agreed definition what the West is and it is difficult to determine which individuals fit into which category and the East–West contrast is sometimes criticized as relativistic and arbitrary. Globalism has spread Western ideas so widely that almost all cultures are, to some extent. Stereotyped views of the West have been labeled Occidentalism, paralleling Orientalism—the term for the 19th-century stereotyped views of the East, as Europe discovered the wider world, old concepts adapted. The area that had formerly considered the Orient became the Near East, as the interests of the European powers interfered with Meiji Japan and Qing China for the first time. Thus, the Sino-Japanese War in 1894–1895 occurred in the Far East, the Greeks contrasted themselves to their Eastern neighbors, such as the Trojans in Iliad, setting an example for later contrasts between east and west. In the Middle Ages, the Near East provided a contrast to the West, concepts of what is the West arose out of legacies of the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, ideas of the west were formed by the concepts of Latin Christendom, Western culture is neither homogeneous nor unchanging. As with all cultures, it has evolved and gradually changed over time. Nevertheless, it is possible to follow the evolution and history of the West, and appreciate its similarities and differences, its borrowings from, and contributions to, other cultures of humanity. Nevertheless, the Greeks felt they were the most civilized and saw themselves as something between the wild barbarians of most of Europe and the soft, slavish Middle-Easterners. In the meantime, however, Greece, under Alexander, had become a capital of the East, the Celts also created some significant literature in the ancient world whenever they were given the opportunity
27.
Bride
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A bride is a woman who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the future spouse, or husband is usually referred to as the bridegroom or groom. In Western culture, a bride may be attended by one or more bridesmaids, the word may come from the Proto-Germanic verb root *brū-, meaning to cook, brew, or make a broth, which was the role of the daughter-in-law in primitive families. But Aoife Curran, in Ireland Legends And Folklore, suggests that the bride may be named for Saint Brigit. In Europe and North America, the attire for a bride is a formal dress. Usually, in the white wedding model, the dress is bought specifically for the wedding. For first marriages in Western countries, a wedding dress is usually worn, a tradition started by Queen Victoria. Today, Western brides frequently wear white, cream, or ivory dresses for any number of marriages, outside of Western countries, brides most commonly wear national dress. White wedding dresses are particularly uncommon in Asian traditions, because white is the color of mourning, in many Asian cultures, red is usual for brides, as this colour indicates vibrance and health and has over time been associated with brides. However, in modern times other colours may be worn, or Western styles preferred, regardless of colour in most Asian cultures bridal clothes are highly decorative, often covered with embroidery, beading or gold. In some traditions brides may wear more than one outfit, this is true for example in Japan, parts of India, particular styles of jewelry are often associated with bridal wear, for example wedding rings in most Western cultures, or chura in Punjabi Sikh culture. Hindu brides are presented with a mangalsutra during the wedding ceremony, wedding jewellery has traditionally been used to demonstrate the value of the brides dowry. In addition to the gown, brides wear a veil and carry a bouquet of flowers, a small heirloom such as a lucky coin. In Western countries, a bride may wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, the term bride appears in combination with many words, some of which are obsolete. Thus bridegroom is a married man, and bride-bell, bride-banquet are old equivalents of wedding-bells. Bridal, originally the wedding-feast itself, has grown into a general descriptive adjective, the cake-eating went out of fashion, but the wheat ears survived. In the Middle Ages they were either worn or carried by the bride, eventually it became the custom for the young girls to assemble outside the church porch and throw grains of wheat over the bride, and afterwards a scramble for the grains took place. In time the wheat-grains came to be cooked into thin dry biscuits, which were broken over the head, as is the custom in Scotland today
28.
Groomsman
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A groomsman, or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, from his groomsmen, the groom usually chooses one to serve as best man. Ushers may also be hired for very large weddings, in a military officers wedding, the roles of groomsmen are replaced by swordsmen of the sword honor guard. They are usually picked as close friends of the groom who have served with him. Their role includes forming the traditional saber arch for the married couple, the most visible duty of the groomsmen is helping guests find their places before the ceremony and to stand near the groom during the wedding ceremony. Groomsmen may also participate in local or regional traditions, such as decorating the newlywed couples car, the other and also very important task of the best man is to give a speech during the wedding. This is usually decided between the bride and groom before the wedding, the best man speech is usually humorous and short. The best man is the assistant to the groom at a wedding and is the third most important in attendance after the bride. In most modern Anglophone countries, the groom extends this honor to someone who is close to him, generally close friend or relative. When the groom wishes to give honor to a woman, she may be termed the best woman or best person. The brides equivalent of the best man is the bridesmaid, or the maid/matron of honor, a gender-neutral term is honor attendant. During a wedding ceremony the best man stands next to the groom and this means that the four people present at the altar are the celebrant, the bride, groom, and best man. This is common in western countries, although in others the best man. Even in places where a best man is customary, the role may be different when compared to other areas of the world. In Britain, it is traditional for the best man to give a short speech, in Zambia, a best man is expected to lead processions both at the wedding, and at preliminary events. In Uganda, a best man is expected to guide the newlyweds in the ways of marriage and this means that ideally a best man must be married, preferably to one wife, and should be in position to give sound, tried and tested advice. A best man must be a confidant and be discreet about the details he shares with the new couple, in Bhutan, the best man presents himself at the wedding as a ceremonial guardian to both bride and groom. Thereafter he entertains the guests, sometimes for several hours, in Eastern Orthodox weddings in Greece, the best man is often also the koumbaros, or religious sponsor
29.
Bridesmaid
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The bridesmaids are members of the brides party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony, traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age. The principal bridesmaid, if one is so designated, may be called the chief bridesmaid or maid of honor if she is unmarried, a junior bridesmaid is a girl who is clearly too young to be married, but who is included as an honorary bridesmaid. In the United States, typically only the maid/matron of honor, often there is more than one bridesmaid, in modern times the bride chooses how many to ask. Historically, no person of status went out unattended, and the size of the retinue was closely calculated to be appropriate to the social status. A large group of bridesmaids provided an opportunity for showing off the social status. In some cultures, such as in Norway, the Netherlands and Victorian Britain and they may carry flowers during the wedding procession and pose with the married couple in bridal photos. In modern English-speaking countries, this role is separate from that of the bridesmaid, although many exceed the minimum, the bridesmaids required duties are very limited. They are required to attend the ceremony and to assist the bride on the day of the wedding. Bridesmaids in Europe and North America are often asked to assist the bride with planning the wedding, in modern times, a bridesmaid often participates in planning wedding-related events, such as a bridal shower or bachelorette party, if there are any. If it is customary in the area to have a bridesmaids luncheon, then it is hosted. A junior bridesmaid has no responsibilities beyond attending the wedding, the duties and costs of being a bridesmaid are parsed out between a bride and her attendants in a variety of ways. In some American weddings, each bridesmaid may be asked to spend US $1,700 or more, with travel to destination weddings, in the United Kingdom, the term maid of honour originally referred to the female attendant of a queen. The term bridesmaid is normally used for all bridal attendants in the UK, however, when the attendant is married, or is a mature woman, the term matron of honour is often used. The influence of American English has led to the chief bridesmaid sometimes being called the maid of honour. In North America, a party might include several bridesmaids. In modern-day weddings some brides opt to choose a male friend or brother as their head attendant
30.
Photo montage
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Photomontage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting image is photographed so that a final image may appear as a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not use film, is realized today through image-editing software and this latter technique is referred to by professionals as compositing, and in casual usage is often called photoshopping. A composite of related photographs to extend a view of a scene or subject would not be labeled as a montage. Such environments as dioramas were made of composited images, the first and most famous mid-Victorian photomontage was The Two Ways of Life by Oscar Rejlander, followed shortly thereafter by the images of photographer Henry Peach Robinson such as Fading Away. These works actively set out to challenge the then-dominant painting and theatrical tableau vivants, fantasy photomontage postcards were popular in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The preeminent producer in this period was the Bamforh Company, in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, many of the early examples of fine-art photomontage consist of photographed elements superimposed on watercolours, a combination returned to by George Grosz in about 1915. In 1916, John Heartfield and George Grosz experimented with pasting pictures together, as so often happens in life, we had stumbled across a vein of gold without knowing it. ”John Heartfield and George Grosz were members of Berlin Club Dada. The German Dadists were instrumental in making montage into a modern art-form, the term photomontage” became widely known at the end of World War I, around 1918 or 1919. Heartfield used photomontage extensively in his innovative book dust jackets for the Berlin publishing house Malik-Verlag and he revolutionized the look of these book covers. Heartfield was the first to use photomontage to tell a “story” from the front cover of the book to the back cover and he also employed groundbreaking typography to enhance the effect. From 1930-1938, John Heartfield used photomontage to create 240 “Photomontages of The Nazi Period” to use art as a weapon against fascism, continuing to produce anti-fascist art in Czechoslovakia until 1938, Heartfield’s political photomontages earned him the number five position on the Gestapo’s Most Wanted List. Other major artists who were members of Berlin Club Dada and major exponents of photomontage were Hannah Höch, Kurt Schwitters, Raoul Hausmann, Photomontage survived Dada and was a technique inherited and used by European Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí. Its influence also spread to Japan where avant-garde painter Harue Koga produced photomontage-style paintings based on images culled from magazines, the worlds first retrospective show of photomontage was held in Germany in 1931. A later term coined in Europe was, photocollage, which referred to large and ambitious works that added typography, brushwork. In the education sphere, media arts director Rene Acevedo and Adrian Brannan have left their mark on art classrooms the world over and his contemporary, Lola Alvarez Bravo, experimented with photomontage on life and social issues in Mexican cities. In Argentina during the late 1940s, the German exile, Grete Stern, began to contribute work on the theme of Sueños, as part of a regular psychoanalytical article in the magazine. The pioneering techniques of early photomontage artists were co-opted by the industry from the late 1920s onward
31.
Home movies
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Originally, home movies were made on photographic film in formats that usually limited the movie-maker to about three minutes per roll of costly camera film. The popularity of the Internet, and wider availability of high-speed connections has provided new ways of sharing home movies, such as video weblogs, the development of home movie-making has depended critically on availability of equipment and media formats at prices affordable to consumers. Development of film formats suitable for amateur hobbyists began early in the history of cinematography, for example, the 17.5 mm Birtac format was patented by Birt Acres in 1898. This format split the standard 35 mm film into two strips half as wide and was able to be loaded into the camera in daylight. Since the frames were half the height of 35 mm frames. Since the camera doubled as a printer and projector, equipment costs were also reduced, another breakthrough in making film practical for home users was the introduction of safety film in the 1920s. Many competing film formats were introduced in the decades until 16 mm safety film was introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1923. In 1932, Kodak introduced another new format,8 mm, now called Standard 8 or Regular 8, the film usually came in 16 mm wide Double 8 form, which ran through the camera in two passes and was slit in half after processing. The Straight 8 variant came already cut to 8 mm width, in either case, the amount of film stock used per frame was again reduced by 75%. This finally brought home movies within the reach of the average family, the smaller format also made possible smaller and more portable cameras and projectors. The introduction of Kodachrome color reversal film for 16 mm in 1935, the original 8 mm format was largely superseded within a few years of Kodaks 1965 introduction of Super 8 film. The Super 8 format used the film width as standard 8 mm. In addition, Super 8 film came in cartridges for easier loading into the camera, single-8, a competing product from Fujifilm, was also introduced in 1965. It used the new format as Super 8 but on a thinner polyester base. The introduction of the Beta VCR in 1975 and VHS in 1976 heralded a revolution in the making of home movies, videocassettes were extremely inexpensive compared to film and they could even be erased. This had the effect of increasing the hours of footage of most family video libraries. The honeymoon video of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee from 1998 was the first highly publicized example, large parts of the incident were captured on the camera phone of another audience member and broadcast widely. Home movies have played important roles in controversial criminal investigations, the prime example is the Zapruder film of the 1963 assassination of U. S. President John F. Kennedy, accidentally captured on Kodachrome film with an 8 mm home movie camera
32.
LCD projector
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An LCD projector is a type of video projector for displaying video, images or computer data on a screen or other flat surface. It is an equivalent of the slide projector or overhead projector. As polarized light passes through the panels, individual pixels can be opened to allow light to pass or closed to block the light, the combination of open and closed pixels can produce a wide range of colors and shades in the projected image. Metal-halide lamps are used because they output an ideal color temperature and these lamps also have the ability to produce an extremely large amount of light within a small area, current projectors average about 2,000 to 15,000 American National Standards Institute lumens. Other technologies, such as Digital Light Processing and liquid crystal on silicon are also becoming popular in modestly priced video projection. Because they use small lamps and the ability to project an image on any surface, LCD projectors tend to be smaller. Even so, the best image quality is found using a white, grey, or black surface. Perceived color in an image is a factor of both projection surface and projector quality. However, darkest black in an image is dependent on how dark the screen is. Because of this, some presenters and presentation-space planners prefer gray screens, the trade-off is that darker backgrounds can throw off color tones. Color problems can sometimes be adjusted through the settings. A projectors throw ratio is used when installing projectors to control the size of the projected display, for example, if the throw ratio is 2,1 and the projector is fourteen feet away from the screen, then the display width will be seven feet. Early experiments with liquid crystals to generate an image were done by John A. van Raalte at the RCA-Laboratories in 1968. His concept was based on e-beam-addressing to generate an electronic charge pattern corresponding to a video image, gene Dolgoff began thinking about different types of projectors in college in 1968 as a way to produce a video projector that would be brighter than the then-available CRT projectors. The idea was to use elements referred to as light valves to regulate the amount of light passes through it. This would allow the use of a very powerful external light source, after looking at many different materials, he thought that liquid crystals would allow to modulate the light as planned. However, direct-driven, matrix-addressed LCDs with sufficient resolution for video images were not available at the time, a lot of effort went into optimizing thin-film transistors suitable for driving active matrix-addressed LCDs. The concept was invented and early trials were conducted by teams at RCA, T Peter Brody left Westinghouse and founded Panelvision in 1981 to manufacture AM LCDs
33.
Gorals
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The Gorals are an ethnographic group primarily found in their traditional area of southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic. There is also a significant Goral diaspora in the area of Bukovina in western Ukraine and in northern Romania, as well as in Chicago, in Poland, the community inhabits the geographical region of Podhale of the Tatra Mountains and parts of the Beskids. In present-day Slovakia they live in 4 separate groups, in northern Spiš, Orava and Kysuce, the main settlements of Gorals include, Zakopane Poronin Murzasichle Zawoja Gorals share features with other Carpathian Slavic highlander groups, including Hutsuls, Lemkos, and Boykos. The various dialects spoken by the Gorals descend from Proto-Slavic from the Eastern Lechitic, Old Polish area, in other words, the language, called the Podhale dialect, is of Polish origin, but has been influenced by Slovak in recent centuries. Jabłonkowanie, a feature similar to mazurzenie, occurs in some Silesian dialects. 14th- and 15th-century palatal consonant pronunciation features are preserved in the Podhale dialect, K. Dobroslowski asserted that the Podhale dialect had loan-words from Romanian and Albanian, as well as similar belief system elements, music and material culture. In the 16th and 17th centuries Gorals settled the upper Kysuca, Orava rivers and these territories were part of the northern Kingdom of Hungary. The mountainous regions were settled with pastoral Slavs with the Vlach law, in 1803–19, Gorals migrated to Bukovina. During World War II, Nazi Germany sought to Germanize the Gorals, along with the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, Nazi racial theorists considered the 27,000 strong Goral population as a separate ethnic group from the Poles. Termed Goralenvolk, they were deemed part of the Greater Germanic Race, the Gorals and other West Slavic peoples of the Carpathians show little northern, Germanic, influence, as opposed to other regions of Poland. Carleton S. Coon grouped the Gorals with the Hutsuls in the corner of Poland. In the 19th century, Polish scholars viewed the Gorals as linguistically close to the Poles and it was noted that Gorals social and economic life resembled that of Vlach shepherd culture. This Goral festival preserves the traditions of the Polish nationality group in Zaolzie and it is the largest cultural and folklore festival in Zaolzie area gathering thousands of spectators each day of festivities. However, in none of the towns and villages of the area the Poles form a majority, in this respect the village of Hrčava, with vast majority of citizens declaring Czech nationality, can be mentioned. In this village the Poles form only a 2% minority, local Gorals formed a majority in the past. They speak the dialect in everyday communication. Historically, the issue of their identity has been controversial. Gorals, like many other peasant communities in Central Europe, determined their own identities within the nation state system during the 19th
34.
Waltz
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The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple time, performed primarily in closed position. There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the waltz that date from 16th century Europe, the French philosopher Montaigne wrote of a dance he saw in 1580 in Augsburg, where the dancers held each other so closely that their faces touched. Kunz Haas wrote, Now they are dancing the godless Weller or Spinner, the peasants of Bavaria, Tyrol, and Styria began dancing a dance called Walzer, a dance for couples, around 1750. The Ländler, also known as the Schleifer, a dance in 34 time, was popular in Bohemia, Austria, and Bavaria. While the eighteenth century upper classes continued to dance the minuet, describing life in Vienna, Don Curzio wrote, The people were dancing mad. The ladies of Vienna are particularly celebrated for their grace and movements of waltzing of which they never tire, there is a waltz in the second act finale of the opera Una Cosa Rara written by Martin y Soler in 1786. Solers waltz was marked Andante con moto, or at a pace with motion, but the flow of the dance was sped-up in Vienna leading to the Geschwindwalzer. In the transition from country to town, the hopping of the Ländler, a known as Langaus, became a sliding step. In the 19th century, the word primarily indicated that the dance was a one, one would waltz in the polka to indicate rotating rather than going straight forward without turning. The Viennese custom is to anticipate the second beat of each measure, making it sound as if the third is late. The metronome speed for a full bar varies between 60 and 70, with the waltzes of the first Strauss often played faster than those of his sons. Shocking many when it was first introduced, the waltz became fashionable in Vienna around the 1780s, according to contemporary singer Michael Kelly, it reached England in 1791. During the Napoleonic Wars, infantry soldiers of the Kings German Legion introduced the dance to the people of Bexhill and it became fashionable in Britain during the Regency period, having been made respectable by the endorsement of Dorothea Lieven, wife of the Russian ambassador. Diarist Thomas Raikes later recounted that No event ever produced so great a sensation in English society as the introduction of the waltz in 1813, in the same year, a sardonic tribute to the dance by Lord Byron was anonymously published. Influential dance master and author of manuals, Thomas Wilson published A Description of the Correct Method of Waltzing in 1816. Come, its time to be going home, the waltz, and especially its closed position, became the example for the creation of many other ballroom dances. Subsequently, new types of waltz have developed, including many folk and it incorporated hesitations and was danced to fast music. A hesitation is basically a halt on the foot during the full waltz measure
35.
Foxtrot
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The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band music, the dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a 44 time signature instead of 34. Developed in the 1910s, the foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the 1930s, the dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style. The exact origin of the name of the dance is unclear, although one theory is that it took its name from its popularizer, two sources credit African American dancers as the source of the Foxtrot, Vernon Castle himself, and dance teacher Betty Lee. Castle saw the dance, which had been danced by negroes, to his knowledge, for fifteen years. Handy notes in his autobiography that his The Memphis Blues was the inspiration for the Foxtrot, during breaks from the fast paced Castle Walk and One-step, Vernon and Irene Castles music director, James Reese Europe, would slowly play the Memphis Blues. The Castles were intrigued by the rhythm and Jim asked why they didnt create a dance to go with it. The Castles introduced what they called the Bunny Hug in a magazine article. Shortly after, they went abroad and, in mid-ocean, sent a wireless to the magazine to change the name of the dance from Bunny Hug to the Foxtrot and it was subsequently standardized by Arthur Murray, in whose version it began to imitate the positions of Tango. At its inception, the foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime, from the late teens through the 1940s, the foxtrot was certainly the most popular fast dance and the vast majority of records issued during these years were foxtrots. The waltz and tango, while popular, never overtook the foxtrot, even the popularity of the lindy hop in the 1940s did not affect the foxtrots popularity, since it could be danced to the same records used to accompany the lindy hop. When rock and roll first emerged in the early 1950s, record companies were uncertain as to style of dance would be most applicable to the music. Notably, Decca Records initially labeled its rock and roll releases as foxtrots, most notably Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets. Since that recording, by some estimates, went on to more than 25 million copies. Today, the dance is accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced. Over time, the split into slow and quick versions, referred to as foxtrot. In the context of International Standard category of dances, for some time the foxtrot was called Slow Foxtrot. These names are still in use, to distinguish from other types of foxtrots, three distinct styles of foxtrot are in common use among ballroom dancers today, the American Social Style, the American Continuity Style, and the International Style
36.
Rhumba
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Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, taking its name from the latter, ballroom rumba differs completely from Cuban rumba both in its music and dance. Hence, authors prefer the Americanized spelling of the word to distinguish between them and this single, released by four months later by Victor, became a hit, becoming the first Latin song to sell 1 million copies in the United States. The song, composed by Moisés Simons, is a on-pregón arranged, in case, for Azpiazús big band featuring 3 saxophones,2 cornets, banjo, guitar, piano, violin, bass. With vocals by Antonio Machín and a solo by Remberto Lara. Soon, Azpiazús style was followed by other Cuban artists such as Armando Oréfiche and the Lecuona Cuban Boys and their style has been often described as ballroom conga, since they used to borrow conga rhythms in songs such as Para Vigo me voy. Among their numerous hits were boleros and canciones such as Amapola and this music movement, which also included many American big bands which covered Latin standards, was dubbed the rhumba craze. Notable bandleaders of the rhumba craze include Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Dorsey, Nathaniel Shilkret, Leo Reisman, rhumba was also incorporated into classical music as exemplified by symphonic pieces by composers such as George Gershwin, Harl McDonald and Morton Gould. Nonetheless, the rhumba craze would be the first of three Latin music crazes in the first half of the 20th century, together with the mambo craze, two variations of rhumba with opposing step patterns are danced around the world. American style rumba was imported to America by band directors like Emil Coleman, the film Rumba, released in 1935, brought the style to the attention of the general public. American style rhumba is taught in a box step, known for its slow-quick-quick pattern danced on the 1,3, international style rhumba was developed in Europe by Monsieur Pierre after he compared the established American style with contemporary Cuban dancers. International style is taught in a quick-quick-slow pattern danced on the 2,3, both styles were canonized in 1955. Rhumba is one of the dances which occurs in social dance. Of the five competitive international Latin dances, it is the slowest and this ballroom rumba was derived from a Cuban rhythm and dance called the bolero-son, the international style was derived from studies of dance in Cuba in the pre-revolutionary period. The modern international style of dancing the rumba derives from studies made by dance teacher Monsieur Pierre, Pierre, then from London, visited Cuba in 1947,1951, and 1953 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time. The international ballroom rumba is a dance of about 120 beats per minute which corresponds. All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the leg and, though this is scarcely noticeable in fast salsa. In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any rise and this style is authentic, as is the use of free arms in various figures
37.
Thinking Out Loud
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Thinking Out Loud is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, ×. It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge and was produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling and it was released in the US on 24 September 2014, serving as the third single from the album. In the UK, the song spent 19 weeks within the top 40 before it peaked at number-one in early November 2014, in June 2015, Thinking Out Loud became the first single to spend a full year in the UK top 40. In September 2015, it became the seventh single to have achieved triple platinum in the UK during the 21st century. Thinking Out Loud received nominations for Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards, Sheeran wrote Thinking Out Loud with Amy Wadge, a Wales-based singer-songwriter. He met Wadge when he was 17 years old and they had written several songs together. Of these, five songs composed the extended play Songs I Wrote with Amy, Wadge also co-wrote the song Gold Rush, a track on the deluxe version of Sheerans debut album, +. In February 2014, Wadge visited Sheeran in his house for a chilling-out time, around that time, Sheerans second studio album, ×, was nearly completed. Wadge revealed that her visit was not supposed to be a songwriting session, while Sheeran was taking a shower, Wadge played a few chords on a guitar. The tune caught the attention of Sheeran and he ran downstairs, Sheeran suggested working with the tune, but only after returning home from dinner, work began. The melody developed from a simple riff, according to Sheeran, he composed the melody on a guitar in a manner which was very Van-like, referring to Van Morrison. The Irish musician has been an inspiration to Sheeran since a young age, in the kitchen, Sheeran and Wadge began writing the song at 2,00 am on 4 February 2014, and completed it in 20 minutes. According to Wadge, the content resulted from her and Sheerans talking about everlasting love. Sheeran also revealed that the lyrics were inspired by his then-girlfriend, Athina Andrelos, Sheeran would later explain that he wrote the song in a relationship at a really, really happy point. Immediately after writing, Sheeran recorded the song on his phone and he was keen to include Thinking Out Loud on the second album. He properly recorded the song the day at the Sticky Studios, a recording facility located in the small Surrey village of Windlesham. It became the last song recorded for the album, Thinking Out Loud is a romantic ballad with blue-eyed soul influences. Sheeran referred to it as a walking down the aisle song, in the lyrics, Sheeran reflects on getting older and fidelity and love in a fairly conventional context, according to Eric Clarke, professor of music at University of Oxford
38.
Ed Sheeran
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Edward Christopher Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham and he attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, Surrey, as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in autumn 2009. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the play, No.5 Collaborations Project. After signing with Asylum Records, his album, +, was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single The A Team, which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, in 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. Sheerans popularity abroad began in 2012, in the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swifts fourth studio album, Red. The A Team was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards and he spent much of 2013 opening for Swifts The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three shows at New Yorks Madison Square Garden as a headline act. His second studio album, x, was released on 23 June 2014 and it peaked at number one in the UK and the US. In 2015, x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year and his single from x, Thinking Out Loud, earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. As part of his tour, Sheeran played three sold-out concerts at Londons Wembley Stadium in July 2015, his biggest solo shows to date. Sheerans third album, ÷, was released in March 2017, the album debuted at number one in the UK, the US and other major markets. He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week, Sheeran appeared on Debretts 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and moved with his family to Framlingham in Suffolk when he was a child and he has an older brother named Matthew, who works as a composer. Their parents, John and Imogen, are London-born and his paternal grandparents were Irish, and Sheeran has stated his father hailed from a very large Catholic family. John is an art curator and lecturer, and Imogen is a culture publicist turned jewellery designer and his parents ran Sheeran Lock, an independent art consultancy, from 1990 to 2010. Their work usually took them to London, and they spent their weekends travelling with their children, Sheerans early childhood memories include listening to the records of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. According to Sheeran, the album that first introduced him to music was Van Morrisons Irish Heartbeat, during his childhood, John took him to a number of live concerts that would later inspire his musical creations
39.
Amy Wadge
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Amy Wadge is a British singer-songwriter based in Wales but originally from Bristol. She has co-written tracks with Ed Sheeran, including his hit song Thinking Out Loud for which she won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year, Wadge was born and brought up in Backwell, a small village just outside Bristol, England. Her fathers passion for music influenced her enormously, and on the subject of her paternal influences she has said that she grew up listening to early Elton John, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. That was the stuff I cut my teeth on and now I listen to everything you can possibly imagine from hip hop to country and this wide range of influences, nurtured in her from an early age, can be heard throughout her body of work. She began to write her own songs at the age of 9 on the family piano, when she was 11, her parents bought her her first guitar from a junk shop. It was when Wadge taught herself to play along to Tracy Chapmans debut album that she discovered her affinity for the guitar, while still at school, Wadge regularly gigged around Bristols numerous celebrated music venues, and determined that performing was what she wanted to spend her life doing. At the age of 14, she signed her first record deal with her band Two of a Mind and she released her first single at the age of 16. Apart from writing songs for herself, Wadge has been active in collaborating with new performers in Britain, Wadge and Sheeran collaborated on a number of songs together, and Sheeran titled his self-released 2010 EP Songs I Wrote with Amy. One track was included with the edition of Sheerans album +. Wadge continues her relationship with Sheeran in 2014. The single Thinking Out Loud, written on a given to Sheeran. This album brought her attention and acclaim, and the BBC invited her to launch the digital radio station BBC6 Music along with Lenny Kravitz. In 2002, Wadge won Best Female Solo Act at the annual Welsh Music Awards, in 2003, she toured Australia with the Welsh Rugby Team during the Rugby World Cup with the song Adre Nôl. Later that year, she retained her Best Female Solo Act at the Welsh Music Awards,2004 saw her release her first full album, WOJ, to critical acclaim. In June 2004, she performed at Londons Royal Albert Hall on a bill that included Jeff Beck and Jan Hammer,2006 saw the release of Wadges second album, No Sudden Moves. The album includes a cover of the Manic Street Preachers single A Design for Life,2008 saw the release of her third album, Bump, which was recorded over two days when she was 8 months pregnant. It includes a cover of Dont Leave Me This Way, on Monday 2 November 2009, Wadge released her new single Hold Me with new record label, Choice Music. 2010 and 2011 saw Wadge work with Pete Riley and they released a CD, as well as two live DVDs, and they toured extensively together
40.
Soap bubble
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A soap bubble is an extremely thin film of soapy water enclosing air that forms a hollow sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few seconds before bursting and they are often used for childrens enjoyment, but they are also used in artistic performances. Assembling several bubbles results in a foam, when light shines onto a bubble it appears to change colour. Depending on the thickness of the film, different colours interfere constructively and destructively, Soap bubbles are physical examples of the complex mathematical problem of minimal surface. They will assume the shape of least surface area possible containing a given volume, a true minimal surface is more properly illustrated by a soap film, which has equal pressure on inside as outside, hence is a surface with zero mean curvature. A soap bubble is a soap film, due to the difference in outside and inside pressure. This has been dubbed the double bubble conjecture, due to these qualities soap bubbles films have been used with practical problem solving application. A famous example is his West German Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, when two bubbles merge, they adopt a shape which makes the sum of their surface areas as small as possible, compatible with the volume of air each bubble encloses. If the bubbles are of size, their common wall is flat. If they arent the same size, their common wall bulges into the bubble, since the smaller one has a higher internal pressure than the larger one. At a point where three or more bubbles meet, they sort themselves out so only three bubble walls meet along a line. Since the surface tension is the same in each of the three surfaces, the three angles between them must be equal to 120°, only four bubble walls can meet at a point, with the lines where triplets of bubble walls meet separated by cos−1 ≈109. 47°. All these rules, known as Plateaus laws, determine how a foam is built from bubbles, the longevity of a soap bubble is limited by the ease of rupture of the very thin layer of water which constitutes its surface, namely a micrometer-thick soap film. It is thus sensitive to, Drainage within the soap film and this can be slowed down by increasing the water viscosity, for instance by adding glycerol. Still, there is a height limit, which is the capillary length, very high for soap bubbles. In principle, there is no limit in the length it can reach, evaporation, This can be slowed down by blowing bubbles in a wet atmosphere, or by adding some sugar to the water. Dirt and fat, When the bubble touches the ground, a wall, or our skin and this can be prevented by wetting these surfaces with water. When a soap bubble is in contact with a solid or a liquid surface wetting is observed, on a solid surface, the contact angle of the bubble depends on the surface energy of the solid
41.
Black tie
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Traditionally worn only for events after 7 p. m. black tie is less formal than white tie but more formal than informal or business dress. In the United States, the form of black tie attire is often referred to as a tuxedo. Specifically it can include, Evening shoes and A ballgown. Cocktail dresses may be long or moderately short and neednt be black, in England, evening trousers with a palazzo cut are another acceptable option. Unlike the gentlemans standard, the specifics of black tie for ladies is linked to whatever evening wear is currently in fashion. When the dinner jacket first came into fashion in the Victorian era, lapels were often faced or edged in silk or satin in varying widths. Dinner jackets were considered from the first less formal than full dress, the dinner jacket was also increasingly accepted at less formal evening occasions such as warm-weather gatherings or intimate dinners with friends. After World War I, the jacket became de facto evening wear. During this interwar period, double-breasted jackets, turndown-collar shirts and cummerbunds became popular for black-tie evenings as did white, in the decades following World War II, black tie became special occasion attire rather than standard evening wear. The 1980s and 1990s saw a return to nostalgic styles, with black jackets, the 21st century has seen increased variation and a relaxation of previous strict standards, midnight blue once again became popular and lapel facings were sometimes reduced to wide edging. Traditionally, black tie was considered informal, in the 21st century black tie is often referred to as being semi-formal. Unlike white tie, which is strictly regulated, black-tie ensembles can display more variation. In brief, the components for men are, A jacket with silk facings on a shawl lapel. Many current fashion stylists and writers see notched lapels as less formal although they were used in some of the forms of the garment. Trousers with a silk or satin braid covering the outer seams, uncuffed. A black low-cut waistcoat or a cummerbund, a white dress shirt with double cuffs and a turndown collar. While the turndown is most appropriately semi-formal, the wing collar has been popular with American men since the 1980s. However, many style authorities argue that the version now typically offered is insubstantial with minuscule wings
42.
Hartford, Connecticut
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Hartford is the capital of the U. S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, as of the 2010 Census, Hartfords population was 124,775, making it Connecticuts third-largest city after the coastal cities of Bridgeport and New Haven. Census Bureau estimates since then have indicated Hartfords subsequent fall to fourth place statewide as a result of sustained growth in the coastal city of Stamford. Nicknamed the Insurance Capital of the World, Hartford houses many insurance company headquarters, founded in 1635, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. In 1868, resident Mark Twain wrote, Of all the towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief. Following the American Civil War, Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades, today, Hartford is one of the poorest cities in the nation with 3 out of every 10 families living below the poverty line. In sharp contrast, the Hartford metropolitan area is ranked 32nd of 318 metropolitan areas in total economic production, various tribes, all part of the loose Algonquin confederation, lived in or around present-day Hartford. The area was referred to as Suckiaug, meaning Black Fertile River-Enhanced Earth, the first Europeans known to have explored the area were the Dutch, under Adriaen Block, who sailed up the Connecticut in 1614. Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam returned in 1623 with a mission to establish a trading post, the original site was located on the south bank of the Park River in the present-day Sheldon/Charter Oak neighborhood. This fort was called Fort Hoop, or the House of Hope, in 1633, Jacob Van Curler formally bought the land around Fort Hoop from the Pequot chief for a small sum. It was home to perhaps a couple families and a few dozen soldiers, the area today is known as Dutch Point, and the name of the Dutch fort, House of Hope, is reflected in the name of Huyshope Avenue. The fort was abandoned by 1654, but its neighborhood in Hartford is still known as Dutch Point, the Dutch outpost, and the tiny contingent of Dutch soldiers that were stationed there, did little to check the English migration. The Dutch soon realized they were vastly outnumbered, the House of Hope remained an outpost, but it was steadily swallowed up by waves of English settlers. The English began to arrive 1637, settling upstream from Fort Hoop near the present-day Downtown, the settlement was originally called Newtown, but was changed to Hartford in 1637 in honor of Stones hometown of Hertford, England. Hooker also created the town of Windsor. The etymology of Hartford is the ford where harts cross, the Seal of the City of Hartford features a male deer, which in full maturity was referred to by the medieval hunting term hart. The fledgling colony along the Connecticut River had issues with the authority by which it was to be governed because it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colonys charter. Historians suggest that Hookers conception of self-rule embodied in the Fundamental Orders went on to inspire the Connecticut Constitution, today, one of Connecticuts nicknames is the Constitution State
43.
Median
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The median is the value separating the higher half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. In simple terms, it may be thought of as the value of a data set. For example, in the set, the median is 6. The median is a commonly used measure of the properties of a set in statistics. The basic advantage of the median in describing data compared to the mean is that it is not skewed so much by extremely large or small values, and so it may give a better idea of a typical value. For example, in understanding statistics like household income or assets which vary greatly, Median income, for example, may be a better way to suggest what a typical income is. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the numbers from smallest to greatest, if there is an odd number of numbers, the middle one is picked. For example, consider the set of numbers,1,3,3,6,7,8,9 This set contains seven numbers, the median is the fourth of them, which is 6. If there are a number of observations, then there is no single middle value. For example, in the set,1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9 The median is the mean of the middle two numbers, this is ÷2, which is 4.5. The formula used to find the number of a data set of n numbers is ÷2. This either gives the number or the halfway point between the two middle values. For example, with 14 values, the formula will give 7.5, and you will also be able to find the median using the Stem-and-Leaf Plot. There is no accepted standard notation for the median. In any of these cases, the use of these or other symbols for the needs to be explicitly defined when they are introduced. The median is used primarily for skewed distributions, which it summarizes differently from the arithmetic mean, the median is 2 in this case, and it might be seen as a better indication of central tendency than the arithmetic mean of 4. The widely cited empirical relationship between the locations of the mean and the median for skewed distributions is, however. There are, however, various relationships for the difference between them, see below
44.
Sampling bias
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In statistics, sampling bias is a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population are less likely to be included than others. It results in a sample, a non-random sample of a population in which all individuals. If this is not accounted for, results can be attributed to the phenomenon under study rather than to the method of sampling. Medical sources sometimes refer to sampling bias as ascertainment bias, ascertainment bias has basically the same definition, but is still sometimes classified as a separate type of bias. Sampling bias is mostly classified as a subtype of selection bias, sometimes specifically termed sample selection bias, in this sense, errors occurring in the process of gathering the sample or cohort cause sampling bias, while errors in any process thereafter cause selection bias. However, selection bias and sampling bias are often used synonymously, selection from a specific real area. For example, a survey of school students to measure teenage use of illegal drugs will be a biased sample because it does not include home-schooled students or dropouts. A sample is also biased if certain members are underrepresented or overrepresented relative to others in the population and this may be an extreme form of biased sampling, because certain members of the population are totally excluded from the sample. Self-selection bias, which is possible whenever the group of people being studied has any form of control over whether to participate, participants decision to participate may be correlated with traits that affect the study, making the participants a non-representative sample. For example, people who have opinions or substantial knowledge may be more willing to spend time answering a survey than those who do not. Another example is online and phone-in polls, which are biased samples because the respondents are self-selected and this often leads to a polarization of responses with extreme perspectives being given a disproportionate weight in the summary. As a result, these types of polls are regarded as unscientific, pre-screening of trial participants, or advertising for volunteers within particular groups. Exclusion bias results from exclusion of particular groups from the sample, excluding subjects who move out of the study area during follow-up is rather equivalent of dropout or nonresponse, a selection bias in that it rather affects the internal validity of the study. Healthy user bias, when the population is likely healthier than the general population. Berksons fallacy, when the population is selected from a hospital. Overmatching, matching for an apparent confounder that actually is a result of the exposure, the control group becomes more similar to the cases in regard to exposure than does the general population. Survivorship bias, in which only surviving subjects are selected, ignoring those that fell out of view, for example, using the record of current companies as an indicator of business climate or economy ignores the businesses that failed and no longer exist. The study of medical conditions begins with anecdotal reports, by their nature, such reports only include those referred for diagnosis and treatment
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