April 17, 2012
The Second Summer of Love is a name given to the period in 1988-89 in Britain, during the rise of acid house music and the euphoric explosion of unlicensed MDMA (‘Ecstasy’)-fuelled rave parties. The term generally refers to the summers of both 1988 and 1989, when electronic dance music and MDMA exploded in popularity, culminating in mass free parties and the era of the rave.
LSD was also widely available and popular again. The music of this era fused dance beats with a psychedelic, 1960s flavor, and the dance culture drew parallels with the hedonism and freedom of the ‘Summer of Love’ in San Francisco two decades earlier. Similarities with the Sixties included fashions such as Tie-dye. The smiley logo is synonymous with this period in the UK.
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April 17, 2012
Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock, and dance music. Artists associated with the scene included New Order, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Northside, 808 State, James, The Charlatans, The Fall, and A Guy Called Gerald.
At that time, the Haçienda nightclub was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the ‘Second Summer of Love.’ The music scene in Manchester immediately before the Madchester era had been dominated by bands such as The Smiths, New Order, The Fall and James. These bands were to become a significant influence on the Madchester scene.
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April 17, 2012
Neo-psychedelia is music that emulates or is heavily influenced by the psychedelic music of the 1960s. It began to be revived among British post-punk bands of the later 1970s and early 1980s and was taken up by groups including bands of the Paisley Underground and Madchester scenes, as well as occasional interest from mainstream artists and bands into the new millennium.
Neo-psychedelic acts borrowed a variety of elements from 1960s psychedelic music. Some emulated the psychedelic pop of bands like The Beatles and early Pink Floyd, others adopted the jangly guitars of folk rock bands like the Byrds-influenced guitar rock, or distorted free-form jams and sonic experimentalism of late 1960s acid rock. Some neo-psychedelia has been explicitly focused on drug use and experiences, while other bands have used it to accompany surreal or political lyrics.
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April 13, 2012
A.C.A.B. stands for ‘All Cop[per]s Are Bastards.’ Dating from at least the 1940s, and used as a slogan during the UK miners’ strike, A.C.A.B. is an abbreviation often integrated into prison tattoos in the United Kingdom, it is most commonly rendered with one letter between the knuckle and first joint of each finger, alternatively sometimes seen as symbolic small dots across each knuckle.
The British Oi! punk band, the 4-Skins, popularized the acronym in their 1980s song of the same name. It is currently in common usage as a phrase and tattoo amongst some ultras ( a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical and elaborate displays of ‘support’) groups in Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe where most groups are more akin to hooligans than ultras.
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April 13, 2012
HWDP [ha-voo-de-pe] is a frequently used acronym of a Polish vulgar phrase ‘chuj w dupę policji,’ meaning literally ‘a dick up the police’s ass.’ It can be best compared to the English-language phrase ACAB (‘All Cops Are Bastards’), known in western English-language countries, painted on walls by aggressive football fans already in the 1960s. It is also commonly used as a tattoo among some of the Latino prisoners in the United States of America, who claim it stands for ‘Always Carry A Bible,’ when asked about it by the authorities. Another English counterpart of this Polish vulgar phrase is FTP, an acronym of the phrase ‘fuck the police.’
This vulgar slogan, often written on walls, is used by a part of the youth as a form of provocation against the police, but also one of its ‘trademarks.’ Writing of the HWDP characters, visible from far, is a de facto form of aggressive vandalism, which reasonably lowers the value of the flats near the marked objects. The habit of using the HWDP slogan is particularly popular amongst aggressive football fans, called pseudokibice, of the beginning of the 21st century. It is a specific expression of protest against the authorities and the entire surrounding system, although it isn’t an ideological rebellion, but instead, a characteristic sign of the additude to the surrounding reality.
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April 13, 2012
Clevo is a Taiwanese OEM/ODM (original equipment and design manufacturer) computer manufacturer which exclusively produces laptop computers. They manufacture and sell complete laptops under their own brand; they also sell laptop chassis to other OEMs who build laptops on the chassis, often customized for each customer.
Companies which rebrand Clevo chassis or have in the past include Sager, iBuypower, and OriginPC. Alienware also used to sell rebranded Clevo notebooks, although it is unclear whether they still do.
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April 13, 2012
Miso [mee-soh] is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the fungus kōjikin, the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called ‘misoshiru,’ a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan.
Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. There is a very wide variety of miso available. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory. The traditional Chinese analogue of miso is known as dòujiàng.
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April 13, 2012
Mole [moh-ley] (from the Aztec word for ‘sauce’) is the generic name for a number of sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces. Outside of Mexico, it often refers to a specific sauce which is known in Spanish by the more specific name ‘mole poblano.’ In contemporary Mexico, the term is used for a number of sauces, some quite dissimilar to one another, including black, red, yellow, colorado, green, almendrado, and pipián. The sauce is most popular in the central and southern regions of the country, but eaten nationwide, particularly during celebrations.
In Mexico, to say ‘to go to a mole’ (‘ir a un mole’) means to go to a wedding. Three states in Mexico claim to be the origin of mole, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Tlaxcala. The states with the best known moles are Puebla and Oaxaca, but other regions in Mexico also make various types of mole sauces. Moles come in various flavors and ingredients, with chili peppers as the common factor. A classic mole poblano is a dark red or brown sauce served over meat. Mole has a strong flavor, especially the dark ones, and is considered to be an acquired taste for most. This has spawned another saying, ‘en su mero mole,’ which means something like ‘one’s cup of tea.’
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April 13, 2012
The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is the comma used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually ‘and’ or ‘or’) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items.
For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either ‘Portugal, Spain, and France’ (with the serial comma) or as ‘Portugal, Spain and France’ (without the serial comma).
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April 12, 2012
A Castle Doctrine is an American legal doctrine that designates a person’s abode (or, in some states, any place legally occupied, such as a car or place of work) as a place in which the person has certain protections and immunities and may in certain circumstances attack an intruder without becoming liable to prosecution. Typically deadly force is considered justified, and a defense of justifiable homicide applicable, in cases ‘when the actor reasonably fears imminent peril of death or serious bodily harm to himself or another.’ The doctrine is not a defined law that can be invoked, but a set of principles which is incorporated in some form in the law of most states.
The term derives from the historic English common law dictum that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle.’ This concept was established as English law by 17th century jurist Sir Edward Coke, in his ‘The Institutes of the Laws of England’ (1628). This was carried by colonists to the New World, who later removed ‘Englishman’ from the phrase, which thereby became simply the Castle Doctrine. The term has been used to imply a person’s absolute right in England to exclude anyone from their home, although this has always had restrictions, and since the late twentieth century police have also had increasing powers of entry.
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April 9, 2012
Romain de Tirtoff (1892 – 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté [er-tey], the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T. He was a diversely talented 20th-century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theater, and opera, and interior decor.
Tirtoff was born in Saint Petersburg, to a distinguished family with roots tracing back to 1548. In 1910, Romain moved to Paris to pursue a career as a designer. He made this decision despite strong objections from his father, who wanted him to continue the family tradition and become a naval officer. Romain assumed his pseudonym to avoid disgracing the family.
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April 3, 2012
Estuary English is a dialect of English widely spoken in South East England, especially along the River Thames and its estuary. Phonetician John C. Wells defines Estuary English as ‘Standard English spoken with the accent of the southeast of England.’
Some people adopt the accent as a means of ‘blending in,’ appearing to be more working class, or in an attempt to appear to be ‘a common man’ – sometimes this affectation of the accent is derisively referred to as ‘Mockney.’ A move away from traditional Received Pronunciation accents is almost universal among middle class young people.
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