Friday, 26 December 2014
What is boxing day?
Definition:
Various competing theories for the origins of the term boxing day circulate in popular culture, none of which is definitive.However, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestations of the term as being from England in the 1830s, defining it as below
The first week-day after Christmas-day, observed as a holiday on which post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas-box.
The term Christmas-box, meanwhile, dates back to the seventeenth century, and amongst other things meant:
A present or gratuity given at Christmas: in Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer; the undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person, for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming at Christmas.
The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It is believed to be in reference to the Alms Box placed in places of worship to collect donations to the poor. Also, it may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era, wherein metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen, which in the Western Church falls on the same day as Boxing Day.
In Britain, it was a custom for tradespeople to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year.This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys' diary entry for 19 December 1663. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Good wishes
We want to seize this opportunity to thank Google, yahoo, facebook e.t.c. for the support with our online entertainments and Video Blogging/general blogging. Above all we want to thank our viewers for the daily support and views. We started from "0" views and now we have about 13000views (# no robot). We will do better in the new year and we wish you all the best of goodwill in 2015.
Look out for an updated Christmas carol embed code shortly
Amen/insha Allah
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Monday, 15 December 2014
QB B.E.A.T.S (#updated)
Queens Bridge infected the whole globe?
His scenic account of urban residency has earned Nas praise as possibly hip-hop’s greatest storyteller, all while turning the projects that raised him into a place of hip-hop folklore
Twenty years ago, Nas raised the bar for hip-hop with the release of his seminal debut, Illmatic. Working with the finest producers of the era, the young rapper created an extraordinarily vivid account of life in the projects, describing his surroundings with detail and sagacity well beyond his 20 years. Released to instant acclaim, Illmatic is hailed as arguably the greatest hip-hop album ever made, while the Queens native was exalted as the second coming of Rakim, hip-hop’s chipped-toothed savior with an uncanny ability to turn his words into lucid images worthy of 35mm film. For just under 40 minutes of brilliance, Nas served as the narrator, walking listeners through his habitat: the Queensbridge Houses.
Located in Long Island City, the Queensbridge Houses are a massive complex located just south of the Queensboro Bridge, for which they’re named. With over 3,142 units home to nearly 7,000 people, it’s the largest public housing development in all of North America. The colossal structure is divided into two Y-shaped buildings: the South Houses on the 41st Street side and the North Houses on the 40th Street side, where Nas grew up.
A 2012 WNYC feature revealed that less than a decade after their 1940 opening, the number of white and black residents adjusted, as the white community shrank while the black population increased every year since the city began keeping records in 1946. As WNYC points out, until the 1950s, the NYCHA and the city in general were among the few places in America where the projects weren’t segregated. However, the 1944 G.I. Bill that offered low-cost home ownership options in the suburbs was rarely an option for blacks, who were often subject to discrimination.
As the 1960s arrived, it became increasingly easy for the poor to enter public housing, and the Escalera decree of 1971 made it difficult for the NYCHA to evict tenants who violated rules. Crime, specifically the drug trade, ripped through the projects during the 1970s and 1980s, setting up the enclosed world that produced Nas and other Queensbridge talent.
Since the 1980s, Queensbridge has been hip-hop’s unlikely Garden of Eden. No other NYCHA project has manufactured a larger aggregate of hip-hop talent, but while Nas’ name will always be synonymous with Queensbridge, others came before him. Marley Marl and MC Shan surfaced during the decade, founding the legendary Juice Crew, which featured fellow Queensbridge natives Roxanne Shanté, Craig G. and a young Tragedy Khadafi. Marley Marl and MC Shan penned the first Queensbridge anthem, "The Bridge," but suffered a resounding loss after battling the Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions. Still stinging from KRS-One’s star-making taunts on "The Bridge Is Over," Queensbridge hip-hop retreated back to the projects, quietly waiting for a worthy pundit to restore its glory.
Here is some good album from another Queens Bridge group. Enjoy when you can. Happy season to everyone.
His scenic account of urban residency has earned Nas praise as possibly hip-hop’s greatest storyteller, all while turning the projects that raised him into a place of hip-hop folklore
Twenty years ago, Nas raised the bar for hip-hop with the release of his seminal debut, Illmatic. Working with the finest producers of the era, the young rapper created an extraordinarily vivid account of life in the projects, describing his surroundings with detail and sagacity well beyond his 20 years. Released to instant acclaim, Illmatic is hailed as arguably the greatest hip-hop album ever made, while the Queens native was exalted as the second coming of Rakim, hip-hop’s chipped-toothed savior with an uncanny ability to turn his words into lucid images worthy of 35mm film. For just under 40 minutes of brilliance, Nas served as the narrator, walking listeners through his habitat: the Queensbridge Houses.
Located in Long Island City, the Queensbridge Houses are a massive complex located just south of the Queensboro Bridge, for which they’re named. With over 3,142 units home to nearly 7,000 people, it’s the largest public housing development in all of North America. The colossal structure is divided into two Y-shaped buildings: the South Houses on the 41st Street side and the North Houses on the 40th Street side, where Nas grew up.
A 2012 WNYC feature revealed that less than a decade after their 1940 opening, the number of white and black residents adjusted, as the white community shrank while the black population increased every year since the city began keeping records in 1946. As WNYC points out, until the 1950s, the NYCHA and the city in general were among the few places in America where the projects weren’t segregated. However, the 1944 G.I. Bill that offered low-cost home ownership options in the suburbs was rarely an option for blacks, who were often subject to discrimination.
As the 1960s arrived, it became increasingly easy for the poor to enter public housing, and the Escalera decree of 1971 made it difficult for the NYCHA to evict tenants who violated rules. Crime, specifically the drug trade, ripped through the projects during the 1970s and 1980s, setting up the enclosed world that produced Nas and other Queensbridge talent.
Since the 1980s, Queensbridge has been hip-hop’s unlikely Garden of Eden. No other NYCHA project has manufactured a larger aggregate of hip-hop talent, but while Nas’ name will always be synonymous with Queensbridge, others came before him. Marley Marl and MC Shan surfaced during the decade, founding the legendary Juice Crew, which featured fellow Queensbridge natives Roxanne Shanté, Craig G. and a young Tragedy Khadafi. Marley Marl and MC Shan penned the first Queensbridge anthem, "The Bridge," but suffered a resounding loss after battling the Bronx’s Boogie Down Productions. Still stinging from KRS-One’s star-making taunts on "The Bridge Is Over," Queensbridge hip-hop retreated back to the projects, quietly waiting for a worthy pundit to restore its glory.
Here is some good album from another Queens Bridge group. Enjoy when you can. Happy season to everyone.
Monday, 8 December 2014
The Livest ever. One love and thank you G
1984 Glastonbury festival performer. Here is the link to that year's show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kMzxA-Ovw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kMzxA-Ovw
Friday, 5 December 2014
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Monday, 1 December 2014
Varsity Blues
Here is a movie extract from our "FRESH MOVIES" SECTION OF THE GLOBAL BIG SOCIETY BLOG www.etherservices.blogspot.com. Enjoy and check out more clips too
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