Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia/ˌtʃɛkoʊsloʊˈvækiə, -kə-, -slə-, -ˈvɑː-/ (Czech and Slovak: Československo, Česko-Slovensko) was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.

From 1939 to 1945, following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate.

From 1948 to 1990 Czechoslovakia was part of the Marxist–Leninist Warsaw Pact, which was formed in May 1955, and had a command or planned economy. A period of political liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was forcibly ended when several other Warsaw Pact countries invaded. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their government in the Velvet Revolution; state price controls were removed after a period of preparation. In 1993 Czechoslovakia divided into two sovereign states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Czech language

Czech (/ˈtʃɛk/; čeština Czech pronunciation: [ˈt͡ʃɛʃcɪna]), formerly known as Bohemian (/boʊˈhiːmiən, bə-/;lingua Bohemica in Latin), is a West Slavic language majorly influenced by Latin, spoken by over 10 million people. It is the official language in the Czech Republic (where most of its speakers live), and has minority language status in Slovakia. Czech's closest relative is Slovak, with which it is mutually intelligible. It is closely related to other West Slavic languages, such as Silesian and Polish. Although most Czech vocabulary is based on shared roots with Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages, many loanwords (most associated with high culture) have been adopted in recent years.

The language began in its present linguistic branch as Old Czech before slowly dwindling in importance, dominated by German in the Czech lands. During the mid-eighteenth century, it experienced a revival in which Czech academics stressed the past accomplishments of their people and advocated the return of Czech as a major language. It has changed little since this time, except for minor morphological shifts and the formalization of colloquial elements.

1st Czech Republic Hockey League

The WSM Liga (until 2015 known as the 1st Czech National Hockey League) is the second-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic under the Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association.

Format

In the first phase, every team plays each other four times—twice at home and twice away—which makes for a 52-game regular season.

After the 52-game regular season, the first six teams directly qualify for the quarter-finals, while teams which placed 7 to 10 play a round-robin to determine the final two participants in the quarter-finals.

The First League, unlike other leagues around the world, has two winners. The playoffs end with the semi-finals, with the two winning teams being declared co-champions. The two teams then go on to face the bottom two teams from the Extraliga in a round-robin. The two highest-placed teams at the end of the round robin are promoted to the Extraliga for the following season.

The last team at the end of the regular season is directly relegated to the Second League for the following season. They are replaced by winner of a best-of-seven series between the winners of the East and the West division of the Second League.

Party

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 and dancing or other forms of entertainment. In many Western countries, parties for teens and adults are associated with drinking alcohol such as beer, wine or distilled spirits.

Description

Some parties are held in honor of a specific person, day, or event, such as a birthday party, a Super Bowl party, or a St. Patrick’s Day party. Parties of this kind are often called celebrations. A party is not necessarily a private occasion. Public parties are sometimes held in restaurants, pubs, beer gardens, nightclubs or bars, and people attending such parties may be charged an admission fee by the host. Large parties in public streets may celebrate events such as Mardi Gras or the signing of a peace treaty ending a long war.

Types of parties

The Mighty Boosh (series 3)

The Mighty Boosh's third series was originally broadcast between 15 November 2007 and 20 December 2007. The series features five main cast members; Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown. The third series revolves around Howard Moon and Vince Noir (Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding), and the adventures they have whilst running a second-hand shop. A DVD of the series was released on 11 February 2008 in Region 2 and 7 August in Region 4.

Overview

Setting

Whereas the second series was set mainly in a flat in Dalston, England, the third series was set in a second hand shop below the flat called the Nabootique, owned by Naboo, and run by Howard Moon and Vince Noir. The flat, however, is re-used for most of the setting of the episode "Party".

Production

Series 3 had the smallest budget of all three series to date. Filming for the series took place in seven weeks, from July to September 2007, in a warehouse in a disused Ministry of Defence site in Surrey, England.

Party (Beyoncé song)

"Party" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her fourth studio album, 4 (2011). It features guest vocals from American rapper André 3000, and was released by Columbia Records as the third single from 4 on August 30, 2011. The song was written by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Beyoncé, Dexter Mills, Douglas Davis and Ricky Walters and produced by Beyoncé and West and co-produced by Bhasker. A midtempo R&B song, "Party" exhibits elements of the 1980s funk and soul music, and samples the 1985 song "La Di Da Di". It recalls the work of New Edition and Prince, among others. Built on a 808-retro beat, multi-tracked harmonies, and a smooth groove, the song's instrumentation includes slow-bouncing synthesizers, keyboard tones, and drums. Lyrically, "Party" gives ode to political themes such as feminism and sexual empowerment. In his rap verses, André 3000 references milk and gets philosophical about his own career. "Party" was nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 54th Grammy Awards.