Brooklyn headquarters

KeySpan Corporation, now part of National Grid USA, was the fifth largest distributor of natural gas in the United States. KeySpan was formed in 1998 as result of the merger of Brooklyn Union Gas Company (founded 1895 by merging several smaller companies) and Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO). On November 8, 2000, KeySpan acquired Eastern Enterprises, Eastern's natural gas distribution subsidiaries including Boston Gas Company, Colonial Gas Company and Essex Gas Company; Eastern's unregulated businesses including ServicEdge Partners, the largest unregulated provider of residential HVAC equipment installation and services in Massachusetts; and EnergyNorth Natural Gas in New Hampshire.^[1] KeySpan had its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, USA and employed 9,700 people.^[2]

In February 2006, National Grid USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Grid plc of the United Kingdom, announced that it had agreed to buy KeySpan for $7.3bn (£4.1bn) in cash, the deal being subject to regulatory approval and endorsement by the shareholders of the two companies.^[3] In 2007 the National Grid plc announced the acquisition of KeySpan Corporation.^[4]

KeySpan received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.

See also[link]

• KeySpan Park

References[link]

External links[link]

• KeySpan Changes Name to National Grid
• National Grid completes $7.3 billion merger with KeySpan

Edward Droste
Droste in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Edward Droste
Born	(1978-10-22) October 22, 1978 (age 33) Massachusetts
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, autoharp
Labels	Warp Records, Kanine Records
Associated acts	Grizzly Bear
Website	Grizzly Bear web site

Edward "Ed" Droste (born October 22, 1978 in Massachusetts) is an original member of the Brooklyn-based indie-rock group, Grizzly Bear. The group began as the solo effort of Droste with the release of 2004's Horn of Plenty, originally released on Kanine Records. All songs were written and performed by Droste. By 2005, the group expanded into a four-piece, with Droste still as a contributing songwriter.

Early life[link]

Droste attended elementary school at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where his mother is a music teacher, and high school at Concord Academy in Concord Massachusetts. He attended Hampshire College for one year in 1999 before transferring to and graduating from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2003.

Edward is a second cousin on his father's side to Ed Droste, who is the co-founder of the Hooters restaurant chain.^[1]

Droste began composing and performing songs on a solo basis as Grizzly Bear, releasing the album Horn of Plenty in 2004, with some contributions from drummer Christopher Bear. The two then joined with Chris Taylor, and eventually Daniel Rossen, to form the current four-piece band. Droste has said of the gestation of the band, "Daniel [Rossen] and I are the principal songwriters, but we also have the most issues with being performers. I strongly reject the notion that I have to do stage kicks or be some sort of persona. I respect artists that have an act, a look, a shtick. That’s all fine and dandy, but with our songs, it would feel like the biggest farce. It took us a long time to get comfortable; the whole thing was four people growing into each other."^[2]

Other musical collaborations[link]

• April 2007 - Edward appeared as a guest vocalist on "To a Fault" from Dntel's fourth album, Dumb Luck released on Sub Pop Records.
• September 2007 - Edward sang with Beirut as he recorded a video for their song "Cliquot" for La Blogothèque's video series.^[3]
• March 2008 - Edward joined Owen Pallett to cover Björk's "Possibly Maybe" for Stereogum.com's tribute to Björk's album, Post.^[4]
• February 2011 - Edward collaborated on the song "I'm Losing Myself" with Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold in Los Angeles.^[5]

Personal life[link]

In December 2011, Droste married his long-time boyfriend, interior designer Chad McPhail.^[6][7]

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.