Telephone

A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances, and replays such signals simultaneously in audible form to its user.

In 1876, Scottish emigrant Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice. This instrument was further developed by many others. The telephone was the first device in history that enabled people to talk directly with each other across large distances. Telephones rapidly became indispensable to businesses, government, and households, and are today some of the most widely used small appliances.

Chef

A chef is a person who is a highly trained, skilled professional cook who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation of a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived (and shortened) from the term chef de cuisine (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɛf.də.kɥi.zin]), the director or head of a kitchen. Chefs can receive both formal training from an institution, as well as serving time as an apprentice under an experienced chef. There are different terms which use the word chef in their titles, and deal with specific areas of food preparation, such as the Sous-chef who acts as the second-in-command in a kitchen, or the Chef de partie who handles a specific area of production. The Brigade system is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, many of which use the word chef in their titles. Underneath the chefs are the kitchen assistants. A chef's standard uniform for a chef includes a hat called a toque, necktie, double-breasted jacket, apron and shoes with steel or plastic toe-caps.

Banquet

A banquet (/ˈbæŋk.wɪt/; French: [bɑ̃.kɛ]) is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honor of someone.

Historic context

Overall, there is an archaeological debate of when feasting began. Archaeologist Brian Hayden argues that feasts were an important event because the surplus of food that resulted into feasts turned into social and political ties and a competition in order to display one's own wealth. During these feasts, luxury foods were offered to their guest. What these luxury goods were are still up to debate. However, Hayden argues that animal meat and rice are some of these luxury goods because they were domesticated despite their difficulty in doing so. The term banquet, however, termed from a different time period.

The idea of banqueting is ancient (see Sellisternium, Belshazzar's Feast, and Mead halls). In the 16th century, a banquet was very different from our modern perception and stems from the medieval 'ceremony of the void'. After dinner, the guests would stand and drink sweet wine and spices while the table was cleared, or ‘voided’. (Later in the 17th century ‘void’ would be replaced with the French ‘dessert’.) During the 16th century, guests would no longer stand in the great chamber whilst the table was cleared and the room prepared for entertainment, but would retire to the parlour or banqueting room.

Remix

A remix is a piece of media which has been altered from its original state by adding, removing, and/or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.

Most commonly, remixes are associated with music and songs. Songs are remixed for a variety of reasons:

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music containing elements of funk, soul, pop, and salsa that was most popular in the mid to late 1970s, though it has had brief resurgences. Its initial audiences were club-goers from the gay, African American, Italian American,Latino, and psychedelic communities in Philadelphia and then later New York City during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco also was a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture during this period. Women embraced disco as well, and the music eventually expanded to several other marginalized communities of the time.

The disco sound has soaring vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or 16th note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line. In most disco tracks, strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and lead guitar is less frequently used in disco than in rock. Many disco songs use electronic synthesizers.