Advent calendar

An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count or celebrate the days in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the first Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusive, the Advent calendar usually begins on December 1, although many include the previous few days that are part of the season. The Advent calendar was first used by German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries but is now ubiquitous among adherents of many Christian denominations.

Design and use

Advent calendars range in theme, from sports to technology. They come in a multitude of forms, from a simple paper calendar with flaps covering each of the days to fabric pockets on a background scene to painted wooden boxes with cubby holes for small items.

Many Advent calendars take the form of a large rectangular card with "windows", of which there are usually 24: one for each day of December leading up to and including Christmas Eve (December 24). Consecutive doors are opened every day leading up to Christmas, beginning on December 1. The calendar windows open to reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story (such as the story of the Nativity of Jesus), or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate item. Often, each window has a Bible verse and Christian prayer printed on it, which Christians incorporate as part of their daily Advent devotions. Advent calendars may also have puzzles and games printed on their reverse side.

Advent

Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "coming".

Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming.

Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (30 November), in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Anglican, Lutheran, Moravian, Presbyterian and Methodist calendars. In the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite of the Catholic Church, Advent begins on the sixth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday after St. Martin's Day (11 November).

The Advent

The Advent is a British electronic music act. It was originally founded in 1993 by Cisco Ferreira and Colin McBean. Soon after leaving school, Ferreira began working as an engineer at Jack Trax Records, a job which enabled him to glimpse first-hand the work of such artists as Derrick May and Marshall Jefferson. He began recording in 1988 with C.J. Bolland as Space Opera (eventually releasing four singles for R&S Records) and also recorded the first single for Fragile ("Why Don't You Answer" as himself) before meeting McBean, a top DJ who had worked with Keith Franklin of Bang the Party as the DJ team KCC.

History

The pair began recording together in 1990; their first activity was an engineering job for Fade to Black (aka Jay Denham), but later they debuted on vinyl with their first single, recorded for inclusion on a sampler by Network Records. The official debut of The Advent came in 1994, just after Ferreira signed to Internal Records (also the home of Orbital). He convinced McBean to join him in the recording of a series of crucially limited singles, then the debut album Elements of Life in late 1995. Critics championed the duo's energetic update of original techno renegades like Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, and The Advent followed with the remix album Shaded Elementz one year later. Their second full album New Beginning was released 28 April 1997, though Internal Records dropped the duo soon after its release. After transferring to the Metalbox division of Northwest/BMG, The Advent returned later that year with another remix album titled Kombination Phunk, which alternated remixes with several original productions.

Zakir Naik

Zakir Naik (born 18 October 1965 in Mumbai, India) is an Indian Islamic preacher, who has been called an "authority on comparative religion", "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India", and "the world's leading Salafi evangelist". He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), and founder of the "comparative religion" Peace TV channel, through which he reaches a reported 100 million viewers. Unlike many Islamic preachers, his lectures are colloquial, given in English not Urdu or Arabic, and he wears a suit and tie rather than traditional garb.

Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a medical doctor. He has published booklet versions of lectures on Islam and comparative religion. Although he has publicly disclaimed sectarianism in Islam, he is regarded by some as an exponent of the Salafi ideology, and, by some, as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism.

Biography

Zakir Naik was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He attended Kishinchand Chellaram College and studied medicine at Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital and later the University of Mumbai, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS).

Tanya Burr

Tanya Burr (born 9 June 1989) is an English fashion and beauty vlogger, blogger, make-up artist and author. She is best known for her fashion and beauty channel on YouTube. In 2014, she released her own cosmetics line, Tanya Burr Cosmetics.

Career

Burr grew up in Norwich and attended Long Stratton High School. She attended Notre Dame sixth form and completed a short course as a make-up artist, before getting a job on a beauty counter in Jarrolds' Norwich department store.

Burr created her self-titled YouTube channel in October 2009 where she uploaded make-up tutorials providing instructions on replicating "celebrity looks"; subsequently expanding to include beauty haul videos and vlogs. Burr is influential through social media. As of January 2016 Burr had over 3.2 million subscribers to her "Tanya Burr" YouTube channel and over 240 million video views. She has over 1.6 million followers on Twitter over 2.2 million on Instagram. Burr has done many collaborations on her channel with other YouTubers, including: Zoe Sugg, Louise Pentland, Alfie Deyes, Tyler Oakley, Joe Sugg, and many others.