Queens (novel)

Queens is a novel, written in 1984 by an author under the apparent pseudonym "Pickles," which describes gay life in London. The author was Stephen Pickles, who at the time was working as an editor at Quartet Books, the publisher of the novel, with responsibility for its Encounters series.

Style

The novel is written in a variety of styles:third-person, omniscient narrator, overheard dialogue, and epistolary. In many ways the novel reads like journalism as it mentions numerous real-life bars, pubs, and cruising spots, as well as other less anecdotally gay parts of London. Heaven, the Coleherne, and The Bell on Pentonville Road are just three of the main gay locations mentioned in the novel. In some regards, due to the absurdist tone of the novel's overall narration it could be considered to be written in mockumentary style. The omniscient narrator appears to have a pessimistic and ultimately unamused opinion of the characters described which contributes greatly to the novel's comedic value.

Queen's (electoral district)

There have been several electoral districts in Canada named Queen's or Queens.

Federal

Provincial

See also

Queens (cocktail)

The Queens Cocktail is a variant on the Perfect Martini, with the addition of pineapple juice and sometimes lemon juice. Its closest relative is the more popular Bronx, which contains orange juice rather than pineapple.

It can be found as early as 1930, in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book; Craddock's text, however, lists it as a "Queen's Cocktail."

See also

References

Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (/nɑːˈsɪər/; born September 14, 1973), better known as Nas /ˈnɑːz/, is an American rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide since 1994. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label; he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and is the owner of a Fila sneaker store. He is currently signed to Mass Appeal Records.

His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's track "Live at the Barbeque". His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community; it is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

Nas' follow-up album, It Was Written, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went Platinum twice in only two months, and made Nas internationally known. From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with rapper Jay Z. In 2006, Nas signed to Def Jam. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with reggae artist Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. His eleventh studio album, Life Is Good, was released in 2012, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

Untitled Nas album

The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas was released by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records on July 15, 2008 in the United States, with earlier dates in some other countries. Its original title—Nigger—was changed due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet. The album is distinguished for its political content, diverse sources of production and provocative subject matter.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, Nas' fifth to do so. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds an aggregate score of 71/100 from Metacritic.

Background

Title controversy

The original title of the album—Nigger—was mentioned by Nas several times, as well as on an October 12, 2007, performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City where he announced the title and release date.Def Jam made no comment on the title. This was similar to attempts to name his 2006 album—eventually titled Hip Hop Is Dead—both Nigga and Hip Hop Is Dead... The N. On May 19, 2008, it was confirmed that Nas changed the name of the album to an untitled one (although on iTunes, the album is self-titled), stating that "the people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." The cover of the album shows the back of a shirtless Nas with flagellation scars forming the shape of the letter N, a reference to the racial slur and how slaves were tortured. Fort Greene, Brooklyn assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries requested New York's Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw $84 million from the state pension fund that has been invested into Universal and its parent company, Vivendi, if the album's title was not changed.

814 Naval Air Squadron

814 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It was formed in December 1938 and has been disbanded and reformed several times. Its nickname is "the Flying Tigers", not to be confused with the American Volunteer squadron of WWII.

History

The squadron was formed on December 1938 as a Torpedo plane Squadron equipped with six Fairey Swordfish aircraft. Originally embarked on HMS Ark Royal, it transferred to HMS Hermes at the outbreak of the Second World War. HMS Hermes helped search for the Graf Spee and taking part in the Battle of Dakar, damaging the French battleship Richelieu on 8 July 1940. HMS Hermes travelled to the Indian Ocean December 1940, providing support for the land forces in British Somaliland and capturing 5 enemy merchant ships. In May 1941 the squadron provided support to the Royal Air Force in Iraq and later providing convoy protection in the Indian ocean. In April 1942, while the squadron was ashore, HMS Hermes was sunk by Japanese aircraft off Ceylon and 814 subsequently disbanded at Katukurunda in December. The squadron was reformed in July 1944, equipped with Fairey Barracudas, to embark on HMS Venerable and headed to the Far East for patrols, although seeing no action.