Spring cleaning

Spring cleaning is the practice of thoroughly cleaning a house in the springtime. The practice of spring cleaning is especially prevalent in climates with a cold winter.

The term is also used metaphorically for any kind of heavy duty cleaning or organizing enterprise. A person who gets their affairs in order before an audit or inspection could be said to be doing some spring cleaning.

History

Some researchers trace the origin of spring cleaning to the ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in anticipation of the spring-time memorial feast of Passover (Hebrew: פסח pesach‎). In remembrance of the Israelite's hasty flight from Egypt following their captivity there, during the seven-day observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread which immediately follows the Passover (14 of Abib), there are strict prohibitions against eating or drinking anything which may have been leavened or fermented with yeast (Exodus 12:15, 19). Jews are not only supposed to refrain from leavened foodstuffs (known in Hebrew as חמץ chametz), they are expressly commanded to rid their homes of even small remnants of chametz for the length of the holiday (Exodus 12:15). Therefore, observant Jews conducted a thorough "spring cleaning" of the house, followed by a traditional hunt for chametz crumbs by candlelight (called bedikat chametz [Hebrew: בדיקת חמץ]) on the evening before the holiday begins.

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning is a 1925 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Lonsdale. A man becomes convinced his wife is about to have an affair, and in order to shock her he hires a prostitute to come and live in their house. It premiered at St Martin's Theatre in the West End on 19 January 1925.

Adaptation

In 1932 the play was adapted into a film Women Who Play directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Mary Newcomb, Benita Hume and George Barraud. The film generally followed the play with ceirtain changes, largely due to censorship issues such as the prostitute being replaced by an actress.

References

Bibliography

Spring Cleaning (album)

Spring Cleaning is the sixth studio album released by the indie rock band Before Braille. It was released on July 2, 2009 by Sunset Alliance Records.

Album Information

The album's official name is: Spring Cleaning...Cut, Clean, Scab, Scar, Rewind, Remind, Repeat. The idea of releasing this record appears to have solidified in December 2007, during Kill the Messenger, Keep the Message's final weeks of production. Almost a record of B-sides and rare tracks, David Jensen, former lead-singer of the group, described it as a "collection of songs that were never given their chance on the stage." In the end, the record contains: nine brand new tracks; five out of print compilation songs; two songs from Before Braille's first recording, the Triplesplit, re-recorded and remastered; and, acoustic recordings of three songs from The Rumor.

Of the "new tracks" that were released on this record, many were actually old songs that had never been properly recorded and released. For example, "This is Not Theory" and "Hooray for Yourself" were originally recorded in 2001 as part of a demo that the band did for Aezra Records. Some of them were re-recorded after the band left Aezra in 2003 and then finished off in 2007. Another such song is "Five Minute Warning (R is for Regret)." According to the band, this song was a fan favorite during their earliest years, although it was never recorded.