Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian and American novelist, poet and entomologist. His first nine novels were written in Russian, but he achieved international prominence after he began writing English prose. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945. Nabokov's Lolita was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels in 2007, he was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times. Nabokov was an expert lepidopterist and composer of chess problems. Nabokov was born on 22 April 1899, in Saint Petersburg, to a wealthy and prominent family of the Russian nobility that traced its roots to the 14th-century Tatar prince Nabok Murza, who entered into the service of the Tsars, from whom the family name is derived, his father was the liberal lawyer and journalist Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov and his mother was the heiress Yelena Ivanovna née Rukavishnikova, the granddaughter of a millionaire gold-mine owner. His father was a leader of the pre-Revolutionary liberal Constitutional Democratic Party and wrote numerous books and articles about criminal law and politics.

His cousins included the composer Nicolas Nabokov. His paternal grandfather, Dmitry Nabokov, was Russia's Justice Minister during the reign of Alexander II, his paternal grandmother was the Baltic German Baroness Maria von Korff. Through his father's German ancestry, he was related to the composer Carl Heinrich Graun. Vladimir was the family's eldest and favorite child, with four younger siblings: Sergey, Olga and Kirill. Sergey was killed in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945 after publicly denouncing Hitler's regime. Ayn Rand recalled Olga as a supporter of constitutional monarchy who first awakened Rand's interest in politics. Elena, who in years became Vladimir's favorite sibling, published her correspondence with him in 1985 and was an important source for biographers of Nabokov. Nabokov spent his childhood and youth in Saint Petersburg and at the country estate Vyra near Siverskaya, south of the city, his childhood, which he called "perfect" and "cosmopolitan", was remarkable in several ways.

The family spoke Russian and French in their household, Nabokov was trilingual from an early age. He related that the first English book his mother read to him was Misunderstood by Florence Montgomery. In fact, much to his patriotic father's disappointment, Nabokov could read and write in English before he could in Russian. In Speak, Memory Nabokov recalls numerous details of his privileged childhood, his ability to recall in vivid detail memories of his past was a boon to him during his permanent exile, providing a theme that echoes from his first book Mary to works such as Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. While the family was nominally Orthodox, there was little religious fervor, Vladimir was not forced to attend church after he lost interest. In 1916, Nabokov inherited the estate Rozhdestveno, next to Vyra, from his uncle Vasily Ivanovich Rukavishnikov, but lost it in the October Revolution one year later. Nabokov's adolescence was the period in which his first serious literary endeavors were made.

In 1916, Nabokov published Stikhi, a collection of 68 Russian poems. At the time he was attending Tenishev school in Saint Petersburg, where his literature teacher Vladimir Vasilievich Gippius had been critical of his literary accomplishments; some time after the publication of Stikhi, Zinaida Gippius, renowned poet and first cousin of Vladimir Gippius, told Nabokov's father at a social event, "Please tell your son that he will never be a writer." After the 1917 February Revolution, Nabokov's father became a secretary of the Russian Provisional Government in Saint Petersburg. After the October Revolution, the family was forced to flee the city for Crimea, not expecting to be away for long, they lived at a friend's estate and in September 1918 moved to Livadiya, at the time part of the Ukrainian Republic. After the withdrawal of the German Army in November 1918 and the defeat of the White Army, the Nabokovs sought exile in western Europe, they settled in England and Vladimir enrolled in Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, first studying zoology Slavic and Romance languages.

His examination results on the first part of the Tripos, taken at the end of second year, were a starred first. He sat the second part of the exam in his fourth year, just after his father's death. Nabokov feared he might fail the exam, his final examination result was second-class, his BA conferred in 1922. Nabokov drew on his Cambridge experiences to write several works, including the novels Glory and The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. In 1920, Nabokov's family moved to Berlin, where his father set up the émigré newspaper Rul'. Nabokov followed them to Berlin two years after completing his studies at Cambridge. In March 1922, Nabokov's father was fatally shot in Berlin by the Russian monarchist Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork as he was trying to shield the real target, Pavel Milyukov, a leader of the Constitutional

Ironsides is an iron-hulled Thames barge, built in 1900 for APCM. She was registered in London. A 60 hp auxiliary engine was fitted in 1939. Ironsides is 84 feet long, with a beam of 20.3 feet and a draught of 6.4 feet Ironsides was built by Clarke & Stanfield, Essex in 1900 for the Associated Portland Cement and carried stone from Portland to London under sail alone. In 1928 she was sold to the London and Rochester Trading Company, who with 120 barges were the second largest barge owner in the country. Ironsides is based in Faversham off the Swale estuary, she does passenger charters along the Thames Estuary and the London River from Aldeburgh in Suffolk to Whitstable on the North Kent Coast. She sails from Maldon, Pin Mill and London. List of active Thames sailing barges Frank. Sailing Barges. Peter Davies Ltd. Thames Sailing Barge Trust Mersea museum barge database Sailing Barge Association Society for Sailing Barge Research active barges

Together is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band the New Pornographers. It was released on May 4, 2010 and debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200; the album was recorded in seven studios in British Columbia and New York City and features guest appearances by Zach Condon of Beirut, Annie Clark, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, the horn players from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. Together is dedicated to the memory of Lynn Calder, the mother of keyboardist Kathryn Calder, the half-sister of Carl Newman. "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk" was featured in an early 2011 ad campaign for the Amazon Kindle, while "Moves" was used in a commercial for the Hyundai 2012 Accent and a commercial for T-Mobile. The album covers features a detail from "The Cliff" by Muñoz. Videos from the album include "Your Hands", "Crash Years", "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk", "Moves". Matador Records released the song "Your Hands" in February 2010 as the first sample of the album. On March 23, the band announced their extensive North American tour in support of the album.

On April 25, the album was released as a digital stream on NPR's website, accessible until the album's May 4 release. As of 2013, sales in the United States have exceeded 85,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Together was met with positive reviews; the album was a longlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, a music award given annually to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit. Dan Bejar - Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Percussion Kathryn Calder - Vocals, Piano Neko Case - Vocals John Collins - Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Kaossilator, Hagstrom 12 String Kurt Dahle - Drums, Vox Todd Fancey - Guitar, Banjo A. C. Newman - Vocals, Keyboards, Banjo Blaine Thurier - Keyboards Annie Clark - Guitar Solo on "My Shepherd" Zach Condon - Trumpet on "A Bite Out of My Bed" The Dap-Kings Horns Cochemea Gastelum - Baritone Sax Dave Guy - Trumpet Ben Kalb - Cello Will Sheff - Back Up Vocals on "Moves" Neal Sugarman - Tenor Saxophone, Flute Tara Szczygielski - Violin