Witold Marian Gombrowicz was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor; as a leftist and anticlerical who defied all party lines, his books were banned in communist Poland. In 1937 he published his first novel, which presented many of his usual themes: problems of immaturity and youth, creation of identity in interactions with others, an ironic, critical examination of class roles in Polish society and culture, he gained fame only during the last years of his life, but is now considered one of the foremost figures of Polish literature. His diaries were published in 1969 and are, according to the Paris Review, "widely considered his masterpiece", he was a Nobel Prize candidate in Literature in 1966 according to published database. Gombrowicz was born in Małoszyce near Opatów in Radom Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, to a wealthy gentry family, he was the youngest of four children of Antonina.

In an autobiographical piece, A Kind of Testament, he wrote that his family had lived for four hundred years in Lithuania on an estate between Vilnius and Kaunas but were displaced after his grandfather was accused of participating in the January Uprising of 1863. He described his family origins and social status as early instances of a lifelong sense of being between. In 1911 his family moved to Warsaw. After completing his education at Saint Stanislaus Kostka's Gymnasium in 1922, he studied law at Warsaw University, earning a master's degree in law in 1927, he spent a year in Paris. He was less than diligent in his studies, but his time in France brought him in constant contact with other young intellectuals, he visited the Mediterranean. When he returned to Poland he began applying for legal positions with little success. In the 1920s he started writing, he soon rejected the legendary novel, whose form and subject matter were supposed to manifest his "worse" and darker side of nature. His attempt to write a popular novel in collaboration with Tadeusz Kępiński was a failure.

At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s he started to write short stories, which were printed under the title Memoirs of a Time of Immaturity edited by Gombrowicz and published under the name of Bacacay, the street where he lived during his exile in Argentina. From the moment of this literary debut, his reviews and columns started appearing in the press in the Kurier Poranny, he met with other young writers and intellectuals forming an artistic café society in Zodiak and Ziemiańska, both in Warsaw. The publication of Ferdydurke, his first novel, brought him acclaim in literary circles. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Gombrowicz took part in the maiden voyage of the Polish transatlantic liner Chrobry, to South America; when he learned of the outbreak of war in Europe, he decided to wait in Buenos Aires until the war was over. He stayed in Argentina until 1963—often during the war, in poverty. At the end of the 1940s Gombrowicz was trying to gain a position in Argentine literary circles by publishing articles, giving lectures in Fray Mocho café, by publishing in 1947 a Spanish translation of Ferdydurke, written with the help of his friends, among them Virgilio Piñera.

Today, this version of the novel is considered to a significant literary event in the history of Argentine literature, but at the time of its publication it did not bring any great renown to the author, nor did the publication of his drama Ślub in Spanish in 1948. From December 1947 to May 1955 Gombrowicz worked as a bank clerk in Banco Polaco, the Argentine branch of Pekao SA Bank, formed a friendship with Zofia Chądzyńska, who introduced him to the Buenos Aires political and cultural elite. In 1950 he started exchanging letters with Jerzy Giedroyc, from 1951 he started having works published in the Parisian journal Culture, in which fragments of Dziennik appeared in 1953. In the same year he published a volume of work which included the drama Ślub and the novel Trans-Atlantyk, in which the subject of national identity on emigration was controversially raised. After October 1956 four books by Gombrowicz appeared in Poland and brought him great renown despite the fact that the authorities did not allow the publication of Dziennik.

Gombrowicz had affairs with both women. In his serialised Diary he wrote about his adventures in the homosexual underworld of Buenos Aires his sexual experiences with young men from the lower class, a theme which he picked up again when interviewed by Dominique de Roux in A Kind of Testament. In the 1960s Gombrowicz became recognised globally, many of his works were translated, including Pornografia and Kosmos, his dramas were staged in theatres around the world in France and Sweden. Having received a scholarship from the Ford Foundation, Gombrowicz returned to Europe in 1963, he stayed for a year in West Berlin, where he endured a slanderous campaign organised by the Polish communist authorities. His health deteriorated during this stay, he was not able to go back to Argentina, he went back to France in 1964. He spent three months in Royaumont abbey, near Paris, where he met Rita Labrosse, a Canadian from Montreal who studied contemporary literature. In 1964 he moved to the Côte d'Azur in the south of France with Labrosse, whom he employed as his secretary.

He spent the rest of his life in Ve

Joseph Brewster McCollum was a Pennsylvania lawyer and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. McCollum was born in Bridgewater Township, Susquehanna County, the son of Hugh McCollum and Polly Ann Brewster, his early education was sporadic. At age 17, he was able to begin a more-formal education at the Franklin Academy in Harford, PA, where he spent three years, he attended the State and National Law School in Poughkeepsie, NY, graduating with an LL. B degree. Subsequently, he studied law in the office of R. B. Little, an attorney in Montrose, PA, the county seat of Susquehanna County. McCollum was admitted to the County bar in August, 1855, he left his native area for Illinois, to spend a year as a salaried employee in a law office there. In 1856, McCollum returned to Montrose, he and A. J. Gerritson bought a local paper. On January 1, 1858, he sold his interest to Gerritson, took up the active practice of law. For the next twenty years, he practiced, sometimes on his own and sometimes with one of several different partners.

Throughout his career, he was a Democrat in an area dominated by the Republicans. He was elected as President Judge of the 34th District in 1878. At the time of his election, that court had a two-year backlog of cases. After ten years in that position, he ran for a seat on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the election of 1888, he took his place on the Court as an Associate Justice on December 18, 1888. Following the sudden death of Chief Justice Henry Green in 1900, McCollum took his place as Chief by virtue of his seniority. Justice McCollum died at his home in Montrose, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1903, his obituary in The New York Times noted an illness of about two years, indicating that he became ill within a year or so of becoming Chief Justice. Another obituary attributed his death to asthma, noted that he had been unable to complete the last court term that he attended, he was survived by his wife of more than 40 years, Mary Jane Searle McCollum and by a son, Searle, an attorney in Montrose.

Another son, had died in a railroad accident in 1891. It is noted that Justice McCollum, having been raised on a farm, continued to engage in farming throughout his life, in addition to his services as an attorney and judge

Preseli Pembrokeshire was one of six local government districts of Dyfed in West Wales from 1974 to 1996. Until 1987 the name of the district was Preseli; the district took its name from the Preseli Hills. It was formed by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974 from the northern part of the administrative county of Pembrokeshire - the municipal borough of Haverfordwest, the urban districts of Fishguard and Goodwick, Milford Haven and Neyland, the rural districts of Cemaes and Haverfordwest. In 1981, a further 11 communities were transferred from South Pembrokeshire district. On 1 April 1996 the district was abolished by the Local Government Act 1994 and merged into a reconstituted county of Pembrokeshire. Preseli Hills Preseli Pembrokeshire Preseli Pembrokeshire Preseli District Council election, 1983

The valley elderberry longhorn beetle, is a subspecies of longhorn beetle native to the riparian forests of the Central Valley of California from Redding to Bakersfield. It is listed as a federally threatened species. Valley elderberry longhorn beetles are stout-bodied. Males range in length from about 1.25–2.5 cm with antennae about as long as their bodies. Females are more robust than males, measuring about 1.9–2.5 cm, with somewhat shorter antennae. Adult males have red-orange elytra with four elongate spots; the red-orange fades to yellow on some museum specimens. Adult females have dark-colored elytra; the four stages in the animal's life are: egg, larva and adult. The species is nearly always found on or close to its host plant, elderberry. Females lay their eggs on the bark. Larvae hatch and burrow into the stems; the larval stage may last 2 years, after which the larvae enter the pupal stage and transform into adults. Adults are active from March to June and mating. Adults have been observed feeding on the leafy foliage of the elderberry plant.

To serve as habitat, the shrubs must have stems 2.5 cm or greater in diameter at ground level. Use of the plants by the animal is apparent; the only exterior evidence of the shrub's use by the beetle is an exit hole created by the larva just before the pupal stage. Field work along the Cosumnes River and in the Folsom Lake area suggests that larval galleries can be found in elderberry stems with no evidence of exit holes; the larvae either succumb before constructing an exit hole or are not far enough along in the developmental process to construct one. Males of the valley elderberry longhorn beetle are attracted to -desmolactone, a chemical compound which functions as a sex pheromone or sex attractant for multiple species and subspecies in the cerambycid genus Desmocerus; the compound may be used as a lure for efficient monitoring of the valley elderberry longhorn beetle. Sacramento Zone — An area in the city of Sacramento enclosed on the north by the Route 160 Freeway, on the west and southwest by the Western Pacific railroad tracks, on the east by Commerce Circle and its extension southward to the railroad tracks American River Parkway Zone — An area of the American River Parkway on the south bank of the American River, bounded on the north by latitude 38 37'30" N, on the South and east by Ambassador Drive and its extension north to latitude 38 37'30" N, River Bend Park, that portion of the American River Parkway northeast of River Bend Park, west of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bicycle Trail, north to a line extended eastward from Palm Drive O'Connor Lakes Ripirain restoration zone sponsored by California's Department of Fish and Game and the wildlife conservation board Location: Sutter and Yuba Counties - 10 miles south of Marysville and Yuba City on the Feather River.

Access: Access gained from Star Bend fishing access on Feather River Blvd Extensive destruction of California's Central Valley riparian forests has occurred during the last 150 years due to agricultural and urban development. According to some estimates, riparian forest in the Central Valley has declined by as much as 89% during that time; the valley elderberry longhorn beetle, though wide-ranging, is in long-term decline due to human activities that have resulted in widespread alteration and fragmentation of riparian habitats, to a lesser extent, upland habitats, which support the beetle. The primary threats to survival of the beetle include: loss and alteration of habitat by agricultural conversion inappropriate grazing levee construction and river channelization, removal of riparian vegetation and rip-rapping of shoreline nonnative animals such as the Argentine ant, which may eat the early stages of the beetle recreational and urban developmentInsecticide and herbicide use in agricultural areas and along road rights-of-way may be factors limiting the beetle's distribution.

The age and quality of individual elderberry shrubs/trees and stands as a food plant for beetle may be a factor in its limited distribution. Barr, C. 1991. The Distribution and Status of the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle Desmocerus californicus dimorphus. Sacramento, CA. Eng, L. L. 1984. Rare and endangered invertebrates in California riparian systems. In: California riparian systems Ecology and productive management, ed. R. E. Warner and K. M. Hendrix. Berkeley: University of California Press. Thelander, C. ed. 1994. Life on the edge: a guide to California's endangered natural resources. BioSystem Books. Santa Cruz, CA. P 414-415. U. C. Berkeley, Essig Museum of Entomology. California's Endangered Insects. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1980. Listing the Valley elderberry longhorn beetle as a threatened species with critical habitat. Washington, DC. U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1984. Valley elderberry longhorn beetle recovery plan. Portland, Oregon. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1996. Valley elderberry longhorn beetle consultation with the U.

S. Army Corps of Engineers. Sacramento, California. Appendix: Conservation Guidelines for the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, Updated July 9, 1999

"Love Me" is a song recorded by the Bee Gees, released on the 1976 album Children of the World. It was included on the compilation album Love from the Bee Gees released only in the UK, it was written by Robin Gibb featuring Robin on lead with his vibrato. This makes this song a curio among the group's latterday tracks, as during the mid and late 1970s, Barry sang most of the group's leads. Robin sings a falsetto lead on the group's 1979 song "Living Together" on the album Spirits Having Flown, he sang falsetto during the chorus of his solo song "Remedy" from the 1985 album Walls Have Eyes. With Robin, Barry sang the lead on the track's middle-eight. Recording began on March 30, 1976 in Criteria Studios and finished on April 25 in Le Studio, Canada same day as "I Think I'm Losing You". Yvonne Elliman's version was released as a single and reached #14 in the United States, #6 in the United Kingdom, #9 in Ireland, #3 in New Zealand and South Africa, #15 in Australia, #11 in Canada and #16 in Netherlands.

Martine McCutcheon remade "Love Me" for her 1999 debut album You Me & Us from which the track - serving as the BBC Children in Need single for 1999 - was issued as the third single. It was released as a double A-side single along with "Talking in Your Sleep" and peaked at number 6 in the United Kingdom, it was re-released on 22 November in the week building up to the Children in Need event. McCutcheon performed the song at the Children in Need telethon on 26 November 1999, she was supported by 100 children between the age of eight and thirteen, who were selected through nationwide auditions. The successful children had the chance to spend a day in a recording studio with McCutcheon, before serving as backing singers for the song on live television. "Love Me" - 3:44 "Talking in Your Sleep" - 4:06 "Love Me" was recorded by Janie Fricke for her 1981 album Sleeping With Your Memory and cantopop artist Prudence Liew for her 1994 album Thoughts in the Night, Dreams During the Day. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Víctor Varela is a Venezuelan-Swedish composer based in Gothenburg. His compositions include works for orchestra and instrumental chamber music, with electronics and computer devices. Varela was born in Caracas where he studied musical composition, electronic music and piano at the National Conservatory of Music Juan José Landaeta, obtaining a degree in composition in 1987. Afterwards, he studied composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and electronic music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Among his teachers are Antonio Mastrogiovanni, Eduardo Kusnir, Geert van Keulen, Ton de Leeuw, Louis Andriessen, Theo Loevendie, John Coolidge Adams and Trevor Wishart. Varela's music has been performed at festivals and events in major cities worldwide, including festivals like ISCM World Music Days, San Juan’s Biennial of Contemporary Music, Caracas Latin American Music Festival, Inter American Music and Dance Festival, Green Umbrella Series, Stockholm New Music, Gothenburg Art Sounds. In Venezuela he received the Caracas City Municipal Award.

In 1996 his Second String Quartet was selected to represent Venezuela at the ISCM Festival in Copenhagen, in 2005 his Axle-asimétrica II was selected to represent Sweden at the ISCM festival in Zagreb. He has written works commissioned by the Teresa Carreño Opera Theatre, the Venezuelan Society for Electronic Music, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Swedish Arts Council, Caracas Ensemble, Nova Musica Ensemble, STIM, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, Gageego!, Ars Nova, Concerts Sweden. Varela taught at the National Conservatory of Music J. J. Landaeta and at IUDEM, both in Caracas, he has been a lecturer at the Universities Central de Venezuela, Simón Bolívar and Gothenburg. Varela became a Swedish citizen in 2001. OrchestralEl Cántico de Khronos for full orchestra Two articulations for chamber orchestra Gemini Delta for full orchestra ConcertanteAxle-Asimétrica I for cello soloist and chamber orchestra Syntax for flute, oboe soloists and chamber orchestra Instrumental soloArchipiélago for organ Batacumbele for bass clarinet Crystals for clarinet Luna en refracción for flute Otoño-Occidente for piano Jeux de dispersion for piano Sabines Spiralis for piccolo Viola pomposa for viola Exit/entrée for double bass Chamber musicAxle-Asimétrica II for harp and marimba Claro/ Obscuro for bass clarinet and harpsichord Equinox for saxophone quartet In between silences for trombone and percussion player Miró-epsilon for alto recorder and marimba Second String Quartet Canciones de solitud y utopía for flute soloist and ensemble à trois for violin, French horn and piano Online for bass clarinet and organ VocalParola lontana for female voice and ensemble La fraîcheur de la dernière vêprée for mezzo-soprano and percussion player Calligrammes for soprano and ensemble Canto III for mixed choir a cappella BalletLinear Dances for two pianos, two percussions & 4 dancers ElectronicsPraeludium I for oboe, live electronics and tape Omaggio a Cortázar for mezzo-soprano & computer Logarítmica for percussion player and magnetic tape Los Angeles Philharmonic Swedish Society of Composers Victor Varela Homepage